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Boulder 866 experience? Users?

Hello,
Is there any Boulder 866 owner? How is your experience? :)Almost finalizing my next year setup, my last consideration becomes All-in-One solution.

- So far my consideration is Pass Int60 + Bryston BDA 3.14
Then these three candidates come in.

1) Devialet - Honestly, I haven’t thought about it.      
But I heard a recommendation that this can work as preamp+amp+dac+streamer

2) darTZeel LHC-208 - ironman from Swiss, looks exotic

3) Boulder 866
My first interest is Boulder 866 because it’s from the US. (I live in the US, so expect to be easy to fix or do something).  

My questions are,
1) How’s your impression? (Especially compared to Pass, Devialet and dartzeel)      
Not just better/worse but how’s different?

2) Do you experience any technical glitch? (In terms of touch screen, wireless integration)

3) Can you use Apple Airplay? (It’s important to me, I use apple music/idagio and need to stream it.)
Positive feedback review mentions NO airplay capability but other reviews mention it’s capable.

Thank you.
128x128sangbro
axeis1
277 posts
 
I am extremely happy with my Aestheix, Mimas. I did not get the internal Dac, but heard it is excellent. I use Chord for Dac. 
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tntmcdade
10 posts
 
I purchased my Boulder 866 with the DAC/streamer about 4 months ago and I agree with everything the other gentleman said on 12/27. This is a ethernet DAC and I would highly recommend getting ahold of Andrew at Small Green Computer for the Optical Module set up. I added the Optical Module and the SonicTransporter i5 (Roon server) with absolutely fantastic results. I believe that combination extracted the best sound that I can get from the 866. I hope this is helpful for you. 

cycles2
194 posts
 
My Boulder 866 with the digital option was just delivered over the weekend.  My plan is to use it with Maggie 20.7s and a REL S/812 sub using Qobuz and a Synology NAS hard drive for locally ripped tracks.  I was a bit concerned if the 866 had ample power for the Maggie's as they can be challenging speakers to drive correctly. 

Right out of the box with no burn-in time my concerns about power were gone as it has ample power for the Maggies and drives the mid-bass panel of the Maggies as well as any amp I've tried. There's no exaggeration of any frequencies that you sometimes experience with other amps. It sounds correct and is a pleasure to listen to.  I've been picking up new musical artifacts in songs I've listened to hundreds of times which is a testament to it's DAC/Streamer and networking section.  Why anyone would purchase an 866 without the digital inputs / networking option is a mystery to me.   

I've read that some people think the 866 is an expensive all-in-1. I think it's actually a bargain as you don't have to purchase a separate DAC/Streamer, pre-amp and amp.  Not to mention all the power and interconnect cables and shelf space.  I used to own a Devialet and there's no comparison in sound quality, especially as you increase the volume.  The Devialet seemed strained to me as the volume increased.  The 866 delivers the same sound quality, just more of it.  

Boulder hit a grand slam with the 866.
drschteeve
1 posts
 

As a Passaholic, I just notice that Boulder 866 are coming up fairly frequently in the used market. The Pass Int-250 almost never. No idea of units sold, etc., just an observation.

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