Boulder 2150 Stereophile review

[Mike Lavigne]

Had a Halcro in my room in 2001.

That was the first model and it was not for me. At that time I was moving away from Mark Levinson amplification and ended up with Tenor OTL tubes.

So it was going in the wrong direction for me. Later exposure was more positive but still not for me.

 

[KeithR]

Interesting , a return.....!

Question,

How many here have actually owned or Heard Halcro amplifiers ..?


Regards ..

I listened to them extensively at my dealer on W/P 7s. I much preferred BAT tube and SS options at the time over the DM-58, which wowed itself with detail and leading edge, but had no tone or musicality. The Halcro worked much better with BAT tube preamp than Halcro's own.

I heard a year later the big demo at CES with 5 Maxxes and 5 DM-68s and it sounded like dead music. many others noted the same crappy demo.

 

[a.wayne]

Thanks MikeL , Keith, never heard ( Halcro) them , but i had BAT SS stuff many moons ago and was never really happy with the sonics , too laid back and soft...


Regards

 

[Bruce]

I have an Audio Buddy with both the Pre and Power Amps --brittle and sandy to say the least--mehhh!-I think he wonders why I don't go over and listen as much anymore.:|
Rejoice A.W you saved your ears and dodged a bullet!:celebrate008_2:

Bruce

 

[a.wayne]

Haaaha

 

[radioactive]

Thank you for your insight Mike. My experience in the 240V area is only with Boulder. I observed mine went seemingly darker in-between transients, had more snap to sudden changes in music, like going from a lower level to an impactful drumline (my dealer is utterly nuts about his power system; I've never heard a hum from anything other than a McIntosh amp that was acting up -- not his fault). I also noticed mine has more headroom. I could utterly destroy my Alexia's with the 2060's 1200Watts/channel at 4 ohms. I accidentally got close (well kinda, they put in resistors for this exact reason) -- I now have to use an SPL meter when listening loud because the first time I listened at loud levels I blew a resistor for one of the tweeters. It was so clean in comparison to other powerful amps I've owned such as MC601's, Boulder 1060 (both 600W at 4ohm) that I could not use distortion or the sound of stress as the judge of really how loud it was.

So maybe it's dependent on the manufacturer's implementation of Power Supply, but there is truth in engineering speak that at 240V the two phases can cancel out noise. Also, there are likely less devices on 240V to introduce noise into the line. In my house, it's just the furnace and the dryer and my 2060. I also had a slight humm with my 1060 and that disappeared with the 2060. Both amps were run straight to the panel FWIW. My 2060 doesn't have a noise floor issue. It's silent as can be in terms of noise in the background at any level.

I'm not sure how 240V interacts with Tube gear, and like you said Winston certainly couldn't make good use of his line. All I can say is it made a difference in my case. Having the 120V version of the 2060 in my room would have helped at least capture the differences and help in explaining, But I had no need for another nor the $$ and my dealer needed to sell his.

Back to the OP's topic: Anthony Cordesman did a review the 2150 and 2110 (see http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/boulder-2150-mono-power-amplifier-and-2110-preamplifier/) -- he gave them a glowing review. Not cheap at $98K for the pair of 2150's and $54K for the 2110. I love the sound my 2060 produces, however my system is very sensitive to electronics that I introduce. A Change to the XLR's (in the same price range of $2K for 1M that I'm using) can have such a change as to make the sound harsh at points. My Boulder 2060 is very clean with a hint of warm due to the Class-A build. I'd never use the words shrill, harsh or brittle to describe how my system sounds. So I agree with Cordesman that little changes can have big affects. Anyone's system that has those characteristics and is using Boulder 2150's/2160 (or the 2050/2060) and corresponding preamp should have his system checked -- something's wrong because that's not how Boulder sounds.

well....er....maybe.

my dearly departed local friend Winston Ma, had 240v in his dedicated room for years and tried to use it with a number of amplifiers, but he found that it was problematic to eliminate noise compared to his 115v circuits. he preferred the end result of 115v for music. so his 240v circuit sat there unused. and Winston had access and means to acquire the best amps.

I'm not claiming any ultimate truth from Winston's anecdotal experience. only that throwing 240v at an amplifier is but one part of any picture. still, the best circuit sounds the best.

I owned the big Mark Levinson #33 mono blocks, which had the option of 240v configuration. but.....it was said that the noise floor was higher in that mode. (I never tried it).

if you are welding, or related activity, then i'll grant 240v has ultimate authority. .5 and such impedance dips do require welding like current supply. and......all other things being equal, then I'd agree that 240v is an advantage. but.......all other things are seldom completely equal. I'm guessing using 240v with the big Boulders, that Boulder has solved any noise issues, but what is the total musical equation in doing that?

garbage in, garbage out.

more efficient speakers, easier loads, more moderate power, or simply less robustly built, minimalist circuitry amplifiers are just an alternate ultimate approach.

I think making 'absolute' claims is a slippery slope.

 

[KeithR]

Thanks MikeL , Keith, never heard ( Halcro) them , but i had BAT SS stuff many moons ago and was never really happy with the sonics , too laid back and soft...
Regards

Like anything, it comes down to synergy. BAT can be a hair dark (not unlike Lamm) so paired well with Wilson's titanium tweeter. My Sophia 1 with 51SE/75SE was awesome.

Wouldn't use BAT with something like a Harbeth or SF though. I almost bought a 55SE to try on my former Zu's, but thought the tonality would be wrong on them.

 

[mep]

Speaking of Philes under powering their Speakers ...

Please explain why you think that a pair of NOLA KO speakers that have a sensitivity of 90dB and were designed by Carl with the ARC Ref 75 are "under powered." The power meters on the Ref 75 do read average power and not peak power, but I listen at fairly high levels and my meters usually range between 3-7 watts. The Ref 75 will cleanly drive the NOLA KO speakers to very loud levels without breaking a sweat. If you seriously think the Ref 75 is under powered for the NOLA KOs, please ask Carl why he would design his speakers around that amp and why that is the amp he demonstrated them with at shows. And if you know Carl and have been to any of his rooms at shows, you know that Carl plays his music LOUD.

Anyway I guess you weren't told 2ohm is below 4 Ohm and do you have a point ? Quite clear what i had said and explained , semantic Much ....

And yeah, I do have a point. Your point was that the amp was really designed for 8 ohm loads and the distortion started increasing below 8 ohms. Then you switched to 2 ohms and said that was the problem. And how in the world you think I don't know that 2 ohms is below 4 ohms is beyond me.

 

[mep]

Kev,

Not sure what you are trying to project by defending MEP's position , may I suggest you read thru the discussion before going all ad hominem and BTW its not his lack of tack i had an issue with , it was his comprehension and semantics, I'm also well aware Myles signed off on his "expertise" a couple of Years ago , so I'm guessing i should yield to his superior "knowledge" , well, when he decides to expose it ...

Kev had it right in his first sentence.