First Post from TLP Audio-March 25 2019

Welcome back to this Forum. You will note that it has a new name to inform us that Blue Circle, as far as new products are concerned, is over. However the good news is that Gilbert Yeung as the re-designer of some of the legacy BC products and designer of some new ones is still with us.
New Gilbert Yeung-designed products are forthcoming under the auspices of Entracte Audio of Canada and Amherst Audio and TLP Audio of the USA.
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First Post from TLP Audio-March 25 2019

Post by wstagner » Mon Mar 18, 2019 4:50 pm

After several years of talking about retirement, Gilbert Yeung (formerly of Blue Circle Audio) finally “pulled the trigger” and closed Blue Circle Audio in January 2019. Even though I expected his retirement eventually, it was still somewhat of a shock to me when it happened.

After the dust settled I pondered Gilbert’s decision for a while and started thinking about what Bob Neill of Amherst Audio reminded me of. Gilbert never liked to run a company but loves to design and create cutting-edge audio products. Gilbert likes to call himself a "lab rat" so we offered him a challenge: design and package some new/improved powerline filters that offer some features our customers have asked us for.

TLP Audio (USA) and Entracte Audio (Canada) have joined forces in this project.
We are pleased to offer these newly-designed filters for sale to our USA customers.
The models are designated as follows: TF110, TF120 and TF130.
Entracte Audio will be selling the same filters in Canada designated: EF110, EF120 and EF130.

Over the past 15 years, TLP Audio has been offering the best value powerline filters from Blue Circle Audio. It is only a natural progression for us to offer Gilbert's newest designs as the best value possible. After a month of negotiating with Gilbert, and knowing his creative mind works, he has designed a new series of powerline filter for us. The result are the models TF110, TF120 and TF130.

Although the underlying design is similar to the legacy Blue Circle models, the latest filtering technology is used. The result is a significant improvement from the legacy models. Here are some specifics:

All 3 models are enclosed in a metal chassis, have 6 outlets and include an AWG14 power cord.

The TF110 has 35% more filtering than a BC Double Puck and has a total of 6 outlets compared to the Double Puck’s 4 outlets and retails for USD415.00.

The TF120 has 20% more filtering than the BC FX2X0e and retails for USD675.00.

The TF130 has 36% more filtering power than a BC 6000 and retails for USD925.00. The EF130 is destined to become the leader of the power conditioner pack.

Additionally, there is more to these new designs than just filtering power. Specifically, it’s the way these filters work. Today there some products on the market generating noise that gets dumped into powerlines. Some good examples of this are electronic devices using digital power supples, such as computers, and televisions. Also, a few of today’s audiophile-grade power products even generate noise that intentionally pollutes the powerline.

Although this sounds hard to believe, what some companies do is alter the sound rather than clean the powerline. This means they change the sound in such a way that it gives the customer the sound that the audio market expects to hear. Our TF powerline filters remove powerline noise so that the power that gets to your device is similar to what you’d get if on a very clean powerline. The Gilbert-designed powerline conditioners always clean the powerline and let the equipment perform at its best.

The new technology has circuitry that combats this particular problem in addition to the other issues that come from switching power supplies, big industrial motors and other electronic devices that occurs within and outside house. The performance of these new filters has to be heard, or watched on a TV to believe how much better they are compared to the legacy BC models.

Other than electrical improvement, these new units are also housed in a metal chassis to improve noise sheilding from the outside. This results in an even lower noise floor.

Metal chasis dimensions: 9" long x 4" high x 5" wide
All TLP-Audio series TF powerline filters carry a 5 years parts and labor warranty.
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Last edited by wstagner on Sat Apr 06, 2019 1:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: First Post from TLP Audio-March 25 2019

Post by esoxhntr » Sun Mar 31, 2019 3:36 pm

Just to add a little technical info...

A number of folks have asked via e-mail if these are the same filters as the former Blue Circle PLC units. Short answer: Yes and no.

Yes, because these are capacitor based power line filters with no current limit and because they use different values of capacitance to create networks specific to the various frequencies ranges of electrical dirt. Definitely the same general approach.

No, for a number of reasons. First - and most obviously - the EF/TF units are in a metal chassis for better shielding from external noise (Walt already mentioned this). Second, these new units are using a multi-point ground system, implemented for a better and stronger earth to ground path. As an added benefit, the new ground layout has contributed to lower background noise. No question, it's quieter. Third, more advanced capacitance networks are being used, with greater overall filtering power.

The PLC line taught us all much about addressing specific frequency ranges in power line filtration. What Gilbert has designed for us is a unit that is more powerful in terms of filtration, and believe it or not, has a better bang for the buck.

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Re: First Post from TLP Audio-March 25 2019

Post by wstagner » Sun Mar 31, 2019 3:41 pm

Many thanks for the valuable additional info. :D

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