Experience with Blue Circle amps

Stereophile and their reviewers bear little weight in regards to my own decisions concerning audio purchases. However, the bench test measurements are sometimes interesting to read and are less biased for obvious reasons. My purchases usually are based upon the various input of other "audiophiles" and my own judgment concluded by time spent personally with a given piece of gear.

My BC22 blew up when it was about 4 months old. It was sent back to the factory and they actually charged me to repair the amp which was obviously under warranty at that time. This is quite a poor policy in my opinion for a small, high end company to exhibit. I feel the repair should have been free under the conditions of the warranty. The amplifer was not abused, mishandled, or exposed to anything that would have resulted in one channel going biserk.
Apparently, up to 70% of the BC22 amplifers in the field today have undergone serious repairs of some sort within the first year of ownership. This seems to be a QC problem that BC should have dealt with in the proper fasion from the begining. This statistic I heard from a local Blue Circle dealer.

Sugarbrie, when I was told their was a cost involved in regards to repair to the BC22, I told the dealer he could shove it. He then paid for the repair himself, so really I actually did not pay for the repair personally. I should have wrote their was a charge, not he charged me, sorry for the mix up.
Do you remember the test bench performance results in the Stereophile issue with the BC21/22 combo? They said the BC22 tested like a 15 year old SS amp, shutting down every twenty seconds during the test or so from overheating. I had a problem with mine when I used it on my speakers, it was unable to drive them and felt like it would melt, even at very low volumes. I then used an 8 year old Simaudio amp (4050, I think?) and it drove the speakers with ease.

I personally know more people that had the same problems with the BC22 and surprisingly mechanical difficulties with the BC21 as well. I had no problems with the BC21, I really liked that preamp and had considered getting a BC3 Galatea at some point.

The fact that the amp experienced mechanical failure does not bother me nearly as much as a manufacturer charging to repair an item that clearly was under warranty. The amp was sealed, brand new at the time of purchasing and the dealer was reputable and honest. This is in no way an attempt to bash anything or anyone, its just something that happened plain and simple.

The BC22 and BC21 were dropped shipped directly from Blue Circle to me at the time of purchase. Its not only me that had this problem, I know of others who had simliar problems. I actually saw the e-mail from BC with the charges and the charges were made payable to BC, not the dealer.

Its not the efficency of the speaker, its the load thats the problem. Read the test bench report in Stereophile, its clearly shown in their report.

Regards,
Chris

Sugarbrie, I'm just saying what I know, the dealer is well respected by everyone and I have dealt with them for years, manufacturers also have great respect for this dealer.

The test is done for reliability and there is alot of great sounding gear that tests great. The BC22 tested very bad, not just against the standard norm. How could it possibly be the dealers fault for the amp blowing up, as well as others that were bought from other dealers and direct? Both of my packages arrived in perfect shape, no dents or holes with no sign of water damage, ect.....

Bowbow, that is called a charge when BC bills the dealer for repair bill made payable to BC.

*Example*

Invoice from Blue Circle:

Total cost of BC22 repairs - $280 - amount due in full.

Dealer: sends payment out to BC in the amount of $280 for repair done to a 4 month old BC22.

Originally, BC wanted the repairs to be paid for from consumer, this is not acceptable as the unit was being used normally, was not exposed to any condition which would constitute damage AND unit was only 4 months old at that time.