The Devialet thread

[matt49]

Nice write up. Transparency, precision and clean clean power: that's Devialet. I suspect SAM may make the Fact 8s sing even sweeter.

Matt

What speakers do you use with yours, Matt? (Do pay attention PP)

Martin Logan Montis

My speaker "journey" is documented at tedious length earlier in this thread. I heard a fair few speakers I'd have been very happy with, but the Montis were a revelation. One caveat: with low-powered amplification the HF is rather rough. I think the Devialet drives them well.

Matt

 

[jaxwired]

D400 now! : )

 

[matt49]

D400 now! : )

Nice! I take it the Devialet experience is still good then.

I'd be interested to know what the extra 200 does to your system.

Matt

 

[Infiniteloop]

I got my Devialet 200 today and have had a few hours to play with and listen to it.

The biggest surprise was just how smooth the sound is. I'm used to sweet, lush, euphonic-sounding valve Amps and was not really expecting this level of easy-on-the-ear musicality coupled with massive amounts of detail. I had of course heard the D200 a couple of times at the dealers, but I often find equipment doesn't always sound that great in an audition room, it's only when you listen to something at home that you really get to hear it.

I have really enjoyed using my current Valve Amp - a Unison Research S8 (sadly no longer in production) with Focal 1008Be's. Focal often get a bad rap for being 'too bright' or 'forward'. - I don't believe they are, I think they're just 'honest'. Proof of this is in how they sound with the D200.

Anyway, in short, I'm very, very pleased with the D200 soundwise. Ploughing through many different albums this afternoon, I am delighted that whatever you play through it is always enjoyable. There are some albums that, for whatever reason, can sound a bit shrill or bright or 'congested'. Not now. I'm not really sure what's going on, but the combination of the onboard DAC and the ADH core seems to achieve some sort of synergy whereby the outcome is always highly listenable and often extremely musical. It mostly always sounds 'right'. After a few hours with it this afternoon, I stopped listening to the equipment and realised that I was just enjoying the music. I had begun to trust the Devialet to deliver the music properly. Vocals, in particular, are spookily realistic and strings (orchestral and chamber) are so detailed and silky smooth that you can almost hear each individual strand resonate! - Over the top? - I don't think so, the same effect happens with large choral works, where individual voices can be clearly heard. Detailed? -Yes. Sterile? -No. I was moved to tears on occasion by many singers in several genres. So yes, after a few hours of this, I was very happy. - And then came SAM.

My Focal Electra 1008Be's are SAM ready, so I thought I'd experiment. Reconfiguring the D200 was very easy and when done I sat down and listened again with SAM on.

It has been said before how much a difference SAM makes and I can only agree. I'd heard SAM before with Focal Diablo Utopia speakers and before I left the dealer today I listened to a pair of Sonus Faber Olympica I's. (great!) With SAM engaged, the sound expands in all directions, but not unnaturally or in a way that appears 'processed'. Bass goes deeper and is more powerful, whilst the upper midrange and treble are relatively unchanged. The sound is not brighter, but more present. Because of this, you crank up the volume and get totally lost in clean, clear, precise, sound. No wonder Devialet warn you about listening at high volumes for long periods. This stuff is addictive.

Any niggles? Yes, just one. - My remote works only intermittently, which is frustrating, and I have already contacted my dealer about replacing it.

Other than that, the thing is near-perfect. It's so small, for what it does, but Oh! so pretty and beautifully built and finished. And that sound....

 

[CnoEvil]

Anyway, in short, I'm very, very pleased with the D200 soundwise.

I'm delighted that it has worked out so well for you.

Enjoy

*drinks*

 

[matt49]

Nice one, Infiniteloop, that's a tremendously eloquent account from another happy Devialet owner. I hope the Dev continues to give you joy.

*yahoo*

Matt

 

[Infiniteloop]

Anyway, in short, I'm very, very pleased with the D200 soundwise.

I'm delighted that it has worked out so well for you.

Enjoy

*drinks*

Thanks Cno. - I'll update this in a few week's when I've really got to know it properly.

 

[Infiniteloop]

Nice one, Infiniteloop, that's a tremendously eloquent account from another happy Devialet owner. I hope the Dev continues to give you joy.

*yahoo*

Matt

Thanks Matt. It has been quite a revelation. - In fact I'm already eyeing up a second D200 to go monoblock.

(because these things are so thin maybe, just maybe, Mrs Loop wouldn't notice a second unit slid in under the first!)

 

[DocG]

Any niggles? Yes, just one. - My remote works only intermittently, which is frustrating, and I have already contacted my dealer about replacing it.

Hi Infiniteloop, welcome to the club!

As for your remote: mine works flawlessly at home, but I noticed rather poor response on several occasions, when demoing speakers. I suspect the RF-receiver must be in the amp's base somewhere, cos the last time lifting the front (sticking the amp's box under it) solved the issue. Does changing the amp's position impact the remote's function?

