If boulder is tops what is second tier?

Dear Peter: " +++++ My price range would top out at about $3k. " +++++

It is out of my sense to understand the tittle of your thread: "If boulder is tops what is second tier? ", when your budget is 3K. The very best phonolinepreamps are between 15K to 50K.

You posted: " but I feel that this is probably the most important part of the chain in our systems! " and latter: " I would like to make this a lasting purchase. "

If like you say ( I agree ) the phonolinepreamp is the most important part of the chain and you are looking for the last purchase about then you must to have a wider budget and if you don't have it a this time my advise is that you wait a little till you have a serious money for a serious phonolinepreamp.

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.

Dear friends: I think that what Albert was questioning to Boulder was the Boulder people attitude ( not the Boulder performance ) where Albert offer his help about and they give not only a wrong answer but in a not very nice way.

Now, what Rich posted: +++++ " If a product is properly engineered, it shouldn't care less what's used to connect it and the given product's response should remain stable with any reasonably designed cable. Any changes in sound are simply the losses, omissions, or distortions of that particular conductor's filter characteristics and should NOT be the result of a cable's electrical characteristics affecting the electrical operation of a piece of gear.... " +++++, is absolutely right. One of the critical factor ( between others ) in the design of electronics and in particular with a phonolinepreamp is that its output impedance remain at less or around 100 Ohms and in an amplifier less or around 0.05 Ohms, these electronics figures almost asure that the pre/amp will not suffer any change in their design performance response, obviously all the quality sound changes that we could percieve from those gear comes from the different cables/connectors that we are running.

We can go on and on: a not to good phonolinepreamp design could react ( change its performance response ) not only with the cables but with the amplifier input impedance, in the same way the amplifiers react not only against the cables but with the electrical speaker impedance.

I have to say that there are many " big names " out there that react against other audio devices in the audio chain and only a few of them really are on target on these subjects.

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.

Dear Eldartford: Right on target!!!!!

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.