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REVIEW: Blue Circle Audio “Hat Peed Thingee” solid state Headphone Amp - Page 2

post #16 of 63
5/28/09 at 10:31pm
Thanks Skylab for the impressions.

May I inquire what sources and headphones did you use during the auditioning ? I presume they are the "standard" ones you used in all other reviews ?

F. Lo
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post #17 of 63
5/28/09 at 10:35pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by elrod-tom View Post
Nice review.

I had a chance to meet Gilbert at AKFest in Livonia, MI not too long ago. Interesting guy with a great sense of humor. He was sporting a capacitor that was to be used as a power supply in some application. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to get back around to visit his display. My loss...

I found your comments about liking the basic version better to be interesting. I've occasionally found that an amp that received a power supply upgrade will often smooth out significantly, have better separation and fine detail...but occasionally be "less fun" to listen to in it's upgraded form. The amp loses some of it's forward presentation, and has less umph. Do you think this was an example of this, or was it something else?
Thanks! I also have had the pleasure of meeting Gilbert, and he's a great guy.

And an interesting point you make above. In the case of the HPT, the upgraded power supply itself did improve things, I felt, but the extra "Cap Pack" is what caused the problem. So I don't think it's exactly the same situation you describe, because in this case the Cap Pack was not really adding anything useful - there wasn't better separation, or detail - the slight added smoothness came at a cost in terms of transparency, and the net effect was definitely negative.

But you also are reviewing one - so I look forward to your thoughts on this!
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post #18 of 63
5/28/09 at 10:36pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by fkclo View Post
Thanks Skylab for the impressions.

May I inquire what sources and headphones did you use during the auditioning ? I presume they are the "standard" ones you used in all other reviews ?

F. Lo
Thanks! I did actually briefly cover that in the review:

Quote:
As always, all listening was done at my calibrated listening level of 80dbA using pink noise. I used the Beyer DT880 and JVC DX1000 mostly for this review, but did also use the DT990 at times. Sources were my Denon DV5900 universal player, my vinyl set-up, and an iMod iPod with V-Cap dock.
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post #19 of 63
5/28/09 at 10:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Skylab View Post
Thanks! I did actually briefly cover that in the review:
Oops! Sorry, I missed that part as I rushed to the "Performance" session !

I am always tempted to try Blue Circle, but probably won't be keeping it like my other gears. But finding a used one is definitely difficult, not to say one for 220V a.c.

F. Lo
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post #20 of 63
5/28/09 at 10:42pm
Nice review, how would you rate it against Meier Cantate 2 in it's $749 configuration?
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post #21 of 63
5/28/09 at 10:47pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by fkclo View Post

I am always tempted to try Blue Circle, but probably won't be keeping it like my other gears. But finding a used one is definitely difficult, not to say one for 220V a.c.
Very true - they rarely show up used.

Quote:
Originally Posted by vkvedam View Post
Nice review, how would you rate it against Meier Cantate 2 in it's $749 configuration?
Thanks! I wish I had the Cantate to compare. From memory, the Cantate is warmer sounding - a little more Euphonic. But it's been a long time since I owned the Cantate, and I have never heard the Cantate 2.
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post #22 of 63
5/28/09 at 11:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Skylab View Post
But you also are reviewing one - so I look forward to your thoughts on this!
Sadly, I'm NOT reviewing one of these at this time...though I'd surely enjoy the opportunity to do so.
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post #23 of 63
5/28/09 at 11:11pm
I too recently demo'd the HPT at home for a couple of days. I had the full configuration and I too surprisingly found the biggie PS sans capacitor the best sounding option. The capacitor seemed to make it sound smoother/softer and slightly more effortless however without it it was much more transparent and had better prat and tighter bass. Overall I found it to be an extremely good amp for the price, significantly better than my Graham Slee Solo + PSU1.

I also had the opportunity to audition the Peed Al Sea Thingee with the HPT. It is a powerline conditioner in a PVC pipe. It sells for $200 and I found it to significantly improve the sound of the amp. It also improved the sound of my other amps but not as significantly as it did with the HPT. If you get the HPT I would strongly recommend the Peed Al Sea Thingee.
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post #24 of 63
5/28/09 at 11:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by strangelove View Post
I too recently demo'd the HPT at home for a couple of days. I had the full configuration and I too surprisingly found the biggie PS sans capacitor the best sounding option. The capacitor seemed to make it sound smoother/softer and slightly more effortless however without it it was much more transparent and had better prat and tighter bass. Overall I found it to be an extremely good amp for the price, significantly better than my Graham Slee Solo + PSU1.

I also had the opportunity to audition the Peed Al Sea Thingee with the HPT. It is a powerline conditioner in a PVC pipe. It sells for $200 and I found it to significantly improve the sound of the amp. It also improved the sound of my other amps but not as significantly as it did with the HPT. If you get the HPT I would strongly recommend the Peed Al Sea Thingee.
Wow - if this is true this really set a new benchmark for $700 class amp - as the Solo + PSU1 was, in my opinion, as good as it gets in this class. I hope to see more impressions / reviews here before I take the dive.

And the Peed Al Sea Thingee is interesting too, and quite reasonably priced. Look like fit for a low profile setup in office without attracting too much attention

Thanks again for the sharing.

F. Lo
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post #25 of 63
5/28/09 at 11:56pm
Interesting amp. Thanks for the review.
Where can we purchase one in the US?
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post #26 of 63
5/29/09 at 4:23am
Blue Circle also makes a Dac that might be of interest, called the SBD. It has the same sort of sonic characteristics as the HPT. I am "somewhat" certain that this will also appear in a PVC version, but I have not talked with Gilbert, directly, about this yet. The SBD goes for around $2K in its current form. (This shouldn't be confused with the USB Thingee...but if you get a chance to hear this, it will probably beat anything at 2-3x the price -- under $200).
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post #27 of 63
5/29/09 at 7:14am
Nice review!

It think it looks fabulous.

However, I would love to see someone try to board an airplane with one of these in a carry-on bag.
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post #28 of 63
5/29/09 at 10:09am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by strangelove View Post
I too recently demo'd the HPT at home for a couple of days. I had the full configuration and I too surprisingly found the biggie PS sans capacitor the best sounding option. The capacitor seemed to make it sound smoother/softer and slightly more effortless however without it it was much more transparent and had better prat and tighter bass.
Thanks for that! Nice to know what I heard there you heard as well.

Quote:
Originally Posted by elrod-tom View Post
Sadly, I'm NOT reviewing one of these at this time...though I'd surely enjoy the opportunity to do so.
LOL - OK, sorry, guess I got confused...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gu Sensei View Post
Nice review!

It think it looks fabulous.

However, I would love to see someone try to board an airplane with one of these in a carry-on bag.
Thanks! Y'know, it's funny, I was just thinking about that last night - NO WAY this thing would EVER be allowed on an aircraft. It absolutely looks like what I envision a pipe bomb looking like (I have never actually seen a pipe bomb).
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post #29 of 63
5/29/09 at 10:17am
Can you imagine trying to explain it to security officers?

"Dude, it is a headphone amp."
"A what?"

Even if you demonstrated that it actually played music, they still would have to tear it apart I would guess. How does he ship these things anyway?

I totally love the out-of-the box mentality though. Very cool.
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post #30 of 63
5/29/09 at 1:03pm
Until then, we wouldn't know what's under the hood of those things!

The design is outrageous! Be prepared to have a strip search when you have one of those as carry on luggage!
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