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Review of Dartzeel NHB-108 Amplifier

Dartzeel is a relatively new entry to the high-end game. Despite being reviewed by John Marks in a recent issue of Stereophile, the company's only current product offering, the NHB-108 stereo amplifier, hasn't gotten a lot of press on these shores. Hopefully this "review" will do its part in rectifying that.
As many of you probably already know, Switzerland-based Dartzeel is the brainchild of one Herve Deletraz. Herve is a wonderful guy who's dedicated to the very best customer service. As essentially a one-man operation, I'm sure his time is limited, but he's always responded to my e-mails in an extremely courteous, timely manner.

On to the amp. I'm not one for technical details, so I'll leave them to those of you who want to visit Dartzeel's website. Basically, the 108 is a "purist" stereo amp rated at a relatively modest 100 wpc. Its smallish dimensions belie its weight, which measures around 65-70 pounds.

Internally, the amp is incredibly well laid out (if tightly packed), with an attention to detail that one should expect--but doesn't always receive--from components in this price range.

Outside, it's purely love-hate. (Refer to the website for pictures). Either you get it or you don't. Personally, I've grown used to its appearance over time, but it's taken a while to become acclimated. If WAF factor is any sort of issue, practice up on your compliments. Then again, I may be overstating the case. While it's not Liv Tyler, it's not Janet Reno, either. Time reveals its inner beauty.

Performance-wise it's a much more straightforward issue. In my experience the 108 is the most balanced, natural-sounding amp I've ever heard. It has a way with timbre that's downright spooky--up there with the very best tube units one cares to mention. The sound is just "right"--every note is reproduced with a tonal correctness and warmth that is as close to the real thing as I've heard in an amp. Because of it's sheer naturalness, it can take a while to overcome the initial impression that it is somehow soft or rolled off. That is most emphatically not the case! Dynamics are crisp and fast, and the frequency extremes are right where they need to be--not overstated or highlighted at all, just perfectly natural and realistic.

The only potential weakness of the 108 is its power rating. It flows a nice amount of juice for 100 watts, but one could theoretically run into problems with particuarly current-hungry or inefficient speakers. Part of the amp's midrange purity, I believe, is attributable to the use of the bare minimum of bipolars in the output stage. That, of course, comes at the price of power, but in this case the tradeoff is more than worth it. Just take some care in speaker matching--as you should, anyway--and you'll be rewarded with a sound that balances the very best of solid state with a midrange that will make some question whether they even need to fuss with tubes.

Despite its novel physical appearance, the need for careful speaker matching, and the fact that the US dollar has been taking a Tyson-like beating lately, the Dartzeel is a serious contender in the super-amp category. Yes, there are amps out there that do this or that "better" than the 108, but I've yet to hear one that strikes a better balance between the various areas of performance. It's a stunning piece of engineering and a landmark amplifier.

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Product Weakness: Appearance is strictly take-it-or-leave-it. Power rating requires some attention to speaker load. Cost.
Product Strengths: Naturalness, midrange magic of the highest order, speed, dynamics

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Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier: Dartzeel NHB-108
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): EMM Labs DCC2
Sources (CDP/Turntable): EMM Labs CDSD
Speakers: Von Schweikert VR-4 Jr.
Cables/Interconnects: Jena Labs Pathfinder
Music Used (Genre/Selections): Rock, blues, country, some classical
Room Size (LxWxH): 24 x 20 x 7
Room Comments/Treatments: Echo Buster, ASC
Time Period/Length of Audition: 3 months
Other (Power Conditioner etc.): Shunyata Hydra-8
Type of Audition/Review: Product Owner
hooper
cinematic_systems
282 posts
 
J Tinn,

Smearing the leading edge, it's an old cable tactic, perfect for overly bright edgy audiophile systems. Literally removed the leading edge from the sound on the first system listed below.

Modified Magneplaner 20.1's (you know the one)

and Aerial 20T's with a Spectral system. Fixed this one right away with Cardas Quadlink.

Hey that's what they do! Maybe your systems aren't up to the task or you like that sort of thing? What do you think? Fact is my little system would easily show the Jena's built in effect, because they are transient perfect and phase correct. Spending more does not cover the defect or make it a positive.

I don't have a "problem" with Jena, Jena has a distinctive "sound" I do find problematic on quality speaker systems but actually it could have its applications on ill balanced systems. Especially underpowered ones where the amp clips a good deal.

If you have proof they don't smear the leading edge i'll recant my statements and apologize. Just your word against mine I suspect.