 

[Infiniteloop]

Any niggles? Yes, just one. - My remote works only intermittently, which is frustrating, and I have already contacted my dealer about replacing it.

Hi Infiniteloop, welcome to the club!

As for your remote: mine works flawlessly at home, but I noticed rather poor response on several occasions, when demoing speakers. I suspect the RF-receiver must be in the amp's base somewhere, cos the last time lifting the front (sticking the amp's box under it) solved the issue. Does changing the amp's position impact the remote's function?

Dunno. I didn't think of that, been too busy listening to stuff. Many thanks for the info - I'll have a play tomorrow and report back.

*mail1*

 

[matt49]

I'm delighted that it has worked out so well for you.

Enjoy

*drinks*

Cno, are you beginning to believe?

*angel*

 

[Infiniteloop]

I'm delighted that it has worked out so well for you.

Enjoy

*drinks*

Cno, are you beginning to believe?

*angel*

I don't want to answer for Cno, I think he believes, but from a previous post, he appears to live a long way away from a Devialet dealer where his ears would possibly confirm it for him.

Cno, - it's worth the pilgrimage. This is paradigm shifting technology! (nothing to do with the wine I'm currently enjoying!) - Even Mrs Loop approves!

Cheers! *drinks*

 

[Infiniteloop]

Any niggles? Yes, just one. - My remote works only intermittently, which is frustrating, and I have already contacted my dealer about replacing it.

Hi Infiniteloop, welcome to the club!

As for your remote: mine works flawlessly at home, but I noticed rather poor response on several occasions, when demoing speakers. I suspect the RF-receiver must be in the amp's base somewhere, cos the last time lifting the front (sticking the amp's box under it) solved the issue. Does changing the amp's position impact the remote's function?

After I'd tried the D200 in different positions this morning (this does sound rather rude!), I got an email from the dealer to say that he'd spoken to Absolute Sounds, the distributor, and that the remote is definitely faulty and to return it to him for a replacement.

 

[CnoEvil]

I'm delighted that it has worked out so well for you.

Enjoy

*drinks*

Cno, are you beginning to believe?

*angel*

I don't want to answer for Cno, I think he believes, but from a previous post, he appears to live a long way away from a Devialet dealer where his ears would possibly confirm it for him.

Cno, - it's worth the pilgrimage. This is paradigm shifting technology! (nothing to do with the wine I'm currently enjoying!) - Even Mrs Loop approves!

Cheers! *drinks*

The sign of a good Amp, is high praise from everyone that's heard it, no matter whether they like the organic sound of Tubes, or the more analytical sound of Class D. This means that it gets out of the way of the music and just sounds realistic...and who can argue with realistic.

Devialet is now stocked by Cloney Audio in Dublin (which is manageable), but there will be no more major spends on Hifi in the Cno household for the foreseeable.

 

[Infiniteloop]

I'm delighted that it has worked out so well for you.

Enjoy

*drinks*

Cno, are you beginning to believe?

*angel*

I don't want to answer for Cno, I think he believes, but from a previous post, he appears to live a long way away from a Devialet dealer where his ears would possibly confirm it for him.

Cno, - it's worth the pilgrimage. This is paradigm shifting technology! (nothing to do with the wine I'm currently enjoying!) - Even Mrs Loop approves!

Cheers! *drinks*

The sign of a good Amp, is high praise from everyone that's heard it, no matter whether they like the organic sound of Tubes, or the more analytical sound of Class D. This means that it gets out of the way of the music and just sounds realistic...and who can argue with realistic.

Devialet is now stocked by Cloney Audio in Dublin (which is manageable), but there will be no more major spends on Hifi in the Cno household for the foreseeable.

Cno, It's worth the trip just to hear what this Amp can do. The thing is, I don't think it's just the Amp. I think it's the synergy between the Amp and on-board DAC, plus what SAM does for speakers. I'm still amazed that all this goes on in such a small, but beautiful piece of design. The attention to detail is amazing. It even has a menu setting which can tell you if there have been any faults with any section of the Amp, what firmware and other system software is being run, even what temperature the power supply and analogue and digital sections are running at. (mine was around 37C). This thing positively bristles with technology which doesn't get in the way of the beautiful but powerful sound it produces.

 

[CnoEvil]

Cno, It's worth the trip just to hear what this Amp can do.

Now you're playing me at my own game! *wink*

 

[Infiniteloop]

Cno, It's worth the trip just to hear what this Amp can do.

Now you're playing me at my own game! *wink*

Fun, isn't it?

 

[CnoEvil]

Cno, It's worth the trip just to hear what this Amp can do.

Now you're playing me at my own game! *wink*

Fun, isn't it?

It's more funner on the other side of the net! *sad*

 

[matt49]

It's more funner on the other side of the net! *sad*

How much could you get for your AMS35i?

