Setup
Despite what Yorke's perfunctory instructions would have you believe, adjusting the S9's tonearm can be tricky even for an experienced analog devotee (…
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The tonearm is wired with two twisted pairs of somewhat stiff, thick silver-plated copper insulated with Teflon. These exit the arm through an opening on the side of the tube just in front of the pivot point. Each wire is terminated with a cartridge clip at one end and a gold-plated sleeve on the other; the latter slips over one of four pins attached to two RCA jacks mounted on an L-bracket fitted to the bottom of the armboard.
While setting up the S9 tonearm is a bit finicky compared to some other designs, once you're done, I promise that you'll appreciate this record player's elegance and ease of use. Properly set up, the S9 is as convenient and easy to use as a Rega. Finally position the motor housing about 10" from the spindle, at 3 o'clock, fit the O-ring around the motor pulley and platter circumference, and plug in the power supply. Be sure to use a strobe to check speed accuracy and adjust as needed.
Use
Using the S9 couldn't be easier. You place an LP on the platter, put the record weight on the…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Belt-driven, non-suspended turntable with unipivot tonearm and DC motor. Speeds: 331/3, 45rpm (adjustable). Speed accuracy: not specified. Wow & flutter: not specified. Rumble: not specified. Tonearm pivot to stylus tip: 233.2mm. Pivot to turntable center: 215.4mm. Offset angle: 23.64°. Overhang: 17.8mm.
Dimensions: Platter diameter plus armboard: 16" (410mm) W by 11.75" (300mm) D. Platter: 11.75" (300mm) diameter; weight 8 lbs (3.6kg). Weight of plinth with armboard: 14 lbs (6.4kg). Motor plus housing: 4.75" (120mm) W by 2.75" (70mm) H by 2.…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Continuum Audio Labs Caliburn turntable & Cobra tonearm; Graham Phantom tonearm; Lyra Titan i, Air Tight PC-1, Koetsu Vermillion, Lyra Helikon SL, Clearaudio Stradivari cartridges.
Digital Sources: Musical Fidelity kW SACD player, BPT-modified Alesis MasterLink hard-disk recorder.
Preamplification: Manley Steelhead, Einstein Turntable Choice phono preamplifiers; Musical Fidelity kWP preamplifier.
Power Amplifiers: Musical Fidelity kW monoblocks.
Loudspeakers: Wilson Audio Specialties MAXX 2.
Cables: Interconnect: TARA…
Boulder Amplifiers, named after the Colorado town where the company has resided since its founding 23 years ago, makes some of the most elegant-looking solid-state amps around. Chassis are anodized, aircraft-grade aluminum with rounded edges, machined and finished in-house. The two models reviewed here, the 810 line preamplifier and the 860 power amplifier, each have a sleek, compact build—stacked atop each other, the two stand just over a foot high—owing to extremely efficient packing of the circuitry inside. These are the company's "entry-level" electronics, but there's nothing cheap about…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Boulder 810: Two-channel, solid-state, programmable, remote-controlled line-stage preamplifier. Inputs: 4 balanced. Outputs: 2 main balanced, 1 record balanced. Frequency responses: 20Hz–20kHz, +0/–0.03dB; 0.07Hz–250kHz, –3dB. S/N Ratio: 118dB ref. clipping. Input impedance: 100k ohms balanced. Output impedance: 100 ohms balanced, 50 ohms unbalanced. Maximum voltage gain: 20dB. THD: <0.0045% (2V output, 20Hz–20kHz). Output loaded with 150 ohms: <1dB distortion change, 20Hz–10kHz. Channel separation: >113dB, 20Hz–20kHz. Maximum input level: 6.0V RMS.…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Source: VPI HW-19 Mk.IV turntable, 776">VPI JMW Memorial tonearm, Clearaudio Victory H cartridge.
Digital Sources: Krell Evolution 505 SACD/CD player, Simaudio Moon CD5.3 CD player.
Preamplification: Audible Illusions Modulus 3a (used only as phono stage).
Integrated Amplifier: Krell FBI.
Loudspeakers: Verity Audio Parsifal Ovation.
Cables: Nirvana.
Accessories: Bybee Technologies Signature Power Purifier, Monster Cable AVS-2000 voltage regulator, Black Diamond Racing Mk.4 Cones (not needed under the Boulders), VPI HW-19 record-…
Sidebar 3: Wes Phillips Takes A Listen To The 860
When Fred Kaplan asked me to come over to his house and listen to the Boulder 860, he gave me no clue as to what he was hearing. "Just bring some source material you're thoroughly familiar with," he e-mailed.
I'd been by his place before, to drop off a universal player, and had listened to his Parsifal Ovation loudspeakers with the Krell FBI integrated amplifier, which he reviewed in July 2007. So I'd heard his room, his speakers, and a generous helping of his reference discs, including Masterpieces by Ellington (CD, Sony 4694072…
Sidebar 4: 810 Measurements
The Boulder 810 preamplifier turned out to be immune to grounding problems between my Audio Precision test set, always a sign of competent engineering. (With well-engineered products, I end up tearing out much less of my hair in trying to find which combination of signal generator and analyzer and amplifier signal and chassis ground connections minimizes hum loops. Sometimes it's "none of the above.") With the volume at its maximum setting of "100," the 810's voltage gain was exactly to specification, at 20dB. Accordingly, the unity-gain setting of the volume…
Sidebar 5: 860 Measurements
Before performing any tests on the Boulder 860 power amplifier, I preconditioned it by running both channels for 60 minutes into 8 ohms at one-third the specified power. The THD+N was just 0.001% with the amplifier cold, and was unchanged at the end of the preconditioning. The top panel was below 60°C after 60 minutes, which suggests that the 860 has sufficient thermal heatsink efficiency for its power rating. Like the 810 preamplifier, the 860 was non-inverting and wired with pin 2 of its XLR jacks hot. It offered a voltage gain of 25.8dB into 8 ohms, and its…