Boulder 3060 smooth and a maybe even a bit warm?

[pk_LA]

(my first post)

I am close to making a decision on a 3060. Rest of the system is Alexx V, dCS Rossini+Clock, Transparent XL.

My only hesitation is around musicality - I want more bass and a lower noise floor but without sacrificing smoothness and musicality. (The amp being upgraded is a dag s250.)

Anyway, I would appreciate comments from anyone whose heard it...

Thx in advance!

 

[bonzo75]

At that price, if you can also try to audition audionet stern plus Heisenberg

 

[Addicted to hifi]

(my first post)

I am close to making a decision on a 3060. Rest of the system is Alexx V, dCS Rossini+Clock, Transparent XL.

My only hesitation is around musicality - I want more bass and a lower noise floor but without sacrificing smoothness and musicality. (The amp being upgraded is a dag s250.)

Anyway, I would appreciate comments from anyone whose heard it...

Thx in advance!

Welcome pk la to wbf.

 

[Addicted to hifi]

(my first post)

I am close to making a decision on a 3060. Rest of the system is Alexx V, dCS Rossini+Clock, Transparent XL.

My only hesitation is around musicality - I want more bass and a lower noise floor but without sacrificing smoothness and musicality. (The amp being upgraded is a dag s250.)

Anyway, I would appreciate comments from anyone whose heard it...

Thx in advance!

Boulder make nothin less than excellent amplifers.I have only heard them once and was very impressed with there sound.

 

[XV-1]

(my first post)

I am close to making a decision on a 3060. Rest of the system is Alexx V, dCS Rossini+Clock, Transparent XL.

My only hesitation is around musicality - I want more bass and a lower noise floor but without sacrificing smoothness and musicality. (The amp being upgraded is a dag s250.)

Anyway, I would appreciate comments from anyone whose heard it...

Thx in advance!

no interest in the M400's?

as Ked mentioned, a home demo is probably required at this level, as most amps are excellent so it just , does it synergise into your system?

 

[bonzo75]

no interest in the M400's?

as Ked mentioned, a home demo is probably required at this level, as most amps are excellent so it just , does it synergise into your system?

The m400 is quite better than the 250 from a video assessment, confirmed by the person in the room @Hieukm

 

[LL21]

You might wish to speak with "Chuck" here who owns the Boulder 3000 series, and has heard the Relentless as well...I think Chuck uses YG (4-tower) but has heard big Wilsons with these amps? I very nearly went with the 3060 myself, but after hearing the Robert Koda K15EX, I took a leap and went with the matching monos. But 3060 was high on my list...be curious to know what you end up doing. Having spent time with earlier generation of Boulder equipment (2060 amp), i could imagine 3060 would be pretty mindblowing.

 

[bryans]

@pk_LA All I can say is WOW how I wish I was making this decision. An early congrats to you.

 

[shakti]

I only have compared my former Boulder 1060 to DaG and my current used Heisenberg. The Boulder amp was much more cold voiced with a focus on details. I paired the Boulder 1060 later with Koda 10 Preamp and the blend was nice and satisfying on Wilson Maxx 3.

Stern & Heisenberg is very much neutral with a lot of energy. I like to pair Stern&Heisenberg with tube frontend,
like Zanden, Allnic, Lampizator to get my favorite blend of structure and emotion.

 

[chuck]

If you want your amp to make every recording sound "smooth" and "musical" the 3060 is probably not for you. A lot of audio people want that, I do not. If the recording is smooth, say Ella Fitzgerald's Verve catalog, that is what you hear -- but everything on the recording. Many recordings have both smooth, rough and everything in between tracks, particularly large scale orchestra and opera.
If you want to hear the limits of the AlexxV, the 3060 will get you there. None of the other amps will.
This review gets it.

He talks mostly about the XVX but much of what he describes is because the 3060 can control all those drivers.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

(my first post)

I am close to making a decision on a 3060. Rest of the system is Alexx V, dCS Rossini+Clock, Transparent XL.

My only hesitation is around musicality - I want more bass and a lower noise floor but without sacrificing smoothness and musicality. (The amp being upgraded is a dag s250.)

Anyway, I would appreciate comments from anyone whose heard it...

Thx in advance!

Welcome to What's Best Forum.

not many times i can actually recommend my darTZeel NHB-468's......as they are very spendy. but.....this is one of those times. if you want bass + low noise floor + grain-less, liquid and superlative musicality.......the 468's set the bar very high. and they are a great match for the Alexx.

i've heard big Boulder amps and think i've heard the 3060. to be fair, since i've not heard them in a mature system, i'll only say it's not a darTZeel. the darTZeel has zero global feedback and low parts count in the signal path. overall a minimalist approach. Boulder takes another path.

my personal priority is for electronics to get out of the way of the music, some gear you are hearing the music 'through' them.

 

[LL21]

Thanks for weighing in Chuck. I had earlier mentioned your name in this thread and also that 3060 was high on my list. To be more accurate, it was neck and neck between the Robert Koda K160 monos and the 3060...and the choice came down more about knowing/trusting the dealer and distributors exceedingly well (15+ years). I first made the leap to the Robert K15EX which wasturned out to be exactly to my personal taste, and then after several months of further discussions with Robert Koch of Robert Koda directly, went in for the monos. But that 3060 was otherwise on the top of the entire list for a long, long time.

 

[sbnx]

Welcome to WBF.

