The D9 Pro Master Edition is a high-fidelity audio amplifier that offers a significant upgrade over its predecessor, the D5 Pro, with notable improvements in sound quality, dynamics, and imaging, albeit at a higher price point.
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Hi guys. Yes, we all waited for that
one, right? And everyone wants to know
if that one is really better than D5 Pro
that I have reviewed last year. But what
is it? It's actually a clone of Dart Zil
NHB 108. NHB standing for never heard
before that's made in Switzerland and
costs about
$50,000. Um, this clone, this amplifier
is based on Dzil designs and I've paid
for it something like 100 uh, sorry,
1,125. That was with some AliExpress
coupons and that was during uh, sale.
So, that price was a bit lower than the
regular one. Uh, and the shipping was
included in that price. Uh, this
amplifier is called precisely D9 Pro
Master Edition. um which means that it's
basically a D5 Pro with uh balanced
inputs and some uh even better quality
components as D5 Pro was already
excellent uh built and sounding
amplifier as you probably know uh from
my review. Uh okay, let's go uh through
some specifications. So this build uh is
based on D5 Pro from 2021. Uh master
edition of D9 Pro was released according
to the sellers uh in 2024. So basically
last year uh the transistors inside are
paired within 1% tolerance. The
transformer is supposed to be 100 W. uh
all the signal lines uh or the wiring
inside for the uh audio signal is
supposed to be made from uh single
crystal copper OCC copper. Uh input
sensitivity as given by the uh
manufacturer is uh 1.66
1.66
VRMS. Input impedance is 22 kiloohms.
Dumping factor is very nice. is quite
high at 800. Output power is specified
as 150 W at 8 ohms loads per channel or
300 W at 4 ohms per channel. Meaning
that per two channels with 4 ohms load
uh in total maximum power uh should be
up to 600 W. uh the power consumption
when uh idle uh is specified as 120
watts and that was uh within um my my
data that I've measured with smart toy
plugs uh were falling uh very near was
something like 123 up to
125 slightly fluctuating uh during my
measurements. Uh the other numbers from
the manufacturer uh supposedly based on
AP measurements are signal to noise
ratio 24.6 dibels uh which is wow. Uh
the next number that makes me go wow is
dynamic range. It's 124 dibels. Uh total
harmonic distortion is specified as 0.002%.
0.0092%. Uh which again are amazing
numbers. Uh I've also measured the
operating temperature uh for this
amplifier and after 1 hour of uh playing
music uh it was around 57 up to 59°
centigrade. Uh but that was maybe not in
a uh perfectly vented place but it was
not also enclosed cabinet. So it runs
quite hot not as hot as a class
amplifiers uh but do make sure to uh
provide enough uh ventilation uh for
that amplifier. So let's take a look at
the outside and the inside. Uh on the
front we have only power switch and two
status lights for left and right
channels. On the sides we have cooling
fins. The amplifier is quite heavy. It's
not as heavy as
FM81 or BM clones. Uh but it weights
something like 23 or 24 kg. So it's
quite heavy. Uh in the back in the back
we have one set of single-ended LCA
inputs, one set of balanced inputs, uh
set of uh switches that are used to
choose which pair of inputs uh we will
be using. But it's not like it's a mini
integrated amplifier. I mean you should
not connect two different devices to
both of those and just switch. Uh the
switch is for choosing which one will be
used and the other set of inputs should
be unused. Uh we also have a set of uh
speaker tabs just one per
channel. So for bamping you'll have to
use spades and bananas. And these are
quite nice. This is solid metal uh
goldplated uh and uh it's better than uh
you could see in my D5 Pro reviews and
most of the clones that I've I was
reviewing because in most of the clones
the speaker tabs are made uh from
plastic with just small uh part made of
metal. Uh this uh here inside the
toileted part is also
got yeah uh we also have here power
connector socket and integrated fuse
compartment. Uh with that out of the
way, let's take a look inside. As usual,
thick solid top plate and the same goes
uh for the rest of the chassis. It's
really thick. It's uh really solid. It's
a quality
build. Okay. So, maybe let's move it
like that and let's take a look
inside. Uh okay. So, uh you may want to
watch my D5 Pro review that I will link
in the description. Oh, and I forgot uh
my test system setup details in the
description of the video. Also every
store link in the description, every
interesting or useful link in the
description. If anything interesting
comes out from the discussion uh in the
comments section, uh I will also update
the video description and uh I will
provide any additional links uh if uh if
there will be anything to link to. Okay.
