I'm not usually this indecisive, but I have in short order bought, sold and then rebought a Dared DV-6C amp.
It's an odd beast: a hybrid with a tube pre-amp. It's also 5.1, but has none of the usual home theater trappings - no Dolby, no HDMI, no digital ins or outs of any sort.
I bought it because I like the idea of multi-channel music, sold it because setting up a multi-channel system falls very, very far below WAF standards, rebought because I suspect that for the money (under $400) it would make a fine two channel amp.
Here's the disclaimer: I have listened to music my entire adult life, but most of it was heard on a $100 boombox. I got very, very interested a few years ago in the question of how good you could get for cheap, but I have no experience with fine equipment, and no interest in it.
My evaluations are from the low end, and lack the important knowledge that comes from having spent time with beautiful sound. Buyer beware.
That said, with 20+ hours burn-in, stock tubes and a very, very modest system - a Sony Playstation for a cd player and a set of small Infinity bookshelf speakers (the Primus 152s) - I'm remarkably happy.
To compare it to a well-regarded cheap tube amp, the MiniWatt N3: both sound fine, but this is more powerful and thus able to play a wider range of speakers. The Infinitys aren't highly efficient, but the Dared has no issue with dynamics.
I think the sound is neutral, with a slight hump in the upper bass,* which is quite pleasing. Listening to some decently recorded piano trio jazz tonight, the music has room to breathe. The high end stuff isn't harsh or grating, but it's also not in hiding.
Anyway, it's early, but I'm thinking this amp deserves a wider hearing from regular stereo folk.
s.
*I think that means, you can hear the top end of the bass range a little more easily than you could if frequency response was completely and utterly neutral. But I don't really know what phrases like that mean for sure, and should probably stick to saying - "I really like the way I could hear - and even feel - the bass. There was more of it than with the T amps I usually favor, but it also didn't sound exaggerated or over-emphasized."
It's an odd beast: a hybrid with a tube pre-amp. It's also 5.1, but has none of the usual home theater trappings - no Dolby, no HDMI, no digital ins or outs of any sort.
I bought it because I like the idea of multi-channel music, sold it because setting up a multi-channel system falls very, very far below WAF standards, rebought because I suspect that for the money (under $400) it would make a fine two channel amp.
Here's the disclaimer: I have listened to music my entire adult life, but most of it was heard on a $100 boombox. I got very, very interested a few years ago in the question of how good you could get for cheap, but I have no experience with fine equipment, and no interest in it.
My evaluations are from the low end, and lack the important knowledge that comes from having spent time with beautiful sound. Buyer beware.
That said, with 20+ hours burn-in, stock tubes and a very, very modest system - a Sony Playstation for a cd player and a set of small Infinity bookshelf speakers (the Primus 152s) - I'm remarkably happy.
To compare it to a well-regarded cheap tube amp, the MiniWatt N3: both sound fine, but this is more powerful and thus able to play a wider range of speakers. The Infinitys aren't highly efficient, but the Dared has no issue with dynamics.
I think the sound is neutral, with a slight hump in the upper bass,* which is quite pleasing. Listening to some decently recorded piano trio jazz tonight, the music has room to breathe. The high end stuff isn't harsh or grating, but it's also not in hiding.
Anyway, it's early, but I'm thinking this amp deserves a wider hearing from regular stereo folk.
s.
*I think that means, you can hear the top end of the bass range a little more easily than you could if frequency response was completely and utterly neutral. But I don't really know what phrases like that mean for sure, and should probably stick to saying - "I really like the way I could hear - and even feel - the bass. There was more of it than with the T amps I usually favor, but it also didn't sound exaggerated or over-emphasized."
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