Your first post says "my … hesitation..." and I think this is likely why you posted here. For this kind of commitment/expense I don't think you should have any hesitation. You might want to explore some of the options listed above as well as Gryphon. If you have not heard the Gryphon Mephisto you might try and find a dealer that can demo it for you. If you want more bass there aren't many amps that do as well as Gryphon. As Mike L pointed out the DartZeel would definitely be worth a listen as one of the major Stereophile reviewers uses/has used that amp with several Wilson speakers. Based on recent posts from another member you can probably check of CH Precision off your list as it doesn't seem to pair well with the Alexx. I have heard the M400's with the Alexx and they seemed to do a good job.

 

[pk_LA]

Thank you so much for your replies!

Some responses to the various questions.

1) Why am I not considering a number of the various uber high-end but less known options? More than once I have had to pack up an amplifier and send it in for repairs. As such, I am very mindful of reliability and mfr support infrastructure.

2) Why not the m400s? I am kind of ready for something different. The s250 is fantastic. But, it also has a 'sound' to it that is, well, a signature if you will.

3) Do I want every recording to sound 'musical'? Yes and no. I would like recordings to sound enjoyable. That said, I do not like it when certain recordings sound muddy or interpolated. I find myself occasionally messing with the volume or the settings on the dCS because I am either trying to find more granularity or punch. I am not sure if that makes me someone seeking more of less 'truth'.

Again - thank you so much for the thoughtful replies.

 

[Ron Resnick]

(my first post)

I am close to making a decision on a 3060. Rest of the system is Alexx V, dCS Rossini+Clock, Transparent XL.

My only hesitation is around musicality - I want more bass and a lower noise floor but without sacrificing smoothness and musicality. (The amp being upgraded is a dag s250.)

Anyway, I would appreciate comments from anyone whose heard it...

Thx in advance!

Welcome pk to WBF! And I personally am delighted to have another local audiophile in Los Angeles!

 

[Ron Resnick]

If you want your amp to make every recording sound "smooth" and "musical" the 3060 is probably not for you. A lot of audio people want that, I do not. If the recording is smooth, say Ella Fitzgerald's Verve catalog, that is what you hear -- but everything on the recording. Many recordings have both smooth, rough and everything in between tracks, particularly large scale orchestra and opera.
If you want to hear the limits of the AlexxV, the 3060 will get you there. None of the other amps will.

With no disrespect Chuck I feel that you present a false dichotomy driven by personal, subjective preference. It is not the case that only the 3060 is in some objective way correct, and that any other amp will "make every recording sound 'smooth' and 'musical.'"

I appreciate that you are more of a "hear everything on the recording, warts and all, just the facts" type of audiophile, and that is great, but many others have a different high-end audio objective and prefer a different sound. For your personal sonic preference I think you have put together the perfect system. This is why you are so happy with your system, and I truly am very happy for you!

There is a large and wide spectrum of sonic options and varieties between the coolness* and control of a Boulder and the "make every recording sound 'smooth' and 'musical'" of, for example, a syrupy old-fashioned tube amplifier.

Some people want to focus on hearing music, and not hearing the technical and frequency response "limits" of the loudspeakers.

*I have not heard the 3060 myself. But I found other Boulder amps to sound, to me, on the "cool" side. I tend to hear things similarly to Shakti, and if he finds Boulder to be on the cool side I am sure I would concur.

 

[pk_LA]

Welcome pk to WBF! And I personally am delighted to have another local audiophile in Los Angeles!

thank you!

 

[Ron Resnick]

I am close to making a decision on a 3060. Rest of the system is Alexx V, dCS Rossini+Clock, Transparent XL.

My only hesitation is around musicality - I want more bass and a lower noise floor but without sacrificing smoothness and musicality. (The amp being upgraded is a dag s250.)

Anyway, I would appreciate comments from anyone whose heard it...

Thx in advance!

If you have any hesitation about "musicality" (whatever we all mean by that term) with the 3060, then I think you already have your answer. Any such hesitation, I believe, will only gnaw at you more over time. From your hesitation I deduce that the Boulder is not the right amp for you. (And unless dCS has changed their house sound, I do not think that dCS components are on the warm side of the sonic spectrum.)

I assume you want to stay with solid-state. Have you considered a Gryphon Mephisto? I think that amplifier would give you the bass and low noise floor you want without sacrificing "musicality."

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Thank you so much for your replies!

Some responses to the various questions.

1) Why am I not considering a number of the various uber high-end but less known options? More than once I have had to pack up an amplifier and send it in for repairs. As such, I am very mindful of reliability and mfr support infrastructure.

my rec is not to limit yourself to high profile brick and mortar brands. i get the comfort zone issue. but the best amps have passionate support for their products. do your own homework of course. talk to owners of amps you have an interest in to get feedback about your concerns. i can tell you "I" feel like 'family' to my amp builder......for 17 years now. and i'm not alone.

3) Do I want every recording to sound 'musical'? Yes and no. I would like recordings to sound enjoyable. That said, I do not like it when certain recordings sound muddy or interpolated. I find myself occasionally messing with the volume or the settings on the dCS because I am either trying to find more granularity or punch. I am not sure if that makes me someone seeking more of less 'truth'.

ultimately you need to trust your amplifier to take you where the music goes, and does the delicacy, liquidity and flow to hold your interest. to deliver the musical connection for all the types of music you like. to continue to hold your attention, and not be a one trick pony. and with your budget all that is doable.

you are in a fun spot with the choices. enjoy it.

 

[pk_LA]

You nailed it, Ron. Thank you.