So uh take a look at uh at my review of
the 5 Pro. take a look at my first log
video uh for this uh amplifier uh as I
don't think I'll be going uh much uh
into the detail right now uh but I will
focus on the differences uh between this
amplifier and uh D5 Pro. So the first
thing you'll notice are the blue BC
Vshake cups. Uh D5 Pro that I got was
using Lafa for audio capacitors. The
total capacitor per channel is exactly
the same. Uh it's uh 60,000 microfarads
because each one of them is rated for 10,000
10,000
microfarads. Uh yeah. Uh also uh toidal
transformer uh this one is specified for
800 W as it was given in the
manufacturer description. I think it's
slightly larger than the one I have in
D5 Pro. Uh the one that I have in D5 Pro
is lacking label. So I'm not able to co
compare the data. I would just need to
measure them but it's kind of pointless.
Both of them are excellent. Uh we have a
slow start module here. Uh all relays
that you can see here are
uh the capacitors are nicons and
rubicons and German vimma capacitors. So
all of them are excellent. Um the
differences against D5 Pro cups,
transformer, fuses. Uh we have uh more
fuses here because uh each channel uh of
the D5 Pro is using two fuses, one at
the top and one at the bottom. Uh this
one maybe rotate it. Maybe I rotate it
like that. Uh is using two fuses here
and two fuses at the bottom. Uh also the
fuses here uh are uh made by shorter and
they have goldplated
uh contacts. Uh yeah but the most
important difference uh is the number of
transistor pairs. Um the amplifier
boards the ones that are underneath the
power boards are slightly longer than in
D5 Pro. uh and that's because they need
to accommodate the additional two pairs
of transistors. Two pairs because we
have uh uh two at the top and there are
two more underneath on the lower part of
the board that you cannot see uh from
this uh point. Uh and there is one more
thing worth mentioning. Uh can we see it
right now? Now let's rotate that and
let's zoom
in. Okay.
So let's zoom in here and we have
balanced inputs and the balanced inputs
inputs are done using
uh burbown INA 157 uh balanced line
converter. This is a very good quality
IC from Texas Instruments. Uh as far as
I remember it has it has a signal to
noise ratio uh 123 or 124 dibels. You
can check that in the data sheet. So
basically this is a very high quality
component but then again it's something
that's additional uh straight into the
uh added into the signal line. Uh so
it's kind of like maybe not exactly
having a reamplifier but basically
having additional device in your signal
path and that's something we usually try
to avoid. We want to have our signal
paths as simple as as clean as
possible but it's there. So the main
discussions um in the comments sections
for D5 Pro uh when you were asking about
D9 Pro were mostly about that uh does it
uh lower the quality of the sound or
does the balanced uh version D9 Pro uh
actually sound better than D5 Pro? But
we'll get to that in a minute. So
basically these are all uh important
differences between uh D5 Pro. Um one
more thing that's not exact exactly a
difference but maybe worth noting is
that we have a DC servo here and DC
servo uh is uh using uh OP07C
uh single operational amplifier. So uh I
would probably try to uh replace that
with something faster and more precise.
But that's for the modding part. Uh if
this one will be the best one, it'll get
all the mods because my goal is to find
the amplifier that will be the best for
my for my Martin Logan electrostats and
that one will get heavily modified. Uh
yeah, while we're here, you may take a
look at the speaker
cables that are quite nice quality here.
And the signal input cables have those
ones. As I told you earlier, the
manufacturer says that these are from
OCC copper. Okay, so let's zoom
out. And that's all about the build
quality. Now let's move to the most
important part of the review. Uh well I
will leave it like that so you can take
a look inside uh while be uh while I'll
be covering the sound quality. So uh the
first section is bass and the bass is
everywhere. It's powerful. It's very
clear and it's very fast and
precise exactly like it was when with D5
Pro. Uh but it lingers for just perfect
amount of time. Uh so it sounds full and
organic. It does not bleed into meets.
It doesn't mask uh any other band. Uh
when I've connected D9 Pro
to M10s, M10s
are those large beasts that just got
here. Uh they haven't been actually
burnt in yet, but I've done short test
because you know these are like having
four subwoofers in the house. So I've
connected D9 Pro to M10 and on some
track I was on some sorry on some tracks
I was able to get so low that I felt
noa. Uh I don't know if you've ever had
that effect. uh when uh you'll hear a
really powerful subwoofer, but it
doesn't have to uh play very loud. Uh
the important thing is that it goes so
low that you still that you start to
feel bad uh inside. And that was a nice
thing. I don't necessarily want to feel
bad when I'm listening to my music, but
making these monsters go solo is uh
certainly a welcome thing. Okay,
so I love all piano tracks with this
amplifier. It goes so low and uh the
bass is so clear, so full of texture.
