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Battle of the "Davids"......Belles vs. Berning

OK, it's a cold, rainy Sunday am in Chicago - a great day to listen to music. After the provocative thread on "Tenor vs, Berning" that got a little side-tracked, I thought I'd narrow the scope. I have been fortunate to audition both the Belles 350a ss amp ($3,500) and the Berning ZH-270 ($4,500)in the past two weeks. The common theme is that these two amps come from, in essence, "one man shops" and seem to eschew mainstream "hi-end" retail. Both amps are widely recognized as providing huge "bang-for-the-buck" and might cost substantially more if their logos were different.

This would seem to be a real world comparison of two "Davids" that may be able to bring down Goliath - whoever that may be. What do you think?
ianrmack
harleyhawk
24 posts
 
I own both the OCM 200 (2 from Jayarr) and the 350A.
The 200 is raw compared to the 350A ... 2 OCM 200s bridged were more powerful but lack the grace and open, airy sound of the 350A.
As to the Berning, I cannot say...

What are you driving? David has modified the 350A to be a 800 watt monobloc that kicks! if you need the power.
bigspender
2 posts
 
Bobby at Merlin is recommending the "T" harness for the Belles.

bob_bundus
1,834 posts
 
no doubt, sam "everything is class A" tellig will give it a boost.
Sam sure had me fooled with his stellar review of the 350A. That amp didn't synergize AT ALL in my own rig; BIG disappointment & that's a radical understatement. Can't compare with the Berning though; have never heard that one.
bigspender
2 posts
 
Sounds strange to me, remember it needs a lot of hours to perform its best. It also seems to be a good idea to turn it off and on a couple of time a day, at least in the burn-in procedure. Turning if off and on again seems to open it up in the midrange.

The new Belles monoblocks are really recommendable, 800W in 8 ohm of pure clean power. The 350A worked great with me, the new monoblocks are however a whole class better. Hope to get a chance to compare these with the Berning.
jimmyblues
56 posts
 
This author owned a Belles I amp and matching preamp in the 1980's that I lived happily with for nearly a decade. This gear was well built, good sounding, powerful, and affordable.

I once had the opportunity to speak with David Belles when he was in the process of introducing a new line of gear - I believe it was the OCR series. He was very knowledgable and pleasant to speak with.

As for David's being under appreciated in the audio field, I would tend to disagree with this statement, since like the Frank Van Alstines of this world, David has a very loyal following who've kept him in business for decades, while a number of better known audio manufacturers fell by the wayside.
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