Just asking ...

*bomb*

EDIT I shouldn't be so smug though, as I'm about to demo another amp to drive my Martin Logans. Don't get me wrong: the Devialet is wonderful with almost all speakers, but there's an itch I have to scratch, specifically the Sanders Magtech power amp. It's designed for ESLs and shovels out 500WPC. We'll see.

 

[CnoEvil]

It's more funner on the other side of the net! *sad*

How much could you get for your AMS35i?

Just asking ...

*bomb*

Using the famous "Pincer Movement", I see.....but I'm good at burrowing out. *crazy*

 

[Infiniteloop]

It's more funner on the other side of the net! *sad*

How much could you get for your AMS35i?

Just asking ...

*bomb*

EDIT I shouldn't be so smug though, as I'm about to demo another amp to drive my Martin Logans. Don't get me wrong: the Devialet is wonderful with almost all speakers, but there's an itch I have to scratch, specifically the Sanders Magtech power amp. It's designed for ESLs and shovels out 500WPC. We'll see.

How about the Devialet 400/800 monoblocks?

*shok*

 

[matt49]

How about the Devialet 400/800 monoblocks?

*shok*

It's a thought, but a 200 Slave (or 'Companion' as it's now called) would cost me another £6K, whereas the Magtech is 'only' £3.5K.

Anyway, this is a special case. Martin Logans make extreme demands of amps, as their impedance drops to below 1 ohm at 20kHz. In addition, ESLs are capacitors, not resistors, so they don't necessarily thrive on more watts. As Roger Sanders put it, feeding an ESL lots of watts is like giving a glass of water to a vampire. What ESLs need is voltage.

Most solid state amps, even quite powerful ones, can't cope with ESLs, and the result is distortion at high frequencies. I find the Devialet drives my Martin Logans very well, but I want to find out whether an amp specifically designed for ESLs (like the Magtech) might sound even better.

Watch this space.

Whatever happens, I'm going to keep the Devialet. I have a pair of Sonus faber Cremona Auditor Ms, which I was using before the MLs arrived. They're lovely on the end of a Devialet. I'm just waiting to get them out of storage (we moved house in October) and try them with SAM. Should be nice.

*drinks*

 

[Infiniteloop]

How about the Devialet 400/800 monoblocks?

*shok*

It's a thought, but a 200 Slave (or 'Companion' as it's now called) would cost me another £6K, whereas the Magtech is 'only' £3.5K.

Anyway, this is a special case. Martin Logans make extreme demands of amps, as their impedance drops to below 1 ohm at 20kHz. In addition, ESLs are capacitors, not resistors, so they don't necessarily thrive on more watts. As Roger Sanders put it, feeding an ESL lots of watts is like giving a glass of water to a vampire. What ESLs need is voltage.

Most solid state amps, even quite powerful ones, can't cope with ESLs, and the result is distortion at high frequencies. I find the Devialet drives my Martin Logans very well, but I want to find out whether an amp specifically designed for ESLs (like the Magtech) might sound even better.

Watch this space.

Whatever happens, I'm going to keep the Devialet. I have a pair of Sonus faber Cremona Auditor Ms, which I was using before the MLs arrived. They're lovely on the end of a Devialet. I'm just waiting to get them out of storage (we moved house in October) and try them with SAM. Should be nice.

*drinks*

The Cremona Auditor M's are beautiful speakers and I was about to buy a pair before I got hooked on the Focal Electras. I've decided to keep my Unison Research S8 to use in another system in another part of the house and I'll be on the lookout for a pair of used Auditor M's after christmas for that purpose. (It also means I can play with them on the end of the Devialet too.)

 

[matt49]

The psychology of hi-fi is very odd.

Having arranged a home demo of the Sanders Magtech power amp, I’d persuaded myself that the Magtech would drive my Martin Logans better than the Devialet. After all, it's a design by Roger Sanders who's responsible for most of Martin Logans's speakers and knows a thing or two about electrostatics..

A bit of prep was in order before the arrival of the Magtech. I hoovered the MLs (it really does make a difference!) and drew them another 6” out into the room.

The Magtech was due to arrive this afternoon. It didn’t. So instead I cranked up the Devialet with a crappy ripped CD I’d bought from our local Oxfam shop: Leopold Mozart’s Hunt Symphony, total shite, complete with gunshots and barking dogs. And it sounded absolutely wonderful.

Go figure.

 

[CnoEvil]

The Magtech was due to arrive this afternoon. It didn’t. So instead I cranked up the Devialet with a crappy ripped CD I’d bought from our local Oxfam shop: Leopold Mozart’s Hunt Symphony, total shite, complete with gunshots and barking dogs. And it sounded absolutely wonderful.

Go figure.

So it's about the music after all.....how totally shocking! *scratch_one-s_head*