Thread: Constellation inspiration 1.0 vs Boulder 866

Mike - new poster here but long time reader, I’ve gotten a lot of great advice in these forums. Given that you have such experience of both amps I’m curious as to your thoughts of how these two integrateds stack up - the 866 vs the inspiration 1.0. I own the 866 and I think it is tremendous but I admit I sometimes think of going to an integrated without an onboard DAC and adding a DCS Bartok or something in that range. Speakers are TAD ME-1 - thanks, Dave

Originally Posted by davelarz

Mike - new poster here but long time reader, I’ve gotten a lot of great advice in these forums. Given that you have such experience of both amps I’m curious as to your thoughts of how these two integrateds stack up - the 866 vs the inspiration 1.0. I own the 866 and I think it is tremendous but I admit I sometimes think of going to an integrated without an onboard DAC and adding a DCS Bartok or something in that range. Speakers are TAD ME-1 - thanks, Dave

I can't give you a direct comparison because 1) I don't have a Boulder 866 here and 2) the biggest factor in any stereo system is the room.

What I can tell you is that I have a very nice system with a First Sound Presence Deluxe fully dual-mono preamp and very high-quality (formerly TOTL) Conrad-Johnson stereo tube amp, that, in my room and with the rest of my system is very, very comparable in audio quality to their ART150 stereo amp, and....a Constellation Inspiration integrated here, and...I frickin' LOVE the Constellation Inspiration integrated. Literally listening to it as I write this. The only other two integrated amps I've personally heard that can compare to it are the Constellation Argo and the DarTZeel CTH-8550.

So, I can't tell you how it compares to the Boulder. What I can say is I could have the Constellation Inspiration Integrated amp as the "centerpiece" of my system and live with it forever and be very happy, indeed. I think it's....fabulous.

Originally Posted by Puma Cat

I can't give you a direct comparison because 1) I don't have a Boulder 866 here and 2) the biggest factor in any stereo system is the room.

What I can tell you is that I have a very nice system with a First Sound Presence Deluxe fully dual-mono preamp and very high-quality (formerly TOTL) Conrad-Johnson stereo tube amp, that, in my room and with the rest of my system is very, very comparable in audio quality to their ART150 stereo amp, and....a Constellation Inspiration integrated here, and...I frickin' LOVE the Constellation Inspiration integrated. Literally listening to it as I write this. The only other two integrated amps I've personally heard that can compare to it are the Constellation Argo and the DarTZeel CTH-8550.

So, I can't tell you how it compares to the Boulder. What I can say is I could have the Constellation Inspiration Integrated amp as the "centerpiece" of my system and live with it forever and be very happy, indeed. I think it's....fabulous.

Thanks Pumacat. It does seem like a special amp, the inspiration. So is the 866 - I have read Mike saying that he thought they were both in the “tubey” realm of solid state, really interested in how he thinks they stack up. My gut tells me it would be a sideways move but allow me to add a top flight DAC, though I have to say the DAC on the 866 is possibly the most surprising thing about it, much better than I expected and I have owned a few $10k DACs.

Originally Posted by davelarz

Thanks Pumacat. It does seem like a special amp, the inspiration. So is the 866 - I have read Mike saying that he thought they were both in the “tubey” realm of solid state, really interested in how he thinks they stack up. My gut tells me it would be a sideways move but allow me to add a top flight DAC, though I have to say the DAC on the 866 is possibly the most surprising thing about it, much better than I expected and I have owned a few $10k DACs.

Yeah, folks interpretation of exactly what is meant by 'tubey' is fairly variable, so I'm not sure what that to make of that, especially as I own and have heard exceptional tube that is very neutral and transparent. But, anyhoo, back to the Constellation gear. I find it to be "neutral" but not cool, analytical, spare, etc. that I find some solid state gear to be (good example is Soulution and Spectral). Rather, it's very "involving and engaging" and sure as hell...makes music.

The only way to know is to get it in and have a listen for yourself in your room. The room is such a big factor and can be so variable that's difficult and "risky" to generalize.

Personally, I think the Constellation gear is fabulous, and I could give up my really nice tube gear and live with the Constellation Inspiration integrated and never feel less involved or "satisfied". You get to a point with really good gear where it's more like, "which single-malt Scotch do you prefer: Talisker or Oban?" 'Cause they're both absolutely wonderful, just...different. That's where I'm at with the gear I have in my system, presently.