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Article: Meet The Audiophile Style Community | Volume 15


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@feelingears  Nice catch on the Blue Circle gear.  My photos stink so I am surprised you noticed.  I discovered Blue Circle pretty quickly after starting in this hobby. I can't recall if it was a magazine or online review, but something about the design and amazing creativity of Gilbert Yeung just grabbed my attention.  I started off with power conditioners, then a preamp, then power amps and then upgrading within the Blue Circle line.  Due to my relationship with the owner of Primus Audio Pleasure, he let me spend hours swapping around components, both in his store and at home demos so I was able to listen to lots of different gear.  He didn't sell Blue Circle so I had to take a flyer. I wasn't disappointed.  I haven't been as lucky with other purchases and I've flipped a lot of gear over the years but my system is now solidified.  Same with Denafrips.  I've found a DAC and DDC that floats my boat so no need to search further.  Gilbert made most all of his gear himself, which is pretty rare these days.

 

99.9% of us were not in the recording studio or concert so we have no idea what the original performance sounded like (and even if we were, audio memory fades).  So, we are left with our subjective interpretations as measurements fall way short in telling us how something will sound.  Some say tube gear is flawed and those who favor this technology only do so because we find the sound "pleasing".  No harm in that and it may be true for some, but to me, well-implemented tube gear sounds more like the real thing.  I find that with Blue Circle gear, it sounds very close to what I imagine the performance sounded like- more realistic, with a believable soundstage, detail and clarity.  More fleshed out and three dimensional.  Blue Circle is not warm and gooey (I personally don't search for "pleasing" sounding gear, I want stuff that sounds lifelike), it sounds more real than most solid state gear I've owned and demoed.  I found my sweet spot and stuck with the brand.  If you do some searching, you will see some comparing the gear to Lamm and at the highest end of the line, as good as it gets regardless of cost.

 

Gilbert retired a few years ago.  He then came out of retirement to work part time doing designs under Gilbert Yeung Designs for Amherst Audio.  The owner of Amherst Audio, Bob Neil, is the foremost authority on the brand.  Well, that didn't last long as I assume it was taking too much of his retirement time.  I believe Gilbert will still repair and modify gear if you are lucky.  If not, there is an Gilbert approved repair facility in Canada.

 

If you are ever looking at buying used Blue Circle gear, TLP Audio (which was the USA dealer) has a webpage where you can still look up models, specs and pricing (when new).  

 

Here is the link:

 

https://www.tlp-audio.com/indexbc.php

 

On the left-hand side of the webpage it is broken down by product type.

 

Also, here is a link to Amherst Audio's page for Gilbert's gear and Bob's impressions:

 

https://amherstaudio.com/?page_id=33

 

Finally, here are a few (still bad) pics of my current Blue Circle gear:

 

BC-202 Power Amp on the bottom row (this is a hybrid tube/solid state design):

1097045864_BlueCircleBC-202.thumb.jpg.ea20e69fa91cd64a6aa326842643c75b.jpg

 

 

Blue Circle SBT Tube Preamp (two components- it has a separate power supply (pardon the dust and finger prints):

 

364156393_BCSBT-1.jpg.8495f109076866ce382f7fc439a24a93.jpg

 

1709006382_BCSBT.thumb.jpg.0b5b897db730c93e3409cb018d389186.jpg

 

And of course the Blue Circle BC-26 Power amp already pictured in my office setup in the article.

 

Speaker Room: Lumin U1X | Lampizator Pacific 2 | Viva Linea | Constellation Inspiration Stereo 1.0 | FinkTeam Kim | Revel subs  

Office Headphone System: Lumin U1X | Lampizator Golden Gate 3 | Viva Egoista | Abyss AB1266 Phi TC 

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  • 3 months later...

@tubegem

 

Thanks for that additional info.  That is terrific news for me.  I am a huge fan of Gilbert and I'd love to try (and buy) new products designed by him.  

 

After reading your post, I checked out Amherst Audio's website as this is where I go for all Gilbert related info and was excited to read about his new ventures.

Speaker Room: Lumin U1X | Lampizator Pacific 2 | Viva Linea | Constellation Inspiration Stereo 1.0 | FinkTeam Kim | Revel subs  

Office Headphone System: Lumin U1X | Lampizator Golden Gate 3 | Viva Egoista | Abyss AB1266 Phi TC 

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