The piano sounds absolutely wonderful.
Moving on to mid-range instruments,
vocals, everything has amazing timber
and detail. Uh so many nuances, so many
textures to hear. Vocals will grab your
attention immediately. Same goes for any
guitar in the track.
uh there is
no harshness and there is no listening
fatigue even with high volume levels. So
again this is one of the few amplifiers
that invites you to go lower to go uh
louder and louder. And moving on to
treble treble may be the best part of
the three. Uh it's clear, it's airy, and
it's transparent with very very smooth
uh overall signature. It kind of reminds
me tube amplifiers. It's detailed, it's
extended, it's spacious, but it's not
fatiguing. It's uh very smooth. So,
treble moves us towards detail. There is
superb amount of detail in all three
frequency ranges. This made me
rediscover some of my tracks. Uh I know
u it's one of the mostly used uh
monikers in audio reviews, but I'm
trying to use this parallel and this is
one of the few cases of amplifiers that
actually made me want to listen to all
my collection. Uh I found some new
things with my tracks. Um, also the one
the ones that I'm using for testing
purposes, but also the ones that I was
just listening uh for pure pleasure. All
of the usual suspects that I know there
should be uh in my test tracks were
there. Uh, but I also found some new
interesting things. Uh, moving on to
scene and imaging. Imaging here is
nothing short of spectacular. Similarly
to D5 Pro, the scene is very wide. It's
very deep and there's plenty of hate
information. Uh locations are solid,
precise, and there is a lot of air
between them. Again, as uh with uh some
other uh top-of-the-line amplifiers, the
locations are not just points in space.
They have a solid feeling, but at the
same time, they have uh clearly uh
designated borders. I mean, they are not
fuzzy. You can hear that the piano is
here, that the guitar is here, and it's
not like piano and guitar are
overlapping. There's a lot of air
between them, and there's a lot of
precision in positioning of all of the
uh instruments. Uh this uh quality
immediately exposes bad recordings. Uh
kind of like flat flat paintings. Uh but
good quality stuff is just beautiful. If
something was recorded, if something was
mixed uh with care, love and tenderness,
you'll be actually enjoying the
three-dimensional um imaging with this
amplifier. Now, with power amplifiers,
my reviews have additional section when
I'm testing uh the power amplifier uh
with my Martin Logan uh electrostat uh
speakers. Uh why? because uh these are
basically like a stethoscope for
amplifiers and they will on one hand
show everything that's good and
beautiful about an amplifier but at the
same time if there's anything wrong if
there are any problems uh they will be
merciless and they will expose any kind
of problem at the same time uh my whole
purpose of reviewing these power
amplifiers is to find the ones that will
be driving them uh to show their best
potential. The thing is that uh as go as
low as 1.2 ohms in the treble region
meaning that they are maybe not exactly
difficult to drive because in theory
they have quite high sensitivity but
then then again 1.2 ohm load uh for many
amplifiers is bordering on shorting the
outputs and the sound if is muffled the
sound is muddy and it's veiled. not with this
this
amplifier. So as it was with D5 Pro, D9
Pro drives my log gun with ease and
precision. There is space, there is
three dimensionality, and there is lot
of fine details. Honestly, knowing D5
Pro, I did expect that. So no surprises
here. Now that covers my usual sections.
So let's move to the summary and loose
fs. Uh clavity and transparency in
spades. Spectacular imaging and
beautifully served detail. You just want
to go louder and louder and to hell with
your neighbors. Um there is no separate
section for this but this amplifier is
very dynamic and very powerful. Uh it
has grant and can kick your ass really
hard when needed. Uh it just grabs your
speakers and stops them in place when
needed and moves them forward with
significant speed. That's probably due
to the very high dumping factor um that
I gave you uh in the beginning of the
video. Uh it was uh 800. Uh okay. Uh all
of this all of the sounds uh that this
amplifier reproduces uh are coming from
absolute black background that
underlines and highlights and the sound
and uh it's that quiet uh with maximum
volume on my on my pre-amplifier with
maximum maximum volume uh on my digital
to analog converter but without any kind
of music because that would be blowing
my speakers open. Uh the background was
completely uh free of any kind of hiss
or noise. It was perfectly black. Uh
this amplifier has the scale and
authority for classical orchestral
tracks. Grabs your attention and never
lets you go. Uh at the same time, it's
smooth, but it's also raw and wild. It's
smooth because it doesn't cause any kind
of fatigue. Uh, it's slow and wild
because it can kick really hard and
really fast. An example here, you could
be mine. Got my wife yelling at me to
turn it down, but in not so polite
words. Uh, so the big question is, is it
better? Yes. And you've been waiting for
that one. And me, too. Uh, and my answer
having heard the D9 Pro and being a
proud owner of D5 Pro is that yes, D9
Pro Master Edition actually is better.