I do have 5 witnesses that sat right next to me and concurred about the obvious effect, would you like to hear from them? You know some of them.

Thanks for the sermon be aware your elitism does not intimidate me, and I would be more careful about how you swing it around in my presence.
howie
230 posts
 
Cinematic Systems, wouldn't the five witnesses be sitting outside of the sweetspot? Or is your sweetspot that wide?
speakerdude13f8
18 posts
 
Howie, why would you assume that five listeners were auditioning/comparing cables simultaneously? Cinematic systems made a clear point about a valid comparison. You either didn't read his post or failed to understand it.
sean
6,229 posts
 
Any multi-strand braided cable is going to have some amount of smearing to it, but my thoughts are that Cinematic's system isn't anywhere near up to the task of critiquing Jena's cabling.

First of all, the Behringer pieces have a very distinct "SS" and / or "digital" signature to them. That is, they sound sharp, sibilant and somewhat tizzy. There are modifications that one can perform to reduce these problems, but they don't completely remove the effect. Using more revealing cabling will only make this sonic trait more noticeable.

The little Yamaha multi-channel amp isn't exactly a "world class" performer either. Nothing like tinned conductors housed in a cheap plastic ribbon cable within the signal path to clobber high frequency resolution and system transparency. This is yet another factor that could lead to an "edgy" sound, which more revealing cabling would make more noticeable.

As a side note, i've commented many years ago about the sonic potential of the older Yamaha amps, primarily the M-80. In a head to head comparison driving 82 dB 2-4 ohm speakers, the Yamaha obliterated a similarly rated Bryston in every respect. As such, i've got nothing against "mass produced" gear that sounds and works good, especially when it can be bought for a very reasonable price and easily upgraded. In stock form though, these amps are not on the same playing field as many other amps that i've heard and / or owned.

Other than that, the darTZeel doesn't look to be a suitable amp for low impedance, low sensitivity speakers. As i mentioned over at AA, it doesn't measure all that great ( for multiple reasons ), but i'm sure that it sounds very nice. My guess is that the mids are extremely liquid sounding with a great amount of air and separation in the treble region. I'm basing this on the design parameters and quality of parts used, not on an actual listening session.

To me, Hooper's system looks like he's been a regular customer of Mr Tinn's, who is a dealer for most every brand of gear that Hooper is using. I could be wrong about that, but Mr Tinn's shop is located in the Washington, which is on the west coast, so that also fits that criteria. It would also explain Hooper's lack of willingness to divulge the specifics of which dealer he was working with. The fact that Mr Tinn is the distributor for this amp and was quick to defend Hooper's choice in gear almost makes one think that this thread was set-up by Mr Tinn to capitalize on the positive review / massive exposure that the darTZeel recently received in Stereophile. Then again, i could be wrong about everything here and this might just be another one of my conspiracy theories. Do the math and see what figures you come up with.... Sean
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hooper OP
396 posts
 
Sean: I am indeed a longtime customer and friend of Mr. Tinn's. I'm actually quite proud of that association. And there was no "lack of willingness" to divulge which dealer I was working with. I simply didn't think it appropriate to bring Mr. Tinn any further into this thread. One more thing: This thread was set up by ME, not Mr. Tinn.
There's no conspiracy going on. I chose to review the DarTZeel and start this thread because I was sufficiently impressed with it and thought it should be brought to the attention of more people. My review, and the start of the thread, were established WELL before the Stereophile review. Just check the dates.

You're right about the amp not being ideal for tough loads. I brought that up in my review. But it doesn't mean that it is completely useless with anything but 8-ohm loads. Quite the contrary. I've heard it drive several 4-ohm speakers with ease. But there's no doubt that the amp is more comfortable with lighter loads. I own the Von Scweikert VR-9s, which are 96dB efficient, and my DarTZeels mate incredibly well with them. I never hear any sense of strain or breakup, even when I crank it.

By the way, where did you get your measurements from? I couldn't find any. Even if the amp does measure less than spectacularly, IMHO that means little in the end. Look at all the $299 Sony receivers that, technically, measure well but that suck sonically in the context of a high-end system. Numerous companies, particularly WAVAC, sell products that measure abysmally, yet apparently there's something about the sound quality that keeps customers willing to shell out $50,000-$100,000 for them.

If you're so inclined, try and listen to the DarTZeel with a reasonable load and an open mind, and you may well change your tune. The amp isn't for everyone, to be sure, but for those who've heard it and bought it, like me, it represents the peak of their amplifier experience.
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