Datzeel vs Asr Emitter exclusive vs Devialet

Lohanimal,

How did you find the Lavardin to work with the Marten speakers which use ceramic drivers?

I can't comment on the ASR but I compared the Devaliet and Dartzeel in a small local show, by chance, nowone else was there. They were both excellent with a digital source, but the Dart was clearly my preference, by a good margin. Neutral very detailed, but with a warmish hint to them, I don't usually find in SS amps, I am a tube fan. If there was one amp that could tempt me to the solid state dark side, it would be the Dartzeel.

I am speaking from memory but the Lavardin balanced very well against the slightly cool and etched presentation of the Coltranes. No issues with bass power or slam

Any of you tried the Mcintosh MA8000 in the above price range ?
I liked the ASR very much, auditioned on Thiel cs 3.7 very nice combo.

Forget about the mcintosh. Asr is a very very good amp to beat. It is not the last word of course but which is ? I am using a full Asr team with rockport avior, sound is effortless, images are 3d and real sized, so the stage has a real deepness and wideness, everything is on order. Nothing is over emphasized, top to bottom integrity. It doesnt sound like ss but not tubey either. If you want a better sound you should look for pre/pro, which you should spend much more. On another topic you asked dagostino integrated. I think şt would be a waste of money, 43,5k is a very good amount to invest for integrated. I dont know where do you live but if you are in The US you may buy a much better pre/pro from audiogon for this kşnd of money. Buy Asr and dont look back, when the changing time comes, look for vitus or wavac :)