Service my Belles

Well, sad to write this. But this is a forum that I assume allows the good and bad experiences?

I struggled for quite sometime to arrange repair of my Belles pre. I was not pleased with Dave Belles's lack of return contact and it made me wonder if I would get my pre back if I sent it in. So I took it to a local repair shop and sent Belles a e-mail informing him they would be in contact with him.

Well we never heard from Dave Belles and could not do the repair without a schematic. Finally after over 3 months of frustration I sent the pre to David Belles and explained my frustration and told him he could keep his pre. " I don't want it back, and I will never own a Belles piece! " That was in early September. So it has been a month now. I thought I would at least got a letter of some type from Belles Audio. Most manufactures will at least do something to satisfy their customer.

I guess that shows me what type of company David Belles is running...

If David Belles is in his 60's or 70's,[I have no idea],he's not running anything.Life is running him.I am sorry to hear of your experience and I would be pissed too,except try to remember,at that age your lucky to be alive,much less running a Co.Since your pre is gone with that note,you painted yourself in a corner.A wise man would of found that schematic[sp] and moved on as there are avenues yet unexplored by you and your MO.First,find out if he's alive,then contact him and apoligize for your lack of discretion,but explain your young and learning and would like to start over.Easy for me to say,except I've done that and have the scars to prove it can work.Good luck,were all in this together....

I had a similar experience with David about 18 years ago on an amp with a transformer machanical hum issue. It took over a year and three return trips to him and finally I just gave up. I continue to read about his genius in design, but that just doesn't hold water when he can not stand behind his product.

YMMV,
L

I own a Belles pre and have communicated with Dave on multiple occasions; from needing to get my remote replaced,discussing which tubes to use to discussing how to install Auricaps (by a 3rd party prof.).

He has always been available and has always taken time to speak with me.