Gazzip said:
Infiniteloop said:
newlash09 said:
Infiniteloop said:
andyjm said:
For anyone who cares, there is a relatively new (it wasn't there when I walked past a short while ago) Devialet 'shop' in the shopping centre under Canary Wharf.
They have demo rooms and a rather nice cut away working display model in the window. I didn't have time to find out how the speakers sounded, but the build quality of the cut away model was first class.
Also of intererst (to me anyway) there is a Tesla 'shop' in the same complex.
I visited the one in Paris some time ago. The staff were very helpful and accommodating when I asked to hear a Phantom. I don’t understand why Devialet are pushing their Phantoms like crazy when they clearly don’t sound anywhere near as good as their amplifiers with some decent speakers.
The phantoms will be the future of home audio. And the next gen can't be too bothered with too many boxes just for music. Hence the marketing push I guess.
Besides, people not accustomed to proper hifi, are falling for the phantom's magic. Either phantoms or something from B&O for them. And the phantoms are the cheaper options.
I know. They sound like HiFi.
Such a pity.
They also sound like a hot water boiler in standby. Also a pity. Tick...tick...tick...zzzzzrrrrrrr...zzzzzzrrrrrrr...shhhhh...shhhhh... well worth £18K. Not.
According to their customer services department it is down to ferrites, part of the design so get over it. Hmmm...
As you know, I heard the original Devialet amp, and have encountered a few of the newer iterations too. Each time they seem ‘perfect’ in the sense of imposing nothing on the music, rather like Quad’s “straight wire with gain” ideal.
Their diversion into all these lifestyle Phantoms leaves me cold, and I’m sure that’s where the real money is to be made. But it has diluted my interest in the amps. Were my Premium Bond to come up, I’d be looking more at the pedigree types:- Audio Research, Mark Levinson, d’Agostino, and so on, whereas a few years ago Devialet would’ve been my first port of call.