MuthaFunk
Vinyl Addict
I purchased a Blue Circle Fon Lo Thingee to compete with my Jolida JD9 which itself is a bargain in the vinyl world. The FLT comes from a very high pedigree which peaked my interest. The two sections of it are designed from Blue Circles higher end $7000 and $2200 phono pre-amps!
The Fon Lo Thingee is a truly unique pre-amp that is under the radar right now. It hasn't been in production for very long and I think it's a sleeper at this stage until word catches on.
To describe it's sound I would say "very hi fidelity". Not warm in the least. It's transformed my modest system into one of those incredible high end systems you hear at the boutique shops. I never knew my system had the capability to reproduce the live sound as though the musicians are in the room. I can hear so many details out of my Denon DL-103R and CineMag combo that I coudn't hear with any other budget pre-amps I've tried.
The Fon Lo Thingee seems to have (by my ears) a ultra high end 1 or 2 db lift above 6 Khz or so. The mids are smooth and detailed but not at all in your face like the JD9. The bass is very clean with a great extension down deep. My ears tell me it's almost flat through the mids and down deep to perhaps 20 Hz. This ultra clean upper frequency response gives the FLT the perceived ability to project recordings into the room. While listening to Jazz, I could hear so much more details in the function of the soloing instrument like spit in the trumpet and reed control with a sax. I've never heard details like that on my system before. I always thought the conical stylus on my Denon couldn't track that stuff but I guess it does, just my previous preamps couldn't produce it. The jolida is spec'd to go up to 100 Khz. I didn't hear the same details though the JD9.
All that detail brought me right into the performance of the solos and really captivated me. I play in a jazz/funk group http://www.quadrafonics.com and we practice in my home studio. I often hear my sax player warming up before a practice in my listening room so I'm familiar with what a live sax sounds like in there and this FLT faithfully reproduced that sound only now it was Coltrane!! Let me tell you, It's a real gas to feel like Miles Davis is in your jam room.:ntwrthy:
I moved on to other types of music to see how this realistic in the room sound would translate to over-produced recordings. With some Earth Wind and Fire pumping through I really noticed that 3 dimensional sound you sometimes read people experiencing. I've never really heard that with the exception of super high priced systems with $40,000 speakers at my local hi-fi shop. Now here it was in my modest system!
Bob Marley Exodus was next on the list to experience and it was again like listening to an album I thought I knew well but this time sounded remastered with much more studio acoustics and room. The bass guitar sounded like a 60's Pbass not just bloated fatness.
Needless to say I'm very impressed with this Blue Circle Fon Lo Thingee and would recommend any of you guys on a budget to preview it. One fellow online user told me he had to sell his Gram Slee Era Gold after previewing the FLT in his system. Pretty high praise considering the following the Gram Slee has and the cost to own one. I personally think The FLT is a sleeper pre-amp and the word hasn't got out yet. I don't think anyone else here on AK has used one so I thought I'd throw this thread / review out there.
Here's a list of the equipment I previewed the FLT with:
VPI HW-19 Mk.4
Denon DL-103R
CineMag Tranformers
Denon AVR-3803 Pre-amp section only
Acurus A250 Power
Paradigm Studio 60 mains
Rythmik DIY 12" Sub
The Fon Lo Thingee is a truly unique pre-amp that is under the radar right now. It hasn't been in production for very long and I think it's a sleeper at this stage until word catches on.
To describe it's sound I would say "very hi fidelity". Not warm in the least. It's transformed my modest system into one of those incredible high end systems you hear at the boutique shops. I never knew my system had the capability to reproduce the live sound as though the musicians are in the room. I can hear so many details out of my Denon DL-103R and CineMag combo that I coudn't hear with any other budget pre-amps I've tried.
The Fon Lo Thingee seems to have (by my ears) a ultra high end 1 or 2 db lift above 6 Khz or so. The mids are smooth and detailed but not at all in your face like the JD9. The bass is very clean with a great extension down deep. My ears tell me it's almost flat through the mids and down deep to perhaps 20 Hz. This ultra clean upper frequency response gives the FLT the perceived ability to project recordings into the room. While listening to Jazz, I could hear so much more details in the function of the soloing instrument like spit in the trumpet and reed control with a sax. I've never heard details like that on my system before. I always thought the conical stylus on my Denon couldn't track that stuff but I guess it does, just my previous preamps couldn't produce it. The jolida is spec'd to go up to 100 Khz. I didn't hear the same details though the JD9.
All that detail brought me right into the performance of the solos and really captivated me. I play in a jazz/funk group http://www.quadrafonics.com and we practice in my home studio. I often hear my sax player warming up before a practice in my listening room so I'm familiar with what a live sax sounds like in there and this FLT faithfully reproduced that sound only now it was Coltrane!! Let me tell you, It's a real gas to feel like Miles Davis is in your jam room.:ntwrthy: I moved on to other types of music to see how this realistic in the room sound would translate to over-produced recordings. With some Earth Wind and Fire pumping through I really noticed that 3 dimensional sound you sometimes read people experiencing. I've never really heard that with the exception of super high priced systems with $40,000 speakers at my local hi-fi shop. Now here it was in my modest system!
Bob Marley Exodus was next on the list to experience and it was again like listening to an album I thought I knew well but this time sounded remastered with much more studio acoustics and room. The bass guitar sounded like a 60's Pbass not just bloated fatness.
Needless to say I'm very impressed with this Blue Circle Fon Lo Thingee and would recommend any of you guys on a budget to preview it. One fellow online user told me he had to sell his Gram Slee Era Gold after previewing the FLT in his system. Pretty high praise considering the following the Gram Slee has and the cost to own one. I personally think The FLT is a sleeper pre-amp and the word hasn't got out yet. I don't think anyone else here on AK has used one so I thought I'd throw this thread / review out there.
Here's a list of the equipment I previewed the FLT with:
VPI HW-19 Mk.4
Denon DL-103R
CineMag Tranformers
Denon AVR-3803 Pre-amp section only
Acurus A250 Power
Paradigm Studio 60 mains
Rythmik DIY 12" Sub
(Cheap RTV silicone, kitchen/bath sealant for example, can outgas chemicals corrosive to electronics.)
