Interview: Jeff Nelson - President & CEO Of Boulder Amplifiers
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- Опубликовано: 14 авг 2023
- Enjoy this wonderful interview with Jeff Nelson; President & CEO Of Boulder Amplifiers in Colorado.
#interview
#bouldercolorado
#amplifier
#preamplifier
#poweramps
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Amazing interview. Thanks Jay!
An early CEDIA, some 23yrs ago, I was working on the show floor in the RCA Dome, ... and something I saw from the corner of my eye, ... stopped me in my tracks;
a massive pin and sleeve Hubble male input connector on a Boulder amplifier!
Hell yeah.
Fascinating conversation.
This was such a good guy. I need some Boulder equipment one day. His honesty was really refreshing.
Yes
The art on the wall is very nice. It looks very similar to a tapestry hanging in the main ballroom of the Parliament House of Australia.
Agreed. My mother is from Brisbane but I've lived primarily in the States now for many years (dual citizenship). I believe that the art on the wall here is of an Aspen Tree Grove, which are common in Boulder, Telluride, and other higher altitude areas of Colorado and the Rocky Mountain range.
I lived in Telluride, CO for a few years and there is a large herd of hundreds of Elk in the area, and in the Aspen Groves you'll find huge 2"-3" deep diagonal gouges in the lower trunks of random Aspen trees in the grove from the Elk rubbing the velvet off of their antlers.
The Aspen groves are indeed beautiful visually as well as the sound of the wind through the rustling leaves and canopy, similar to the Cottonwood trees in the Western U.S. as well. They are similar, but still different to the Blue Gum Forests of the Greater Blue Mountains in Oz.
Very good interview Jay.
Great factual interview
Excellent
Love ya Jay! Keep up the meaningful coverage of this great passion of ours. This interview was well thought out, and answered questions I have had for a long time----Thanks so much!!!
Glad you enjoyed it!
I anticipated a great presentation and you delivered that and more. I've known and respected Boulder for many years, and what you've done here reinforces my positive opinion of this brand. This is truly excellent reporting!
Very much enjoyed the conversation.
So glad!
Fascinating interview
Awesome
Thanks, great interview!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks Jay, cool stuff.
You bet
My guess is that Jay's new amps are new Boulder Monoblock Tubes
Never met Jeff but I like the no BS approach.
He is that way
he puts the BS into the prices. for example the 3010, basically a glorified volume control at $158k.
@@einarbk885
You're kidding, right?!
The 3010 has HEAPS of unique functionality and features, and Each One is implemented to the highest standards. It is WELL BEYOND a "glorified volume control." 😂
While I'm not his target audience and don't require that combination of functionality + audio precision, I find nothing wrong with the products his company offers and the prices he demands for this and his other products.
Sure, I'd be happy to see the 3010 come in at $20k, but none of us know what his annual operating costs are. Beyond just the cost and overhead of his manufacturing facilities, think of what it costs just to employ a handful of extremely skilled and talented associates. I can only guess that each one has an annual salary in the neighborhood of $60k-$100k+, and potentially much more.
And TBF, all of his products that I am aware of have all proven to perform at the highest standards. For the clients that have the money to pay the asking price, they are happy to pay it.
Jeff and Boulder just have a different business model than what YOU want them to have. He enjoys building and offering the absolute finest audio components available, and he is content selling just a handfull each year, instead producing a crapload of average-performing $1,000-$5,000 audio products at a much higher volume/quantity.
He'd rather build and offer "the best of the best" to the audio community instead of putting out a ton of more affordable but mediocre devices into the world. You can't fault him or his company for that. That is his perrogative and how he wants to operate HIS company.
If you think it's B.S., don't buy them. As demonstrated by just surviving for 30+ years in this incredibly competitive industry as a viable business, he is obviously doing something right and has the clientele that is willing to support him and his high quality products.
Thanks Jay very informative 😎👍
You bet
Another great interview, Jay :) And mr Nelson beams superiority, self-righteousness and condescension. What a douche. Unlike many other great engineers, like mr Pass for example.
Just this interview shows me I'd never want anything to do with Boulder, now matter the performance.
You might see things differently than others. Some of the comments are quite the opposite of your opinion. In fact, most people loved his NO BS approach.
Interesting take, ... I missed it ... and I've no idea of the genesis of what you're referring to.
What'd he say leading you to describe it that way?
I mean 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯?
I've never heard of him, met him, seen him, and I'm not sure I've ever heard his name mentioned.
Great interview Jay! Production value just getting better and better!
Much appreciated!
Yea, battery power is just an easier option to make an ordinary circuit sound better, but one still has to solve the grounding problem.
Plus, battery powered gear has "battery" sound, and when capacity drops below 80% you can tell the dynamic, weight, depth drops too because resistance increase.
Good work Jay. Jeff seems like a hard person to interview as he will only tell you what he wants to talk about. Very serious and not open, of course how often does he do this? Glad you got him to sit down with you for this video.
Thanks
LOL, I had exactly the OPPOSITE impression of Jeff. He was extremely open and willing to discuss HOW AND WHY he and his company have made the design decisions they have, and the "behind-the-scenes" details about how an amplifier ACTUALLY works.
