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Review of Dartzeel NHB-108 Amplifier

Dartzeel is a relatively new entry to the high-end game. Despite being reviewed by John Marks in a recent issue of Stereophile, the company's only current product offering, the NHB-108 stereo amplifier, hasn't gotten a lot of press on these shores. Hopefully this "review" will do its part in rectifying that.
As many of you probably already know, Switzerland-based Dartzeel is the brainchild of one Herve Deletraz. Herve is a wonderful guy who's dedicated to the very best customer service. As essentially a one-man operation, I'm sure his time is limited, but he's always responded to my e-mails in an extremely courteous, timely manner.

On to the amp. I'm not one for technical details, so I'll leave them to those of you who want to visit Dartzeel's website. Basically, the 108 is a "purist" stereo amp rated at a relatively modest 100 wpc. Its smallish dimensions belie its weight, which measures around 65-70 pounds.

Internally, the amp is incredibly well laid out (if tightly packed), with an attention to detail that one should expect--but doesn't always receive--from components in this price range.

Outside, it's purely love-hate. (Refer to the website for pictures). Either you get it or you don't. Personally, I've grown used to its appearance over time, but it's taken a while to become acclimated. If WAF factor is any sort of issue, practice up on your compliments. Then again, I may be overstating the case. While it's not Liv Tyler, it's not Janet Reno, either. Time reveals its inner beauty.

Performance-wise it's a much more straightforward issue. In my experience the 108 is the most balanced, natural-sounding amp I've ever heard. It has a way with timbre that's downright spooky--up there with the very best tube units one cares to mention. The sound is just "right"--every note is reproduced with a tonal correctness and warmth that is as close to the real thing as I've heard in an amp. Because of it's sheer naturalness, it can take a while to overcome the initial impression that it is somehow soft or rolled off. That is most emphatically not the case! Dynamics are crisp and fast, and the frequency extremes are right where they need to be--not overstated or highlighted at all, just perfectly natural and realistic.

The only potential weakness of the 108 is its power rating. It flows a nice amount of juice for 100 watts, but one could theoretically run into problems with particuarly current-hungry or inefficient speakers. Part of the amp's midrange purity, I believe, is attributable to the use of the bare minimum of bipolars in the output stage. That, of course, comes at the price of power, but in this case the tradeoff is more than worth it. Just take some care in speaker matching--as you should, anyway--and you'll be rewarded with a sound that balances the very best of solid state with a midrange that will make some question whether they even need to fuss with tubes.

Despite its novel physical appearance, the need for careful speaker matching, and the fact that the US dollar has been taking a Tyson-like beating lately, the Dartzeel is a serious contender in the super-amp category. Yes, there are amps out there that do this or that "better" than the 108, but I've yet to hear one that strikes a better balance between the various areas of performance. It's a stunning piece of engineering and a landmark amplifier.

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Product Weakness: Appearance is strictly take-it-or-leave-it. Power rating requires some attention to speaker load. Cost.
Product Strengths: Naturalness, midrange magic of the highest order, speed, dynamics

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Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier: Dartzeel NHB-108
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): EMM Labs DCC2
Sources (CDP/Turntable): EMM Labs CDSD
Speakers: Von Schweikert VR-4 Jr.
Cables/Interconnects: Jena Labs Pathfinder
Music Used (Genre/Selections): Rock, blues, country, some classical
Room Size (LxWxH): 24 x 20 x 7
Room Comments/Treatments: Echo Buster, ASC
Time Period/Length of Audition: 3 months
Other (Power Conditioner etc.): Shunyata Hydra-8
Type of Audition/Review: Product Owner
hooper
sean
6,231 posts
 
There are design aspects of the VR 9's that i really like ( sealed cabinets ), but for the money involved, i'm thinking that they could have made some very simple yet sonically important changes to them. The use of Solen caps instead of something a little higher grade, the 80 Hz crossover frequency for the single subwoofer driver, which is mounted on the rear of the cabinet, etc... are all things that i would have done differently. Then again, i'm not a professional speaker engineer, so what do i know. I just hope that Mike is happy with his purchase and that it delivers what he wants within the confines of his own personal listening room. He's tried damn hard to achieve absolutely phenomenal results and he deserves to get just that : )

I do have one question for Mike. That is, if he doesn't mind. I would be curious to see if he's applied any type of loudspeaker placement computer modeling to his installation? If so, how have the actual in-room results compared to the computer based predictions? Have you modeled the VR's to see how they'll work in this specific room? Sean
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cinematic_systems
282 posts
 
Mike,

I appreciate the clarification, JTinn stated quite clearly that your room did not suck out or better word (I should have used originally) attenuate the frequencies below 30hz and clearly it does. And based on your demands it should, to offset room gain. So based on JTinns comments on your room, I could not understand why you couldn't get any bass.

