DarTZeel Cartridges

[Zeotrope]

Looking forward to hearing impressions on how they sound.
Pricing and a little more info can be found here: https://neverheardbefore.com/
(Be Very careful if you add the NFS 00 to your cart by mistake!)

Have to love Hervé's humour!

 

[spiritofmusic]

I mean one million Swiss Francs, I get.
But a million and one? That's beyond the pale.

 

[Zeotrope]

I mean one million Swiss Francs, I get.
But a million and one? That's beyond the pale.

I will send you 1 Franc. Don't want that to hold you back!

 

[mtemur]

Prices are outrageous, even by today’s highly-inflated-audiophile-standards.

 

[djsina2]

This must be a joke.

 

[Zeotrope]

They all come with a phono preamp, so price is more reasonable in this context (no comment on the $1M version!).
A world-class phono stage alone is $50k or more… so it seems reasonable to pay that for a cartridge and phono stage.

 

[djsina2]

I was (mostly) referring to the $1M one.

 

[Zeotrope]

I was (mostly) referring to the $1M one.

What can be said about that?! Did Hervé add a zero by mistake and now it’s too late?
I actually think it’s a smart thing to do from a business product positioning standpoint.ie, “get 90% of the sonic benefit at 5% of the cost…” from the main models. Automakers do it all the time.

And knowing what I know about Hervé and his company, he would never release a “me too” product. If it doesn’t move the needle appreciably, he would not release it.

 

[benito]

They all come with a phono preamp, so price is more reasonable in this context (no comment on the $1M version!).
A world-class phono stage alone is $50k or more… so it seems reasonable to pay that for a cartridge and phono stage.

It seems that the preamp NHB-18NS is used. For the price, you get the cartridge and a new phono module, but you need to own already a NHB-18NS.
The new cartridges has been shown at Munich. In the video the left preamp is used as a phono in bypass mode.

 

[Solypsa]

Chf 1m hmm. Small change for some I suppose.

Hand made and impeccable service can come cheaper in my experience

 

[bonzo75]

The 1m cart just needs a favourable Roy Gregory write up now

 

[spiritofmusic]

The 1m cart just needs a favourable Roy Gregory write up now

All 17 pages...

 

[KeithR]

Mikey craps all over it:

 

[Zeotrope]

The only Mike I listen to as a reviewer is certainly not this imbecile. Suggest you delete this and post it on Audio “Science” Review.

 

[KeithR]

Suggest you stop barking orders at forum members. If you have specific criticism, aim it at @Verastarr as Mikey's a member of this forum too. I personally think there is a digit error and the correct price is $100,000 CHF but even then it's ludicrous pricing.

Dart has become so expensive in the US, that even the base 108/18NS combo is uncompetitive at $134k ($76k in 2019).

 

[Zeotrope]

Suggest you stop barking orders at forum members. If you have specific criticism, aim it at @Verastarr as Mikey's a member of this forum too. I personally think there is a digit error and the correct price is $100,000 CHF but even then it's ludicrous pricing.

Dart has become so expensive in the US, that even the base 108/18NS combo is uncompetitive at $134k ($76k in 2019).

US pricing has been wrong for DartZeel for some time. This is lack of due diligence from buyers. The real price is in Swiss Francs. Why US buyers accept a much higher price is beyond me. Hopefully the new US distributor/dealers will fix this and be fair and offer consistent pricing with the RoW.

That video you posted was garbage. Just one example: he whines about the “machining marks“ on the front case of the 468 amps, claiming it’s a cheaper way to finish metal because the CNC machine is cutting anyway, and he just ‘didn’t bother to polish it’. That is wrong. It costs more to ship with this type of finish than with a smooth finish.
This is my opinion (although the machining cost is a fact). Obviously feel free to disagree, that’s what these platforms are for. Obviously, don’t buy it if you feel the price-value isn’t there.

Enjoy the music and hobby!

 

[Carlos269]

Latest video from OCD Mikey discussing the Dartzeel gear and cartridges:

 

[bonzo75]

That video you posted was garbage. Just one example: he whines about the “machining marks“ on the front case of the 468 amps, claiming it’s a cheaper way to finish metal because the CNC machine is cutting anyway, and he just ‘didn’t bother to polish it’. That is wrong. It costs more to ship with this type of finish than with a smooth finish.
This is my opinion (although the machining cost is a fact).

so you are saying the machining cost is cheaper the way it is currently done, but that the shipment cost of this machining is higher?

 

[Zeotrope]

so you are saying the machining cost is cheaper the way it is currently done, but that the shipment cost of this machining is higher?

Huh? Not at all.

 

[bonzo75]

Huh? Not at all.

maybe it’s the way you worded, you could edit that