darTZeel's Hervé Delétraz Responds to Rumors of the Company's Demise

the future admittedly is dicey but the company soldiers on and those who know will continue to love the unique products

Statement by Mr. Delétraz:

"For those who want to say the truth, it is quite simpler:

For several years now, the extreme High-End market has been in turmoil, with many prestigious brands closing down—fortunately, most of them have been able to restart—due to several factors, of which I will only mention a few. The uncertain global economic and political climate has drawn attention away from entertainment. But above all, the race to offer the most expensive product, claiming it’s better, while giving ever larger discounts to end users.

This extreme High-End market, whose noble and honorable purpose at its beginnings was to offer music lovers the best possible reproduction quality, has turned into a mass market, comparable to the souks of Marrakech—which I personally love, but for a different purpose—where the highest discount has become the main focus.

This trend, though not new, is now rotting the extreme High-End market and is destroying the industry.

I, Hervé Delétraz, founder and creator of the darTZeel brand, have decided that this business model no longer aligns with my vision of Extreme High End.

Not only will the darTZeel brand continue to exist, but it will also change its paradigm by focusing on new concepts, which for now will remain undisclosed for obvious reasons.

What you need to know now are the following:

1. darTZeel is more alive than ever, and legendary customer service remains unchanged.

2. Current production of the NHB, CTH, and LHC series will now be made only on demand.
(For existing customer): It is strongly advised not to sell off your darTZeel equipment on AudiogoN or elsewhere, because from now on, owning a darTZeel instrument is an investment.

3. A new line of instruments, aimed at a broader audience, is currently under study. Stay tuned!

darTZeel instruments are made in Geneva to last forever. Period."

Comments

2024-10-16 10:46:38 PM

Come on wrote:

Good communication! I wish you the best with the new concept! Your products are special in many ways, even among the best.
2024-10-17 01:36:20 PM

Zaphod wrote:

It always breaks my heart when I hear of small companies shuttering their doors. So, I am glad to hear that darTZeel is still alive and adapting.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, I am at an point in my life where my system is at a level that I am very content with and the chances of me ever being able to afford darTZeel is next to impossible. But I think it is important to have these companies because it gives us something to strive toward.

I have never been able to audition any darTZeel components but reviewer typically gave it high marks. However, for me personally, what I desire about darTZeel is what I have seen from images, and that is of how well made the components are. The colour scheme is divine and the attention to detail is like that of a Swiss Watch. When a company spends the time to make sure the insides of their gear is as beautiful as the outside, then you know that no short cuts or compromises were made. And then it is the clever labelling, like calling the volume knob the “Pleasure Control”, you got to love that!!!
2024-10-17 03:40:03 PM

Jeff 'Glotz' Glotzer wrote:

Long live one of the GREATEST audio manufacturers of ALL TIME! I am excited to see what this unique, new foray into audio is!

Man, I hate f**** Youtube tho... or at least the evil trolls that are everywhere on it.

I also read that 33% vinyl decrease drivel recently. Whatever, my record stores are packed every time I'm in them!
- 2024-10-17 04:45:27 PM
  
  Anton wrote:
  
  Fake news!
  
  Sales are great! Many people are telling me sales have never been better! Many!
  
  Vinyl sales are actually up 300%.
  
  I can't hear you!
  
  Fellas, being emotionally upset about that news blurb says more about us than anything else. Y'all sound like Hannity and Carlson.
  
  Hopefully, Taylor Swift will release a new record before January and we can all relax.
  
  On the plus side, we can now tie our jargon to a new bullshit term: Extreme High End. That's some kind of bullshit.
2024-10-17 04:01:28 PM

Doxycc wrote:

"spread by someone who really should know better since he is an industry veteran and his significant other is a publicist for a competing company" I am not familiar with Swiss law, but a number of countries require the filing of public documents when they go out of business, reorganize or restructure. If the Swiss require such filings, a journalist would (ya think?) do his or her diligence before making a public comment.
2024-10-17 11:09:14 PM

13th Duke of Wymbourne wrote:

If you watch the videos from MF's last two visits to darTZeel it is conspicuous that so much focuses on the casework rather than what's inside and fancy casework leads to high retail prices and high retail prices require fancier casework etc. I assume that darTZeel has just been chasing the low-volume uber end along with their competitors - wasn't there a $1M cartridge? Does Delatraz just wants to do something new or has that uber-end bubble burst? I wonder what a broader audience means - getting away from 2-channel or more reasonably priced components at, presumably, higher volumes. Challenging either way. I don't have many tears for Mr. Deletraz (wasn't there a $1M cartridge?) but I do wish the company well.
- 2024-10-17 11:10:26 PM
  
  13th Duke of Wymbourne wrote:
  
  please forgive my repetition.