I'm trying to understand but I keep getting conflicting reports back and forth and although I believe everyone's experience to be valid I am trying to correlate semantics and such. I can not find anechoic measurements of the Midi exquisites, are they on the web?, because low frequency measurements are hard to do, and the ones I measured had a slight shallow dip from 40 to 25 hertz where there was a bit of a peak at 25hz. But unless I took the speakers outside I can't really trust my bass measurements and seperate the room from the speaker. I'd be real interested in the anechoic measurements since my client will be moving his midi's to a new room. Can he get them from Kharma?

Howie;

If you read the thread carefully you will see a great deal of conflict or contrary information. This why I keep asking.

Sirspeedy,

LOL, hey you are free to guess at it if you like, but my clients don't pay me for perception, they pay me for the real thing. You and your buddies can kid yourself all you like about how well you hear and how its good to just walk away with a memory. I walk away with documentation.

Critical Listening is the easy part, anybody can do it.

Thks Sean and Stenrsr
howie
230 posts
 
Cinematic Systems, critical listening is NOT the easy part. Bill Evans once said "I do not agree that the layman's opinion is less of a valid judgement of music than that of the professional musician. In fact, I would often rely more on the judgement of the sensitive layman than that of a professional, since a professional, because of his constant involvement with the mechanics of music, must fight to preserve the naivete that the layman already possesses."

The better of a musician I have become, the more judgemental I am of musicians and of their music. I try to hear whether the musician does anything to make him/her special while others with no musical background are trying to "feel" whether the musician gives them that special feeling. Music is all about perception. You may hear a good player when others may simply hear a copycat. Putting science to music has always been wrong to me.
mikelavigne
2,194 posts
 
Cinematic Systems, you are confusing my Exquisite Ref 1D's with the Midi Exquisites. i have only throughly measured the big Exquisite Ref 1D's in my new room. these are now sold and i am using a loaner set of Midi Exquisites.

i am 'guessing' on my anachoic comment......but it makes sense that if the 1D's only went to 40hz in the new room that this would closely resemble what they would be anachoically.

in my old room the 1D's were flat to about 30hz and 3db down at about 28hz. you could barely hear them at 25hz. that room pressurized very easily and the 1D's had a real grip. if i plugged the rear ports they only went to around 38-40hz in that room.

one of the previous Kharma importers that is very familiar with the all the versions of the Exquisite Reference told me that they only went down into the 40hz region in any large room.

so my conclusions based on all the evidence is that this is a speaker/room size issue and not a problem with my room or with the speaker per se.......just that speaker in that room.

regarding the Midi Exquisite's that i now have......i have only done a rudimentary measurement with the Rives Test CD2 and my Rat Shack meter (using the test tones equalized for the Rat Shack meter). the Midi seems to be flat to 40hz, down slighly at 31.5hz, and down about 7db at 25hz.

when you compare the Midi's rating by Kharma as down to 22hz and the 1D's rating as down to 25hz this doesn't compute. my conclusion is that the 1D only truely goes to around 30hz in a typical room......which seems consistent with my observations and comments of the previous importer.

all this is not to disparage the 1D, which is a fantastic speaker and wonderful.....but i'm not going to worry about my room......it was the speaker.

another interesting thing was the 'hole' or 'suckout' (-5db at 80hz) that i mentioned in my room article is non-exisitant with the Midi. the Midi is flat at 80hz.
cinematic_systems
282 posts
 
Howie,

First of all I am not in the music business, I am in the music reproduction business. I design speakers and music playback systems.

I am not applying science to music I am applying science to music reproduction. And because I care a great deal that the artist intentions are preserved I'm not so arrogant to believe that what I think feels right is good enough! A conductor once told me that " the creative process stops when the CD is caste. Your equipment can not make my performance better it cannot interpret the music...if you're lucky you might actually hear what I intended but that's only if the system is good enough and you're educated enough."

Your argument does not apply to me and is simply a way to elevate yourself into the creative process. As if selecting the correct component somehow makes you enlightened and that a "musical" system is some magical beast that only the "enlightened" can appreciate and own. Can we not measure the beast? In your mind no...because it is your fantasy and not a reality. A Unicorn

Some how my methodology seems to offend the "enlightened" because it scrutinizes their decisions and holds them to a standard that they are offended to be measured against. And I'm not implicating anyone in particular, this has just been my experience. And being held to a standard is problem for those who are too intellectually lazy to attempt some personal education to actually grasp the technical strings that helps them tie them to the recorded performance. No trial and error is the methodology of choice for the "enlightened". They engage in alchemy and consult wisemen for guidance and yet they may have been to the promised land yet weren't educated enough to know they were there. And no measurements left behind to help them find their way back if they realized they've gone to far.

Your Bill Evans example only proves my point, critical listening can be done by anyone. Its the easy part. Its easier to have an opinion than it is to be educated on the subject. The subject being music reproduction.

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