The Boulder Valley is an inspiring physical setting located at the foot of the Colorado Flatirons. Blessed with 300+ days of sunshine a year, numerous outdoor activities and a well-educated population, it leaves little to be desired. Jeff Nelson decided Boulder would be the perfect place to escape the frenzy of Southern California.

Jeff had one goal in mind when he moved to Boulder. He would start a company and create the finest audio components he knew how, in his own way and on his own terms. He didn’t have to look far for a name: a boulder connotes strength, and bolder is the sound of a Boulder product.

Before Boulder

Before founding Boulder Amplifiers, Jeff spent the 1970s in Southern California, working in the broadcast and recording studio industry.

He was also responsible for developing what would become a pivotal piece of equipment in the broadcast industry, the Tomcat cart (tape cartridge) machine, as a member of the Pacific Recorders design team. The Tomcat was built for reliability and sound quality and was the established high-performance cart machine in broadcast studios throughout the world. More than 3,000 were sold during its production lifetime.

A largely self-taught electronics savant and as the designer of the Tomcat, Jeff was a name to know in the professional audio world. He had already gained broad experience in film production, studio recording, and engineering design.

It was also in Southern California where Jeff met Deane Jensen. Deane is most well known for his work with transformers but was also the creator of the 990 gain stage, a discretely implemented op-amp (operational amplifier) that broke new ground in measured performance. The 990 presented a number of advantages, chief among them giving electronics designers the ability to properly use feedback in order to minimize distortion. The 990’s superiority would provide the initial building block for future Boulder products in later years.

The Early Days

In 1984, when Jeff was in his early 30s, he debuted the Boulder 500 stereo power amplifier. The clean, ruggedly built 500 quickly found popularity in numerous professional applications. Many went to recording studios, loudspeaker manufacturers, and broadcast facilities where they continue to perform day after day in grueling duty cycles. Countless recordings and film scores by Skywalker Sound, Michael Jackson (“Thriller”), Prince, U2, Danny Elfman, Dave Matthews, Frank Sinatra and Van Halen, to name just a few, have used 500s and other Boulder pieces in their production. The 500 was quickly followed by the 500AE, which was embraced by audio connoisseurs and soon found its way into numerous home stereo systems.

With the 500AE (AE denoting “Audiophile Edition”), Boulder became the first audio manufacturer to employ the low distortion 990 gain stage in a home audiophile component. The original 990 contained 69 parts and was assembled by hand. (The current generation 993, also hand-assembled, contains 92 parts.) Boulder adopted the now famous 990 design, which was originally conceived for professional studio applications, for its entire AE product line. By now this lineup included the 500AE, 250AE and 102AE power amplifiers and the L3AE and L5AE preamplifiers. A single L5AE contained ten 990 modules

By 1986, with these five audiophile components in full production, Boulder had established itself as a presence in the world of high-performance audio electronics.

A Turning Point: The 2000 Series

The 2000 Series is a materialization of an abstract ideal of what components would be if they were perfect. If a particular part could improve a piece, then the design required that part. No corners cut, no shortcuts taken, no limitations placed on the engineering team. Cost did not figure into the equation before the design and optimal performance criteria were achieved.

Every 2000 Series chassis is machined of aluminum. Buttons are hand-polished stainless steel. LED displays are large enough to read from across a large room. Last but not least, the 993 gain stage used in all 2000 Series products vastly improves upon the renowned 990.

With the 2010 Isolated Balanced Preamplifier, the 2000 Series was off to an impressive start as an incredible merger of digital and analog engineering in a luxurious chassis.

The 2010 achieves such low levels of distortion that it has been recognized as a technological benchmark. The solid-state discrete-step volume attenuator, the first of its kind, has been described simply as “perfect.” This breakthrough design at long last liberated audiophiles from the distortion and noise of primitive mechanical volume controls. The 2010’s audio channel circuitry is optically isolated from all other electronics—there are no wiring linkages between channels, the other channel’s chassis or the user interface chassis. And, of course, all inputs and outputs are fully balanced.

