Boulder 1110 Owners - What cables do you use?

divertiti

Well-Known Member
Jan 12, 2021
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Hey fellow Boulder 1110 owners, I was wondering what cables do you use with your preamp (Power, XLR, speaker). I tried a Audioquest Firebird Source power cord and it made a world of difference in soundstage size, coherence and air, it made me curious. What have you tried before settling on what you found to be best? What made you choose those?
 

chuck

Well-Known Member
Dec 19, 2011
358
314
968
San Diego
Hey fellow Boulder 1110 owners, I was wondering what cables do you use with your preamp (Power, XLR, speaker). I tried a Audioquest Firebird Source power cord and it made a world of difference in soundstage size, coherence and air, it made me curious. What have you tried before settling on what you found to be best? What made you choose those?
I just used the stock power cord. I had planned to change it and then the pandemic hit. I got my 1110 only a couple of weeks before we went into lockdown. I haven't thought about the power cord until you mentioned it. Did you try any others?
 

divertiti

Well-Known Member
Jan 12, 2021
208
188
113
I just used the stock power cord. I had planned to change it and then the pandemic hit. I got my 1110 only a couple of weeks before we went into lockdown. I haven't thought about the power cord until you mentioned it. Did you try any others?

I tried a Audioquest Firebird Source and my DIY Helix Geometry power cable I discovered on Audiogon forum, and because your post I just tried the stock power cord tonight, and to be honest, I think I might like the stock cord the best. The Audioquest Firebird sounds very musical, blows up the soundstage to be very large but does so at the expense of transparency and image focus. The DIY Helix cable is the opposite, ultra transparent and focused, but sound constrained and a bit fatiguing. The stock cable seems to be both open and focused, with an ease in the presentation.

I know Jay's Audio Lab on Youtube has also mentioned that the stock power cord sounds best with his Boulder 2110. Must be something to do with Boulder's engineering, although he recently got some Transparent Opus Gen 5 power cord for his Boulder 2150s and that seems to have improved things a lot.
 
Last edited:

chuck

Well-Known Member
Dec 19, 2011
358
314
968
San Diego
The XLR interconnects are 10 year old Transparent Reference. I also use Transparent Reference speaker cables.
 

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