2. amps-preamps
  3. 168610-154658

Have you heard darTZeel Amplifiers

I’ve been interested in a darTZeel NHB-108 amplifier since hearing about them a few days ago. Has anyone heard a darTZeel amplifiers and what is your impression? I was intrigued because their NHB-468 has a very high slew rate of 200v/µs, which is the highest I’ve ever seen. The NHB-108 model 2 is rated at 88v/µs. I have always been impressed with amps that have a high slew rate because they sound transparent to me and reproduce transients other amps seem to miss. I have had many amplifiers including a modified Sony TA-8650 which has a high slew rate, that will go in my estate if it lives that long. I like the sound of Bryston amplifiers a lot too. I realize the price is high for darTZeel even used, but I’m looking for something because I would like more clarity in the midrange especially. I don’t want to even consider tubes unless they have an auto-bias feature. Thanks in advance.
fiesta75

Showing 2 responses by jtgofish

jtgofish
490 posts
 
You could buy on of the Chinese copies to see if you like the sound.I am sure the real thing will sound better but some of the copies are going to be close enough to get an idea of the sound and how it will drive your speakers.As I understand it they are going to be much more speaker fussy than most SS amps-because they operate more like a tube  amp.

jtgofish
490 posts
 

Yes I have heard one of the Chinese versions.A Weiliang with the big blue Sprague power supply caps.There are cheaper versions and other than the speaker protection circuit they appear to be pretty close to the real thing.

I can't say how close they sound to the real thing because I have not heard the real thing.Regardless of that however I believe they sound extremely good in their own right.That might be because they sound like the real thing or not.I will say that they are not an idiot proof sort of SS amp like say a Krell .They seem to sound and behave more like a triode valve amp so are more speaker and preamp fussy but have a triode sort of sweetness and refinement.I also suspect they are much better with 8 ohm speakers than 4 ohm.They also vastly improve and sound far more dynamic and vivid with a good active preamp so not something you can use with a passive preamp or digital volume control.They sound really good driving vintage Tannoys which normally do not sound good with SS amps.To me that indicates they are quite different to most SS amps electrically and this would appear to tie in with the measured performance of the real thing which features no global negative feedback, relatively high output impedance/lowish damping factor and relatively high distortion especially into 4 ohm loads for a SS amplifier.So a bit more like a valve amp-or rather half way between a typical valve amp and a SS one.

I

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