Boulder 3060 smooth and a maybe even a bit warm?

[RCanelas]

I was at Ultimate last week, second time hearing the 3060. First time it was paired with the new B&W flagship and this time Martin Dunhoff from Audiovector was presenting the (also flagship, there is a pattern here somewhere...) R8.



Although the listening was limited, I came out impressed both times. The apparent level of control and limitless dynamics allowed for a very musical experience, even with loudspeakers that could otherwise also be described as dry and a bit cold for my taste.

 

[LL21]

Fantastic...what amps have you heard there? Did you hear Gryphon or the CH M10 series while you were there by any chance?

 

[RCanelas]

Fantastic...what amps have you heard there? Did you hear Gryphon or the CH M10 series while you were there by any chance?

had some time with the Gryphon Antileon EVO Stereo driving Verity Audio (a few months ago, not sure if the Sarastro or the Lohengrin) and that was very, very good. The tonal density and lushness was just flooring. I might have been sold by the demonstration from Rune, but the Antileon was seriously impressive.

Other fun experiences lately at Ultimate involve the Ongaku and Avantgarde Duo, but there it became harder to understand where one ends and the other starts, they both have very unique presentations, I'd need more time.

 

[LL21]

had some time with the Gryphon Antileon EVO Stereo driving Verity Audio (a few months ago, not sure if the Sarastro or the Lohengrin) and that was very, very good. The tonal density and lushness was just flooring. I might have been sold by the demonstration from Rune, but the Antileon was seriously impressive.

Other fun experiences lately at Ultimate involve the Ongaku and Avantgarde Duo, but there it became harder to understand where one ends and the other starts, they both have very unique presentations, I'd need more time.

Great stuff...yes, the Gryphon tonal density is remarkable. We had the Antileon original, then the Colosseum and then the Mephisto over a 12 year period for that very reason.

If you can 'guess', how did you feel the 3060 and the Gryphon compared?

 

[RCanelas]

Great stuff...yes, the Gryphon tonal density is remarkable. We had the Antileon original, then the Colosseum and then the Mephisto over a 12 year period for that very reason.

If you can 'guess', how did you feel the 3060 and the Gryphon compared?

I'm not sure I can give you a good 'guess' Conditions were too different and far apart for me to even pretend I could compare anything. I can however say both of them are prime examples or extreme performance, curated design and high power amplification (I'm guessing no news here, sorry).

I'm absolutely sure they are both responsive and sensitive enough for the presentation to be molded by any upstream component, something I find quite attractive for this amp topology, if the aim is to feed contemporary design loudspeakers.

 

[LL21]

Thanks. I am a big fan of Class A Gryphon and Boulder and now Robert Koda. I also remember very well the old Forte 4 amp which was a fantastic 50 watt Class A amp.

And yes, their ability to drive any speaker effortlessly is a big factor for me. As for fine tuning a system or “moulding”as you call it, it is incredibly important…and it helps a lot to start with good fundamentals.

 

[Ron Resnick]

A quote from Yoav Geva when asked if loudspeaker design is more of an art or a science: "That's easy -- it's a science. Our goal should be to accurately convey what's on the recording, and leave the art to the composers and musicians who created the content that's on the recording. Any subjective preference that we impart on the signal would be nothing more than an arrogant attempt to override the musicians' intent. While music is pure emotion, a speaker is nothing more than a machine that converts electrical signals into air-pressure fluctuations. Machines are developed by scientists and engineers, not artists."

I gave Yoav credit for being clear about his loudspeaker design philosophy. Many satisfied customers feel YG loudspeakers achieve Yoav's objective.

Implicitly, however, Yoav is substituting his personal objective of high-end audio ("accurately convey what's on the recording") for the considered and deliberate decision on this question ("what is my objective of high-end audio?") of his customers.

 

[dandylinpsst]

I gave Yoav credit for being clear about his loudspeaker design philosophy. Many satisfied customers feel YG loudspeakers achieve Yoav's objective.

Implicitly, however, Yoav is substituting his personal objective of high-end audio ("accurately convey what's on the recording") for the considered and deliberate decision on this question ("what is my objective of high-end audio?") of his customers.

Is Yoav still in the business?

 

[chuck]

I gave Yoav credit for being clear about his loudspeaker design philosophy. Many satisfied customers feel YG loudspeakers achieve Yoav's objective.

Implicitly, however, Yoav is substituting his personal objective of high-end audio ("accurately convey what's on the recording") for the considered and deliberate decision on this question ("what is my objective of high-end audio?") of his customers.

I can only talk about the YG Sonja XV and XVi speakers, the objective was achieved with these speakers, IMO they accurately convey what is on recordings when paired with the Boulder 3060 -- the soundstage, imaging, details, instrument and voice separation, scale of performance. I have also heard my Sonja XV speakers paired with Audio Research 160M and T+A M 40 HV amps, both of which provided very different answers to "What is high end sound?". As a YG customer I can dramatically change the sound of the speakers by changing the amps or sources, more than I could with the Wilsons I had before.