Boulder 3060 smooth and a maybe even a bit warm?
- Thread starter pk_LA
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Here are a couple of pics, and I can walk through some of the iterations (of what I would call hi-end systems)
I've had many different turntables and phono preamps. Lamm, Whest, ARC, Thoress, Boulder 508, Spiral Groove, York S10, York S9 and on...
But have pretty well settled on the new Technics table with a plinth I built, Lyra Olympos cart, and ARC ref pre3SE (until big Boulder arrives)
I'd say that I prefer a nice (not necessarily warm, but clean) sounding system, and have often vacillated between tube gear and solid state, DartZeel is pretty much in the middle, and older Boulder stuff was a bit too dry, I think the new 3000 series gear is a whole new level.
*McIntosh system with Wilson W/P 7
*Ayre MXR / KXR with Wilson W/P 7
*Audio Research ref pre, Boulder 2060 with Wilson W/P 7, then Alexias V1
*Tried D'Agostino preamp and stereo amp, not a fan (this was his first iteration, left a bad taste in my mind)
*Added Wilson Thor subs and Tannoy Kingdom Royals somewhere in here
*bought DartZeel integrated to try and enjoyed the sound
*Swapped to the DartZeel NHB-108 pre and 458 amps
*Purchased a CH Precision A1 stereo amp (just to try after so much hype, pretty good amp too)
*Decided to buy Boulder 3010 and 3060 for new music room, went back and forth between this and DartZeel, ultimately enjoying the Boulder electronics by a decent margin.
*Upgrade to Alexx V speakers, much bigger room to fill
In between all of this I tried various other speaker systems as well, as with everything else it is highly subjective, somehow I landed and have continued to enjoy the Wilsons compared to other high-end brands. The Tannoy are pretty special, there is a very natural sound to them and large presentation that I find quite appealing as well, so I probably swap these and the Wilsons every 6 months or so to mix it up...
to get nice and toasty, I have Nagra VPA monos, can add a different dimension when the mood strikes,
I occasionally roll in my horn setup which is Shindo turntable, Shindo Petrus preamp and Shindo D'yquem amps with custom Altec Horns.
We all obviously hear and listen differently, so I would never preach that one system is better than another, just my iterations and impressions for whatever it is worth.
Mike, I never had real good communications with Dart (Herve) he never would followup with me, or get me good info on changing batteries in the preamp, ultimately when I built my new house and music room (much larger) it was evident that the electronics just could not keep up, so I moved. on, I still have all of my old equipment, so it may be something I pursue again just to have the ability to use it in a different room.
I've had many different turntables and phono preamps. Lamm, Whest, ARC, Thoress, Boulder 508, Spiral Groove, York S10, York S9 and on...
But have pretty well settled on the new Technics table with a plinth I built, Lyra Olympos cart, and ARC ref pre3SE (until big Boulder arrives)
I'd say that I prefer a nice (not necessarily warm, but clean) sounding system, and have often vacillated between tube gear and solid state, DartZeel is pretty much in the middle, and older Boulder stuff was a bit too dry, I think the new 3000 series gear is a whole new level.
*McIntosh system with Wilson W/P 7
*Ayre MXR / KXR with Wilson W/P 7
*Audio Research ref pre, Boulder 2060 with Wilson W/P 7, then Alexias V1
*Tried D'Agostino preamp and stereo amp, not a fan (this was his first iteration, left a bad taste in my mind)
*Added Wilson Thor subs and Tannoy Kingdom Royals somewhere in here
*bought DartZeel integrated to try and enjoyed the sound
*Swapped to the DartZeel NHB-108 pre and 458 amps
*Purchased a CH Precision A1 stereo amp (just to try after so much hype, pretty good amp too)
*Decided to buy Boulder 3010 and 3060 for new music room, went back and forth between this and DartZeel, ultimately enjoying the Boulder electronics by a decent margin.
*Upgrade to Alexx V speakers, much bigger room to fill
In between all of this I tried various other speaker systems as well, as with everything else it is highly subjective, somehow I landed and have continued to enjoy the Wilsons compared to other high-end brands. The Tannoy are pretty special, there is a very natural sound to them and large presentation that I find quite appealing as well, so I probably swap these and the Wilsons every 6 months or so to mix it up...
to get nice and toasty, I have Nagra VPA monos, can add a different dimension when the mood strikes,
I occasionally roll in my horn setup which is Shindo turntable, Shindo Petrus preamp and Shindo D'yquem amps with custom Altec Horns.
We all obviously hear and listen differently, so I would never preach that one system is better than another, just my iterations and impressions for whatever it is worth.
Mike, I never had real good communications with Dart (Herve) he never would followup with me, or get me good info on changing batteries in the preamp, ultimately when I built my new house and music room (much larger) it was evident that the electronics just could not keep up, so I moved. on, I still have all of my old equipment, so it may be something I pursue again just to have the ability to use it in a different room.
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Great set up , i guess no need to worry about power issues here . 
I ve owned a 1060 years ago and it was indeed a bit clinical / dry
I see the walls are concrete ( can be closed with curtains ?)
No reflection issues ?
I ve owned a 1060 years ago and it was indeed a bit clinical / dry
I see the walls are concrete ( can be closed with curtains ?)
