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.

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.