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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
howie
230 posts
 
Hooper, didn't you hear the Kharmas at Frank P's house before you went ahead and bought the Midi-Exquisites sight unseen? And the Kharmas (at least the ones I've heard) are absolutely NOT lifeless and undynamic, but perhaps only to YOUR tastes and YOUR type of music (which is rock?). I listen mostly to jazz (mostly small group) and a bit of classical, and to me, it is the Kharma's reproduction of vocals and instrumental colours that brings life to the recorded music. To me, for most jazz and classical music, dynamics comes from the ability to play on time, the ability to play the accents, and more about the ability to play quiet rather than the ability to play loud. Ie. dynamics come more from the musician and the recording in many ways. I know there are many Kharma owners who listen rock music and I don't want to step on their toes, but I guess if that's the music that you mostly listen to, I can see why the Kharmas might not offer the best combination of sonic attributes here.

I agree with you that the Tenors are not built to withstand a direct hit from anything. No tube amps really are. My local Sonus Faber dealer had their Amati accidentally dented by someone with steel-toe boots. I didn't mean to be critical of your thoughts Hooper. I'm very happy that your recent changes has brought you further happiness. I can only wish I had the financial freedom to try more things out. But sharing a great, trustworthy dealer, if I had some money to play with, I too would have no worries.
cinematic_systems
282 posts
 
Howie,

Midi Exquisites can rock, you just need to run them with the right amplifiers. My friend Bob played Creed and Bowie and Elvis Costello with absolute clarity and impressive drive at 110dB at the seating position. The lack of distortion in the system is phenomenal and I could see how that speakers lack of strain and distortion could make it seem flat or undynamic sounding. Its disconcerting when a speaker is such a faithful transducer like the Midi.

Adding a sub made Bob's Midi's capable of 110dB+ playback at the seating position without strain or compression. Only the Meyer X-10 could exceed the Kharma/ATC sub combo in the impact and dynamics. They passed the Megadeth test with flying colors. Something many, many, many speakers cannot do. Its rare a speaker with such a refined pedigree can get nasty without losing its composure.

In the end I was very surprised at Hooper's comments too. I don't think the amplifiers he tried were up to the task. I know the Dartzeels have too little power to be effective, but I'm surprised the Tenors with 600 watts couldn't wrench some heartbeat out of the Midi's. But if they are mellow then the Midi's may never have seemed loud?
jafox
1,447 posts
 
I must chime in here as I was the one to corner Hooper for further details as to why he made the changes that he did. Hooper's reply was exactly what I requested: an honest response to his experiences in HIS system with what HE prefered. There were no claims nor generalizations outside of this. They were reported here to be lifeless compared to the VS, at least in the context of rock music, and I accept that. We got one person's honest observations and conclusions rather than a write-up on what others would have epxected/liked to hear.

As for 600w not being enough to get the midis to perform as expected, well, maybe it's not an issue of power at all. With my experience with CAT amps, I have learned how misleading power ratings can be to drive speakers.

There's only so much that each of us can try. And after many experiements, Hooper is as happy with his amp/speaker pair as I am. We both have dynamic systems like neither of us had before, and we did it with completely different implementations.

John
mikelavigne
2,143 posts
 
i must disagree with my friend Hooper (and particularly Cinematic Systems). i currently have the Kharma Midi Exquisites in my room and am listening with a single DarTZeel NHB-108. my room is pretty large (21' x 29' x 11') and at first i did feel that the Dart did not have quite enough 'grunt' to really rock in my room......but as it has broken in it has continued to get it's legs, open up, and gain grip. in the last week the bass dynamics have really kicked in and there doesn't seem to be any lack of dynamics.

my context of dynamic amps include a few heavyweights, Levinson #33, Halcro DM58 and numerous others.

the Midi Exqusites don't plumb the depths of deep bass below 30hz in my room (but that is a speaker/room issue).....but there is no straining or any dynamic limitations i can perceive.......i have pushed this combo pretty hard but have yet to hear any hardness or clipping.

the Dart seems to be an excellent real world amp and is plenty of amp for the Midi Exquisites.
cinematic_systems
282 posts
 
Hello Mike,

So the Dart is equal to the Halcro and Levinson on the Midi Exquisites dynamically? How about the Tenors?

Why does your room suck out the frequencies below 30hz? You should be getting into room gain areas there. Did they over-damp your room at those frequencies?

Jafox---in Hooper's expansion to your request he made some statements that Howie and I thought were surprising. You see this still has a great deal to do with how the Dartzeel sounds in the end. And as you can see Mike Lavigne disagrees with Hooper and myself. And since Mike has Midi Exquisites he would know, although the lack of bass is something I suspected would be a problem do to the modest power ratings on the Dartzeel still.

Your CAT amplifiers are like the Levinson 100 watt No. 20 mono's. 100 watt amplifiers that can weld. According to Dartzeel this amplifier does not possess a power supply capable of extraordinary current, rated at a paltry 160 watts it is not a high current amplifier which is how it likely gets its unique sound.

The fact that one speaker sounds "lifeless" and suddenly another one comes to life has a lot to do with the amplifiers in my experience. The amplifier is the motor in the speaker amp circuit system.

Despite my reserving my "system" to my budget bedroom DIY system, my ATC/Meridian system gives little if anything away on performance to any of these systems listed. So I am interested in the performance of these components. I am also completely shocked at how the Tenors and Kharmas have not been able to withstand the onslaught of VonSchweikert? and Dartzeel? It is an option of mine to become a VSR dealer, so I am very interested in this thread in many facets. VR4 HSE more dynamic than a Kharma MIDI Exquisite, better suited to judge the amplifiers he was comparing? Ouchie, on the Kharma's? or the Dartzeel and Tenor? Bad amps?, bad speakers?

How good can the Kharma's and Tenor's be in the first place if they can just be replaced universally one after another despite the presence of persoanl taste or subjectivity?
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