Progressive Revelation. When applied to the development and performance of high-end audio products, it refers to the unveiling of greater levels of musical detail as the design of the product becomes more sophisticated. In the case of the Belles MB-200 Monoblock amplifier, it is a most appropriate concept. The progress made in the science of design can take place in small, incremental steps, or in giant leaps. The MB-200 is a major step forward in the design technology.
HIFi Plus Review Summary
Compact, capable and discretely elegant in appearance, these Belles monoblocs stand to become something of a reference around these parts. Superbly detailed, their transparency, dynamic and spatial resolution are underpinned by a conservatively rated 200 Watt output that means they can laugh in the face of most speaker loads. They have also succeeded in all but banishing the leading-edge softness that affl icts the majority of Mosfet output stages, the last remaining vestiges adding a welcome degree of comfort to the musical process. And for once, they don’t hide those strengths under a bushel. Immediately impressive, even from cold, they are so well organized and well behaved that they simply get better over time, with none of the ultimately frustrating, etched leanness that so many high-end wannabes resort to. The MB- 200s are unmistakably real world and the real deal – right from the off.
With all those things going for them you are probably waiting for the “but” – and in this case it’s a pretty big but, too. After all, here you have amps with all the classic, solid-state virtues, that are neither too big, nor too puny to be useful – but they only cost £5500 a pair. Now that’s a “but” I really like – a “but “ I could easily live with. One listen to these amps and you might well decide you could live with them too.