No reflection issues ?
that's fair. i view the darTZeel presentation as like music, and not reminding me of SS or tube gear. yet it's debatable what floats your boat. no right or wrong to it. might be a matter of what music you love and what it takes to connect to it.
if you moved on from older Boulder to new Boulder, then consider a 15 year old dart pre, and 10 year old dart amps, are also not the current spec.
not many of us could have a dart pre and dart mono's just sitting there. so i do respect that is pretty cool. but certainly upgrade the dart pre to the Mk2, it will be a great investment even if you don't go back to darTZeel. 458-->468? it's a big uptic, but still the differences compared to the Boulder will remain just you will get an even better degree of dart goodness. again, a matter of listening priorities.
enjoy! you have an epic system and gear list.
and i would say that looking at the concrete walls, i would assume your room is sunk into the ground. those walls will bleed off lots of bass, huge amounts. did you have that room when you first had the dart's? so you have extreme needs to get a lively sound. it's no doubt a factor in your priorities.
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I just found this thread today. Wish I would have seen it earlier. I am a 2110/3060 owner. I went through an exhaustive search before settling on this combo. I auditioned about everything on your list (many of them in my home). I find the 3060 just gets it right (for me). It allows you to hear everything on the recording without stridency. Once you get used to hearing all of that detail, it's hard to listen to anything else as you feel something is missing. It is important to get all of the ancillaries right (cables, etc) because you will hear weak links in your musical chain. I think you made a great choice. Take a look at my system for more detail. I also use transparent cable.
Happy Listening,
Brian
Happy Listening,
Brian
Hi Brian, Thank you for your note. The 3060 was supposed to arrive next week but it is now scheduled for the first week of the new year. They are sending a 3010 with it that I plan to audition alongside a VTL and Nagra pre-amp. Another member is also planning to come over with his Boulder 1110 for comparison. As for cables I am going to trade my Transparent Gen 5 XL stuff for the Gen 6 Opus. Admittedly, the cost of the cables has me questioning my own sanity.
Very exciting! Very exciting particularly to be reading about your impressions of the 3060 but also the 3010 preamp with it...in comparison with 1110!
Congrats on the Opus 6! Having moved everything to Opus 5 a few years ago when there was a special opportunity to do so, it has been great to just leave that alone and 'be done' while the rest of the system has undergone another evolutionary change around the system loom.
Look forward to reading all about it in Jan!
Id be interesting if you could comment after installing the basics like Boulder 3060 / 3010( and various pre amps ) / wilson Alexx V and compare both expensive transparent cables versus cheap cables in this set up
While doing that just forget about all magazines / reviewers , thats all noise / distractions.
I image the cable run from the preamp to amp will be long. Not a place to experiment with several meters of interconnect. I am interested in the 3010 and its unique features.
Id be interesting if you could comment after installing the basics like Boulder 3060 / 3010( and various pre amps ) / wilson Alexx V and compare both expensive transparent cables versus cheap cables in this set up
While doing that just forget about all magazines / reviewers , thats all noise / distractions.
Sure , there was one for sale a couple of months ago in europe for an attractive price , it got me tempted .
I dont mind spending $$$ on quality and with Boulder thats what you get
It would hard for me to imagine matching the 3060 with another manufacturer’s pre-amp. The 2110 is quite a leap over the 1000 series. I used to have a 2060 amp with a 1000 series preamp so I am very familiar with the difference. I then upgraded to a 2010. Then 2110. Then 3060. I don’t think the 1000 series is an adequate preamplifier to judge the Boulder brand with a 3060 amp in the chain(though probably better than another manufacturer). I have not heard the 3000 series, but I assume it’s even better. Unfortunately cables matter. I get up and go to work every day, so I am not enthusiastic about spending money unnecessarily. I have been fortunate to have been able to demo many different cables. As you can see, I settled on transparent. I will say with Boulder you will not need to plug them into power conditioning (been there done that), so you can save some money there .
I will be comparing the Transparent Gen 6 Opus my my current Transparent Gen 5 XL. That said, the Gen 6 will be calibrated for the amps and my existing Gen 5 XL will be the prior calibration for the d'Agostino rig. I will post my findings.
With the old 1010 you are right, it was not up to pairing with a 3060. The new 1110 is miles ahead, bested my ARC Ref40 (that was much better than the 2010) and is a good match for the 3060.
The 1110 is an OK pre, but I felt it was too harsh and analytical compared to my Ayre KX-R Twenty, the very epitome of the "solid state" sound if you will; for better or worse I've felt the same of many of Boulder's amps.
When the pre is paired with Boulder amplification, it could be different, as I've always found a company's pre and amps are always more synergistic than mixing and matching, but as a whole I wasn't a fan.
Also if yours is an A/V room, the power LEDs on the Boulder gear are bright enough to read by, and they don't dim with the displays.
Very interesting, my findings with the 1110 has been the opposite, it adds a level of smoothness, bloom and depth to the sound, on top of which it projects a larger sound stage than going dac direct. I'm using the 1160 amplifier.
On the other hand, the few times I've auditioned Ayre gear, including separates and integrated, I have all come away with the impression of it being dry and analytical. Just goes to show, nothing is a substitute for listening.
Your analysis of Ayre gear as dry may have been more accurate before their shift to the double diamond topology used in their “Twenty” series products.
For example, I never thought the KX-R preamp was at all bright… until I heard the KX-R Twenty.
Sadly in the past eighteen months my dealer has never been able to source an 1160 amp to go with their 1110 pre.
As I stated previously, I suspect these things can only be auditioned together - Ayre pre with Ayre amps, Boulder pre with Boulder amp.
Certainly I didn’t like the sound of the 1110 paired with the older 2060 stereo amp.
For example, I never thought the KX-R preamp was at all bright… until I heard the KX-R Twenty.
Sadly in the past eighteen months my dealer has never been able to source an 1160 amp to go with their 1110 pre.
As I stated previously, I suspect these things can only be auditioned together - Ayre pre with Ayre amps, Boulder pre with Boulder amp.
Certainly I didn’t like the sound of the 1110 paired with the older 2060 stereo amp.
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