[Xanthos]

Has anyone heard the new Hat Peed Thingee from Blue Circle Audio? The amp is supposed to be similar in design to the SBH but with an upgraded op-amp and a ton of power supply options. It's not the most attractive piece of equipment. However, if it sounds great, I don't really care.

 

[Frihed89]

I believe the plane is for Skylab to review it. I thought there were some listeners comments over on the BC users forum. It is meant to be super-transparent and quiet with the large capacitor pack. It is a relative of a preamp that BC calls "pinkie"

 

[fkclo]

I too am interested to know how this "ugly" fellow sounds. Not cheap certainly and therefore I would expect it has a lot to offer in sonics.

F. Lo

 

[minimus]

I own a Hat Peed Thingee along with the Biggie Pipe power supply. The total cost was around $750 ($550 for the amp and $200 for the Biggie Pipe.) The amp has two sets of RCA inputs, so it can serve as a preamp (i.e. allows you to use two sources rather than one, unlike most headphone amps.)

According to Blue Circle, the Hat Peed Thingee is essentially the same amp as their SBH, which retails for $1200, except the Hat Peed Thingee is made in a PVC pipe rather than a polished metal chassis and is therefore less expensive. The Hat Peed Thingee has an upgrade path. You can buy the amp alone. You can add the Biggie Pipe power supply for an extra $200. Finally, there is another, better power supply option. (I believe it is battery-based, kind of like some of Red Wine Audio's high end products.)

Not too many people on Head-Fi know much about the Blue Circle SBH amp, but it got some great reviews and that is why I bought the Hat Peed for a second system. Overall, I would say that the Hat Peed Thingee is the best solid state headphone amp I have ever heard. It easily beats the TTVJ FET-A, which I have demo'd, and the RSA amps I have heard at a similar price point, which just never impressed me.

Most of my headphone listening is through JVC DX1000s, but I also use my HD650s on occasion. The source in my headphone rig is an Eastsound E5. I have not done any audio reviews, so my ability to describe sound is somewhat limited. I can compare the Hat Peed Thingee to my main rig, a Singlepower Extreme Platinum that I have "tuned" through a large investment in NOS tubes and a lot of tube rolling. I am currently using some Mullard and JAN tubes that cost about $500 in the Singlepower amp.

All I can say is that Gilbert Yeung at Blue Circle really knows what he is doing. No, the Hat Peed does not sound quite as good as the Extreme but it comes very, very close. The Hat Peed is a very musical and involving amp. You can listen to it for hours without fatigue or boredom. It has a tube-like mid-range and really solid bass (the latter may be a result of the Biggie Pipe power supply). It sounds really good with rock music, which is what I primarily listen to.

The Singlepower Extreme offers better high-frequency detail than the Hat Peed Thingee, a slightly bigger soundstage, and slightly more low-frequency detail. As a result, the Extreme is a slight bit more resolving. But the Hat Peed has more bass quantity and a little more PRAT than the Extreme.

Overall, I highly recommend the Hat Peed Thingee. It gets you very close to the sound of a high-end tube rig at a fraction of the cost.

 

[strangelove]

I currently have Hat Peed Thingee on loan from the LA distributor. I'm in the process of comparing it to my Slee Solo and RSA Apache. I'll post more when I've finished. Also, the LA distributor is looking into getting a table at CanJam to have this amp available for demo.

 

[Xanthos]

Quote:

Originally Posted by strangelove /img/forum/go_quote.gif I currently have Hat Peed Thingee on loan from the LA distributor. I'm in the process of comparing it to my Slee Solo and RSA Apache. I'll post more when I've finished. Also, the LA distributor is looking into getting a table at CanJam to have this amp available for demo.

Definitely post some updates, I'm really close to buying one.

