DartZeel compared to Pass Labs XA-160/200's

the dartzeel is strictly flavor of the month.not what one would hope from a major investment. the pass labs monoblocks have consistantly been among reference quality.

I would never in my wildest dreams describe the darTZeel NHB-108 as the flavor of the month. More like the flavor of the century. I have heard many amps including some of the best from Pass, Audio Research, VTL, conrad-johnson, Lamm, Mark Levinson, ASR Emitter Exclusive, McIntosh, and others too numerous to mention. Nothing could have prepared me for the sound my speakers would produce being driven by the darTZeel. The darT leaves nothing to be desired, only to be imagined, even compared to the world's best tube amps. As great as the other amps are from the fore-mentioned manufacturers, the darT is at least 15% - 20% better. In the world of ultra high end that's a lot! Take it from me, it's impossible to form any opinion on the darT without hearing one in your system. The USA importer can not sell this amp properly over the phone because if he really told you what it's capable of, everyone would write him off as exaggerating. I bought the amp and the pre-amp is on order.

if you are crazy enough to spend 20k on an amp (remember reviewers and dealers(even buying one-offs get these much much cheaper)you are ready for the dartzeel.

I think the darTZeel NHB-108 is appropriately priced when compared to other top of the line amps from other manufacturers. Audio Research's Reference 210's are $29,000 and to my ears aren't nearly as good. The sonic performance offered by the darT is probably second to none. IMHO if you have speakers that are above 89db efficient the darT's are the best money can buy.

I have had the darTZeel amp and pre-amp for several months now and can only agree with Arthurp, that they are truly an awesome sounding combination. The 50 ohm constant impedance link between the amp and pre-amp is pure genius and outperforms easily an RCA or XLR connection (I A/B'ed both against the 50 ohm and it was no contest). Yes, the amp takes 300-400 hours to really burn in before it is at its best...unfortunate, but that's the price to pay for excellence. I have not heard the Pass Labs or the Lamms...I'm sure they and many others are also excellent. I did compare the dart to the ASR Emitter II, Linn, Boulder 2010/2050's, Halcro dm10/dm68's, ARC, VTL and the dart is in another league IMHO in terms of its utter lack of artifacts and ability to deliver the very best of tube and solid state strengths. The amp may not have the power to drive inefficient speakers in a very large room, but it drives my Dynaudio Temptations (which are 4 ohm and 90db efficient) just fine.

I doubt very much that dart will become a "flavor of the month or even year". The designs were 20+ years in the making and I think it will be awhile before it is matched or bested, but if it happens that fine, we as audiophiles will all benefit.

Happy Listening.