Price Paid:  $275.00 from ebay

Summary:
OK...I'm not sure that it's fair to say that I have used this for as long as indicated...but the issue was (is) that I had one before (a two-channel version) and decided to augment that one and then modify the others. Admittedly, I am predisposed to liking this amplifier as I owned a DB-6 (the two-channel variety and not a DB-6M) before these. In fact, I had my DB-6 converted to a 6M (monaural) at DB Systems. Long story short I've been using the DB-6 to drive the top end (above 80 Hz or so) in my system (B&W 805 Matrix). Anyway...being an ebay addict I scored another pair of amps (one a DB-6 and the other a 6M) and then traded a few emails with David B. Hadaway (the 'DB' in DB Systems) about modifications / upgrade. Anyway...I sent in the existing DB-6, the 6M, and the other newly-purchased DB-6 to have each modified to have differential (XLR) input, add some capacitance to the power supply - oh, and convert each to mono. The 'plan' is to (eventually) get a nice home theater pre-pro and use the last 6M amplifier to drive the center channel.

OK...I know that a differential input, driven by a balanced line is one way to get very low noise levels - this is precisely why this topology exists. David cooked up a special new 'first stage', driven from the XLR inputs and did some tweaks to the amp (don't ask me for details - I didn't ask). When mated to the DB Systems preamp it's basically a quiet-fest as the DB-1 / 1A et al arte just stone cold quite preamps as well. Now...I am not an audiophile, but I do like the sound of a good system. I think my system does sound good but to be fair an honest, I have not ever performed an ABX type comparison of this amp to another (or even a simple paired comparison), so I can't say that it sounds 'better' than otehr amps I have owned. I can say though that even when you factor in modification costs, they were still a huge bargain.

Strengths:
Unbelievably quiet - I mean stone-cold quiet. Did I mention how totally quiet this amplifier is? I'm no audiophile, but I do think that this amp is very well constructed and never seems to sound as though it is straining. It seems to have plenty of short-term power (I've yet to drive them into clipping). Customer support - how many companies will you find where you can talk and or trade emails with the top dog and get honest answers? And this when we're talking about adding some custom circuitry to boot. Totally righteous support.

Weaknesses:
Styling is dated...but so what.

Similar Products Used:
Carver M-400 (cube), Hafler 9130, Dynaco ST-120, Harman Kardon 725, various other amps here and there.