Khrys,
Though I've not listened to any Boulder equipment, from what I read (no flaming plz) Boulder makes outstanding equipment. The 1012 sells for $19k new and $9500 used.
So, if you're writing that the Ayre DAC may be as good as the DAC in your 1012, I think that is quite a compliment for a single box CDP that costs $6800 new and about $4k used.
Granted, the Ayre is only a CDP and the Boulder is a preamp/DAC combo. But, the Boulder Reference single box CDP costs $24k new and $14k used.
Unfortunately, I can't justify the $4k for a CDP. So, the Ayre cx-7xe is on my radar. Then off to Ayre for the $200 upgrade.