You might say that the Boulder 2010 actually does less than any other preamplifier: It delivers precisely—and only—what exists on your recordings and nothing else.

The 2020 Advance D/A Converter was next. The creation of the 2020 soon made it obvious that the analog portion of digital components had been given too little attention. The new 993 gain stage brought clarity to a level far beyond anything ever heard before.

The three-section main-unit chassis design (left audio, right audio, and digital) removed any interference between the analog and digital sections, while the elegant combination of handpolished stainless steel, aluminum and powder coating complemented any decor.

Boulder’s mighty 2050 Mono Class A and 2060 Stereo Class A Power Amplifiers perform at the same exemplary level. Both are full Class A designs. Both employ two gain stages, with 993s exclusively in the first stage. Each weighs a massive 240 pounds.

These amplifiers are infinitely tolerant of the difficult loads imposed by today’s myriad loudspeaker designs. From the lowest registers of a pipe organ to the highest percussive overtones and at listening levels that would exceed any musical performance, these fast and powerful amplifiers will almost never clip. No power amplifier anywhere comes closer to the ideal than do Boulder’s 2050 and 2060.

Moving

After years of steady growth, Boulder relocated its production facilities and executive offices in 1998 to their present location on Prairie Avenue, in the heart of Boulder’s commercial and industrial sector.

This larger space included room for a dedicated machine shop, and Boulder acquired its first Haas CNC vertical machining center. Developing metal fabrication and finishing capabilities in-house was an important milestone for Boulder. Fortuitously, a successful family machining business was in Jeff’s history, so Boulder’s move in this direction, while unusual for an audio manufacturer, was a familiar one.

The 1000 Series

It’s one thing to bring a cost-no-object audio component to market. It is quite another to maintain a renowned level of performance and reliability, capture the essence of a Boulder product and hit a price target all at the same time. The introduction of the Boulder 1000 Series surpassed these challenges.

The 1000 Series employs a combination of discrete surface-mount transistors and monolithic microcircuitry in place of the 993 gain stages of the 2000 Series. This new gain stage, exclusive to the 1000 Series, is the 983. The 1000 Series also strives to keep every product in a single, elegant chassis.

In 1999, the 1000 Series debuted with the Boulder 1060 Stereo Power Amplifier. The 1060 shares many of the features of its larger 2000 Series kin, beginning with a non-resonant machined chassis and its own version of Boulder’s distinctive aluminum heatsinks. The 1060 is a class AB design conservatively rated at 300 watts per channel. With this kind of power, it’s nearly as tolerant of demanding program material and difficult loads as its much larger relatives.

The Boulder 1012 DAC Preamplifier was first shown at the 2000 Consumer Electronics Show, and a few months later it was named Component of the Year by Japan’s prestigious Stereo Sound magazine. It’s not hard to see (or hear) why.

The 1012 is an incredibly versatile electronic amalgamation, housing inputs for three analog and four digital sources, as well as an excellent phono stage—it truly is three products in one chassis. Like Boulder’s flagship 2010 preamplifier, the 1012 has an optically actuated, discrete-step volume control, a machined aluminum chassis, and a large, easy to read and fully programmable display.

The 1012’s digital-to-analog converter (DAC) uses the same Texas Instruments DSP chip as the standalone Boulder 2020 DAC. This onegigaflop processor powers Boulder’s proprietary UpandoversamplingTM technology, the same as that found in the Boulder 2020.

With the Boulder 1012, Boulder demonstrated that “high-performance audio” and “value” can easily coexist.

The Stunning 2008 Phono Preamplifier

The pièce de résistance for the year was Boulder’s 2008 Phono Preamplifier, introduced at the 2002 Consumer Electronics Show. The enthusiasm for this esoteric component surpassed even Boulder’s own expectations. The 2008 was originally created for a few 2010 owners who desired an equally capable phono section. It was presumed that a limited production run of a few pieces would be built upon request. Instead, for much of its production history, the Boulder 2008 has had a waiting list of customers, with the factory only finally catching up with demand years later.

