With its ground-breaking signal path technology, battery power supply and unrivalled phono stages, the NHB-18NS is still the benchmark for preamplifiers. Its unique circuit board layout allows each optical input to be activated separately. The absence of global negative feedback ensures an ideal and uncompromising listening experience. Each aluminium component is milled from a solid block, hand-finished, brushed and anodised.
The darTZeel NHB-18NS is the logical partner to the now legendary NHB-108 model one power amplifier. In keeping with the very same philosophy, darTZeel uses dedicated circuits reduced to their most basic form. The delicate, small audio signal amplified by the NHB-18NS only passes through 7 silicon junctions from input to output, including the 11 dB full discrete gain stage. For the phono stage, only add 6 junctions are added, for a maximum additional boost of 66 dB (77 dB in total). The advantages of these new circuits, whose designs are patented, produce an extreme, pure sound quality never achieved before. One of the results of this attention to detail is the sheer dynamic speed, transparency, the attack and decay of each note and the silence in between.
Machined from a solid block and held comfortably in your hand, the NHB-18NS remote control provides access to its key functional features.
The NHB-18NS is peerless in terms of clarity and musicality. Designed to control NHB-series power amplifiers, it offers state-of-the-art preamplification and control. The peerless workmanship result in a device that is a functional work of art.
For those not acquainted… NHB means ‘Never Heard Before’ and the NS bit means ‘No Switch’. Read the reviews and speak to owners of this heirloom piece of audio heaven and you will discover that the darTZeel NHB-18NS may as well have been called “MEPEC”.
(Most Enjoyable Preamplifier Ever Created).
Awards
Reviews
Hi-Fi News, Andrew Everard, 2022
"That ability to get to the heart of the music is what you’re buying here, and with the joyous Amsterdam Sinfonietta/Thomas Oliemans recording of French chanson, Formidable! [Channel Classics CCS43321; DSD128] both the exuberant playing of the band and the crisp, expressive vocals are a delight. Clearly, all concerned are having huge fun, and that translates into a smile on the listener’s face – making the heart go ‘Boum!’ as the brass solo winds around the singer. Yes, this is more than most of us will ever spend, but that doesn’t stop these superb amplifiers being objects of desire by dint of sheer musical enjoyment."
Mono and Stereo, Matej Isak, 2021
"The NHB-18NS is one of the most musically appealing, if not the most enchanting preamplifiers I have come across so far. The sound is a nether tube as in the solid-state. The NHB-18NS seamlessly combines the two so-called juxtapositions into a seamless harmonic whole that is not bound by the usual standards. It pursues the goal of achieving the end game in its very own, extreme way. To describe any high-end audio component as a higher-order instrument is often considered controversial. The NHB-18NS plays in a completely different league and has dream machine qualities. It plays music in a way that is both captivating and believable."
"The resultant tone, note shape, and expression that each musician can extract allow them to create a different kind of tension – this time in the listener. Each instrument drowned the room in dripping colour. The way the daRTzeel shows the differences in reverb speed, dynamics, and the layers of harmonic bloom that swirl around as the art of the luthier joins the circle is fascinating. If you think an acoustic guitar is a simple thing, then I assure you it is endlessly complex in both scale, speed, and tonality. When it comes to the sheer resolving power of the amplifier, then it goes way down to the sub-note level, and it does it effortlessly… …I loved my time with the daRTzeel amps as much as I have with any product over the years. The pair are not in any way ‘cheap’, but they are primarily so involving and musically enlivening that price becomes a secondary concern. They delivered such musical joy and involvement that it has indeed been a rare privilege to have them at home, and I was extremely sorry to see them leave. They are truly exceptional and a huge testament to Hérve Delétraz and his audio art."
Hi-Fi Critic, Martin Colloms, 2020
"This beautifully crafted Swiss pre/power combination has been highly developed to deliver unusually natural and musically entertaining sounds. It is involving, pure in texture, most unfatiguing and delights the ear. An Audio Excellence rating is well deserved."
The Absolute Sound, Chris Binns, 2008
"As one would expect of a high-end product of this calibre, it ticks all the right hi-fi boxes, but also makes the important step forward that ultimately cuts the ties that hold so many products earthbound when it comes to letting the music flow. And that, as I suggested earlier, is more important in a pre-amp than any other component in the system."
Stereophile, Michael Fremer, 2007
"That said, whether its minimalist circuitry provides purity by subtracting unwanted junk or by adding pleasing colorations, the darTZeel NHB-18NS is among a handful of the finest-sounding pieces of audio gear I have ever heard. Listening through it produced the same serenity I get every time at Avery Fisher Hall, just after the conductor’s baton has gone down and the music has begun."
Six Moons, Mike Malinowski, 2007
"I bet that for many, it will be a lifetime purchase. It is that rarest of breeds, a revolutionary state-of-the-art preamp that breaks new ground with its design, execution and performance. If you’re in the market for a state-of-the-art preamp or just want to hear the results of one man’s lifelong passion and brilliance, track one down and listen to it. Highly recommended."
Product Specification
Type
Pre-amplifier
Line Gain
Up to + 11 dB
Analog Input Impedances
Zeel BNC 50 ohms from 1Hz to 1 MHz
RCA line > 30 kohms, from 5 Hz to 50 kHz
XLR Line > 15 kohms, from 5 Hz to 50 kHz
Phono MC : User select from 43 ohms up to 47K ohms
Line Output Impedances
RCA = 75 ohms, darT BNC = 50 ohms, XLR < 600 ohms, REC OUT < 150 ohms
Frequency Response
5 Hz – 500 kHz, +0, -1 dB
Rise Time
< 0.5 µs
Slew Rate
> 24 V/µs, peak-peak
Total Harmonic Distortion (THD)
< 1 % from 10 Hz to 100 kHz within the output dynamic range
Temporal Distortion
None, at any level and load, as specified above
Crosstalk
< – 80 dB from 20Hz to 20kHz
Signal to noise ratio
> 92 dB (A), Line; > 70dB (A), Phono w/factory settings
Power consumption
7 – 77 watts depending on working conditions
Fuse ratings
115 volts: 1.0A (T) or slow blow
230 volts: 0.5A (T) or slow blow
Size in mm
440 (W) x 335 (D) x 170 (H)
Total depth with handles: 415mm
Size in inches
17.32 (W) x 13.2 (D) x 6.7 (H)
Total depth with handles: 16.4 inches.
Net weight
24kg + Power Supply 3kg = Total 27kg (59.5lbs)
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