dpa amps advice

So good, they went out of business several years ago. This would probably be one of the reasons you have had no response to your posting, few members have ever heard of them never mind any experience with the product. Their best product was an outboard dac, back when outboard dac's were "in".

I remember reading very favorable reviews some 8-10 years back. They were made in Wales. Sorry this is all.

Mad Boy Matt

DPA, formerly known as Deltec, produced one or two things that got good reviews - a DAC, as undertone says, but also a power amp that one or two reviewers (Paul Miller?) used as a reference for a while. I think it was called the DPA 50S or something...

In fairness just cos a firm goes out of business doesn't necessarily mean the things they made were cack...

Tim

Robert watts who owned and ran DPA (and Deltec Precision Audio) designed and built some excellent equipment during the 90s. I think his dacs are exeptionally good, The recent Chord 64 dac is his design as he now does freelance work as I understand.
The problem he had was running a business and the reliability of some of his products was poor**!** and it makes you appreciate the back up and service you get from companies like Naim.

I recall a detailed review of one of their Pre-amplifiers, the DPA 50 I believe. They used to use their own custom amplifier blocks which worked like very high quality wideband Op Amps, better than any commercially available, and possibly an improvement on the gain stages in Naim Amps at the time. They used some overall feedback but less than in normal designs. It struck me as a very laudable but expensive way to improve on standard preamp design, but I'm not sure whether it left them with the profit margins that simpler designs do. The reviews were very complementary and if I do a little hunting I might be able to unearth a Hi Fi News review. I would buy one on the grounds of thorough design. I suspect the sound is top rate but I never listened to one.

John

quote:

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In fairness just cos a firm goes out of business doesn't necessarily mean the things they made were cack...

Tim

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If there was any fairness in the world, they might still be in business. There are mountains of one time "world beater" products out there which are now useless because spares and tech support don't exist. Try to find output devices for older Exposure amps (the REAL Exposure amps) which were some of the best sounding amps ever made. Even though Exposure is still in business, they can't supply (but they can sell you a piece of their new line which I have listened to, and is rubbish).

Minime asked "are they any good?". Perhaps he should have asked "were they any good?". Certainly any purchase today would be risky as there is no support available. Having said that, there is precious little support available from many companies that are in active business. Makes a great arguement for purchasing from Naim and others who actually give a damn.

thanks for the info guys
frank