For vinyl aficionados around the world, the Boulder 2008 Phono Preamplifier redefined analog music recording and playback. Almost as soon as it was introduced, the 2008 appeared in Stereophile magazine’s “The Hot 100” most important products in the 40 years of audio. The 2008 so impressed Stereophile that it created an entirely new rating, “A+,” to recognize performance superior to every competitor in its product category, regardless of price.

1000 Series Expansion

The year 2003 saw two new product introductions in Boulder’s 1000 series.

The Boulder 1050 Mono Power Amplifier was a response to customer requests for a smaller, less expensive single-channel model than the monstrous Boulder 2050. At 500 watts per chassis into an 8 ohm load, a pair of Boulder 1050s is more than adequate for all but the largest two-channel systems. It’s also the perfect building block for the ultimate in surround sound or home theater.

In 2003, Boulder unveiled the 1010 Stereo Preamplifier, later named the Product of the Year by Ultra Audio magazine along with the 1060 Stereo Amplifier. A more traditional two-channel preamplifier, the 1010 is identical to the Boulder 1012 DAC Preamplifier but doesn’t include the digital-to-analog conversion circuitry. The 1010 expanded Boulder customers’ choices when selecting components based on their particular needs and soon became one of the most popular products the company has ever offered. Also, as the product line’s lowest priced component, the Boulder 1010 gave many people a more affordable entry into the world of genuinely high-performance sound.

Further Growth

The year 2000 began a continuous period of steady growth and 2004 was the beginning of a string of annual sales records. At the same time, Boulder undertook a major expansion of its physical plant, nearly doubling its size by completing major upgrades to the machine shop, assembly area, engineering department, testing lab, executive offices, and listening room. The workforce had similarly grown.

Boulder also made substantial capital investments in computers and software in 2004 and 2005; most notably, a sophisticated 3-D CAD (computer-aided drafting) program was implemented, which allowed Boulder’s engineers to produce more detailed and intricate designs while minimizing production lead time. New designs could be sent digitally to the machine shop, and metal prototypes returned in a fraction of the time previously required. Within the span of a few short years, every aspect of the business was substantially more efficient.

Today, Boulder’s machine shop has three Haas CNC vertical machining centers and a variety of ancillary equipment for tumbling, polishing, sanding, cutting, and metal finishing. These metal fabrication and finishing tools enable Boulder’s team of metalworkers and assemblers to consistently surpass the ever-higher quality control criteria required to craft every Boulder component.

Increasing Boulder’s Audience: the 800 Series

In 2005 Boulder unveiled its first entirely new product line in six years: the 800 Series.

Originally conceived for the North American market, the 800 Series was also the first generation of products designed completely with Boulder’s new CAD design system.

The 800 Series debuted with the 850 Mono Amplifier, a small class AB, 200W powerhouse in a half-width chassis design that lent itself to much easier installation in custom applications. The 850 also proudly demonstrated that Boulder could offer its legendary performance in a much smaller package—without scaling back performance—by reducing chassis costs and power output.

A year later, the 810 Stereo Preamplifier, a junior sibling to the 1010, was released. The 810 offered four line-level inputs, fully balanced operation and a wealth of connections, which made it easy to integrate into outside control and automation systems. To maintain the remarkable level of performance expected of any Boulder product, the 810 also included fully encapsulated left and right channels and Boulder’s own discrete stepped attenuator volume control, engineering derived directly from the awesome 2010. One audio writer described the resulting sonics as reaching “a level of definition and speed I’ve never experienced in my system with any other preamplifier.” High praise, indeed, for Boulder’s most diminutive control amplifier.

The 860 Stereo Amplifier, a stereo version of the 850 Mono Amplifier in a full-sized chassis, followed in 2007. At first glance, the 860 appeared to be a traditional amplifier design. However, upon further inspection, it revealed itself to be a technological tour-deforce, going well beyond the norms of typical “high-end” standards—the degree to which the 860 had been engineered is rare in even the most esoteric designs.