It's not night and day difference, but
it's significant enough to be easily
noticed. Uh, we have a bit uh more of
dynamics. We have a bit more of bass.
Bass goes deeper and with more auto. And
on top of that, we have better imaging.
Now there is a significant price
difference between D5 Pro and D9 Pro. I
think that for that price difference you
can get actually car SLP uh 90
pre-amplifier meaning that uh the price
for that one alone uh could get your D5
Pro and pre-amplifier
uh uh with some AliExpress coupons I
think. I think but still you can get two
devices for the price of that one. But
it does sound better. There was u there
was this discussion and I was thinking
uh that and I'm still thinking like that
that having this additional uh balance
line converter here is not actually
benefiting uh the quality of the sound.
But then again if the signal to noise
ratio given for the amplifier boards is
in range of 124 dibels and that was also
the number for D5 pro that doesn't have
this uh Texas instruments chips uh that
means that if we'll add the uh signal
line converter with uh SNR uh in the
same range 124 dibels uh in theory it
means that probably we won't be able to
hear the differences, the problems and
the noise uh that this additional device
will introduce. Um but then again on the
good on the good side uh excelers and
balance line uh allows you to use uh
higher symmetric voltages meaning that
um the dynamic passages uh will have uh
let's say more swing uh the this uh
balance connection will be able to raise
the voltage difference uh for the same
amount of time. It will allow the
amplifier actually the source uh to be
able to swing the voltage uh with the
higher amount of uh difference uh if it
makes sense if you understand what I
mean. I would need to uh use some kind
of whiteboard and what I mean uh the
slur rate is uh higher. Yeah. Okay. So
you can use uh RCAs, you can use uh
XLRs. Uh there is no significant uh
quality difference although obviously
with uh XLRs the sound uh is just
louder. Uh it's clean but the sound will
be louder. Okay.
So should you go with this one or should
you go with D5 Pro? Uh that's a tough
question and only your wallet can answer
that one. Sound quality wise it really
is better. I would say that regular D5
Pro gives you about 90 maybe 95% of what
D5 D9 Pro delivers. Uh the differences
being mostly in dynamics in bass in
imaging. Uh but as you know these five
up to 10%
uh in a subjective world of audio can
mean a lot. So in my case I am
recommending both of them as excellent
amplifiers. Both of them deliver great
sound quality. And if you can, if you
can afford that, go for D9 Pro. If you
can't, D5 D5 Pro is still an excellent
choice and it will remain uh in my
recommended list that I'm updating uh in
my YouTube social feed uh before
AliExpress sales, if I'll remember to do
that, and if I'll catch a sale. Uh so do
expect to have both of them on my
recommended list. Uh as for recommended pre-amplifiers,
pre-amplifiers,
uh same as it was with D5 Pro, I would
still recommend Car SL
P90. Uh if you like tubes or
C2860 plus, uh
C2860 plus if you are more of a solid
state guy. Uh these are two best preamp
amplifiers that I've tested uh to date
and they are pinging pairing extremely
well uh both with D5 Pro and D9 Pro. Uh
check out my video reviews uh for those
pre- amplifiers because uh they are
available online. Uh okay, so again all
the links in the description. Thanks for
staying with me for so long. I've tried
to speak fast so you won't die of
boredom or just fall asleep listening to
me. And if you like that video, if it
helped you, uh you're more than welcome
to support my channel by buying me a
beer using super thanks that can be
found uh under the uh video. Again,
thanks for watching. Again, system setup
details in the description. all
necessary links, all additional
information in the description of the
video. Thank you guys. I hope you like
that and I hope you'll have a great and
wonderful day ahead of you. Stay tuned
for more reviews like that. I'll be
catching up with the things that already
got the first looks but stayed in my
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