Help contacting BEL re: 1001

Sadly, according to one of his oldest/largest dealers who knows him well, Dick Brown died within the last couple of days. For the past several months he had not felt well enough to do much work.

A former Recon. Marine, Dick was a unique individual and a true genius at designing and voicing his one and only product, the BEL 1001. Because his assembly process entailed listening to each component as it went into every amp, his production volume was miniscule, especially from 2007, on.

You may also want to have an authorized dealer contact him. I'm in Houston, and the local dealer Audio Concepts is where I bought my pair of BEL MK V monoblocks. All I can say is that these are the most awesome amps I have owned and wish Dick Brown a long life and also wish him the best.

FYI I hear the company is not struggling - on the contrary they are overwhelmed with orders, and for good reason. Rumor is that BEL will stop taking new orders altogether soon. Anyone who owns a 1001 MkV is very lucky indeed! I'm keeping mine. :-)

Macrojack,

Thanks for the sympathetic message. I am not suprised the company is struggling, if I knew I would be waiting this long I would have tried to fix them myself.

Richard Brown should be ashamed of himself for abandoning you in this way. However, we all need to be aware that we are putting ourselves in the hands of one person when we buy products from a company like BEL. A plane crash, a heart attack or a loss of interest is all it takes to undermine your investment.

Why don't you try to track down Tom Miiller the reviewer who championed BEL through the Absolute Sound. Maybe he is still in touch with Richard Brown and maybe he would be inclined to intercede on your behalf. It's worth a try.

Is anyone in a position to help me please?

Hi, is there any more news on the state of BEL? I am still calling and emailing but get not replies.

Thanks, David

Narrod,

Many thanks for your help.

Richard Brown,

If you read this, please send my amplifier boards back (I sent you all three PCB's), regardless of what state they are in. If the outputs boards are still broken I will fix myself.

David Frow

I received a response from my mutual friend who knows Dick quite well. He indicates that others have complained about a lack of communication. He went on to say that his production of amplifiers has been reduced to a trickle and his desire to do repairs is probably non-existent. His email address, belmail@sonic.net, is still active. I forwarded this thread on to him suggesting he might want to contact you. I'm sorry I could not be of more help.

Regards,

Wendell

Macrojack, thanks for the help, that number is the one I have been trying, I always get an answerphone. I must have tried calling 30 times and left 10 messages by now.

This is old but he might still be there.

BEL
2530 Berryessa RD. #126
San Jose, Ca. 95132

408-259-8648

I used to have a lot of dealings with him back in the 1990s and he was hard to reach even then.

Good Luck.

I know a friend of his. I'll see what I can find out.

Regards,

Wendell