Blue Circle BC 3000 MKII

I would take a look at the Blue Circle forum. There are plenty of comments that have been posted on this pre.

I had the opportunity to spend some time with the 3000 MKII GZpz and it is a wonderful pre. Has lots of speed, detail and clarity but never in an analytical way. It throws a very wide and deep soundstage and images are nicely fleshed out. If texture and inner detail is your thing, then you will really enjoy this pre. Like all of Gilbert's designs, it injects a human quality that makes his products so special. It easily bettered my soon to be replaced EMM DCC2.

Another product you may want to consider is his new BC109 which is fully solid state and powered by a huge bank of capacitors (aka "Pinkie").

Jwtrace,
I was actually considering Gilbert's BC303 DWBB which is their tube based flagship pre. Although it is a production unit, Gilbert still does not have any propaganda on his site and I’m not sure that he really intends on putting anything up. Because the 303 is a built to order, there was no way for me to try it in my home. Instead, my dealer delivered the 3000 and 109 so that I could get a flavour of tube vs SS in my system.

It’s safe to say that I would have been more than happy to have the 3000 in my system. I imagine the 303 would be another big step forward, which is incredible considering how the 3000 easily trounced the pre section in the DCC2.

The 109 does not sound anything like a typical SS unit. It has a purity and delicacy (and humanness) about it that was very intoxicating. I imagine this has a lot to do with the power supply and how this pre does not have to be connected to the grid when it is being used. If I had to compare the two, the 3000 is more about texture and timbre whereas the 109 is about speed, purity and micro/macro dynamics. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like one lacks in any area - both are simply wonderful.

The unit I settled on is a much customized 109 that is spec’d as close as possible to the Pinkie prototype. It has 2800F which is a a lot of capacitors and can run for over 2 days on a single charge. It will also have a new remote volume control that I asked Gilbert to design.

Gilbert has always had a remote vc option, however even he says that it compromises the performance. You do have the option of bypassing the remote vc and using the manual shallco's, but that doesn't make much sense to me. I asked him if he could build a shallco attenuator that was driven by a remote controlled motor so that is what he has done. No compromises in sound quality ... but I think it is very labour intensive from my understanding.