If boulder is tops what is second tier?

Sorry Pedrillo, Boulder is not at the top of any list except extremely expensive for "decent" performance.

The owner / designer is the same person that told me in his room at CES that ALL cable and ALL power cords are BS, they make NO difference and anyone that says otherwise is fooling themselves.

How can you take that kind of designer serious?

This happened several years ago and I am still mad, what arrogance. Fortunately the company sharing space with them took my advice and never showed with them again.

All of your opinions on phono stages are valid, I posted my comments because regardless of the phono stage chosen, cables play a big role in the total performance package and should not be ignored.

Does anyone really think the Boulder phono would work just as well with the blister pack RCA's provided with a $149.00 DVD player? Can you imagine a Koetsu, Benz, ZYX, Denon or any other high end, low output moving coil cartridge passing through China blister pack cables from your turntable to the Boulder phono stage ?

Anyway I thought the designers comment, which was made with a sneer and in anger, was totally vulgar especially coming from high end company that charges what it does for their equipment.

As for performance differences between these various phono stages, I have not heard the DarTZeel that Mike enjoys. I do agree the Lamm and Steelhead are great products, I have auditioned both of them and prefer either over the Boulder.

That being said, the latest version Aesthetix IO Signature with dual power supplies and all NOS tubes is magic in my system and in the end each of us must choose what works with the rest of the equipment that makes up our system.

To further clarify the EXACT situation that occurred at CES and caused the blanket comment from Boulder, I walked into a room displaying Sound-Lab A-1 (their top line) speaker fed with Boulder electronics. I noticed that the left Sound-Lab speaker was plugged into the electric razor outlet leading from a table lamp, which was wired with 18 gauge lamp cord.

I ask Boulder (who was answering questions for all the equipment in the room at that moment) if I might check into borrowing cables from Purist, Cardas or another nearby cable exhibitor that would reach the (existing unused) wall socket with a grounded connection (NECESSARY!) for the 20K bias of the Sound-Lab speakers being displayed.

THIS is when I got the snide remark. All I can say is even if the lamp cord, table lamp, and lack of ground was not at issue, respect for the fellow your displaying with would require at least a stock 16 gauge Belden for this type of high end set up.

Over many years I've experimented with many aftermarket AC cables with Sound-Lab speakers and can promise you there ARE sonic gains to be had with premium AC cords.

Anyway, good luck Pedrillo in your search regardless of what you decide.

Thank you Stiltskin.

I'm not surprised that a quality rig like that responded positively to a high quality cable. Perhaps someday it will be considered "common knowledge" and all audiophiles will be vindicated for having heard the difference :^).

I hope you're enjoying your music more than ever. It's an emotional high when you're listening to one of your favorite tunes and hear things you never knew existed.

There are a number of things that were likely said at CES (and what in the world, exactly, was a consumer doing at CES, and why in the world was someone attempting to grasp sound quality at a trade show?!?)

I assume that's directed at me since I am the person who described the situation. In addition to being hired by Audiogon to cover CES, I do advertising photography for dozens of high end audio manufacturers and I'm a reviewer for Positive Feedback.

I believe I had a right to be at CES, visit the Boulder room and subsequently offer help (out of my personal schedule) to resolve an issue I thought was important.

Suffice it to say, there are a number of things regarding the engineering of electronics that should prevent them from being affected by the cables connecting them.

Regardless of you (or you're companies) view on the value of aftermarket interconnects, digital or AC cables, you cannot deny that lifting the ground on electrostatic speakers that operate at more than 10K volts bias is not a good idea.

The accessory outlet on the table lamp is not the proper connection for a Sound Lab M-1 speaker. If you check with Sound Lab you will find the supplied AC cord is heavier gauge and supplied with integral ground via the IEC design.

Regardless of whether you (or your boss) agree that aftermarket power cords are of benefit, sloppy set up at the most prestigious audio show in America shows blatant disregard for those sharing the room, just as much as the attitude that was shown to me when I offered to help.

I will try to follow your sage advice and be cheerful and relax, but the thought of an amplifier company like Boulder being so arrogant and rude does anger me and I am generally considered to be a gentleman among those that know me.