Dartzeel amp lives up to hype

Glide3, do you have an update on the darTZeel amp now that it's had a chance to break in? I just bought the amp and pre-amp myself. Expect the amp to arrive next week and the pre-amp in late January / early February.

Thanks

Kurt, thanks for the update! I hope to get my amp tomorrow and I will post later with my impressions. Herve told me that my amp already had some good burn in time on it so hopefully it will sound reasonable out of the box.

Sorry...what does DNM stand for?

Thanks Kurt. I've had my darTZeel amp for about 5 days now and have been running it 24/7 since it arrived. It sounded really good right out of the box, but I can hear it getting better and better. I am currently using a 30' XLR run into its XLR inputs. Later today I'm going to try using the RCA inputs by using an XLR-to-RCA adaptor plug just to see if there is any difference. But like I said, I am EXTREMELY impressed so far by what I'm hearing. It is, as you and so many others have said, just so musical. The artifacts associated with even the best solid state gear are absent and the three dimensionality and pure harmonics are there just as with really good tube gear, but without the added warmth/bloom.

I got my 50ohm coax cables from l-com.com and am anxiously awaiting my new darTZeel pre-amp which I hope to get by early Feb.

I'd love to hear the DNM some time.

David

Kurt, thanks for the offer. I may take you up on that. I get out to the west coast 1-2 times a year. In fact, I just got back from Edmonton, Canada...yikes...very cold. I can't imagine the dart amp getting any better from where it is right now, but I guess it will...;)

Snook2, regarding the power cord question, here's what I've done so far in terms of experimentation with input power. First, the dart sounds best if I bypass my Shunyata Hydra2 and go straight to the wall outlet. I have only tried the Shunyata top of the line Anaconda power cord, but will try some others in the weeks ahead. With the Hydra2 in the input power chain some transparency and microdetail is lost. When I spoke to Herve (the owner/designer of darTZeel) he confirmed that others have found the same thing.

Second, I have the advantage of being able to go back and forth between 120V and 240V input power as I have both outlets by the amp. One just has to power down the amp, pop the hood and change two switches (one for each channel). In my room, the 240V mode sounds better. Where it is most noticeable is at the low end where the bass firms up. Of course 240V is what they use in Europe where the amp is designed. That being said, Herve didn't feel that there should be much, if any, sonic difference between the two mode. Since my amp is still in burn-in mode, I will rerun this test after I have 30 days plus on the unit and report back.

Take care guys,

David

Henryhk,

The darTZeel improves upon the Solo's performance in the following ways:

(1) Greater tonal accuracy and density - the Solo's sound "thin" compared to the dart. Instruments and voices are more fully formed and true to live music. In this aspect the dart reminds you of great tube gear.

(2) Absence of artifacts - listening to the dart there is a clarity, transparency and absence of artifacts as compared to the Solos that allows you to listen much more deeply into the soundstage. There is greater three dimensionality to the music and greater space between instruments and vocalists and no listener fatigue. I would say that the dart is just more musical. Micro and macro detail is amazing...bass notes for example can be followed note by note all the way through the long decay. The dart gives you all of this without the warmth or colorations that most tube amps bring along with the ride.

(3) Slam - My listening room is 23'L x 17'W x 9'H so it is not a large volume. But the Temptations are not an easy load either. One of things I loved about the Solo's were the slam they delivered. I love deep, controlled, strong bass. In my room on my speakers the dart easily matches the Solo's in this regard, but with superior clarity and pitch definition.

Hope this helps. In the past whenever I tried other amplifiers I always ended up going back to the Solos because of their overall performance envelope and musicality. The other amps each did something better than the Solos, but the overall package was not sufficiently better to make me want to switch. I must admit that the ASR Emitter II Exclusive was very good and had I not auditioned the dart I might have bought it. But compared to the dart it sounds colored and a bit dark.

I strongly suggest you audition the dart, but make sure it is properly broken in before you make your final evaluation. It sounds good right out of the box, but it really blooms after about 3-4 weeks of burn in.

Wow, alot of discussion since I last posted.

FWIW, I've now had my dartzeel amp for 1 month. I have had zero problems, even switching back and forth from 120V to 240V. Out of the box it sounded very good...with 30 days of break-in on it the performance has become simply fantastic. I cannot over emphasize the need to let this amp break-in before listening critically to it.

I am driving a pair of Dynaudio Temptation speakers which are not the most efficient design and the dart drives them to "earflappin" levels with no hint of distortion. The low end control, resolution, detail is simply amazing. I have not compared the dart to an endless number of other amps, but I have had Linn Klimax Solo's, Boulders, Spectral, Nagra, ASR Emitter II and Art amplifiers in my room for extended periods of time. To my ear, the dart is easily better than all of them combining the best virtues of solid state and tubes. There is this transparency and artifact-free presentation which has you just sitting back and listening to the music and not the equipment. I would be the first one to say that the dart may not have the power to drive all speakers in all room sizes.

With the amp now nearing full break-in, I went back and reran some tests on the power feed. Here's what I found:

- In 120V mode the dart, in my room at least, sounds audibly better with a Hydra 2 in the chain versus going directly to the wall outlet (when I first ran this test the amp was in the steep phase of it's break-in and it invalidated my initial findings). There is a noticeable reduction in grain/noise, more microdetail and no sense of any loss of dynamics. I realize that many PLC's restrict current flow, but the Hydra does not seem to suffer from this ill.
- Replacing the Hydra 2 with a Hydra 8 yields a further, significant improvement. I know it's not cost effective to just have one device plugged into the Hydra 8...
- Now the kicker...I have been using Shunyata Anaconda power cables all around in my system for the past 12-18 months. Just last week I tried the newer Python Helix (which is one step down from the Anaconda) and it simply blew away my non-Helix Anaconda versions.
- With the Python Helix's and a Hydra 8 120V the dart's performance ascended to yet a higher level.
- While many debate whether or not an amp sounds better with 120V feed vs 240V feed, I have decided to buy a Hydra 8 240V (since I have dedicated 240V power to use) and new Anaconda Helix power cables. I can't wait to hear this combination based on my listening tests.

I accept that I may live in an area with dirty power and results would vary. I do have dedicated home run lines for all of my 120V and 240V feeds however.

I bought the dart pre-amp without even hearing it based on how impressed I was with the amp and can't wait to hear it, especially with the 50ohm interconnects. Currently I am using a 30' balanced XLR to connect my pre-amp to the dart amp.

Lastly, JTinn and Herve (the designer/owner of dartzeel) have provided me with absolutely first class service, and no, they did not ask me to post that!