FOLLOW-UP

DARTZEEL NHB-18NS MK.2 PREAMPLIFIER

After Michael Fremer reviewed the darTZeel NHB-18NS full-function preamplifier in the June 2006 issue of Stereophile,¹ he bought the review sample. He subsequently replaced it with the NHB-18NS Mk.2, which he wrote about in June 2017.² It has been his reference preamplifier ever since.

Although I performed a complete set of measurements on the original NHB-18NS, I never did so on the newer version, officially known as v.2014. As darTZeel had sent a new sample along with the NHB-108 Model Two power amplifier that Jason Victor Serinus will review in a forthcoming issue, I took advantage of this opportunity to do so.

I examined the darTZeel NHB-18NS v.2014’s measured performance with my Audio Precision 2722 system, repeating some of the tests with the magazine’s higher-performance