Stello Dp 200 Pre Amp/dac

Review

Stello DP200 Pre-Amplifier /DAC

Stello products are manufactured in South Korea by April Music and distributed in Australia by Audio Corporation Pty.Ltd.

Upon opening the box you will find apart from Amp Remote, Owners manual, power cord and an Allen Key. Quality of finish of the Amp is of very high standard. A formed aluminium sheet covers top and sides. Front facia is of machined aluminium 12 mm thick. There are four rubber supports at bottom.

There are seven buttons, head phone socket and a display on front facia which can be dimmed but not switched off.

Window on right shows the status of input, output, volume and sampling rate.

At the rear Analogue output x 1balanced and other unbalanced, Analogue input Balanced and unbalanced, Digital input x 4,Digital output x 3,12 Volt trigger, HT bypass connection and on/off switch

The Remote:

It is of industrial quality. The body is made of extruded Aluminium And it weighs 0.3 KG .To change batteries you got to remove top and bottom covers which are fastened by Allen bolts and slide the circuit board out till you can access the batteries. A delicate operation I must say. Hopefully battery lasts long.

Set-up:

Whatmough P31, Whatmough Hurricane, Philips CD player (Modified), Rotel RB 985 MKII power amp, Kimber 4 PR speaker cable, Tara Labs interconnects, Ear Science mains filter.

CD player connected digitally to DP 200 at 192 KHz

Test CD’s

Miles Davis – Kind of Blue –Track 1

Jack Johnson – In Between Dreams –Track 11

Stanley Clarke – I Wanna Play for You- Track 1

Where you Live – Tracy Chapman -Track 2

Joe Sample –Spellbound-Track 1

Lee Ritenour-Live in LA –Track 1

Robert Lucas-Luke and the Locomotives-Track 10

Nora Jones – Come away with me –Track – 9

Nina Simone-The great Nina Simone-Track-3

Listening Session:

I began with Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue Album, Track –1,

It sounded crystal clear and the separation between the instruments and the bass was deep and controlled.

Next track was from Stanley Clark’s Album, Track-1

This track is work out track for any system. Speed and attack of this track is incredible. Stanley’s bass guitar riped thru with full authority so also Harvey’s drums. No flabbiness at all. Stello comes out a winner here.

Whether it is Tracy Chapman, Nora Jones or Nina Simone voices were nutral, warm, full bodied with high level of definition.

And with the Male vocalists like Keb’Mo’, Jack Johnson and Eric Bibb, Stello continues to impress even more.

Robert Lucas –Track 10 is one of those, which will knock your socks off. And again Stello did not disappoint .It was played with full of conviction and it did knock my socks off.

Conclusion:

Adding Stello DP 200 to My System, has greatly improved the transparency and sound stage not to mention definition to bass and midrange. I’m more than pleased.

In my humble opinion any one looking for a preamp/DAC under $4000 should consider auditioning Stello DP 200.

For

Style

Build

Transparency

Flexibility

Against

Remote

Stello DP 200 Pre Amp/DAC

Warranty: 2 Years

RRP : $ 3795

Disributer:Audio Corporation Pty.Ltd

Address: Unit 6-88 Dynon Street,

West Melbourne

Phone : 03 98550851

E-Mail : info@audiocorp.com.au

Web : www.stello.com.au

Contact: Vincent Lamberti

Excellent review, thanks for taking the time.

Im very interested in one of these at a later date.

Edit: So did you end up buying it

Edit 2: I notice it has multiple digital inputs, would come in handy for those with a cdp, computer and a squeezebox

great to see a user review on somethign that hasnt got a lot of attention in this country. stello is reasonably popular in the uk along with the likes of consonance and shanling. by the look of the gear hopefully a brand that get a bit more of a prominence over here.

Great read Field!

It’s great when you can hear an improvement when adding new toys to your system.

Look forward to getting an audition sometime.

Excellent review, thanks for taking the time.

Im very interested in one of these at a later date.

Edit: So did you end up buying it

Edit 2: I notice it has multiple digital inputs, would come in handy for those with a cdp, computer and a squeezebox

[/b]

Yes,Drizt I ended up buying it .And I'm seriously thinking of auditioning S200 power amp.

Great read Field!

It’s great when you can hear an improvement when adding new toys to your system.

Look forward to getting an audition sometime.

No problem ,Spearmint

Excellent read field...........great stuff.

"Yes,Drizt I ended up buying it .And I'm seriously thinking of auditioning S200 power amp."

great to hear field and in regards the power amp...you should ! you should !

"Yes,Drizt I ended up buying it .And I'm seriously thinking of auditioning S200 power amp."

great to hear field and in regards the power amp...you should ! you should !

[/b]

Since I'm quite pleased with DP 200. I can't wait to see what level of improvements a power amp can make

to the system. Thanks alebonau. I think I must.

Excellent read field...........great stuff.

[/b]

Thank you for the feedback AJW056

check these out on fleabay....

If your thinking of it dont waste time

stello s200 power amp

stello m200 mono blocks

he's even in Melbourne obviously trying to shift stock...

so what did you pay for the pre by the way?

check these out on fleabay....

If your thinking of it dont waste time

stello s200 power amp

stello m200 mono blocks

he's even in Melbourne obviously trying to shift stock...

so what did you pay for the pre by the way? [/b]

Ahhhh thats the guy that sells the DK VS-1 integrated

Nice review Field, l am curious as to what you upgraded from?

