Mike Lavigne
Member
- Thread Author
- #1
a couple of months ago my dealer found a buyer for my much loved, long term reference, dart 458 mono blocks. i had planned to upgrade my 458's to the 468 level next summer, but when this opportunity presented itself i had to do it. so i did trade them in for a pair of the new 468 mono blocks. i've had a borrowed dart 108 stereo amp since then (a great amp for sure), been waiting form my new amps to arrive.
the waiting is over; this afternoon the 468's arrived, i met my son at my home shortly after they were dropped off. we got them un-crated and set in place pretty quickly; then i went back to work. got home and went through all the setting up and connecting. removed the shipping screws and installed the little gold plated plugs. hooked up the interconnects and speaker cables, connected my 20 amp IEC re-plugged EA power cords which put them into standby, and then connected my ground lead to my Tripoint Troy Sig.
started with some high rez piano from Quboz that had been the last thing i had listened to......and before the decay of the first note faded away i knew that this was something different. textures. breath of life. liquidity. the 458 had those, but not like this. tubes. this is Lamm ML3'ish territory. but without the darker tones. not rounding or blunting. and the speed and grip is even better than the 458's.
tubes.
this was first blush in the first 5 minutes or so. played the Anna Netrebko track with the glass harmonica......that was special and on another plane higher.
tubes. you like tubes, this will be your solid state amp.
i'm now about 45 minutes in.......just more of that and things are getting a bit more ease and refined. the noise floor is really down there. did i say this is fast?
physically it's not much different; the tone of the front plate is a bit lighter and less golden. i suppose i prefer this to the 458's slightly. that's about it. we will have to see how my first impressions hold up. i'm in heaven, and i'm still only doing digital.......sounds fantastic and just easier to navigate thru tracks of different music.
Fremer's review of the new darTZeel 468's for reference.
https://www.stereophile.com/content/dartzeel-nhb-468-monoblock-power-amplifier
the waiting is over; this afternoon the 468's arrived, i met my son at my home shortly after they were dropped off. we got them un-crated and set in place pretty quickly; then i went back to work. got home and went through all the setting up and connecting. removed the shipping screws and installed the little gold plated plugs. hooked up the interconnects and speaker cables, connected my 20 amp IEC re-plugged EA power cords which put them into standby, and then connected my ground lead to my Tripoint Troy Sig.
started with some high rez piano from Quboz that had been the last thing i had listened to......and before the decay of the first note faded away i knew that this was something different. textures. breath of life. liquidity. the 458 had those, but not like this. tubes. this is Lamm ML3'ish territory. but without the darker tones. not rounding or blunting. and the speed and grip is even better than the 458's.
tubes.
this was first blush in the first 5 minutes or so. played the Anna Netrebko track with the glass harmonica......that was special and on another plane higher.
tubes. you like tubes, this will be your solid state amp.
i'm now about 45 minutes in.......just more of that and things are getting a bit more ease and refined. the noise floor is really down there. did i say this is fast?
physically it's not much different; the tone of the front plate is a bit lighter and less golden. i suppose i prefer this to the 458's slightly. that's about it. we will have to see how my first impressions hold up. i'm in heaven, and i'm still only doing digital.......sounds fantastic and just easier to navigate thru tracks of different music.
Fremer's review of the new darTZeel 468's for reference.
https://www.stereophile.com/content/dartzeel-nhb-468-monoblock-power-amplifier
......this move was a surprise to me too. not planned. had just added 2 turntables (one you don't yet know about either
) in the last 3 months, and a new server last spring. but when faced with the opportunity i had to do it.
