Experience with Blue Circle amps

Definitely contact Gilbert at Blue Circle. If there is not a dealer in your area, he has been known to sell direct at a decent discount (up to 25% for cables in my case), and he will ship to your house for the price quoted.

Thorty40: Sounds like a big breakdown in communications. I guess I have no reason not to believe you, but why did you pay it?? Did they really know it was four months old? I am surprised Gilbert did not just send you a new amp. I have had many dealings with Blue Circle and Gilbert directly, and they have always bent over backwards to satisfy. They have even returned Emails on weekends including Saturday evenings. Gilbert once personally mailed me a few lightbulbs when I mentioned only in passing that one of my bulbs was out that lights the Blue Circle.

I have also never heard of any relability problems with any of their gear of the magnitude you describe. Gilbert personally inspects every amp that goes out the door and I believe they also get some burn-in period. I can't imagine how you could make quality control better? Care to tell us who this dealer is? Maybe he sold you a used amp or an amp that had been fooled with, told you it was new, and made up a big story to cover it up.

I believe you completely; it is the dealers behavior that seems strange. How do you know Blue Circle tried to charge? It is just the dealers word for it. Was he really a Blue Circle dealer? He may have still been picking them up from somewhere else (another dealer selling out of his area) and not from BC directly, so him trying to return it as a warranty repair would make bells go off.

Thorty40: Well I guess it could be anything?? Still sounds to me like the customer service problem is with that dealer. He does not stock it; he just orders it and has it shipped to you. Then he does not want to deal with any problems. In the end you did not get charged for anything. It really could have been "DROPPED" shipped by UPS or whoever. I don't have a BC dealer near me, so I have always dealt directly with BC. They have always treated me like I was the most important customer they have.

In the end Sterophile liked the BC21 and BC22. That is what confuses reviewers. I agree the specs. of Gilbert's gear may not always test out well against the "established norm", but no one denies that it sounds great. This may in fact raise a question of whether the "established norm" is best. If Gibert has come up with a formula that is superior to what has passed as a good design in the past, we should maybe recognize his genius. All great minds are usually met with skepticism when they challenge the status quo.

I agree with you 100%. That Audio Refinement Complete integrated bench tested out poorly in someone elses review. It is sort of confirmed by the fact that YBA won't publish a 4 ohm rating (and a number of other stats) for the Complete, but they do publish all those stats for every other amp they make. But anyway, the Complete sure does sound pretty good for what it costs.

I can remember some reviews in HiFi Choice where one one component they'll said something like, "it sounds very good, but we can't explain why,". Then on another they will say: "It tested out very well, but we don't like how it sounds".

I am willing to bet BigCop and Thirty40 are the same person. BigCop just registered the other day, and has only posted to this thread. It's also because BigCop seems to appear at the right moment to defend Thirty40.

I also heard from Gilbert's associate Al Whyley at Blue Circle today. They are aware of this thread, and know who Thirty40 is, as well as others associated with him.