Experience with Blue Circle amps

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.

Thorty40: Sounds like a big breakdown in communications. I guess I have no reason not to believe you, but why did you pay it?? Did they really know it was four months old? I am surprised Gilbert did not just send you a new amp. I have had many dealings with Blue Circle and Gilbert directly, and they have always bent over backwards to satisfy. They have even returned Emails on weekends including Saturday evenings. Gilbert once personally mailed me a few lightbulbs when I mentioned only in passing that one of my bulbs was out that lights the Blue Circle.

I have also never heard of any relability problems with any of their gear of the magnitude you describe. Gilbert personally inspects every amp that goes out the door and I believe they also get some burn-in period. I can't imagine how you could make quality control better? Care to tell us who this dealer is? Maybe he sold you a used amp or an amp that had been fooled with, told you it was new, and made up a big story to cover it up.

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.

I have to agree with Sugarbrie - Gilbert's customer service is second to none. Thorty40: I would be willing to bet that your dealer sold you a pooched amp in the first place. I know literally dozens of Blue Circle customers; all happy campers - mainly because of Gilbert's commitment to both his product and customers. In addition, I drove a pair of Aerial 5 (85 db sens.) speakers for two years with a BC22, never turned the amp off. It never got more than a bit warm.

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.