Is the Boulder 508 actually good or actually not that good?

[Ricco275]

I have read almost exclusively good things about the Boulder 508. However one review (certainly not paid by the manufacturer and therefore genuine) is killing it. It may be due to the wrong cables / adapters, however the audiophile gives way better opinions to other competing phono stages at lower retail price.
I had targeted the Boulder 508 as my next phono stage for several reasons, and would really be disappointed to get a less good than what says on the box product.
Any users with actual experience with the Boulder 508?

 

[Kingrex]

I had a friend with one. Full Kuzma table. Momentum amps and Wilson. Sounded as good as anyone elses TT. For $5k its a very good phono. Lots of others are good at that price too.

 

[Ricco275]

I had a friend with one. Full Kuzma table. Momentum amps and Wilson. Sounded as good as anyone elses TT. For $5k its a very good phono. Lots of others are good at that price too.

As long as worth the price tag it’s already comforting. I was looking at Moon 610 and EAR 324 too. I can get the Boulder from my trusted dealer rather than just buying others from unknown ones in other countries.

 

[Kingrex]

I believe it has limited srttings and is only balanced.

 

[Ricco275]

I believe it has limited srttings and is only balanced.

Correct. The settings work well with my soundsmith Aida mk2 and my TAD amps prefer balanced.

 

[Stevet]

Correct. The settings work well with my soundsmith Aida mk2 and my TAD amps prefer balanced.

I had a Boulder 508 with my SME 15 with the 309 arm (I have since upgraded the preamp, table, arm and cartridge). I thought it sounded very good, especially for the price. The next step up at Boulder, the 1108, is about four times the cost. The limiting factors on the 508 are that the settings are fixed and it really only works its best in a balanced configuration. If your cartridge matches the settings on the 508 and you run balanced cables, it is well worth the price, but again, you need to be careful with the cartridge matching.

 

[chuck]

I have heard the 508 a couple of times briefly. I have owned a Boulder 1008 for about 15 years and the 508 sounded very similar. If I was looking for a phono stage anywhere near that price point, I would buy it. The 1108 replaced the 1008 but is very similar. The 508 is $20K sound and build for $5K. The Broken Record reviewer found a way to cripple its sound which is useful to know, he mused that it might be the cables but did not try different cables to check. I think I could do the same to my 1008 if I tried but I am not going to.