Any love for the Belles Aria or other recent Belles amplifier?

I asked the original question, and since then I've had some time to compare the Hot Rod, 150A Ref. Mk 2, and the Aria.  I also have an EL34 amp, T-amp, Sonneteer Alabaster, Rogue Sphinx, and some others.  I have used Totem, Triangle, Finale Vivace (awesome single-driver speaker), and Klipsch Quartets, among others.

All of the amps are different, and there is synergy to be found between each amp with the variety of speakers.  I use Kimber 4TC, and I've found this to be an excellent/neutral cable for most applications.  

I'll just say that the Belles line impresses me with many speakers.  The Aria, when matched with an appropriate speaker, is very musical, natural, and exciting, but it has not been fatiguing.  Great match with my Triangle Zerius (one of the sleeper speakers of the decade!).

I won't be able to keep all of these amps/speakers, (I have a pair of Reynaud Bliss Silvers/stands I'll be picking up in early September) but I will keep all of the amps and see which one creates the most magic.  I firmly believe that the Aria can compete with the other amps and may win out if there is enough power.  Time will tell...

Leahy, please keep us up to date on your findings. I too am thinking about buying and trying out the Aria. I have a Sugden A21 now but would like to have more power so I can try out a variety of different speakers. I have a hunch the Aria might pair up well with the Nola Boxer 2 speakers. What do you guys think? Leahy, can you compare your Aria's sound signature to the Sonneteer Alabaster you have? Areas of differences? Thanks. 

Mezzanine,

Thanks for the post.  Between work and getting ready to take my daughter to college (she is going to a school 1/2 hour away from Amherst Audio - where I'll be picking up the Reynaud speakers), I haven't had much time to really dig in to the comparisons.  Once the Reynauds are in the house, I'll get more serious about rotating the amps and making comparisons.  My end goal is to keep one amp/speaker system that plays the widest variety of music in the most convincing way.  I have run out of storage room to hold all of the accumulated pieces  - decisions have to be made.

I will post my impressions after the Silver Bliss are in the house...

Leahy, sounds great! Looking forward to your impressions. 

Stupidly sold my first Aria and just got another. Just can't believe this thing. I don't remember the headphone amp sounding great in the first one and on a whim, hooked up my Sennheiser HD800S headphones. Geeeze. I'm going to sell my Violectric V281. How does Dave Belles do it. Sounds amazing through these Gallo Reference Stratas I picked up too. Running them near field with a Chord 2Qute DAC, Chord Anthem 2 speaker cables, microRendu, Chord Signature Tuned Aray USB, REL S2, Tellurium Q Black. I'm very, very happy right now. FYI, I like the Gallos with the Aria better then the Harbeth P3s I just sold.

I've had sooooo many integrateds. Rega, Simaudio, Naim Supernait 2!, Hegel, Exposure, Marantz, TACT, Croft separates. you name it. Well I'm finally happy.

Thank you so much Dave!