matt49 said:
Brit said:
Hi again,
Have been away for a long weekend so only just catching up with events on the Devialet front and wow what a lot has happened!
On the follow up demo front, I have 2 Dev 200s being delivered tomorrow so as I can try it as a mono amp or as a 400 dual mono - I am getting very excited :bounce:!! I had almost got to the stage where I was going to go for the 240/250, but with the introduction of the 200 and its dual mono version, the 400 I held off until I could audition the 200 ((and now also the 400). If the 400 is a significant lift on the 200, then I may go for that given that it is no more than I would have paid for the 240/250!
On the SAM voting, a little confused as to what is going on - do I need to be a Devialet owner and do Devialet need to have access to the actual make and model of speakers chosen before they can "model" them?
Hope that DocGs LS50s soon arrive as it will be interesting to have a "pre" and "post" SAM review.
Hi Dave,
The demo sounds excellent. Do please give us a report on how the single 200 compares with the 400 monoblocks. I don't want to think I'll be adding a slave 200 to my system, but I can already tell there's an itch waiting to be scratched.
I've forgotten what speakers you have.
You don't have to own a Dev in order to vote for SAM. The voteforsam website allows you to pick speakers from a huge range of makes and models.
Once Devialet have decided to model a speaker, I assume they borrow one from the manufacturers -- and I think that Devialet have so much wind in their sails that any speaker manufacturer will be delighted to supply them.
:cheers:
Matt
Hi Matt
Well the 2x200 arrived yesterday morning and configured, initially as a 400. From cold it was very obvious that this was a very good set up, plenty of speaker control, solid, musical, bass and a very detailed presentation - all the boxes ticked at the initial stage.
Because I did not want to become too involved at too early a stage with the 400, I re-configured the Master just as a 200 and tried again - bit of a faff because speaker leads have to be changed from a mono to a stereo configuration, but it had to be done! Anyway, some serious listening was carried out with the 200 and I must say that it sounded good, even in comparison to my existing system. I was trying to remember my earlier dem with the 170, but my memory for that sort of thing is not that good I am afraid! My impression is that the exta 30 watts of the 200 help with speaker control - there was still the same transparency and detail, but with better control. Speaker control can be difficult to define, but from my point of view it is about the ease bass and dynamics are presented - there should be no sense of the speakers struggling to follow the music - there was little of that with the 200 - I had sensed it slightly with the 170 on the initial demo which is why I had originally opted for the 240/250. So we had a positive with the 200 - clarity, wide soundstage, excellent imaging and ability to pick out instruments, and voices in the soundstage, silent background with no trace of electronic hash.
Anyway impatience then got the better of me so this morning I re-configured as a 400 - again a bit of faffing about, but! Well there was a remarked difference, not only did the 400 control better, it lifted my speakers off of the floor, spun them around and placed them gently back in place!! There was an immediate sense of ease in the music - the 200 was very good, but the 400, to my ears, gave a much more relaxed presentation with the speakers reacting effortlessly to what ever music I tried. My musical tastes are fairly wide ranging from Jazz to Classical - my preference is for Classical, mainly Symphonic music. The ability to place orchestral instruments in their proper place on the stage is important to me, as is the ability to distinguish between them, and the 400 did not disappoint. Bass was very well controlled and musical - there was a sense of being able to define between different drum beats and hear the sticks on the skins and their reverberations. There was, not only a wide soundstage, but it went deeper behind the speakers. There was also more of a sense of involvement with the music - of the toe tapping kind, a very "musical" presentation.
I tried all inputs, incuding the line input configured to take my DAC - not too sure how sensible this is given that the Devialet then re applies a D to A conversion, but I have some hi res music at 384Khz and some DSD128 & 64 which I wanted to try, and this was the only way of doing it - it worked fine. I also connected my music server direct to the USB, which worked perfectly, apart from fact that it only handles up to 192Khz and not my 384Khz or DSD files (hence need for DAC direct to Line input). I also tried the Phono input, and apart from an initial annoying clicking noise which was down to not configuring the phono correctly - in Advanced Settings there is an Auto WiFi standby tick box which needs to be checked to ON, and I had missed it - the Phono works very well with my fairly low output MC Cartridge. The fact that it applies ADC does not harm at all - there is a very low level of "hash" from the speakers even on very high volume levels - I would say that it beats my existing Phono amp.
To try and sum up my views of the 400 (not in any particular order): very musical; very dynamic; relaxing (but not laid back) musical presentation; transparent, with voices and instruments "floating in air" rather than coming out of speakers; imparts total, effortless, control over my speakers; wide, and deep, soundstage; excellent imaging; very realistic presentation of instruments - trumpets sound like trumpets, etc; musical notes "stop and start" without smearing. Anyway, I like it! In fact I am so taken with the 400, that I have placed my order, especially as it works out no more expensive than the 250!
My speakers are Wilson - Benesch ACT1s, and I note that they are fairly high on the list for SAM, but not too sure when it might happen! I know that Devialet have used Wilson-Benesch in their Boutique in Paris, so may have a good relationship with them - my only concern is that the ACT1 is not a current production speaker, so whether that has an impact I do not know, but having now gone firm on the 400, I will perhaps drop an e-mail to Devialet to find out what the situation is.
Anyway Matt, not too sure what impact an extra 200 would have to your system, given the extra amps you have in your speakers, but you can only give it a whirl and see! I was very pleasantly surprised.
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