Since I now have had the 812 at home for 2 weeks, I perhaps should share my impressions if it can be of use to anyone else.
I’m new here as active member, so please bear with me. And I should mention from the beginning that the headphone amp serving as comparison is the Bryston BHA-1 that I have had for the last 4 years.
The 812 as headphone amp is simply stunningly good.
It delivers very high resolution with dynamics that are simply awe-inspiring, and this is without any listening fatigue whatsoever. I have spent several days recalibrating my perception of how music that I have listened to for many years can/should be recreated at home.
There are a lot of detailed traits that I could describe, but especially two sticks out;
One is that I now get all the textures in attacks, decays, vibrating voices and so forth presented, and I can follow very subtle background instruments and voices. And this happens without tearing the music apart in separate emphasized details.
Which leads to number two that is the awe-inspiring dynamics. I have tried everything from very moody subtle tracks to fast heavily layered tracks that rely very strongly on good PRaT, and the 812 is capable of both scenarios. It is so good at this that my neck now hurts from too much head-bobbin’ and I have used numerous tissues to wipe my watery eyes.
My personal favorite in headphones is the Rosson RAD-0, which it took me a long time to find, and most of the listening is done with that. I know this is very personal, but to me the RAD-0 has an uncanny ability with timing, details and neutrality without any listening fatigue.
I also have the Utopia, the Ether 2 and my old Grado GH2. All of them worked fine with the 812, and it seems to bring out the best in each one, but the RAD-0 was the perfect match for me.
I do not have anything very difficult to drive (Susvara or Abyss), so I can’t answer the question if any of these will be a good match with the 812. The most difficult to drive I have is the Ether 2, which I tried to turn up to a near ear-damaging level, which was -40 dB on the volume scale with 0 dB being the max, and the 812 could handle this without any audible compressions, distortions or other difficulties. Sorry for not being able to help answering this.
My main sources are vinyl (a Kuzma/EMT/Whest combo) and CD (Bryston BCD-3 with built in BDA-3 DAC), and most of the listening has been with these feeding the two analogue inputs on the 812, but I have off course also tried the internal DAC in the 812.
Based on a comparison between a CD playing on the BCD-3 and the same CD ripped and stored on my Roon Nucleus, playing over the network and the internal DAC, I would say the 812 DAC is almost on level with a Bryston BDA-3 DAC. But the difference present could very well originate in the two different transmissions.
The Bryston BDA-3 is generally a highly regarded DAC, and I personally agree with this, so this is actually high praise for the internal 812 DAC, and I will use the internal DAC for streaming from Roon. It could possibly be bettered by something like Aqua or dCS, but that would require a very different budget.
I have not tried the 812 as pre amplifier yet. This is because I don’t have a power amplifier to try it with (yet). The setup until 2 weeks ago has been an integrated for the speakers and the Bryston BHA-1 for the headphones, with common sources. But since my listening is divided roughly 50/50 between headphones and speakers, the 812 with a matching power amp is a perfect way for me to upgrade with full use of all the functionality from the 812.
Boulder does have a matching 50 W power amp in the pipe-line and I have a pre order on one of these. If the sonics for the combined 812-pre and 861-power amp are anywhere near what Boulder has come up with in the headphone section of the 812, I can’t think of a better or cheaper way to get a combined headphone and speaker system at that level. But off course I don’t know if that is the case, and I’m very curious to find out. Here the speaker compatibility also enters the equation, but as I have a smaller listening room and listen at lower levels on the speakers, I’m not worried about that.
As you can gather from this, I really like the 812 very, very much, but don’t take my word for it. There should be 812’s out at several Boulder dealers now, so if you’re curious and want to find out if this is for you, go and check it out. BUT please make sure the unit you check out has had some running time (minimum 50 hours, preferably 100 hours), since it is somewhat closed in and edgy straight out of the box.
PS: Opinions may vary on the Frank Gehry like design of the 812, but the general build, finish and feel of the unit is of very high quality.
