SF Bay Area Belles, $1400 OBO

[J M O N]

Thanks for all the kind words!

Well, the owner of these speakers had a deadline for them to be picked up as he is moving in just over a week. Either they are sold and picked up by then, or the speakers were moving with him to Canada. Today was the only day that I would be able to drive up there and pick them up, and since I was unable to make other arrangements on such short notice, I did just that. It didn't take nearly as long to get there as I thought it would -- I made it from my house to his house in under five hours. So now these Rosewood Lacquer Belles are sitting in my living room as I type.

The gentleman I bought these from was very nice. The house he just sold is incredible. It was a three level house (maybe more) sitting on the side of a hill in Berkeley with an amazing view of San Francisco Bay. The drive up to his house had a breathtaking view! You could see almost the entire bay, with San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge, all the other bridges and islands in perfect view. If you want to take a picture of the San Francisco Bay, this is the place to do it from. I wish I had taken my camera. Although the view from his house was in a sligthly different direction and not as encompassing, his house was still probably less than 1/4 mile from this spot. A few cars were stopped along the side of the road to take in the view.

The Belles themselves are slightly lighter in color than the photos show (at least as seen on my monitor). I would say the color is even lighter than the oiled oak finishes -- it's almost a yellow color. Very nice though. Aside from the chips that were mentioned and shown in the photos, the speakers are just about flawless. He is the original owner (I am now the second owner []). One disappointing thing is that he had them connected to one of those mini all-in-one units from Denon (or maybe it was Yamaha). Not a cheap thing, but it still didn't do justice to these Belles. I know they can sound much better than what I heard. It's a shame that he had these since 1978 and may not have come close to realizing their full potential.

Overall it was a successful trip. Now I just have to find someone nearby with walnut oil Belles that might want to trade (gotta do this before I fall for these rosewoods though []).

[Parrot]

I'm glad you got them safely. Post some of your own pictures of them if you get a chance. They sure do look good.