Dartzeel amp lives up to hype

Fbhifi, I entirely agree that at RMAF the sound and imaging were quite good, but at CES it was terrible, probably because of a too small room. Like you, I do not know if the speakers added to or subtracted from the sound of the Dartzeel.

In the last few weeks I'm enjoying my system more than I ever have and it's probably not a coincidence that the Dartzeel amp came in a few weeks before this.

The amp has run flawlessly and it is excellent.

I have owned a lot of gear of all types and I have never been less aware of the equipment than I am currently.

I really can't explain why this is but it has me just listening to the music for the first time in quite awhile
When I do focus and "break it down" all the qualities I value in the sound are there I'm just not overtly aware of any one thing... the music just flows in a very natural and pleasing way.

I have ordered the pre and am looking forward to seeing for myself what the combo produces...I'm pretty optomistic and excited.

JTinn: "Essentailaudio: With all due respect, I do not think Mike was really addressing you."

Think again :-) Mike used the same expression 'Andy (Hooper/Quint)' in his post as I did, and no one else brought up Andy before I did. I find it very peculiar that Mike responded and you did not, nor have you explained why Andy's amp burst into flames, if indeed the description is accurate.

I don't understand what the issue is here. If Andy's amp burst into flames and Andy use SST, he must think that he shorted something. This is certainly possible with SST. Are you implying, Essentialaudio, that it was not SST? It also seems that no one else has had this problem. Where is Andy in all this discussion?

Just to elaborate a bit on my comments above about the NY 2005 Dartzeel/VR9 system, in most fine systems, if I listen closely and think about what I am hearing, there is a delicate balance between detail at one end of the scale and smoothness at the other, and I can usually pinpoint where on this spectrum the sound resides. However, I could not really do this for Dartzeel/VR9 system, as is somehow seem to avoid this trade-off entirely, and was extremely detailed and involving while simultaneously smooth as silk at all frequencies. I would describe it as a paradox, both involving and relaxing. This is a very neat trick that was very impressive.