Should i go Boulder 1060 or Jeff Rowland 625

melbguy, think you may be correct.

Heard them with the their respective preamps (JRDG criterion and Boulder '1010' I believe it was?)

and 'neutral' is the adjective I was grasping for but failed to bring to the keyboard. The boulder was definitely more neutral.

on another note, Boulder's gear is built like a tank. Everything about their gear shouts flagship engineering. or battleship, even. JRDG's got the pretty boy 'Macbook-esque' eye candy thing going with a shiny one piece machined aluminum chassis. aesthetics should take back seat to sound of course, but you may have a domestic CFO who takes such things into consideration

Insomniac, yes the preamp you would have heard would have been the 1010. That's a good pre, however I (personally) feel the way to get the best sound out of the 1060 is matching it with a tube pre that is very quiet, sweet and warm & has balls. Then you're in for sonic bliss.

The tank analogy isn't wrong; it takes about that long for that thing to fully warm up, but when it does, it's worth it.

I have to admit, i'm more interested in ultimate sound than the clothes an amp is wearing. Having said that, the Boulder is quite smart looking, and one brute beast! I could have bought an M625, and very nearly did, but went with the Boulder. Time will tell if I made the right move?

I'd be scared to hook up a Boulder to the already somewhat "hot" 802D. I auditioned the 802D several times for hours and deemed it a speaker that begged for slightly warmer, but detailed, electronics.

I'd use those 802Ds with the 625 and the Corus and have no doubt they'd perform great together. I've heard the Vienna Acoustics Klimt the Music with Jeff's 625 and Criterion upstairs at his location and that combination sounded superb.

Musicaddict, are you referring to the system located on the 2nd floor of the Jeff Rowland factory in Colorado Springs (CO) ... the one consisting of Vienna Die Muzik, M625, and Criterion? Or are you referring to a system in some shows? G.

in

Musicaddict, I found your comments interesting. You said "I'd be scared to hook up a Boulder to the already "hot" 802D". Mark_nz remarked in his earlier post -

07-03-11: Mark_nz
..I have auditioned the 802D in combination with Classe, and separately the 802 Diamond in combination with Corus & Jeff Rowland Model 625.
Both combinations sounded good - but I thought the 802D + Classe had a bit better overall tonal balance whereas the 802 Diamond + 625 combination was a bit bright. I also compared the Model 625 to my Cambridge Audio Azur 840W amplifier. (using Wadia CD player and Corus preamp).
Unsurprising the Model 625 best the 840W in terms of detail, transparency, soundstaging, bass control and extension. However the 840W (which has slight warm bass and soft treble) was a better tonal match for the 802 Diamond. The reason for this is that 802 Diamond is brighter and has tighter (less bloated) bass than the 802D.

So based on my experiences a slightly lean amplifier (with good bass control) will better suit the 802D.

Hifimaniac & Guido both remarked they thought the Boulder sounded slightly leaner than the M625, likely making it a better match with the 802D’s (or similarly bright sounding speakers).

You also accurately commented "I auditioned the 802D several times for hours and deemed it a speaker that begged for slightly warmer, but detailed, electronics.". I agree the Boulder needs a preamp with warmth, sweetness, holography and detail to balance it out. There are probably several reference tube pre's which would sound wonderful with the Boulder...Guido mentioned VTL, my favorite is Ayon. Vive la difference!