Boulder Amplifiers- Your Comments Please


Am looking at high power/high dollar solid state amps, after years with ARC Reference tube gear. Will retain ARC REF. II Mk.1 Pre-Amp & REF. Phono (like a little tube bloom!) and replace VTM-200 monoblocks. I am particularly interested in comments on Boulder 2060, 2050- I know what the 1060 sounds like and am curious about the 2000 series. Thanks..
fbhifi
I heard Boulder amps under CES conditions a few years ago, when they exhibited with Soundlab .

The average sound was not what troubled me, but more the attitude of Boulder's designer as these shows are notorious for poor sound quality anyway.

I therefore must admit prejudice on this subject.

After noticing that the left Soundlab speaker was plugged into the socket of a table lamp (hence being used as a makeshift extension cord), I freaked.

I ask Roger West who owns Soundlab, and he said that he had not checked out the system, having arrived late for the show. He suggested I speak to the owner of Boulder who was responsible for setting up the system, and express my concerns.

I approached him, introduced myself and explained my concern with using a socket that was adequate only for charging a cell phone and he looked at me strangely. He then replied, "Are you one of those people who believe that power cords make a difference?"

He then went into a rave about how little power the Soundlabs required and that it simply did not matter. This from a designer who is promoting gear that lists for new automobile prices.

It is difficult to accept the opinion of any designer who cannot grasp the importance of that question.

Even if I were wrong and the sound could not be improved with audiophile power cords, plugged DIRECTLY into the wall, the lack of concern with such a shoddy set up should have been an embarrassment to him and everyone who entered the room.

Worse yet, my offer to replace the makeshift set up with loaner power cords from Purist Audio or Cardas was refused. He simply turned his back on me with an arrogant attitude on his face.

Sorry, but he has ZERO credibility with me after that experience.
Dinan has a point, but just remember that there's a big difference between 1 percent of 100 units and 1 percent of 10,000 units.
Fbhifi knows my opinion! Those who are fortunate enough to own Boulder 1000 or 2000 series products stop flipping their equipment and enjoy the music!

The competition is very limited in this range...Accuphase, Gryphon, EAR, Edge, Levison, Krell, Pass and YBA just to name a few. Some decent and some total jokes for the money but none that offer competition for the 2060 or 2050.

I put my money on the 2060 after having owned or had direct listening experience with all of the above.

The true test is always how many of these products actually show up used in our Audiogon community. In the case of Boulder, the older units show up few and far between and are usually sold in days. Took me 3 days to sell my 250s, 2 days for my 500s and a week for my Ultimate while these other products listing were gathering dust!

Just my 2 cents...everyone enjoy their weekend!
Try a search on this topic, there are only a handful of members who have truly spent some time with boulder gear, and all of those folks have shared there opinions more then a few times. ~Tim