Dartzeel vs. Ayre

[caesar]

Anyone closely compare these 2 brands? How do the sonic signatures compare/ contrast? I never heard them a/b, but both sound like musical (vs. sterile) SS gear. Both sound pretty good to my ears.

Is Dartzeel just a snootier version of Ayre? Or does one get more for the $$$ spent on the Dartzeel?

 

[Sammy T]

Got a good deal on my Ayre KXR Preamp. I did hear a Dartzeel at a CES , both very nice gear.

 

[asiufy]

caesar,

My experience with Ayre gear was too brief, so I won't comment on their sound. But there's absolutely no way to even begin comparing the construction of the darTZeel gear and the Ayre stuff. darTZeel is solid, with high quality components, will last forever. Ayre stuff just look ...don't know... flimsy....


alexandre

 

[audioarcher]

They are both very good solid state. Hard to say which one someone would prefer in their system. The TOTL Ayre gear is made out of billet aluminum. Nothing flimsy about it.

 

[Sammy T]

Here is a close up of my Ayre KXR pre. Workmanship, first rate job soldering ALL the components. It is truly a work of art. See Pic's

 

[FrantzM]

Here is a close up of my Ayre KXR pre. Workmanship, first rate job soldering ALL the components. It is truly a work of art. See Pic's View attachment 5374View attachment 5374

Thanks for the pictures .. I knew their craftsmanship was excellent .. I was very surprised by the "flimsy" qualification and was about to object ..No need now

 

[MasterChief]

More inside pictures of Ayre. This time MX-R (stereo version). Seems like a pretty solid construction.

 

[AudioExplorations]

Based on these photos the design and build quality and these ayre components seems to be about as good as it gets.

 

[Keith_W]

Wow, it looks as if the chassis of that Ayre was machined out of a solid billet of aluminum! That would have cost a lot of money!

 

[DEV]

Personally Ayre build quality is VERY impressive and by far not "flimsy" as one member posted above. That was funny

 

[Sammy T]

I have three other audio buddies , that are tube heads. They never heard a SS Preamp (Ayre KXR) sound so close to tubes , that was Solid State . More Pic's

 

[AudioExplorations]

Wow, I can't get over how impressive the internal build quality of that preamp is. I think Jeff Fritz considers this the best preamp of all time?

 

[asiufy]

Indeed, these look extremely solid and well-made. Obviously, I've never seen the insides of their preamps (just the CD player), so I was judging merely from the outside appearance, which I still believe don't impress (IMHO of course).
And hey, yet another reason why we can't judge a book by its cover
And, to be fair, here are some pics of the NHB-18NS. IMHO, even better than the Ayre.


alexandre

 

[Sammy T]

I did look at the Dartzeel Preamp. Already had a small fortune invested in Tara Labs Zero Gold XLR IC's . My Pass Labs XP-25 Sounds best , Balanced along with my Pass Lab Rushmore speaker amps
Audio Aero CD Player/ DAC combo. Dartzeel pre is mostly all single ended output.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

to be fair to Asiufy's comments; Ayre has different levels of fit and finish. if one is only familiar with Ayre 5 series, and trying to compare those to darTZeel level fit and finish, they are not even close to that level. the new 'R' level Ayre gear is certainly closer to darTZeel. and darTZeel has only one level of build quality. although maybe the 458 monoblocks do go from Rolex level to Patek Philippe.

and battery power is battery power.

i can see the case for already owning balanced cables and a balanced pass amplifier. however; sometime listen to the 'zeel' interface dart pre-amp combo and you might like it. i've compared conventional cables to the 'zeel' BNC's through that interface and they can't quite compete.

i've not personally directly compared Ayre and darTZeel. so i cannot really address the OP's original question. i do think Pass is a solid state product line that i would consider other than darTZeel. i've really not listened to Ayre enough to comment about it.

 

[Sammy T]

All so looked at Pass Labs XP-30 Preamp. Three chassis design , too many boxes for my setup.

 

[puroagave]

Indeed, these look extremely solid and well-made. Obviously, I've never seen the insides of their preamps (just the CD player), so I was judging merely from the outside appearance, which I still believe don't impress (IMHO of course).
And hey, yet another reason why we can't judge a book by its cover
And, to be fair, here are some pics of the NHB-18NS. IMHO, even better than the Ayre.


alexandre


View attachment 5379View attachment 5380

View attachment 5378

those silver posts denote the fact the chassis is bolted together from mult pieces and ayre is machined from solid, like rowland. darts have looks only an indian maharaza could love...imo, the bright gold and red is overdone

 

[joeinid]

There is no doubt that both Ayre and Dartzeel build quality is superb. I've owned the KX-R preamp and do not agree it sounds like tubes or is sounds more tube-like than other preamps. I have not heard the Dartzeel preamp yet. While I liked and respected the KX-R, I've moved on. I have an XP-30 now and love it. Definitely warmer than the Ayre and has more straightforward operation than the KX-R, in my opinion. The KX-R seemed a little drier to my ear, again, just my opinion but confirmed by someone I respect. Depending on what amp(s) and speakers I pair with the KX-R, I could go back to it.

 

[Sammy T]

Two of my tube head friends are also running all Tara Labs Zero Gold IC's . They were really impressed with the Ayre KXR . IC cables will make or break a system, but we already knew that right? Other factors, Room Treatment, Quality of AC power, and good vibration isolation. RFI and EMI problems , ESR paper, Mu metal treatment.

 

[asiufy]

Sammy,

The darTZeel pre is not single ended. It has balanced inputs and outputs. I know because I've plugged many different amps in it
While I haven't heard the Ayre pre, I did hear the XP-25, and it's nowhere close to the darTZeel. I'm yet to the heard the new 3-piece XP30, though.
I agree cables are essential to the sucess of a system, but ICs are the ones that matter the least, in my experience. Of course, that is system-dependant, and maybe I've always had quality and half-decent ICs that didn't compromise the end result...

puroagave,

You don't like the darTZeel look, and that's fine I don't like the Ayre look, and that's fine too...

Mike,

The 458 is just as you described. The care taken is beyond belief.
And I'm with you here. If more people listened to the darTZeel pre-power combo, there'd be a lot more of those out there


cheers,
alexandre