When combined with the 810, the 860 led to a stunning new product. For anyone who had ever aspired to Boulder ownership but considered it out of reach, a novel new product on the horizon promised a radically new point of entry for Boulder performance..

A Boulder First: The 865 Integrated Amplifier

In September 2007, Boulder quietly released the 865 Integrated Amplifier with the intent that it would find a niche in places where space or budgeting prohibited the use of separate or larger products. Instead, the 865 brilliantly exceeded expectations and become a viable solution not just for those with system limitations, but also for music lovers of all kinds.

The 865 mated the sublime control and input circuits of the 810 with the potent amplifier section of the 860. Engineering criteria focused on making it an excellent all-around product instead of limiting its ease of use or the abilities of its two halves. The 865 was a phenomenal performer when compared to other integrated amplifiers or even full-blown separates—in a product category traditionally reserved for electronics with compromised functionality and sound quality.

It quickly collected more review requests than any other product in Boulder’s line up and earned a phenomenal number of accolades.

“I mean that the 865 is such a clean, such a neutral and honest transmitter of what is fed into it that to describe its sonic traits in such an inadequate medium as language seems harder than chain-gang labour.”

“I can’t remember a time when I have been so impressed by an integrated amplifier’s performance.”

“Relaxed music is delivered with such incredible transparency and delicacy that it brings a lump in your throat.”

“Any amplifier capable of transmitting that much emotion is an amp I’m willing to spend time with.”

“A cover of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah was startling in its immediacy. The big hall acoustic, the power of lang’s voice, the way the piano accompaniment both anchors and sustains her—all came through. And when the understated bass comes in under lang’s naked voice, I almost wept. That’s not just technical perfection, it’s the real thing…I had to give myself time to process the experience.”

“Simple, compact and epic. Absolutely ----ing epic.”

Redefining Digital Playback: The 1021 Disc Player

The 2008 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas was the site of the first public appearance of the 1021 Disc Player. The 1021 was one of the largest undertakings in the company’s history. It was also the first complete source component from Boulder Amplifiers. After a painstaking development cycle spanning two years in which the entire digital playback methodology was examined and reconsidered, the 1021 completely redefined the limits of what a digital player could be. In its short lifetime, it has earned “the best disc player I’ve ever heard” accolades by countless dealers, reviewers and other manufacturers around the world.

The 1021 boasted the first truly interactive display in a disc player and countless breakthroughs in digital circuitry and software, including Boulder’s own jitter eliminating Precise Interval Clocking System, research into new D/A conversion technology, floatingpoint DSP mathematics and a vastly superior data retrieval disc mechanism system. These advances were all successfully integrated to produce a revelatory listening experience. But the truly innovative aspect of the 1021 Disc Player was that it didn’t need a disc at all to make music: When connected to a computer network, the 1021 can decode and play digital music files streamed from a computer or media server anywhere in the home--with absolutely no loss of realism. Ultra-high resolution music file playback from either a disc or streaming was simply icing on the cake.

The 1021 was a stunning example of just how far digital sound can be taken when approached from the unique point of view of perfectly executing the engineering.

The Future

Under Jeff Nelson’s leadership, Boulder has grown and prospered for more than 25 years. The company has also retained the experience of a number of employees who have been with the company since its very earliest days. These dedicated craftsmen, technicians and designers breathe life into the original Boulder vision and make it a reality. Their enthusiasm ensures that the Boulder philosophy will continue as long as music lovers desire to listen to music with the very finest audio components in the world.

Boulder’s uncomplicated vision—to make the best electronics possible—remains the sole guiding principle. Years after its debut, the 2000 Series remains a hallmark of excellence in high-performance audio. The 1000 Series excels as an elegant statement in ability and simplicity. And the 800 Series has expanded Boulder’s appeal to an entirely new audience.

The future will see Boulder continue what Jeff started: identifying current shortcomings by thinking differently and anticipating what customers will want and then creating what inevitably will become the industry’s standard—simply by executing every step, from concept to completion, better than anyone else