If boulder is tops what is second tier?

Interesting remark by the Boulder guy, about how all cables sound the same. Maybe, with a Boulder (or some other amp) they do. After all, the cables do something to the electrical load which the amp sees, and some amps handle loading anomalies better than others.

I guess my amps are not ideal, because Goertz cables do sound better than zip cord. Just a bit.

I haven't heard the Boulder but I certainly agree with Albert, Drjoe and Mike. A front cover spash in Stereophile or TAS means nothing, or at least nothing about the sound. A high price correlates to large profits, but not necessarily to anything else.

I've A/B'd the Lamm LP2/LL2 with my much less expensive Nick Doshi Alaap, in the Lamm owner's system. The Lamm owner immediately put them up for sale and placed an order with Nick. Sonically, there really was no comparison.

During an A/B in my system the Aesthetix Rhea/Calypso performed better than the higher priced Lamms, but they still couldn't match Nick's preamp. The Aesthetix owner sold them and ordered an Alaap, just as the Lamm owner did.

The same thing has happened with the Aesthetix Io/Callisto Sig. (I didn't hear that comparison but the outcome was the same.)

Of the commercial preamps I've heard, the VAC Renaissance came closest to matching the Alaap. It didn't have quite the frequency extension for MC and the line stage wasn't quite as natural sounding with digital sources. But the differences were subtle. If I had to own a name brand with an expensive look, I'd be happiest with a VAC based my experiences so far. I presume VAC's top of the line model outplays the Renaissance, it's visually spectacular and it's a lot less money than a Boulder.

Ok,my gear or my hearing aren't in this class to enable any significant input on this subject. However I have read in mag. interviews, several quotes from designers, of this very nature. (for big expensive products) I doubt any product could not be tweeked/improved upon no matter who made it or how expensive it is. I also think some of these highend guys would be embarrassed to have quotes they made 10/20 years ago,read back to them,today.

Well since you mentioned the ASR Basis Exclusive, I will provide some input on that particular phono preamp, and how it relates to one or two of the other phono preamps referred to by one of the others.

The ASR is the best phono preamp I have heard. It is quiet, dynamic, and musical. (Feel free to substitute P.R.A.T for musical, or whatever term you refer to as that certain something that gets your toe a'tapping!) It elevated my friend's system to a whole new level.

It clearly bested the Aesthetix Rhea. The Rhea has some really nice, user friendly features (the remote control is incredible!), but sonically, it is not in the same class, IMHO. The Rhea has quite a bit of tube noise, that with tube rolling, can be reduced, but not quite eliminated. This noise floor prevented it from really acheiving top notch status. (However, for the money, and especially if you like running more than one tonearm, and auditioning different cartridges, it is a reasonable choice.)

I have heard the Lamm LP2 as well. It is a very good phono preamp, but having its gain and loading fixed, very much limits its use, IMHO. (However, for a tube phono preamp, it is amazingly quiet, surprisingly so!) That being said, I would never buy it myself, as I prefer to have more flexibility as to which cartridges I can use.
(I preferred the ASR to the Lamm, as it was easily adjusted to match the cartridge requirements, although I feel the Lamm is better than the Rhea sonically, but only if the right cartridge is used, and there are few cartridges that are truly "right" for the Lamm.)

My two cents worth anyway.

BTW, are you actually in the market, or just opening up a topic for discussion? (I don't care either way, as I like the topic and the discussion!)

I am in the market most defenitely, and want to thank you all for chiming in.
As most of you already know, I have been beating this topic to death, but I feel that this is probably the most important part of the chain in our systems!
Not changing the subject, I just recently purchased a Graham 2.2, and can't be more pleased with the improvement of sound in my system. I can only imagine how much further I can go by upgrading the PHONO PREAMP!
I get the idea that spending more on a phono preamp in relation to other components would yield excellent results, no?
So to reiterate my initial question. Which phono preamp should I get that would be considered a top player? I would like to make this a lasting purchase.
My price range would top out at about $3k.
thank you all.