Yes, he might have come off as very direct and frank in his responses, but he backed it up with WHY. He's a true engineer that sees no reason to wax poetic. He simply has a No B.S. attitude and approach to his work due to years of professional experience in the industry.
And his products obviously stand up to the litmus test.
IME, broadcast, telecom, military/defence, and pro-audio engineers are among the best in the industry, because that industry REQUIRES reliability, longevity, and the highest level of consistent performance in potentially harsh operating environments.
He can simply just smile and dispell all of the many "audiophile" myths about amplifier design and topologies because he FULLY UNDERSTANDS how they operate and what the result of any circuit will be based on real-world experience.
IMO, this was one of the most honest, open, refreshing, and revealing interviews of any "high end" audio designer/manufacturer I've experienced.
Very interesting discussion! So many questions! But one thing. Yes Class A is by pure definition better. It is based on running the stage starting in the middle of it's operational range. The most linear spot to start from regardless of going positive or negative from the operating point.
Class B, which is part of the discussion, is where two devices are used. One for positive and one for negative voltage out. Each is off unless the incoming signal is going positive or negative from zero. Then the corresponding device turns on and the other stays off. But that turn on is not instantaneous nor in a more linear operating area of the device. e.g. standard bipolar transistors require .7v to turn on. So the first incoming .7v is ignored! So amps are designed to be running slightly turned on when zero volts in just to be ready and overcome this major crossover distortion. The amp is biased, set to operate, slightly into Class A at just above that .7v threshold and this is called Class AB1.
However you can get more linear results, better sound, by pushing the stage more into Class AB. But then it runs less efficient, more heat and less output. Compromises are made.
Ok
I dont know if i can afford boulder, but ayre keeps my whistle wet. I love ayre
Cool
👍 I'm still spinning my optical discs with my C-5xe universal player.
It's amazing two of the best amplifier companies in the world are located within miles of each other just north of denver(in my back yard). I appreciate boulder's insights, however i've never preferred focal's metal tweeters to dynaudio's soft dome. Maybe in a dead room, but with room constraints, Confidence is going to be much more flexible and sound more natural.
@thomaswipf7986
You probably haven't heard the latest iterations of the Focal Beryllium inverted dome tweeters that are used in these Grande Utopias and their other Utopia/Utopia Elite products such as the Trio 11 Be Studio Monitors and their Focal Elite Utopia TBM car audio tweeter.
While technically, beryllium is a "metal", in a true blind test I'm confidient that you wouldn't be able to pick out the Focal tweeter from another highly-regarded silk or fabric dome tweeter such as the Dynaudio Esotar² 110, etc, except that the Focal Utopia beryllium dome has better detail retrieval without being "harsh" or "metallic" or fatiguing.
At this point in time, Beryllium has the most advantageous properties for use as a "neutral" pistonic diaphragm in a dome or cone transducer. It has the most optimized ratio or combination of ultra low mass, extreme stiffness/rigidity, and ideal damping properties that result in the fewest "distortions" of the input signal.
The caveats are that it is a very expensive rare-earth metal, it's very difficult to process and manufacture, and can be highly toxic in certain states...i.e. the beryllium dust or powder that can result from crushing or breaking the beryllium dome or cone.
I'm primarily a DIY speaker builder at this point and have been for many years. I've used A LOT of different types of tweeters in both high-end home and ultra high-end car audio speaker systems, including the large Dynaudio Esotar² 110.
Yes, the Dyn is a fantastic "world class" tweeter, but if our goal is as Jeff stated with his Boulder amplifiers (a straight wire with gain), there are other dome tweeters and AMTs that are more ACCURATE and do not sound metallic or harsh.
As a side note, the Dynaudio Esotar² 430 midange driver is still my preferred midrange driver in its size category. But the Focal Elite Utopia 3.5WM and Xcelsus Xcelsia Competition XXM425/XXM325 are extremely close contenders.
The Focal Elite Utopia TBM beryllium tweeter is one of the first from Focal in my experience that completely does away with any potentially "harsh" or "metallic" sound signature and just presents "the music."
Of course, the Most Important Aspect of the resulting sound quality and character of ANY loudspeaker comes down to how Each Tweeter type is IMPLEMENTED in the unique design, and the overall Amplitude Response of the loudspeaker that is governed by the Crossover Filter Network and the Baffle/Enclosure of the loudspeaker it is placed in. IOW, I can make just about ANY tweeter sound harsh and "metallic" when it is implemented incorrectly.
At this point in time, I have found that the BlieSMa T34B and T25B Beryllium dome tweeters are the finest, most accurate Dome Tweeters made.
However, they do have a Diamond version which I have not heard yet, but another friend has A/B'd the Diamond version against the Beryllium version and stated that the Diamond version is on yet another level. Their cost is unfortunately way too rich for my blood!
But BlieSMa also produce Silk Dome and Aluminum Dome versions of these tweeters as well. They are designated with a "D", "B", "S", or "A" suffix after the T34 or T25 model name to distinguish which Dome Material is being used.
