Plinius SA103 vs Devialet 170/240

[amarchant]

Hi all. I have Monitor Audio PL300 speakers driven by Plinius M8 preamp and Plinius P10 power amp. I was considering upgrading the power amp to the Plinius SA103 but have come across glowing reviews of the Devialet integrated amps. The form factor of the Devialets appeal to me - tiny compared to the Plinius combination. I am unable to audition the Devialet driving my speakers and have only been able to listen to the old Devialet D-Premier driving B&W 804 Diamonds. So it's pretty much impossible for me to make an infomred decision here. Does anyone have an opinion or experience of Devialet driving PL300 (or PL200) speakers. How do these Devialet amps compare to Plinius? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Would the 170 drive the Pl300s adequately or would I need to go for the 240 which is substantially more expensive? :quest:

 

[amarchant]

Apologies if I have posted twice but my first post seemed to disappear?

 

[woollyjoe]

I have same set up. The Plinius and Platinums seem to be a great partnership. What cables do you use? I find this to make more of a difference. Personally would stick with Plinius.

 

[HomeSound]

I would stick with the Plinius too - although I am slightly bias as it forms my set up.

The Dev will have no issue driving the PL's - the 170 is now a 200 - I have heard it power far more power hungry speakers with ease.

The SA-103 has a very different sound to the P10 - the SB301 is more like a big brother to the P10. The 103 is Class A and from my experience has a fuller sound that keeps the rhythm like few others. The Dev is superb and certainly looks the part .

Were you going to keep the M8 with the SA103 - the Dev might be a better option in that situation as the pre-amp is IMO cleaning than the M8.

 

[matt49]

I've heard the Dev 170/200 running a dozen or so different speakers. You really cannot go wrong with it. And bearing in mind it contains a DAC and streaming (so you only need a NAS or PC/Mac as source), it's not such bad VFM.

I've ended up running Martin Logan Montis with my 200. They're very demanding speakers to drive as the impedance drops below 0.5 Ohms at 20kHz, but the Dev makes them sound utterly sweet.

Matt