New 468 monos
- Thread starter Kingsrule
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talking to Herve at the L.A. Show in June, he only said he was working on it (don't know when), it will be better, and that my 458's will be upgradable to the 468's.
not a word on what might be different. the 458's are now an almost 8 year old product, so it's certainly a reasonable idea that Herve has found another step forward. I would assume that things he learned in upgrading the 18NS preamp likely cross over into amplifiers.
hard to imagine it sounding better than it does, but no doubt it will.
here is a link to a picture.....looks that same......but the prototypes exist anyway. who knows how the actual production 468 will look?
http://www.monoandstereo.com/2017/07/new-dartzeel-nhb-468-power-amplifiers.html
so maybe closer that I thought.....now.....I'm getting excited.
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no offense Mike, but a new 108 would be far more exciting
i cannot argue with that as a general perspective. for a now 14 year old product; the 108 is still my favorite solid state amplifier under $100k.
i suppose it all depends on who Herve' views as his currently relevant market and where the best use of his time might be.....as to where he puts his focus. I'm not suggesting that i know the answer to those questions.
what are his dealers asking for might be another question.
as far as upgrading the 108.......that might require much more time and trouble than the 458 and have less rewards. it could be in the works, but i have no knowledge about it.
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Mike is on to something here...
When I heard the news of the 468 from Hervé at the LA show, I was also puzzled. But it made sense, as the 458 is a far better "testing ground" for new stuff, since it was designed from the ground-up to be expanded and improved on.
The 108 wasn't, and since Hervé insists on not leaving anyone behind, he really wants the new 108 to be also available as an upgrade to current 108 owners, so the form factor and inner space must be taken into consideration. The good news is that Hervé seems to have found a way to extract a little more power out of the 108, and keep the same size/enclosure, and he claimed to be working on that as well as the 468. Of course, when we're going to see that new version is anyone's guess
Maybe I need another trip to Geneva for a peek...
cheers,
alex
Hong Kong dealer just got delivered with serial number 9. I guess there are 9 pairs of 468 made already. I also believe most of them sold to China. And my 468 was delivered two weeks ago. I can only say the sound is spectacular. Best power amps I ever owned or listened.
wow! congrats!
thank you for the feedback, obviously I am 'hungry' for listening impressions on the 468 as I am 'in line' for the upgrade from 458 -> 468.....and there have been no comments I have seen about it other than from Herve.
were you a 458 owner before? or have you compared the 2 models? any impressions of what changed?
It is no longer in gold? Now I am more interested
I think it's just the room/light/sensor getting a bit confused. not the easiest amp to photograph close up with all the reflective metalwork and surface texture.
OTOH there have been a few 458's in silver and black.....(prefer the gold/red 'ironman' myself for this amplifier design).
Pardon me for saying this uncle Mike. But your system is not exactly a mix-and-match aesthetically sir.
(Cant help not teasing you.)
Tang
Pardon me for saying this uncle Mike. But your system is not exactly a mix-and-match aesthetically sir.
(Cant help not teasing you.)
Tang
Dear Tang,
that is an interesting comment. anyone looking at pictures of my system might immediately assume I love red, gold, black, and blond wood. but the only part I choose is the blond wood and my red and black wool carpet in the center of my room (and I've since wanted to change that). that is a relatively expensive piece of carpet I purchased 14 years ago before darTZeel or Evolution came to my room.
I wish darTZeel looked like the Mark Levinson gear I used to own. the Evolutions have never floated my boat as far as color (would prefer a more neutral color---but do consider them nice looking and beautifully built). I wish my hardwood floor and carpet was a much darker shade. but I don't acquire gear based on the look. and I can't justify re-doing my floor just for the color.
all that said; I've seen pictures of the black and silver 458's and for that design I easily prefer the red and gold (and I don't 'love' the red and gold). I do consider the 458's to look elegant and stunning in person and they are magnificently assembled and a joy to touch every day. there is zero compromise anywhere in or out like all darTZeel products.
I don't for a minute regret any of my purchases in these colors, but none were purchased for the look. and over the years I've had plenty of homely looking gear that happened to serve the music well.
best regards,
Mike
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Mike,
From the pictures and report of your room, all I can say is STUNNING. Really tastefully done. I love the look. Kudos.
Hope to see it in person some day.
Best
Howie
Thanks Mike. I have owned countless amps. High power tube, high power SS, SET. Never satisfied. Your system is great inspiration to me. It makes me consider darTZeel. I am able to get a second hand NHB 108. Now I can understand what all the fuss about. Hong Kong dealer offers me a great deal on 468. I am a bit hesitant as my speaker is a horn speaker. I do not need all the power. I have communicated with you on the difference between 108 and 458. Your answer push me to purchase a 468.
And 468 turns out to be a much better amp than 108 even the max power I have seen so far is around 36W given that I listen very loud. All the amps pale in comparison to 468.
Sorry, I have not listened to 458 before and cannot answer your questions on the differences between 458 and 468. But I am sure 468 is a big improvement over 458.
As far as I can tell, the casing and colour of 458 and 468 are the same. The back panel layout is the same. I think there are some changes on the meter.
Yes, Hervé told me it should during summer time. I informed shortly in the Model One thread...
Seems to be more powerful, maybe more impedance stable and more refined. If I get Hervé well this amp will come sonically closer to the monoblocs (but don‘t reach it). And should go deeper in the bass reproduction.
Congrats on the mighty Dart Ref 468 monos...i am intrigued about Aries Cerat. Given that it appears more than a few owners ended up going 'full Aries Cerat'...did you audition Aries Cerat's amplification? If so, how do compare them with the big Darts?
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