Chord Electronics - Blu Mk. 2 - The Official Thread

[Beolab]

When I tested Hugo 2 with the Blu 2 I used a cheap 1.5 M headphone cable (3.5mm to RCA) with BNC adaptors. It worked perfectly in terms of no errors or glitches at all - I must say I was pretty astonished, as this is after all 768 kHz SPDIF. So the system is tolerant of poor quality cables. When I get back to Wales I will do some listening tests to see how much difference poor quality, RF quality cables, or high end cables actually make to the sound.

Rob

PS - of course it is not a good idea to use adaptors - they are not impedance matched.

Can you comment of the SQ performance increase vs Hugo 2 alone.

 

[innocentblood]

I understand the Blu Mk II is retailing for £7,995 GBP - does this include VAT? I may get a chance to travel to London & Manchester in October/ November this year and my intention is to get it while I'm there & then hand-carry it back to SG. I think I should be able to reclaim the VAT at the airport. has anybody here tried something like this before? any input would be appreciated, thank you.

 

[Rob Watts]

 

When I tested Hugo 2 with the Blu 2 I used a cheap 1.5 M headphone cable (3.5mm to RCA) with BNC adaptors. It worked perfectly in terms of no errors or glitches at all - I must say I was pretty astonished, as this is after all 768 kHz SPDIF. So the system is tolerant of poor quality cables. When I get back to Wales I will do some listening tests to see how much difference poor quality, RF quality cables, or high end cables actually make to the sound.

Rob

PS - of course it is not a good idea to use adaptors - they are not impedance matched.

Can you comment of the SQ performance increase vs Hugo 2 alone.

Its a very big change - in just about every area, but notably bass definition, and the sound-stage deepens.
 
I am still having difficulty understanding why the sound-stage depth improves so dramatically. In the past, improvements in the WTA changes bass, timbre variations, pitch definition, instrument separation and focus. In terms of sound-stage, the image becomes more focused left to right, but depth does not change. But with the M scaler, one of the things one notices is how much the depth improves - particularly when one goes from 0.5 M to the full 1 M. And I do not understand why this is the case, so this is a real puzzle. I hear the change in depth when going from the video mode (0.66 M taps) to the full 1M; what is interesting about this is that the signal path is identical, and only the WTA filter coefficients change.

 

[EVOLVIST]

It is possible I might be getting my ordered Blu2 sometime next week . . . . . . . .  let the fun begin.

Of course you'll let us know.

I texted my dealer and asked him to check with Bluebird, the distributor in the USA, but they don't say much usually. I often wish there was more than one distributor in the US. I'm totally in the dark here, except for "Sometime in April."

 

[Triode User]

  I understand the Blu Mk II is retailing for £7,995 GBP - does this include VAT? I may get a chance to travel to London & Manchester in October/ November this year and my intention is to get it while I'm there & then hand-carry it back to SG. I think I should be able to reclaim the VAT at the airport. has anybody here tried something like this before? any input would be appreciated, thank you.

Yes the price does include VAT. You would be wise to order one from a UK dealer in advance of you traveling as I don't imagine they will just be sitting there on the shelf in stock at a dealer. For instance in the UK the Dave is on 6 weeks delivery from date of order.
 
And of course you will declare it at entry to your country and pay the duty there?
 
There is a very helpful leaflet called 'vat-refund-leaflet_EN.pdf'  
This is the link :-    'Are you eligible to claim a VAT refund? - Heathrow'
This explains the procedure.

 

[DaveRedRef-III]

I wonder are the guys at Chord in a position to say when the first shipments of the Blu 2 M Scaler will leave the factory?

 

[ray-dude]

 
Yes the price does include VAT. You would be wise to order one from a UK dealer in advance of you traveling as I don't imagine they will just be sitting there on the shelf in stock at a dealer. For instance in the UK the Dave is on 6 weeks delivery from date of order.
 
And of course you will declare it at entry to your country and pay the duty there?
 
There is a very helpful leaflet called 'vat-refund-leaflet_EN.pdf'  
This is the link :-    'Are you eligible to claim a VAT refund? - Heathrow'
This explains the procedure.

 
So in theory/practice, why not fly to London, get a new toy, and use the VAT refund to pay for the vacation?  20% VAT being built into the £8000 basically means $8000 after VAT refund...sizable discount

 

[Triode User]

   
So in theory/practice, why not fly to London, get a new toy, and use the VAT refund to pay for the vacation?  20% VAT being built into the £8000 basically means $8000 after VAT refund...sizable discount

Yes, that could work out as getting the trip for free. But do not forget the requirement to declare the imported goods when you re enter your home country. (I have already notified your customs staff of your ISP address, cell telephone number and inside leg measurement!)

