I wish to disagree with something that Raquel stated.
She stated "Being roughly twice as powerful, the Ayre may be better on unusually inefficient speakers. The darTZeel punches above its weight class, however, and can do big orchestral on inefficient speakers known to be current-hungry (e.g., the original Salons)."
I disagree because of an A/B test that my friend and I did at his house. We compared the DarTZeel against the Lamm M2.2 monoblocks (a 220 wpc hybrid design). He is using the Rockport Antares speakers, which has specifications that are rather average, (89.3 sensitivity and an impedance of 4 ohms), although granted, it does have a 13" woofer to drive. Therefore, I do not consider this speaker to be "unusually inefficient".
The Lamm M2.2 drove the speaker, and particularly, the bass driver admirably. The DarTZeel did not come close to matching the bass response of the Lamms. It clearly had run out of power during loud orchestral passages, and particularly using a taiko drum test my friend has (on the Burmeister Sampler No. 3, as I recall). If I were to choose the DarTZeel, I would make sure that I had either a relatively easy speaker to drive (i.e. with a sensitivity of 92 or greater), or a true 8 ohm impedance, (or better yet, both.) Or, if your speakers are not true full range speakers, (i.e. go down flat to 20 hz), the DarTZeel might be a very good choice.
That being said, I really, really liked the sound of the DarTZeel, to the point that I can, and have, stated that it is my favorite solid state amplifier. I thought that the soundstaging, imaging and the mid-range was about as good as any amplifier I have ever heard, including the Lamm M2.2s. (My friend felt the same way, in case you are wondering.)
(FYI, I felt that the Lamm's treble response was slightly better too, (mostly because I felt it had better decay), but only just slightly, and that might be because I am more used to the Lamm's. So that is probably more a matter of taste.)
Those are my two cents worth anyway. YMMV.
FYI, I have not had a chance to audition the Ayre amplifiers as yet, but I do hope to do so, as my local dealer has them.
She stated "Being roughly twice as powerful, the Ayre may be better on unusually inefficient speakers. The darTZeel punches above its weight class, however, and can do big orchestral on inefficient speakers known to be current-hungry (e.g., the original Salons)."
I disagree because of an A/B test that my friend and I did at his house. We compared the DarTZeel against the Lamm M2.2 monoblocks (a 220 wpc hybrid design). He is using the Rockport Antares speakers, which has specifications that are rather average, (89.3 sensitivity and an impedance of 4 ohms), although granted, it does have a 13" woofer to drive. Therefore, I do not consider this speaker to be "unusually inefficient".
The Lamm M2.2 drove the speaker, and particularly, the bass driver admirably. The DarTZeel did not come close to matching the bass response of the Lamms. It clearly had run out of power during loud orchestral passages, and particularly using a taiko drum test my friend has (on the Burmeister Sampler No. 3, as I recall). If I were to choose the DarTZeel, I would make sure that I had either a relatively easy speaker to drive (i.e. with a sensitivity of 92 or greater), or a true 8 ohm impedance, (or better yet, both.) Or, if your speakers are not true full range speakers, (i.e. go down flat to 20 hz), the DarTZeel might be a very good choice.
That being said, I really, really liked the sound of the DarTZeel, to the point that I can, and have, stated that it is my favorite solid state amplifier. I thought that the soundstaging, imaging and the mid-range was about as good as any amplifier I have ever heard, including the Lamm M2.2s. (My friend felt the same way, in case you are wondering.)
(FYI, I felt that the Lamm's treble response was slightly better too, (mostly because I felt it had better decay), but only just slightly, and that might be because I am more used to the Lamm's. So that is probably more a matter of taste.)
Those are my two cents worth anyway. YMMV.
FYI, I have not had a chance to audition the Ayre amplifiers as yet, but I do hope to do so, as my local dealer has them.