Devialet 170 vs Devialet 240
- Thread starter BrianRostron
- Start date
Ah .. the reply works, so I will post the question as a response!
The Devialet 240 retails at £11,800 with the 170 at £6,390. So thats over £5000 extra for the additional 70 watts more. Now an extra 70watts is not that much more when you start with 170, double the watts get 3dba more, so less than 2 dba extra for your 70 watts (or 5k) (in therory I know, with 2ohm speaker loads etc this is a dark art)
The point is that I have read that the 170 sounds the same as the 240. If true, this makes the 170 very good value or the 240 a rip off, depending on how you look at it.
Is there more to the 240 than just the 70 watts? Does anyone know the facts? More power is obviously better, but 5K??
The Devialet 240 retails at £11,800 with the 170 at £6,390. So thats over £5000 extra for the additional 70 watts more. Now an extra 70watts is not that much more when you start with 170, double the watts get 3dba more, so less than 2 dba extra for your 70 watts (or 5k) (in therory I know, with 2ohm speaker loads etc this is a dark art)
The point is that I have read that the 170 sounds the same as the 240. If true, this makes the 170 very good value or the 240 a rip off, depending on how you look at it.
Is there more to the 240 than just the 70 watts? Does anyone know the facts? More power is obviously better, but 5K??
matt49
Well-known member
BrianRostron said:
Certainly, on the face of it the 170 looks like the sweet spot in the range. (Admission: I have one on order.)
The 240 gives you two extras. You can daisy-chain them for bi-amping (actually you can link up to 8 of them). Looking forward, once Devialet introduce this feature it will be possible to use the internal DSP to create a fully digital active system, which will be rather good.
Second, you have the extra power. Now it all depends what speakers you want to run. If you're wedded to the Blades, you need to find out whether the 170 would drive them to the levels you want, or whether you need the 240's extra oomph.. That will surely mean a longish demo or three.
Good luck!
Matt
Yup... That's part of the demo tomorrow, the 240 & then the 170 with the blades. Will be interesting I'm sure
matt49
Well-known member
More power is better if it doesn't come at a price in terms of sound quality. Sometimes more powerful amps within a product range sound better, sometimes they don't.
Would you like me to pop round to your place, or your dealer's place with my 8 watt and 300 watt amplifiers so that you can hear for yourself whether the Devialet amplifiers are worth the money or not?
Would you like me to pop round to your place, or your dealer's place with my 8 watt and 300 watt amplifiers so that you can hear for yourself whether the Devialet amplifiers are worth the money or not?
5k would be a lot of extra dosh if the 240 sounds worse! You never know though.... I have been supprised so many times in the hi fi game that I would try anything given the chance. I guess the 8 watts comes with truly analogue valves rather than this 24bit digital voodo technology??
Just a quick update. I listened to the Blades with the Devialet 240 and the 170. With the 170 a whole chunk of the bass extension and definition was gone versus listening with the 240, I was very supprised by the difference. So in conclusion the Blades need power, probably a low ohms issue with the four bass drivers. So deffinately worth looking into alternative amplification but I suspect it needs to be of the high current "meaty" veriety. I started thinking that there would be little difference going down to the 170, in therory loosing less than 2dba spl, now I'm thinking two bridged Devialets would be better, but this is getting into silly money. This hi fi business can be an annpying game sometimes!
Interestingly, the guys in the shop stated that with the majority of speakers they get no noticable difference between the 170 and 240, so the Blades must be a demanding load somewhere.
Interestingly, the guys in the shop stated that with the majority of speakers they get no noticable difference between the 170 and 240, so the Blades must be a demanding load somewhere.
The Kef Blades have a nominal impedance of 4 ohms with a minimum of 3.2. My guess is that they use 4 ohm bass cones wired in series and parallel to give the same impedance as a single driver. Makes me wonder why they didn't use 8 ohm drivers to give an easier load to amplifiers? Maybe they don't have any 8 ohm bass drivers that would mate well with the midrange unit and tweeter they chose to use with these speakers? Maybe KEF will come out with an improved version of the Blades that will be an easier load on the amps? They would also be good candidates for active bi or tri-amping.
I prefer my speakers to co-operate with my amps instead of fighting against them. But then you can't have everything when it comes to speakers.
