Anyone have (or had) a Belles VT-01 V1? Auto un-mute after warmup?

I'm not familiar with the Belles, but what you describe is typical for a tube preamp: it will auto-mute on start-up, and remain in mute until deactivated. That's the way ARC preamps work.

Give him a call!

I'll call to verify, I may be listing it for sale at some point and want to make sure its 100% functional. 

Thanks

I have a Belles 22a which succeeded the VT-01.  When turned on, it is automatically muted as the tubes heat up… which takes 60 seconds. It stays muted until you hit unmute on the remote. It can’t be unmuted before the 60 seconds are up.