2. amps-preamps
  3. 178258-149763

Levinson 380S vs Boulder 810

Interested in thoughts here on the differences between these two preamps. I’ve been living with the 380S (paired w- Levinson 335) with no complaints whatsoever. That being said, the opportunity presents itself for me to obtain the Boulder 810. I’ve always wanted to try a piece of Boulder gear in my rig, (the 810 is perhaps the only piece of Boulder gear I’ll ever be able to afford). The question here being is the 810 a step up or sideways in relation to the 380S? Sidebar: my original plan was to eventually replace the 380S with a ARC Ref3.

128x128jl1ny

Showing 1 response by gregm

gregm
3,396 posts
 

Here's a slightly different take (than above).

Whiel I like ARC gar, especially their latest big monos, and their ref pre (whatever the number), I cannot -empirically - place them at the same resolution level as the big Boulder pre (2110). That said, I agree with @ghdprentice regarding the sonic similarities between ML & Boulder albeit, from what I've heard ML is slightly more strident up high than Boulder.

As far as resolution goes, Spectral pres have always sounded to me to reach a hgiher level than either ML or Boulder -- if you go for that sort of thing, that is.

More to discover