I prefer my speakers to co-operate with my amps instead of fighting against them. But then you can't have everything when it comes to speakers.
Electro
Well-known member
BrianRostron said:
KEF use Electrocompaniet Nemo monoblocks to demo the Blades .
They also used the Electrocompaniet amps when developing the Blades so they might be worth an audition , perhaps even at the KEF factory .
I am sure if you contacted KEF they might invite you to listen to a pair driven by the amplification that they chose .
Even if you prefer the Devialet it would give you some perspective and be a good day out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQBOMv4LY2E
And some info .
http://www.luxurie.me/electrocompaniet-nemo-aw600-monaural-amplifier-pair/
Electro - The Nemo's look interesting but push the budget up even higher! Although I note that there is a 400w version, that together with a pre-amp would come in below Devialet 240 money ..... I wonder.... I'm sure 400w per side should be at least "adequate" and is indeed the rated power of the Blades. Might be worh investigating further.
Electro
Well-known member
BrianRostron said:
I am sure the AW400 Mono's would drive the blades effortlessly .
The Electrocompaniet dealer that I linked to in my last post also sells the KEF blades so it might be worth a phone call to see if they could set up a demo .
http://www.luxurie.me/kef-blade-loudspeaker-pair/
If I was looking at the Blades (and if I could afford them I would be) then I'd consider Classe amplification. The top rung of CP-800 Dac/Pre and 600W monblocks comes in at £16.5k list, so a bit more than the Devialit 240. You could always go down to the 300W monos for a total of £13.5k, or the 300W stereo amps for £10.5k total. Or even the 5 channel power amp at £12.5k total and bi-amp the Blades.
I would have thought 300W a side would be fine.
I heard the Blades at a show driven by the Electrocampaniet 400W monoblocks and they were superb by the way, so definitiely worth comsidering. The Classe gives you lots of options around bass management and the like, which appeals to me to fine tune things though. Might be difficult to demo them, I'm not sure if any dealers carry both brands.
I would have thought 300W a side would be fine.
I heard the Blades at a show driven by the Electrocampaniet 400W monoblocks and they were superb by the way, so definitiely worth comsidering. The Classe gives you lots of options around bass management and the like, which appeals to me to fine tune things though. Might be difficult to demo them, I'm not sure if any dealers carry both brands.
Thanks guys - some good tips there. I suspect the Devialet 240 will be just about as good as anything for the money, however, I have been supprised so many times in this hi fi game that you just have to listen to the alternaives to be sure. The saga continues.
Just dem'd a Mac Pro feeding ripped CDs into a 170 driving a pair of Shahinain Obelisk mk2. The usual digital processed effect was there but for anyone without a large vinyl collection/ turntable and CD collection/ player IMO it's a viable option. Shahinians are notoriously difficuilt to drive but the Devialet did a good job. Plenty of detail well resolved and dynamic.
Just dem'd a Mac Pro feeding ripped CDs into a 170 driving a pair of Shahinain Obelisk mk2. The usual digital processed effect was there but for anyone without a large vinyl collection/ turntable and CD collection/ player IMO it's a viable option. Shahinians are notoriously difficuilt to drive but the Devialet did a good job. Plenty of detail well resolved and dynamic.
matt49
Well-known member
Flatearth50 said:
Not sure what you're referring to: the 'effect' of a digital source, or the 'effect' of Class D amplification?
My analogue source is more natural and organic sounding than any digital source that I've heard IMO. It also is less fatiguing over long listening sessions. However the Devialet makes a persuasive case for digital and it's strengths. It drove the Obelisk 2 very well and sounded very clear and clean and musical fed by a MacBook Pro/ Ripped CD's into ITunes FLAC/ Audirvana/ USB.
My analogue source is more natural and organic sounding than any digital source that I've heard IMO. It is also less fatiguing over long listening sessions. However the Devialet makes a persuasive case for digital and it's strengths. It drove the Obelisk 2 very well and sounded very clear and clean and musical fed by a MacBook Pro/ Ripped CD's into ITunes FLAC/ Audirvana/ USB.
matt49
Well-known member
With Devialet it isn't analogue vs digital: you can run an analogue source through a Devialet 170 or 240. Check out the Devialet discussion on Hifi Wigwam, where there are plenty of people using high-end TTs through Devialets.
:santa:
Matt
:santa:
Matt
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