The Stello monobloks look tasty, wonder how they sound? Maybe one day you can let us know :wink:

Nice review Field, l am curious as to what you upgraded from?

The Stello monobloks look tasty, wonder how they sound? Maybe one day you can let us know :wink: [/b]

Yeah the price on those mono blocks is very appealing considering the RRP

Nice review Field, l am curious as to what you upgraded from?

The Stello monobloks look tasty, wonder how they sound? Maybe one day you can let us know :wink:

[/b]

Thank you, Mondie. Upgrade was from Rotel pre/Power.I'm not sure about mono blocks but I will be going in for a power amp shortly.

great review, thanks for posting.

Just had a look at their website and saw they also have a pre-amp without the dac but with HT bypass, maybe something i could consider.

Disributer:Audio Corporation Pty.Ltd

Address: Unit 6-88 Dynon Street,

West Melbourne

Phone : 03 98550851

E-Mail : info@audiocorp.com.au

Web : www.stello.com.au

Contact: Vincent Lamberti

[/b]

Field, just curious from the details you provided above does that mean that these two websites are both run by audiocorp?

http://www.audiocorp.com.au/products_stello.htm

http://www.stello.com.au

EDIT: It would seem so, as the contact email addresses are the same

Field, just curious from the details you provided above does that mean that these two websites are both run by audiocorp?

http://www.audiocorp.com.au/products_stello.htm

http://www.stello.com.au

EDIT: It would seem so, as the contact email addresses are the same

[/b]

A very interesting looking range of products ,great build quality and finish by the looks of it.Congrats on your new purchase Field ,here's to many years of enjoyment.

Gordon

Field, just curious from the details you provided above does that mean that these two websites are both run by audiocorp?

http://www.audiocorp.com.au/products_stello.htm

http://www.stello.com.au

EDIT: It would seem so, as the contact email addresses are the same

[/b]

Yes,DrIzt they are both run by audiocorp.

A very interesting looking range of products ,great build quality and finish by the looks of it.Congrats on your new purchase Field ,here's to many years of enjoyment.

Gordon

[/b]

Thanks,Gordon.

Field, after living with the Stello for a while now how do you find it? Does the DAC perform well?

any movement on the S200 front ??

Field, after living with the Stello for a while now how do you find it? Does the DAC perform well?

any movement on the S200 front ??

[/b]

I too would love to know how its going

I'm looking at competition for a MF A5 Intergrated im considering. The DP200 & M200 are on my list..

Field, after living with the Stello for a while now how do you find it? Does the DAC perform well?

any movement on the S200 front ??

[/b]

Drizt,

It has become a new experience listening to music thru Stello DP 200. I feel it has opened up a bit more.

After Stello pre/Dac experience, temptation to listen to Pre-Power was driving me so mad, I had to make that decision. And I did. I managed to pick up S200 last week. But due to work commitments I haven’t had a good listen. First impression is, transparency, definition bass and mid range has gone up one notch. I will post a detailed review soon.

btw, where are you located Field?

Drizt,

It has become a new experience listening to music thru Stello DP 200. I feel it has opened up a bit more.

After Stello pre/Dac experience, temptation to listen to Pre-Power was driving me so mad, I had to make that decision. And I did. I managed to pick up S200 last week. But due to work commitments I haven't had a good listen. First impression is, transparency, definition bass and mid range has gone up one notch. I will post a detailed review soon.

[/b]

Thats great news mate, look forward to your review and pictures.

btw, where are you located Field?

[/b]

Where do you think Terry? Where else does everybody want to live…Victoria of course. :biggrin:

Field, you must have one nice system now that you are extremely happy with. Very envious

It’s a beautiful spring day here in Melbourne, and I was fortunate enough to get an invite to Field’s place for a listen of his setup.

First off I would like to say the Field family are a lovely group of people, they welcome you into their home and make you fell very comfortable, thank you for being such great hosts.

Secondly the room is great; the acoustic treatments do their job well. The room is well dampened, more so than mine, and yet when I entered the room and saw the wood floors I thought the room would be quite lively. Obviously a combination of the acoustic treatments and furnishings help in this regard.

The problem I had with listening to this setup was I had no concept of how each piece was affecting the sound, so as far as commenting on how good the Stello range of products are I have nothing to reference them too. The comments I make are based on the overall package of equipment, speakers and room.

BTW Field utilises his sub for both 2ch and HT, which is something I applaud as I do love my bass.

The first CD we played was the now infamous test CD, that a few of us Melbournites complied several months ago. All I can say is wow, this system sounds great. The word engagement comes to mind straight off the cuff; the foot tapping dynamics are just sensational. I’ve listened to this CD many many times, and I can tell you field’s system does it justice. Aaron Neville’s vocals have that airy sensual feeling to them as did Patricia Barber. The attack in “Stay – Meshell Ndegecello†is brilliant.

Did I mention we gave Kylie a run…?

The Stello products look well built; they performed exceptionally well I thought, the noise floor was low, they integrated with the HT no problems.

Field your whole setup is a credit to you, it is something to be very proud of IMO, and if anyone gets an opportunity to go and listen do yourself a favour and go. Once again I thank you and your lovely family for welcoming me into your home.