I had that Dussun. It was spectacular.
Opinions about Daniel Hertz
Have anyone heard Daniel Hertz’s Maria intergrated amps with Eva or Amber speakers? Stephen Huff gave them one of the best reviews ever but is it all marketing and hype? Mark Levinson claims to solve the problems of digital reproduction with his master class software which can turn any digital recording into original master tape quality.
But ML had a questionable past such as rebranding Chinese products as his own and marking up the price. Others said he can’t design anything but hires good talent while he works on marketing. His series of business ventures and contentious business relationships would give one pause, but I only care about the sound. What do others think? Did he in fact made a revolutionary breakthrough in digital playback. Or is it all hype? Bottom line is how do his systems sound?
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I heard the ML story directly from John Curl - that’s the first knock on ML. Next is their gear is rarely/never mentioned in the latest gear or in comparison reviews, so I’m assuming old tech to not compete well sonically with contemporary new electronics, unlike Ayre and Boulder top offerings which seemingly continues to compete sonically against the newer electronics. |
over the years, despite its premium positioning marketing wise, i have never liked the sound of levinson/madrigal/proceed gear, then cello, then red rose - the various incarnations started by 'the person' mark levinson as he jumped from one to the next... each time the prices went more and more into the shameless nosebleed zone hyper clear, etched, rather mechanical sounding, not organic, lacking in coherence to my ear -- the kind of sound that impresses in demos or at first listen, but which wears out its welcome upon ownership or extended listening for this reason, i am not at all intrigued by this latest incarnation of levinson stuff under this daniel hertz label... maybe the sound is different this time, but i am hardly eager to find out |
Red Rose was mostly a re-branding of "Audio Prism", made in the USA (by friends of mine noted in the below article from 1999). those USA products were definitely not in that mechanical ’etched’ sounding category. https://www.stereophile.com/news/10627/index.html later they did add some Chinese sourced products (which i’ve not heard so cannot comment). |
Love the m7 speakers which I still own and intend to keep for long time, didn’t love the Maria amp I was given to audition with it. Didn’t hold a candle to my Absolare integrated, sounded like generic class d, bleached of color and texture. Maybe that was because the user is forced to use bare wire speaker cables with the Maria amps, but probably not. Can’t speak to the amber speaker… never heard it. |
After I heard about the Daniel Hertz Maria 350, I got curious and red all I could read. The marketing is convincing, but what would my ears report? So I arranged a demo with Magna Hifi from Heiloo (Netherlands) at my house and played songs I really know well on my own equipment. It took about 15 seconds for the first “Wow!”: so much ease, so much detail and space. What a natural way of playing my favorite songs. And what a power when needed! Now, after 3 months, she is here: the Maria 350 playing on my Martin Logan ESL 13A’s. The Grimm MU1 streamer is perhaps overkill (not sure yet), but it is a magical combination. Cables matter, as do power cords. I sold my DAC, pre-amp and amp, which financed most of the Maria. Daniel Hertz offered to write a special file for my speakers to upload to the Maria that make my Martin Logans perform even better. We’ll see/hear. Never regretted my decision one second. |
According to his video digital music has negative health causations and his amps have an algorithm that inject a small amount of reverb between the digital steps for a less damaging experience. He also sells the software separately but it isn't as full featured as his amps. I haven't heard it or even researched the claims but I'm old and a tube guy and he's a well known name in the industry so sure I bet it's great |
This week I visited the Daniel Hertz distributor Lone Crowe audio in Santa Rosa, California. After Steve Huff’s glowing and intriguing review of the Maria 350 with the Amber speakers and the Hifi Rose RS130, I wanted to audition the system in person. The Maria 350 wasn’t available so I listened to the Maria 800, which John, the owner of Lone Tree, said sounds identical to the 350, but is a bi-amped version. Listening to the Amber speakers with the 800, I was initially disappointed with the sound, very heavy, low, and almost muffled. However, after about ten to fifteen minutes of warm up, the sound changed immensely. It was wonderfully articulated, strings shimmered, vocals were warm and rich, the presentation was holographic and presented a wide and fairly deep soundstage. I was blown away. Listening to a variety of well known tracks through Tidal, I heard things I’ve never heard before and was elated. The combination is exceptional and Steve Huff and Adrian are right. Daniel Hertz is on to something that is exceptional. I highly recommend you listen yourself and don’t rely on the naysayers that haven’t. Your own ears will convince you like mine did. Highly recommended! |
How do they recommend to connect a streamer to the unit? the specs with regards to the digital inputs do not look that comprehensive.
Digital inputs • Digital Coaxial - 16/24 bit, 32-192 kHz • USB Audio Class 2.0 - 24 bit, 192 kHz my current dac will play up to 768 PCM and 512DSD. I am not sure if I am understanding this correctly if I had higher res files that I wanted to play how would they be impacted by the maria 350? In the above post, how was the hifi rose rs130 connected to the maria 350? I am assuming the usb audio. But how would it handle higher res files (>192kHz) or DSD? |
