Dartzeel amp lives up to hype

Jonathan, were Andy's (Hooper/Quint) amps "treated with an aftermarket product", since according to some recent posts of his on AA both had problems and he switched to other amps? What do you mean by "treated"? Are you referring to some kind of non-approved line conditioning used? Or are you saying such amps were internally modified? Has a notice been included with all amplifiers shipped, to the effect of warranty being voided by doing so?

According to your post the Dartzeel preamp has not yet shipped, yet you showed it at RMAF and at CES with the Dartzeel amps, and privately at last January's show. So quite a few people have heard it in a couple of settings.

first, there was only one pre-production dart preamp in the western hemisphere from October 05' to late December 05'. which was at jtinn's, RMAF, and then in my room. it went no-where else. there were 2 pre-production units in Europe during that time. none of these units were 'sold' to anyone (and have not yet been upgraded to production unit status and have not yet been sold).

the first actual production unit was sent to CES 2006, then went from there to jtinn and shortly thereafter ended up in my room; where it resides. the next 2 production units were shipped to jtinn and recieved a few days ago......and that is all that have been shipped so far.

sooooooo, no one has 'owned' a dart preamp to sell as of this moment.....here or anywhere else.

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" you are a second person to report less than stellar performance from Dartzeel amp. I was considering this amp too, but I have heard form one of the most credible audiogon users that his close friend wasn't impressed at all by dart combo. He uses same speakers as I do - Avalon Eidolon Vision - and much preffered both ARC Ref2/VTM200 combination (which he sold to get the dart) and the VTL7.5/S400 combo he bought AFTER selling the dart combo (pre + power).

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Elberoth2; i would appreciate more info on your 'friend of friends' experience with the dart pre. my mind is open to the possibility that my info above is faulty. although after spending hours with Herve at CES and many e-mails back and forth over the last couple of months (while beta-testing the pre-production dart pre) i think i'm quite clear on the production status of the various dart preamps.

the whole issue of fragility of the dart amps is simply a lack of understanding of the circut design. i have had 5 different darTZeel amps in my room over the last year. i have had zero problems with any of them and used them in a variety of configuarations. OTOH i have blown fuses multiple times which are easily and quickly replaced. the fuses blow to protect the other circuts. if the amp is quickly turned on and off the fuse will blow. turning on the amp without a load will blow fuses. DC output from the early preproduction dart pre would blow the fuse. this is the design of the amp......and part of the utter refinement of it's sound.

since i have recieved the production model preamp i have not blown any fuses. i never blew a fuse when using my Placette or the DCC2. only when my power has flickered on and off or when i was using the pre-production dart pre in battery mode did i ever blow a fuse.

Andy (Hooper/Quint) was using a 'treatment' that had caused serious issues with other amps. whether this product caused the problems with his amps or not has not been clearly established. as this was a non warranty repair; Andy choose a local repair person to 'fix' the amps. since 'darTZeel' did not repair these amps they don't exactly know what happened or whether the repairs were complete.

any products used on any amps without manufacturers specific approval would not be covered under warranty (Honda would not repair it either under their warranty). in this particular case Andy was specifically warned not to use this particular product ahead of time (as was I) and it appears he used it anyway.

i personally know 15 to 20 darTZeel owners that have all had zero issues with dart amps......like many cutting edge products there are certain guidelines to follow; which when respected result in trouble-free use.

none of the above info would matter if not for the amazing performance of the dart preamp particularly when mated with the dart amp. i have had many visitors to my room to hear these marvels......all have been captivated by them.

Jtinn -> It seems that I have to eat my own words. There must have been a misunderstanding between me and the person I got that info from. Apparently the person I was reffering to tried just the Dart poweramp, not the Dart combo.

As long as dissenters are posting, an audio dealer whom I know who has been in the business for 3 decades+, and who really has golden ears and also can sell the amp if he chooses, heard it an was less than impressed. He says it was blown away by other amps costing a small fraction of its price.

thanks on the remote info...as there are no formal reviews out there was under the wrong impression...I am too lazy to do without one and the feel the sonic impact of the purist approach of no remote is not meaningful...one reason why despite their stellar rep, have no interest in Lamm pre-amps etc.

On the Dart pre...perhaps Jtinn can help can educate us but given what you and Mike have said on production of so far...when are we going to see more economies of scale production and commercial availability? For those who are interested in auditioning but living in places (me: Hong Kong) this is something to consider...one can wait only so much!