Life after DarTZeel

This thread is just another example of how subjective this hobby is.

Equipment synergy is so important when putting together a system. Many people loose site of this.

Mike's response was excellent in stressing this.

Mtdking feels Levinson & Bryston were superior to the darTZeel.

I do respect his statement, as I don't know his speakers, room & associated equipment.

I have owned many Levinson & Bryston products. I like them both very much, & still use them both in other systems.

I have done direct comparisons with both compared to the darTZeel.

Levinson 33H's were used in my same room after I purchased the darTZeel combo, to do a comparison.

The dart was new & the 33H's were fully broken in.

As much as I love the 33H it does not stand a chance against the dart, they are not in the same league.

The darTZeel was clearly the better amp. Much more open & transparent. More musical with with a touch of warmth as in tubes.

A natural presentation that is very pleasing & non fatiguing. Bass control is a non issue as well. I love the bass in the darTZeel.

As a result I sold my 33H's & never looked back.

Mike, ditto for looking at pretty women !!!!! ( been married for the same women 30 yrs. ) I don't know how she put up with me for so long.

Mtdking, i owned the Levinson 33H's for 2 years (1997-1999). a really fine amplifier.....i replaced them with the big Levinson 33's. the 33H is still one of the more 'listenable' solid state amps out there. i know that it has been somewhat updated since i owned it to good result.

regarding your service concerns on foreign made products. it is and should be a concern. one needs to investigate what happens if there is a problem. regarding darTZeel i think within reality you are in as good a position as you could be. it is Swiss after all. not fly-by-night or casual about anything. immediate response to any question. eager willingness to assist with support and advice. and built like a tank. these days there is no audio business or national economy which 100% certainty of continued business health. but i would wager that a conservative Swiss company would be as likely as any to survive and uphold it promises. there is the shipping to Switzerland. the shipping cartons are well designed and everything is encased in thick foam.

i would bet that darTZeel will more likely be here to service their products in 10 years than Levinson or Boulder.

were i to venture from darTZeel it would be toward SET tubes of some sort

E, my point here was that if i were to venture away from musical neutrality into an amplifier with a sonic signature it would be toward the 'beauty' end of the spectrom. i dream of having a tube amp sitting around for when i'm in the mood. i'm not really serious about this.....it's more a bit of musing.

if i did go 'there' my short list (one's i've heard i thought were special) would be;

Tenor OTL 75w
Lamm ML3 or ML2.1
AN Kegon
any of the Kondo AN's

there are likely others which i've not been exposed to which could be on this list.

all of these wonderful tube amps are entertaining to listen to. but; unlike the darTZeel they always make you aware that they are there to some degree. which is not really a problem but it is a factor.

with the dart it is always the music. i like that.

Mtdking,
You bring up some very good points >
Service is a very high priority for me as well.
After going through the Levinson camp of service a few times in the 20+ years I have dealt with them. Personally I will never purchase a product from them again unless they revert back to the way things were run when they were Madrigal. I don't even care to type that much to explain.
Bryston , on the other hand, they are to be commended for their excellent service record. A++++

In this state of our hobby / service will be a major factor in gaining a share of the market, as well as quality.

As for buying US based products. I love to support US made products BUT lets face it , it's a world market in most everything we buy now & will continue to be. The strongest & best products will survive. Many US based companies have much of their manufacturing of products made overseas anyway. I lost a job 25 years ago to outsourcing. I understood what the Co. was doing to make itself stronger in the world market. I wasn't mad, I moved on, but I changed my perspective on how I buy what I need & want.

As for the darTZeel service for that matter? I for one am very pleased. From the owner down to the distributer, nothing less than professionalism on the highest level.

I'm looking forward to the new mono's from darTZeel. They will solve some of the problems with the efficiency of many a speaker & will open new venues for them.

I never said anything about Bryston. I said Boulder and Levinson! How did Bryston get into this? I have never owned Bryston before and Boulder is a far cry from Bryston.