 

[ray-dude]

 
Yes, that could work out as getting the trip for free. But do not forget the requirement to declare the imported goods when you re enter your home country. (I have already notified your customs staff of your ISP address, cell telephone number and inside leg measurement!)

I'm already on the "Doesn't Make America Great Again" list, so that would guarantee I have a Blu2 with me for my trip to gitmo

 

[EVOLVIST]

So in theory/practice, why not fly to London, get a new toy, and use the VAT refund to pay for the vacation?  20% VAT being built into the £8000 basically means $8000 after VAT refund...sizable discount

Because you're not taking into account the expenditure of flying my Mrs, my mistress, my photographer and my little Asian valet, TimTim, on the trip as they must all come, too, to make it a certifiable holiday. Too much hassle and too much money.

By the time I spent all of that bread, you would be Blu 2.

 

[seeteeyou]

While it's fun to talk about the VAT refunds and vacation, we might wanna take the warranty into consideration.
 
Here's an example regarding the USB inputs of DAVE and Hugo TT so most likely even Blu Mk. 2 could be affected as well
 
http://www.headphoneclub.com/thread-508404-1-1.html
http://www.erji.net/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=1732037&page=147#pid31063269
 
Basically the weight of those flagship USB cables from Crystal Cable and Siltech etc. could play a role, and then a relatively large USB connector (that's harder than usual) would also stress the USB inputs to the point where someone in China got his DAVE replaced by a brand new unit recently. Another owner of Hugo TT also shared similar experiences so that's quite interesting.
 

 
 
Shipping something expensive back to UK for warranty purpose could be quite an adventure, depending on where we're located at.

 

[Triode User]

  While it's fun to talk about the VAT refunds and vacation, we might wanna take the warranty into consideration.
 
Here's an example regarding the USB inputs of DAVE and Hugo TT so most likely even Blu Mk. 2 could be affected as well
 
http://www.headphoneclub.com/thread-508404-1-1.html
http://www.erji.net/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=1732037&page=147#pid31063269
 
Basically the weight of those flagship USB cables from Crystal Cable and Siltech etc. could play a role, and then a relatively large USB connector (that's harder than usual) would also stress the USB inputs to the point where someone in China got his DAVE replaced by a brand new unit recently. Another owner of Hugo TT also shared similar experiences so that's quite interesting.
 

 
 
Shipping something expensive back to UK for warranty purpose could be quite an adventure, depending on where we're located at.

I cant read those websites but I think it is a very valid point you make about the craze (my word) for large diameter excessively stiff cables, especially for the digital cables.

 

[DaveRedRef-III]

From Chord Facebook entry 20th March 2017

"Poly and Hugo 2 are making their London debuts this weekend at the capital’s headroom show, which takes place at the legendary Metropolis Studios, Chiswick, the most successful independent recording, mastering and production facility in Europe. If you missed seeing Poly, Mojo and Hugo 2 at Sound and Vision (The Bristol show) in February, you’ve another chance this Friday and Saturday to get some valuable hands-on time.
We’ll also be bringing our flagship DAC/preamp, DAVE and can’t think of a better environment in which to present our latest products; Queen, Michael Jackson, U2, Lady GaGa, Amy Winehouse, will.i.am, The Stone Roses, Lauryn Hill, The Verve, Adele, Rihanna and many more have all recorded mixed or mastered at Metropolis, so this is not your average hi-fi show! Find us in Studio A (Artist) over the two-day event."

No mention of Blu2 M Scaler?

 

[Sonic77]

From Chord Facebook entry 20th March 2017

"Poly and Hugo 2 are making their London debuts this weekend at the capital’s headroom show, which takes place at the legendary Metropolis Studios, Chiswick, the most successful independent recording, mastering and production facility in Europe. If you missed seeing Poly, Mojo and Hugo 2 at Sound and Vision (The Bristol show) in February, you’ve another chance this Friday and Saturday to get some valuable hands-on time.
We’ll also be bringing our flagship DAC/preamp, DAVE and can’t think of a better environment in which to present our latest products; Queen, Michael Jackson, U2, Lady GaGa, Amy Winehouse, will.i.am, The Stone Roses, Lauryn Hill, The Verve, Adele, Rihanna and many more have all recorded mixed or mastered at Metropolis, so this is not your average hi-fi show! Find us in Studio A (Artist) over the two-day event."

No mention of Blu2 M Scaler?

​This is troubling, considering the Blu2 is the new flagship item.

 

[DaveRedRef-III]

All I can think of is the other new products are creating such a stir that it is stretching the teams available time. Nobody is giving a definitive launch date yet for Blu2 and we are close to end of March. I hope we are not looking at a further delay because I want one!