[Editorial] Wasn't high-end in excellent health? Part II

July 2025 Editorial

Is the house of cards crumbling?

Author: Lucio Cadeddu - TNT-Audio Italy
Published: July, 2025

To be honest, I was hoping not to have to get back to the thorny subject discussed in last month's editorial, but some hilarious and pathetic comments I've heard around have convinced me that perhaps it's time to add more content to my analysis, considered by some to be too catastrophic because I extrapolated a trend from an example. Let's see if it's really like that. In fact, I forgot to say that not only MBL and Krell (and Sound United) are not doing well but that in the space of a year or so other important names in the high-end have had problems. This time, it won't be my words to describe what's happening, but those of an international operator in the field, who - hear hear! - shares my views of catastrophe.

Let me start with some extra bad news (not so “new” I admit): a year ago, Verity Audio, a brand that had been active in the high-end for a few decades (1995), closed down. Founded in Canada by Julien Pelchat and Bruno Bouchard, Verity Audio has always been lively in the high-end market, winning numerous awards, from Hi-Fi Choice & Records and Image HiFi, as well as the prestigious The Absolute Sound Editor's Choice Awards, the Class “A” in the Stereophile rankings and the Loudspeaker of the Year award from Tone Audio. Their flagship system cost $325,000. They had introduced new products just a year before closing down. It was, therefore, an active company with an excellent reputation. The founders did not disclose the reasons for closing down nor did they try to seek investors to save the company.

Second bad news, Devialet was not doing so well either. With a loss of 15 million Euros (fifteen million) the French brand has been trying to diversify production to conquer new market segments. I will simply direct you to a site (not in the audio field!) that tells the situation well. Devialet seems fine now though, but just let me point out that the more expensive products, on which Devialet built its reputation, have disappeared from the homepage, where only portable speakers, headphones, and sound-bars appear at a first glance. The €16,000 all-in-one system Astra is practically hidden; and there's nothing else. That might mean something, right?

Third news, darTZeel seems sailing by sight too. And I leave it directly to the words of Mr. Hervé Delétraz, the man behind darTZeel, to describe what is happening in this market.

“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.

In addition to saying the things I have been writing for years, he goes very, very hard against the high-end audio craziness, comparing the market to that of the souks of Marrakech. If I had written it, my zealous colleagues who are strenuous defenders of the (high-end) faith would have crucified me somewhere.

Why do I infer that darTZeel is sailing by sight? Actually, several product lines will now be made only on demand (quote: “Current production of the NHB, CTH, and LHC series will now be made only on demand”) and, moreover, Mr. Delétraz adds that “A new line of instruments, aimed at a broader audience, is currently under study. Stay tuned!”. In other words: if you need the more expensive stuff, just ask, but we'll concentrate our efforts on less expensive components. Do I need to add anything else or is that enough?

Now, dear enthusiasts and “colleagues” (???), before pointing the finger at those who for years, unheard, continue to say that in this way we are heading towards the abyss, reflect on the words of Mr. darTZeel who knows a little more about the HiFi market and HiFi in general than you.

Continuing to repeat that everything is going wonderfully is the greatest damage you can do to this field we all love. We need shocks, strong ones, not pathetic yes men like you.

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