 

[Frihed89]

Quote:

Originally Posted by minimus /img/forum/go_quote.gif I own a Hat Peed Thingee along with the Biggie Pipe power supply....According to Blue Circle, the Hat Peed Thingee is essentially the same amp as their SBH....Not too many people on Head-Fi know much about the Blue Circle SBH amp, but it got some great reviews and that is why I bought the Hat Peed for a second system. Overall, I would say that the Hat Peed Thingee is the best solid state headphone amp I have ever heard. It easily beats the TTVJ FET-A, which I have demo'd, and the RSA amps I have heard at a similar price point, which just never impressed me.

That is exactly what Skylab said about the SBH. However, at the time, the SBH was dismissed as flawed because it used discrete output devices.

This bias is well-nourished on headfi to the great loss of music-lovers. I find the SBH very musical and at least as resolving as my MPX3 Slam SE. It also makes a very nice preamp in the configuration I purchased.

 

[fkclo]

It seems that Hat Peed Thingee is a real treat for serious head-fiers. But for ~US$1,300 (including shipping) this is definitely some serious pricing.

I do hope to be able to buy one used sometime in the future.

F. Lo

 

[mrarroyo]

I had an opportunity to listen to immtbiker's Blue Circle amp and it is IMO a superb sounding amp. I am hoping to get some money to buy it. It has a very nice synergy w/ a Sony R10 or Denon D5000. Plus they look cool too!

 

[fkclo]

It looks like the Blue Circle products are not sold at a discount off listed price.

Does anyone locate a good deal for its products ?

F. Lo

 

[Frihed89]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fkclo /img/forum/go_quote.gif It looks like the Blue Circle products are not sold at a discount off listed price. Does anyone locate a good deal for its products ? F. Lo

Blue Circle has some home dealers. You can email Blue Circle to find out if there's one near you. Policies differ from dealer to dealer from what I can gather.

 

[Skylab]

I have been listening to the Hat Peed Thingee - very nice sounding amp indeed. Full review will be forthcoming.

 

[minimus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fkclo /img/forum/go_quote.gif It seems that Hat Peed Thingee is a real treat for serious head-fiers. But for ~US$1,300 (including shipping) this is definitely some serious pricing. I do hope to be able to buy one used sometime in the future. F. Lo

The Hat Peed Thingee does not cost $1,300. The Blue Circle SBH amp costs $1200. But the Hat Peed Thingee is $550 without the extra power supply. If you want to upgrade to the Biggie Pipe power supply, the cost is $750.

I have noticed in my search for equipment for my speaker rig that Blue Circle gear rarely comes up for sale on the used market. One retailer I spoke to today (who doesn't sell Blue Circle) had nothing but praise for the sound quality of Blue Circle speaker amps but said they rarely show up used on Audiogon.

 

[minimus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frihed89 /img/forum/go_quote.gif That is exactly what Skylab said about the SBH. However, at the time, the SBH was dismissed as flawed because it used discrete output devices. This bias is well-nourished on headfi to the great loss of music-lovers. I find the SBH very musical and at least as resolving as my MPX3 Slam SE. It also makes a very nice preamp in the configuration I purchased.

Yeah, I learned that the anti-opamp bias is counterproductive. Part of the reason I demo'd the TTVJ FET-A (bought it then returned it) was its supposedly great design (e.g. no opamps, among other things). I burned it in for hundreds of hours. I never once found it to be enjoyable to listen to, let alone compete with the Singlepower, whereas the Hat Peed Thingee sounded shockingly good right out of the box.

And I also like the preamp functionality. Hell, I have even used the Hat Peed Thingee as a preamp in my stereo rig and it is not at all embarassed by my Manley tube preamp.

 

[minimus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fkclo /img/forum/go_quote.gif It looks like the Blue Circle products are not sold at a discount off listed price. Does anyone locate a good deal for its products ? F. Lo

I bought mine from TLP Audio. They did not offer me any discount, but they supposedly have some demo units that come up for sale from time to time. I imagine that Skylab's will be one of those demo units, so you could ask for a discount on that one when he returns it.