Mark Levinson 32 and reliability

Earflappin: interestingly I can´t agree at all with you regarding the Boulder - VTL comparison. I´ve just bought Boulder 850 monos and had them paired with Boulder 1010, VTL 7.5 and CJ ACT 2. All pre´s are excellent but regarding transparency and detail retrieval, soundstgeing and imaging as well as buildquality and user friendliness the Boulder 1010 (the smaller brother of the 2010 you´ve heard) is def. better (not only to me but to a bunch of friend as well)than the two tubies.
Sources were Audio Aero Capitole Reference SE (on loan) and my Esoteric UX-3 SE and a Transrotor Fat Bob Reference (on loan) turntable.
Interconnects (between Boulder and sources were Gardas Golden Reference, Acustic Zen Silver Reference II, Shunyata Antares Helix and Kubala Sosna Emotion/ TaraLabs The 0,8 ISM onboard (both on loan).
Speakers used were my Avalon Opus Ceramique.
Can´t comment on the DartZeel but from what I´ve heard its totally overprized compared to eg. Ayre K-1xe.

Frankpiet,

Glad to hear that you're happy with your Boulder gear. I am sure there are synergies when listening to an all Boulder amp/pre-amp combination. Are you using XLR connections between your sources and the pre-amp?

Looking back at it I think the fact that my Linn CD12 and Unidisk source gear sound their best via RCA outputs (vs XLR), and the fact that the Boulder pre's are an all XLR design, was the reason that I prefered the VTL and the darTZeel pre's over the Boulder.

In any case, I stand by my comments, but acknowledge readily that there are many paths to audio nirvana in this hobby and in many cases what that means comes down to individual tastes and how individual components match with each other.

Have never heard the Ayre gear so can't offer a comparison versus the darTZeel pre-amp, all I can say is that I'm extremely pleased with my dart pre and amp. Further, I don't see any dart gear for sale on the GON which is a further indication that those who have it at this point are happy. Perhaps that may change over time.

I own a ML 32 and have not had issues with reliabity.

I did however listen to the VAC Phi 2.0 recently and compared it to the ML 32 and unfortunately it was no contest: the VAC was much more liquid while remaining as detailed as the 32. Perhaps the 32 was more liquid.

Have not tried the VTL or the Dartzeel. Thanks for the input.

MY

Earflappin. Regarding the many ways to audio nirvana you´re absolutely right. All interconnects were balanced - I only believe in balanced configurations (with the exception of the very very expensive Kondo gear).
As I´ve changed to a complete (non pre-amp) combo I´m happy that I haven´t to struggle with this question anymore. The more units your system has, the more complex it gets..
Heard the VTL in an entirely different set-up - and it sounded stunning (better than in my system). BUT: I can´t comment how the 1010 would have sounded in that particular combination (which was double expensive as mine).
To my local dealer who carries VTL and Boulder its a no brainer: go for the Boulder and forget about the topic amplification for the rest of your life.
He himself uses an all Boulder set-up (2008, 2010, 2020, 2050 together with an all Brinkmann analog rig and a Metronome Kallista Signature cd-transport), Kubala Sosna cabelling and ACapella Triolon loudspeakers.

Fascinating reading. The above just underlines my experience that it was very difficult when trying to choose gear, what to go for, too much choice too little out there exept annual shows to try out systems. So I went for experienced top-notch companies with great service records. Yes, I read about the DartZeel gear, and I applaud these great entreprenerial guys behind this emerging brand.
But I'm very happy with my ML32-ML33h-Valhalla setup and I am mostly concentrating on what music to buy, rather than what upgrade or next component to go for. No issues with my great ML amps, but I've only had my gear less than a year.