DarTZeel Preamp

OK guys; so you want to know about the dart pre? you sure you don't want to debate reviewing methodology a little more?

;^)

i had one of the first two production run dart pre's (the other one is in Europe) in my room for a week prior to the RMAF, and then for a few days right afterwards. so about 10 days in total. this unit is from the initial production run but was not fully functional. it was rushed here so it could be shown at the RMAF. it only had one BNC output and one RCA input operational. the remote control was still flukey. i am told fully functional dart pre's will ship in November (mine is fully paid for and in the first batch).

for the first week i had it i assumed that it was running on the battery power......as i drooled all over myself at it's amazing performance (for those of you that have not already read my comments click on my system below and read the more recent posts on my system thread). the day i shipped it out to RMAF i found Herve' e-mailed me to let me know that the software for the pre-production pre was buggy and you needed to unplug the pre if you wanted to hear it is DC mode (this will not be necessary for the regular production units). so all my initial comments related to the pre running on AC. as it turned out; i ended up only listening for about 20 minutes total in battery mode due to some pre-production issues. these 20 minutes were quite mind-blowing.

so i have listened to the new dart pre for a week in my room; then for 4 days at RMAF (in a very similar system but different room), and then back in my room for a few more days.

Henryhk, to answer your questions;

since only one BNC output was operational; it was not possible to try the new pre with anything but the proprietary darTZeel 'zeel' connector (BNC connectors with a 50 ohm cable) and dart amps. i could not compare cables or other amps. it is too bad as i really wanted to know how my Valhalla interconnects and Tenor Hybrids might have compared. when i get my new pre (with all the outputs operational) that will be one of the first things i try.

if i were guessing, i would expect that most of the magic of the pre would transfer to other amps. the only caution would be that the darTZeel amps are particlarly quiet and without any sort of mechanical nature or any sort of added warmth. the pre is sooo transparent that any coloration of any kind will be fully rendered.

how does the new darTZeel pre compare to other preamps? i can only relate it directly to my Balanced Placette RVC passive. first, i have compared the Placette to around 15 SOTA pre's over the last 4 years and always preferred the Placette in my room and system for it's total transparency, lack of veiling, superior microdynamics, and naturalness without edge.

the new dart pre improves on every aspect of the Placette's character and in a few ways goes waaay beyond. first, there is a liquidity, palpability, and delicacy that is simply unique. it took me a few hours of listening before i could understand how this was happening. eventually i figured out that there was a layer of 'greyness' that was removed from the music, a kind of distortion that i had been accepting as detail and texture. with this greyness gone; the music was just there without edge, with considerably more substance and nuance. everything just was more real and pulsating with life......more ACTION.....like 'live' when the recording captured that. details that had been obscure or just hinted at became significant. separation between instruments was greater but also more natural. the greyness also had given an unnatural edge to things....with that gone the soundstage was more like live.

it's late, i gotta go to bed....more later.

I would think we need to wait a bit longer for the shipment of the first commercial batch, or the first industrial review of the preamp, if one is really going to pursue this option :^)

Cheers,
Sjmgr

First let me say that even if I conveyed exactly how I felt in my post, it was probably in bad taste on my part and I regret stating it the way I did. Certainly I could have told the story and people would have been able to draw their own conclusions. I guess growing up in NY I tend to avoid sugar coating.

Downunder: Many reviewers like to report on how a product sounds out of the box and describe the changes that take place during break-in. As an audiophile, I like to read about what to expect. In this case it was purely a rush request with a complete understanding upfront that the amplifier ABSOLUTELY needed break-in. The condition of Soundstage doing the review on their time schedule, was that they could not recieve an amplifier that was broken in. There were just none available. They agreed and I sent it. In hind sight, I should have followed my instincts and just held to my original decline of their request.

Ubglub: Yes, I will be showing the darTZeel NHB-18NS Preamplifier with the NHB-108 amplifier in Las Vegas.

Oneobgyn: I did not have any regrets until I read your post. I know you are kind of caught in the middle of this and that is not a fun place to be. Not my intentions!

"Jtinn" why don't you drop the vitriol and face reality. There was nothing wrong with the Soundstage review. I just read it and it seemed extremely honest and to the point. Yes, there is an opinion in the review but, that's what this hobbly thrives on. 90% of the posts around here are opinions. Frankly, that particular Soundstage review is one that I would like to seem more of instead of the regular "sugar coated" reviews that we see in some of the other media pubs.

An $18K amplifier should not require break in and, besides, break in is largely a pschoacoustic effect that lays with the person, not so much the equipment (except maybe speakers). It's a largely overhyped syndrome.

Would Honda send out a car and tell their dealers to be sure and tighten the bolts because they were hurrying production? Of course not, nor would any other company of merit. I expect an $18K amplifier to sing it's best tune right out of the box. And, I suspect that it is in this case - it's just a case were an amplifier with no global feedback is more sensitive to the speaker it's connected to than one with moderate or large amounts of global feedback.

But so what, I don't care about technicalities, I just care about sound. And, Soundstage provided a well written opinion of this sound.

You sound more like a spoiled NY brat whining because your mother didn't allow you to take a cookie at the grocery store.

Get a life.

i guess we really do want to debate review methodology. if you want my further take on the dart pre you'll find it on my system thread when i have the time.

regarding what Honda might do. Honda spends around 2 Billion dollars and at least 4 years to develop a new model. the market expectation is likely up to 1 to 3 million units worldwide for the model run. and......they still put break-in oil in the crankcase and advise that the best gas milage won't occur until at least 5000 to 10,000 miles. it is important to be easy on the brakes for the first few 100 miles. on certain models, the RPM's need to be restricted over the first 500 miles. the seats and suspension do slightly 'breakin' over the first 500 to 1000 miles. i drive 3 to 4 new demos a year for 25 years so i'm quite expert on breakin for Hondas. so for a company that is race engineering based; clearly breakin is reality.

many times customers complain about their car because THEY DIDN'T READ THE OWNERS MANUAL OR PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT THE SALESPERSON TOLD THEM ABOUT BREAKIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

in fact; anyone can get on the internet and post a complaint about their Honda whether they followed initial instructions or not. when a complaint finally gets to me i ask why they didn't just call us first so WE COULD HAVE EXPLAINED IT TO THEM......AGAIN.

sound familiar?

Jeff's review was not wrong, just like my customers are not wrong. but their perspective is incomplete without following all the instructions so the product will perform as it should.

next case.......