Nice Tube Preamp for Boulder 1060

As an update.... everything seems to have calmed down a bit and I have been playing with positioning a lot. I'm probably at around 350hrs on the speakers. Bass extension is still improving. Jumped the gun a little bit on the component change.... that being said, I would still like to hear a tube pre in the system. And yes, the 1060 is a totally different experience than the 850 mono or 800 series in general. I think some may be impressed with the 850 low/mid punch but the 1060 is another level of refinement, speed and depth. The low end is equal or greater (deeper) than the 850 just much more controlled and layered. I owned the 865 and have heard the 2060, 860 and 850 at length.

Do not power down your Boulder equipment for several days and then listen. Boulder equipment sounds very harsh unless it is left continually powered up. Then it is spectacular. Unless the tube preamp is beyond extraordinary, a Boulder preamp sounds best with a Boulder amp. But, leave both on continually.

For the sake of argument, lets just say the preamp is the VAC Sig. Mk2??

in my experience, the VAC Sig Mk2 is an extraordinary pre-amp (not sure what beyond extraordinary is...), but I am a tube guy. Never heard any of the Boulder products.

My apologies if I am hijacking this thread, but a February 11 response from Ralph caught my attention. He claims that his balanced implementation renders differences in cables irrelevant. Has anyone ever tested this claim. Easy to do… Change the cables on an Atma-Sphere system and listen.