Cheers
“We sell performance and not fashion “ Priceless :))))
Exactly....bit rich if you ask me
Indeed
That background musak was soo distracting.. Sorry, just being honest.. Otherwise, great interview Jay(as always)
Cool
Anyone know what turntable is in the background?
No idea
Why did you just reupload a specific segment of your tour video? Isnt this available in your factory tour video? I dont understand the reason to reupload this specific section.
Because I can and because other channels do it from different industries. You might not be informed that this is what is done
@@jaysaudiolab I watch a lot of videos regarding different industries and don't see this done that often but appreciate the response.
Trying to be helpful here. Jeff Nelson was gracious enough to grant this interview, he deserved our undivided attention. The music was un professional Jay, sorry to say. It's not an infomercial.
The underlying music isn’t an issue. With videos like this you are looking for lighting, sound, composition/camera angles and the subject matter or story. Even the location with the equipment was used as a back drop. Jay has this covered in spades.
Under lay music for these type of videos is standard fare as the music is done to keep interest, pace at a low level, drive the content, and the interviewer, and interviewee’s message home by delighting the senses. Some find it boring to hear someone talk for over 30 mins and will tune you out or off. The goal was to tell the story and get incite without letting your subject go to far off base with you controlling the pace and questions.
A problem would have been if the subjects were competing with the music (if the music was overpowering, causing the speakers to speak louder than they normally would) which wasn’t the case here. The subject matter, Jeff Nelson was clearly visually, and audibly clear. Jeff’s message or mission statement-quality/manufacturing (We don’t sell fashion here) was clearly highlighted along with the equipment.
Lightning and sound for two guys talking about amplification 😀 this could have been a podcast. Professionalism is basically dead anyway. I do like Jay a lot though. It was constructive criticism.
@davewin1792 All of this goes hand in hand for what Jay is trying to accomplish, and yes, I get constructive criticism and I'm sure Jay gets it, but Jay is definitely a leader with a type A personality.
Jay is using this platform to go beyond what we see here. There really is a ton of money to be made from this platform once he gets the right formula.
Anyone can do a podcast, but Jay is trying to be next level and get the interviews in the places that no one else is getting or is able to be at.
To get his viewership up, he has to think beyond the box, and he has said more than once that this is a business for him. Guys, with between 500,000 to 1 million subscribers, quit their regular jobs because RUclips becomes their job and opens tons of doors.
IMO, leave the background music for a true listening session. You don't see 60 Minutes and other broadcast interviews with background music, do you? For RUclips content it's just a fad or trend IMO that needs to go away. The dialog here is interesting enough to stand on its own. FYI, I am in the professional TV/Film/Video production business.
@bbfoto7248 Me and my partner own and operate in the same space as you, with photography as well (operating mostly in the cooperate and government space) so I respect you, but the reason that the music exists in these videos is the same reason that people don't read magazines, books, etc.
As Jay has mentioned in the past with print media being dead, short answer is the invention of these smart phones and "Short Attention Spans" and the need to be constantly entertained. I agree with you that every interview doesn't have to have music, you have to know when, where and how to drive that attention as a DP or director.
As I'm sure you know, music works at an ultrasonic frequency to the brain and stimulates the brain for both negatively or positively, which, fortunately or not, keeps interest in the topic at hand. I never said I agree with it, I'm old school, but in this business, you have to adapt and overcome. The main problem is people over-do this and the music takes away from the talent.
60 Minutes has an entirely different demographic than You Tube and other social media and a ton of people in that 40 and under aren't necesarily in the 60 minute demographic and for advertising purposes that is alot of people. The combination of RUclips, Reality TV and other social media outstripe 60 Minutes and yes I still watch 60 minutes from time to time.
Tv is almost a dead medium, and so is the news unfortunately. Most Networks want the quick buck and they aren't really creating a lot of new shows, they are doing Reality TV, linking it to RUclips, people are creating their own hopeless reality on Social Media like Face Book and the views are outstriping the views for 60 Minutes and other TV shows.
This is occurring for the same reason as mentioned, short attention spans and playing on peoples emotion, the "Dead Head" space for some. As a business you except it and grow or you don't and stagnate or in some cases die off. We have taken some tips from Social Media, especially in the front of Patreon, but different, we are doing monthly, 6 month and year contracts and we are providing 24-7 access, which believe it or not is working and providing growth, so much so that the 1 month and are going away this year, we are adapting to social media ideas and growing at the same time.
From 2.50 he articulates very well about whether your system is neutral or not, got that bang to rights, totally agree with his anology, however shoots himself in the foot somewhat, at 32.00, "We sell performance, not fashion", ......"bloody hel"l....what are your designs about then !, "The sloping facia's", "The artistic and elaborately designed heat sinks" , HELLO....Kudos though, Boulder are one of the few companies that have the "Special Sauce".....
K
I'd suggest that's much less fashion, ... and much more design aesthetic.
Somewhat akin to early Krell's no nonsense brute force visuals.
...
But, we're all subject to pleasures of the flesh, and pleasing visuals.
And, there's no accounting for taste.
IMHO, brands like D'Agostino are much more "embellished" than anything Boulder produces.
Amplifiers that cost as much as a Porsche 911 - No thanks
Ok