DarTZeel Preamp

Great read Mike! Thanks for the update. You just made the waiting time that much more painful :-(

What 50 Ohm cables were you using between the preamp and amps?

Mike- Have you been using the preamp in battery mode? I know last time you had it, you may not have have even realized its true sonic potential. Any better this time now that it is back in your system?

OB- The owner's manual is referring to the fact that the amp is ALWAYS drawing a small amount of electricity and maintaining a "charge". After depressing the "POWER NOSE", which takes it out of standby (this is NOT a power switch that disconnects it from the mains), the amp will reach 95% of its potential after five minutes of actual playing time. The amp could be left on all the time and require no five minute warm up, but that would be a waste of electricity.

I read it as Mike referring to the improvement over other amps he has heard in his system (or other systems) and hence the differences the Dart combo brings. Certainly you wouldn't say you have the "same emotional involvement" in your system as when you had the Ref 2 and 600s versus the Ref 3 and 2.1 would you? Or the X-1 versus the X-2s?

Also- what if Jeff Fritz had written a review of the Wilson X-2s or EMM DAC 6/CDSD and it was basically the same "tone" as the Dart review- honest, good reporting of what he heard, but felt these components were not competitive at their given price range. Fair enough?

But how would you feel about those same reviews if you found out Jeff never adjusted the X2 upper modules for his listening position or ran an RCA digital cable between the Meitner pieces and never used the fiber optic connections? Still an honest review, but not totally accurate and representative of the products full potential. *IF* Jeff never removed the DC compensation on the Dart or allowed proper break-in, then he never heard the amp at its full potential and made his comparisons against other amps slightly compromised.

From the Dart manual:

"The third jumper, labeled DC Offset COMP, is the most important since it does affect the sound of the amplifier"

"In doing so, you will fully benefit from the very philisophy of the NHB-108 model one, which is to refuse any compensation or global negative feedback which could impair the sound."

"3. I am a customer of Jtinn. That is because he is the most knowledgable, honest, reliable, caring person I have met in my 25+ years in audio. His customers needs come before the sale. For example, my friend was interested in the Dartzeel amp. Jtinns first question was 'Which speakers are you using? He then responded by saying that he believes the speakers are too inefficient for the amp and wound up selling him nothing."

Notwithstanding some of the posts in this thread, I would wholeheartedly agree with Bkonig. I am a customer of Jonathan's for a few of my pieces and his customer service and advice is amongst the best I have encountered. He is always a pleasure to speak with, and often goes above and beyond in trying to get any questions or concerns answered immediately.

In keeping with this thread, I might have some comments about the preamp in November.

Frank and Andy- I am so glad your friendship is stronger than some contentious words posted on the internet. Life is too short to argue about the merits of an amplifier/review.

Rich- Great post and info. I didn't even know my CDSD had those "features". I couldn't see the array of green lights you described through the transport, but I removed the cover and discovered an array of four orange lights that toggle in the manner you described.

Looking from the front of the transport, left to right, they were labeled- D8 D7 D6 D4

D8 is always off
D7 and D6 are always on
D4 toggles between on and off with the ALT/PLAY/STOP buttons

My DCC2 locks onto either mode.

I'm just wondering if D4 is 2xfs or 1xfs when on or off since my array is a little different.

I haven't done any listening comparisons between the two.

The "default" mode was D4 "off", so I wonder if that is indeed 2xfs as described in the manual.

Frank

I guess the key to the 50 Ohm cables, just as with video and digital cables, is that they are properly terminated a maintain a consistent 50 Ohm impedance from end to end.

Here is one 50 Ohm cable I'll be trying from L-Com- 18 awg solid silver coated copper with 2 silver coated copper braids for shielding. Wide bandwidth and extremely cheap- no loss in trying them.

http://www.l-com.com/jump.jsp?itemID=169&iMainCat=101&iSubCat=37&iSubSubCat=169&itemType=CATE

You are in for another performance level regarding bass and dynamics (among a few other things) once the amps are fully broken in. It's not subtle.

Keep us posted when that moment arrives.

Frank

The preamp continues to amaze me. I'm rediscovering recording after recording. It has been absolutely flawless in operation and I've run it over 17 hrs straight on the battery supply without interruption. The DarTZeel amp/preamp are by far the best pieces of audio equipment I have ever owned.

I have been fortunate enough to have the NHB-18NS preamp in my system for the last few days. In combination with the NHB-108 amp, using the 50 Ohm interface between the two, it is easily be the best piece of audio electronics I have ever heard. It has far exceeded my expectations which were quite high to start. It is so holographic, smooth, and "alive" that it's hard to quantify how much better it is than previous equipment I have owned or heard. The battery system has operated flawlessly so far. Can it get any better? Maybe- it’s only a few days old and there might be some additional break-in.

I think Hervé Deletraz is the best audio electronics designer in the world right now. The build quality is fanatical, the design radical, and the sound quality must be heard to be believed. It's very humbling to think your system sounds great until you put in a component like the NHB-18NS and it redefines for you what you thought was possible.

If you already have the NHB-108, don't even hesitate in ordering the preamp- it is a must have. If you own neither, order both and you will have the best amp/preamp combo on the planet. As always- this is just one audiophool’s opinion, but I'm happy as hell! Over the top actually. Thanks JT.