Blue Circle BC22 Monoblock Amplifier Review

Originally posted on the Blue Circle Forum on Dec 19, 2009

So here I am, on a sunny warm San Francisco morning, sitting inside listening to Portishead’s Dummy. I have collected notes on the sound of my new exciting new BC21.1 and BC22mk2 monoblocks, but it’s more natural for me to write as I listen to music because I’m reminded of what I hear and can more easily put it down on paper.

This journey started something like half a year ago – I could go back and look but don’t feel like it - when I started asking around on the BC forum about what part of my system I should upgrade next. At one point Gilbert chimed in to say he could make BC22mk2 monoblocks, and that there might be a member with one for sale. After negotiations and waiting (story of life), a second 22 was purchased. My 21.1 preamp (previously modded with an outboard power supply) and 22 amp soon joined it, and after an upgrade party, the trio was back in my dirty paws for a complete system make-over. The preamp was in for a check-up, but G offered to double its internal cap… what the heck – yes. The amps were in for POT/LOC upgrades and their transformation to mono. G offered to add 30,000uF more cap to each amp…. what the heck – yes. “By the way, G, can you upgrade to pretty LED’s all around and repaint the covers to matching black?” “Sure.” I’m greatly simplifying the story and every day felt like eternity while I waited, but now that the new gear is here, all of that seems so long ago. The preamp is being fed from the analog output of a TacT RCS2.0AAA DSP unit, which is fed a digital signal from an Arcam FMJ DV29. I enjoy the punchy, rhythmic house sound of Arcam DACs, but find the TacT to be an indispensable component in my system, where the shape of the room restricts setup options and domestic considerations must be, well, considered. Next step is an outboard DAC, but I digress. Enough about the TacT for now, but I will revisit its role later on.

The new gear seems to have undergone a short break-in period since I received them a week or so ago. The bass has firmed up a little, and music is presented in a more integrated manner now. I define not-integrated as meaning that the music was almost literally being thrown at me by the speakers. It was a wonderful but overwhelming experience that I had not previously had listening to any system – either mine or others. Now, the sound pours from the speakers in the most natural, captivating, integrated manner.

The beefed-up power supplies in the 22’s, and maybe also the 21.1, must be responsible for the absolute black hole that almost sucks you in before the music starts and also exists between notes. The extended trail of decaying notes is evidence of the quiet background. Subtle rhythmic changes are immediately apparent now, taking no effort to decipher. Each song’s unique mood is clearly presented; if a song has a more laid-back mood, or a faster more exciting pace, then either is equally obvious to the listener. Contrast this against the previous BC incarnation which, in retrospect, didn’t allow these subtleties to present themselves nearly as clearly. The beautiful part is that these changes are detectable even without specifically listening for them. Overall the notes are presented in a fresher, crisper, even cleaner manner. I mean cleaner almost in a literal sense, as if the notes have been carefully scrubbed to reveal their beauty and shininess, without robbing them of their soul or musical intent. Every instrument or voice is more distinctly placed in the soundstage and has a more obvious physical presence, seeming to hover in its own space within the whole. Each has its own life breathed into it. The soundstage has not necessarily increased in width – maybe a little - but its depth is very obviously redefined. The stage doesn’t extend too much further back (due, I am sure, to the fact that I have a TV about a foot behind my speakers, and a wall a couple of feet behind the TV), however it definitely extends more forward, resulting in an overall deeper stage.

The bass portion of the audio spectrum has been the most interesting and difficult to get a handle on. Several simultaneous changes have happened, and truthfully I’m still getting my mind around them. Here’s my current attempt to describe it. While waiting for the 21.1/22s to arrive, I was using another manufacturer’s integrated amp. Bass was fairly tight and authoritative but lacked qualitative substance and was harmonically lean. Today, the bass is harmonically richer (as I like it) and notes are clearly delineated and have good physical impact. “Is there more bass than before?” Yes and no, and there are a couple of ways I can attempt to explain this bipolar state of mind. Yes #1: Bass-heavy tracks (e.g., Massive Attack’s Angel, from Mezzanine) now push the speakers to their limit of bass extension and output of sound – literally windows can rattle. Those notes are tuneful, controlled, deep, powerful, coherent. Yes #2: Previously I had used the TacT to reduce room resonances with careful editing of the correction curves, even going so far as to “notch down” certain frequencies while “bumping up” others. The Tact curve I am now using passes more bass through than before and does not need any specific editing as before. This means that the bass being produced by the amps is more powerful and well controlled than before; room resonances are naturally attenuated by the amp’s seemingly more powerful grip on the woofers. I am a little bit of a bass junky, so overall this is a truly amazing, wonderful, and invigorating experience. No #1: On some songs, I find myself wanting to turn up the bass – “Where’d the bass go?”. I now believe this is because of better bass control as I mentioned above, resulting in a more accurate portrayal of the recording content.

In sum, I am enjoying the hell out of my new gear. My understanding of Gilbert’s audio vision is to reveal the soul of the music. True to that vision, every technical change I hear and enjoy – clearer bass, cleaner notes, deeper soundstage, distinct placement of voices and instruments, subtle rhythmic shifts, etc – seem to be steps in the direction of revealing the musical soul. I actually asked Gilbert in one email, what would be next for me – a new preamp, for instance? He replied that we can talk about it when I get there, and that as long as he’s alive, the sky’s the limit. I believe it.