Chord Electronics - Blu Mk. 2 - The Official Thread
Jul 16, 2017 at 9:21 PM Post #946 of 4,904
Since I just saw the movie Baby Driver for the second time, I got home and decided to listen to some music from the soundtrack off Tidal. I don't usually listen to Brubeck but I have to say Unsquare Dance off Blu2 just blew my mind completely. The realism of the instruments, the dynamics, the details. Just wow. Kind of like the medium rare sous vide steak I just made. Mind blowing. And yes, even Carla Thomas's B-A-B-Y sounded great.
 
Jul 17, 2017 at 10:35 AM Post #948 of 4,904
Any news for US customers when they will receive Blu2
I cancelled my order, I put down a deposit in early March and Chord promised on a monthly basis that shipping was right around the corner, but it didn't happen and I got tired of waiting. It will be hard for me to believe their word again in the future. I don't blame my audio dealer or Bluebird the distributor as they are only the middle men relaying what Chord told them.
 
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Jul 17, 2017 at 2:02 PM Post #949 of 4,904
i continue to wait but i must admit it has become very frustrating...in the future dont announce the product or take orders until you have a proper timetable in place....
 
Jul 17, 2017 at 9:44 PM Post #950 of 4,904
Okay, I'll say it...
What is Rob Watts doing hitching his wagon to such a slow moving horse?? Sure, high end audio is niche and maybe it does not make sense for Mr Franks to borrow/raise $100million to quadruple staff and production.
But I think Rob has some world-class technology and his designs should be seeing a much broader distribution and wider audience thru a better funded and better supply-chain managed company. Right? All this great knowledge and fidelity of BLU2+Dave going into the hands of, what?, 500 people per year?? I'll never own one, I live in the Greater Toronto Area : 6million people and maybe 15-20 BLU2+Dave units per year?
Shame...but oh well, dreaming for a high end chord DAC is just like a dreaming for a new Ferrari I guess.
 
Jul 18, 2017 at 12:14 AM Post #951 of 4,904
my guess is quite a few Blu 2 units will be sold...quite a bit more than you think
 
Jul 18, 2017 at 12:26 AM Post #952 of 4,904
my guess is quite a few Blu 2 units will be sold...quite a bit more than you think

But surely the outcry on here was that the Blu2 had a CD Player and that is not what people wanted and so presumably they would not be buying it?

I didn't say that. I bought one and I suspect you are right that demand has been high.
 
Jul 18, 2017 at 1:22 AM Post #953 of 4,904
Mm...from where I am, dealer says 3 to 4 months before delivery. I went ahead a couple of weeks ago. Waiting time is a bit long (longer than the HE 1 which took only 2 months to be made and delivered). I can understand the frustration but it is what it is.
 
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Jul 18, 2017 at 6:13 AM Post #955 of 4,904
The delay is on securing new deliveries of a key part. However, whether Chord were mislead on ability to deliver or they just forgot to establish that point I have no idea. I believe orders have been high for the product but the second problem is that having established a huge waiting list, caused in part by demand and in part by delays, immediate clearance of the waiting list is not a reasonable assumption because there are limits to how many Blu II's that can be assembled per day.

It is very frustrating I agree but I guess I am prepared to wait.
 
Jul 18, 2017 at 6:30 AM Post #956 of 4,904
Okay, I'll say it...
What is Rob Watts doing hitching his wagon to such a slow moving horse?? Sure, high end audio is niche and maybe it does not make sense for Mr Franks to borrow/raise $100million to quadruple staff and production.
But I think Rob has some world-class technology and his designs should be seeing a much broader distribution and wider audience thru a better funded and better supply-chain managed company. Right? All this great knowledge and fidelity of BLU2+Dave going into the hands of, what?, 500 people per year?? I'll never own one, I live in the Greater Toronto Area : 6million people and maybe 15-20 BLU2+Dave units per year?
Shame...but oh well, dreaming for a high end chord DAC is just like a dreaming for a new Ferrari I guess.

Dmance
I think your critique is a little unfair. You can pick a top 10 of Hifi producers that some would argue are pushing Chord with their own technology and I do not think any of them are spreading the word one fifth of the level Chord are. Hugo, Mojo, Hugo II etc are selling at levels unseen in the high end window both at the price point and volumes sold. Chord could have sold each of their offering at significantly higher prices given the quality of their tech but they went for volume in order to open up the market. This was a brave move because had it failed it would have been very costly and I applaud it even if nobody else does. In all the years I have been buying Chord products this is the first time they have not delivered to expectations. I think they are allowed one mistake personally.
 
Jul 18, 2017 at 8:49 AM Post #957 of 4,904
Looking forward to your take on the hires comparison now that you have established your level playing field. Well done.

Well, the BNC cables will finally be delivered tomorrow, so I shall see whether any improvement can be achieved. I'm finding it hard to believe that any significant improvement is possible really though tbh, but it's the last piece of the puzzle so worth investigating.

Update on hires files Dave - since obtaining the Innuos Zenith Mk II for assessment using it for Roon core duties, hires files can now beat the CD playback via Blu II. It varies depending upon the source file, but the good ones sound astonishing. Really gives me goose bumps. Even my wife can't believe how good this is all sounding. I have been so impressed with the Zenith that I have placed an order for a special edition limited run that they are bringing out which has enhanced custom built triple power supply, internal noise suppression, chassis tweaks etc and which is apparently tuned for another step up in sound quality. Very interesting and it has USB and Ethernet output so both options are covered for futureproofing.

One point of interest is that I'm finding CD's that I ripped using the Zenith sound at least as good as the CD and arguably slightly better. On looking into this, it seems that the Zenith rips to uncompressed FLAC whereas all my own rips have used dbPoweramp default compression (I think that's 5 from memory). This is a slight nuisance as it opens up another potential can of worms.

Final point - since getting the Blu, I have been playing CD a fair bit more than I have previously and am occasionally enjoying picking a disc, putting it on, pressing play and just settling back and listening to it. Whether that is just nostalgia kicking in, or whether that is a longer term trend I don't know at this point. If the Zenith SE lives up to expectations, then there seems little argument for CD other than nostalgia and just the very different physical experience. Time will tell, but I am glad to retain the facility for CD playback with Blu II.
 
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Jul 18, 2017 at 12:54 PM Post #958 of 4,904
it is only because I am such a fan of chords products that i continue to wait,for any other product i would have cancelled the order....i have been waiting since the beginning of the year......i have now a hugo 2 and a Dave.....I think they are fabulous products and as a result i wait...but impatiently
 
Jul 18, 2017 at 1:33 PM Post #959 of 4,904
I am sorry you and many others have had to wait; believe me, I know how big a change the M scaler makes, so it's very frustrating to see people having to wait. Now I am not trying to make excuses for Chord, but there are supply difficulties that are beyond their control. For example, 4 weeks ago a scheduled delivery for the Xilinx FPGA was supposed to turn up. It was not delivered, and Chord were told another 12 weeks. Fortunately they managed to find some in the USA, but these issues are typical today.

To give you another example. You can always buy resistors, ex stock. Its like sand in the building trade. But Rohm resistors have now closed 2017 order book; deliveries from Rohm is now 2018. This is just plain crazy. And there is no warning; confirmed scheduled deliveries are simply not being met.
 

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