General Asylum: REVIEW: Blue Circle Audio mr 800 & mr 1200 Power Conditioner/Surge Protector by Jeff Kay

Model:	mr 800 & mr 1200
Category:	Power Conditioner/Surge Protector
Suggested Retail Price:	$699 & $799
Description:	balanced power line conditioner and distribution center
Manufacturer URL:	Blue Circle Audio
Model Picture:	View

Review by Jeff Kay ( A ) on May 14, 2002 at 05:43:01
IP Address: 65.93.146.195

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for the mr 800 & mr 1200

Review Blue Circle Music Ring MR1200 and MR800
I have always been a bit of a sucker for the idea of power line conditioners and filters. During my audio life I have tried many different types. I think the fetish started the first time I came home after midnight with a few brown pops in me. Wanting to hear some tunes I threw the stereo on, I put on a track and settled back, wow, clean and clear, just stunning ,after a few hours and some encouragement from my wife to "turn the shit off and come to bed" I switched it off, but that feeling stuck.
In the sober light of the next day nothing sounded even close to the night before. Now I am not saying that 8 Tartans make a great power line filter or conditioner, well maybe I am, nah not really. Anyway a friend of mine told me about all the garbage on the hydro coming into your house, plus all the crap added by the electrical appliances in your house.
So after that point I have tried many of the different gadgets available to solve this problem. Got my PS and loved it , but it pissed me off that I couldnâ€™t afford to do my amps and I just hated watching the hydro meter zipping round and round.
Then I met the gentleman from Blue Circle and he had the most marvellous new device called the music ring. I took home two mr1200â€™s and one mr800. The amps each had to have their own while the 800 was for the front end. Hooked them up, plugged them in and then waited two hours for things to nicely warm up.
I started out playing Kenny Burrellâ€™s "Midnight Blue" (RVG addition), ok, its way before midnight, 6 pm in fact, wow, where is that coming from? The reverb, the decay, the sound stage, the distance between instruments, the micro dynamics, everything was so clean and clear. The bass, oh the bass, so tight so controlled just the wack of the bass peddle and the resounding echo in the sound stage was enough to give you a little shiver. Then Stanley Turrington soloed , that horn now breathed the "oh so" sweet notes, I was totally mesmerized. I donâ€™t even want to get started on the microphone on Kenny Burrellâ€™s guitar amp but the fuzz and distortion mingling with the clarity of a single struck note followed by the reverb made it feel as real as seeing on stage.
I would like to make some observations about the soundstage. While normally my Merlin vsm speakers throw off a nice and fairly impressive presentation of the area the musician are playing in, adding the music rings now gave that room more depth and structure, it now emanated towards me and enveloped me so I felt like I was now in the room with the musicians getting to hear the music the way they had intended. Did I mention the decay on symbols? The shimmer, the wood or brushes hitting the metal and the decay being so distinctly heard. If the drummer used his hand to stop the decay or let it go as the music demanded you could visualize and distinctly hear the event.

I have had a Audio Aero 24/192 for over a year, I did not think it could sound better, it can. I continued playing music long into the night and for many days afterwards what it did for xrcdâ€™s and even non re mastered discs was amazing. One complaint I always had with my system was its inability to reproduce rock music as it was intended , while the music rings did not totally solve this condition it certainly improved it enough to make that listening experience very enjoyable (try the Tweeker cd, if your into that sort of thing). After many, many hours I never got fatigued
Next I tried it on my surround system upstairs, Ead and Von Schweikert stuff. Well same feeling, while the sound stage didnâ€˜t develop the same, but the instruments had the same space, depth , and clarity. All of the same attributes listed above. I even plugged them into my hdtv and noticed a greater clarity and resolution on the screen. After all this and reading Bob Neils review on "Enjoy the Music", I now own three music rings that I bought from Black Chow Audio.
This is my first time reviewing equipment so please be gentle.

Product Weakness: none
Product Strengths: low power consumption, expanded sound stage, timber, clarity, realism, price

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	Blue Circle BC 32
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	Ead Ovation
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Ead Theatre Vision P
Speakers:	Von Schweikert 4.5 & 4 gen 11 and centre channel
Cables/Interconnects:	Cardas, xlo
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Blues, Jazz, metal, rock
Room Size (LxWxH):	15 x 11 x 9
Time Period/Length of Audition:	2 month
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

Product Weakness:	none
Product Strengths:	low power consumption, expanded sound stage, timber, clarity, realism, price