I haven't heard the Boulder but I certainly agree with Albert, Drjoe and Mike. A front cover spash in Stereophile or TAS means nothing, or at least nothing about the sound. A high price correlates to large profits, but not necessarily to anything else.
I've A/B'd the Lamm LP2/LL2 with my much less expensive Nick Doshi Alaap, in the Lamm owner's system. The Lamm owner immediately put them up for sale and placed an order with Nick. Sonically, there really was no comparison.
During an A/B in my system the Aesthetix Rhea/Calypso performed better than the higher priced Lamms, but they still couldn't match Nick's preamp. The Aesthetix owner sold them and ordered an Alaap, just as the Lamm owner did.
The same thing has happened with the Aesthetix Io/Callisto Sig. (I didn't hear that comparison but the outcome was the same.)
Of the commercial preamps I've heard, the VAC Renaissance came closest to matching the Alaap. It didn't have quite the frequency extension for MC and the line stage wasn't quite as natural sounding with digital sources. But the differences were subtle. If I had to own a name brand with an expensive look, I'd be happiest with a VAC based my experiences so far. I presume VAC's top of the line model outplays the Renaissance, it's visually spectacular and it's a lot less money than a Boulder.
I've A/B'd the Lamm LP2/LL2 with my much less expensive Nick Doshi Alaap, in the Lamm owner's system. The Lamm owner immediately put them up for sale and placed an order with Nick. Sonically, there really was no comparison.
During an A/B in my system the Aesthetix Rhea/Calypso performed better than the higher priced Lamms, but they still couldn't match Nick's preamp. The Aesthetix owner sold them and ordered an Alaap, just as the Lamm owner did.
The same thing has happened with the Aesthetix Io/Callisto Sig. (I didn't hear that comparison but the outcome was the same.)
Of the commercial preamps I've heard, the VAC Renaissance came closest to matching the Alaap. It didn't have quite the frequency extension for MC and the line stage wasn't quite as natural sounding with digital sources. But the differences were subtle. If I had to own a name brand with an expensive look, I'd be happiest with a VAC based my experiences so far. I presume VAC's top of the line model outplays the Renaissance, it's visually spectacular and it's a lot less money than a Boulder.