[dcvibe]

Earlier this week I had the pleasure to visit boulder amplifier inc. in Louisville CO. I received a personal tour of the factory by Rich Maez and also had the pleasure of spending some time in their exquisite listening space.

This is a truly high end company from start to finish. The products are of the highest quality I’ve seen and after touring the factory I know why. They essentially manufacture their products from start to finish under one roof with individual human personal attention to ensure the highest quality. Only the best equipment, materials, and parts. It truly is a site to see. No assembly lines here. Just expert craftsman performing their art on a daily basis. No cutting corners here... every imaginable detail is taken into account.

Rich Maez is a stand out guy and his sincere interest in representing Boulder products as being true to the studio recordings becomes easily apparent when you spend some time with him.

I’ve always heard some criticism about Boulder gear sounding cold and sterile. Well that is truly unfair criticism. It’s neutral and accurate. It’s dynamic and transparent. What I found most appealing about it is that it allowed music to be played louder because there was so much control over the speakers that it felt like distortion was significantly reduced. Bass control and grip was just amazing.

I’ve listened to a lot of gear over the years and granted the Boulder listening room is truly state of the art in the way it was designed. Regardless I feel confident that unless you need or want electronics to help tune your system or you have a personal taste favoring midrange bloom etc. then Boulder is worth a look because it is very special in how it controls the speaker without adding any identifiable sonic signature.

Again, Rich will tell you... boulder gear was designed to allow the studio recording to come through not to influence the sound in any particular way.

Their relatively new 1160 stereo amp is something special. It sat in the same listening space located between the cost no object 3050 monoblocks. I listened to several songs between both amps. Yes the 3050’s are better but the 1160 at a fraction of the cost is actually a good value coming in under $30k in the realm of amps that live in this price range. You get a substantial taste of the 3050’s character in the 1160. Of course the 3050 does everything better as it should. But for real world audiophiles and music enthusiasts the 1160 definitely needs to be in the conversation now. Unfortunately I did not get to listen to the 2160 as it was not at the factory on the day I visited.

Anyways I just thought I would share this very positive experience here as I truly was impressed with Boulder’s factory and product demonstrations. It truly is state of the art gear!

Thanks again to Rich Maez for the special opportunity!