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Was Devialet a fad?

Sloop John B

And any old music will do…
Okay, the title is designed as click bait but I can’t help noticing a huge fall off in mentions of this brand lately.
I suppose there could be any number of factors.

Is it that people who own it now are just happy with their sound, not bothering with upgrades and hence we don’t hear from them too frequently on PFM?

Has the company gone into other areas and is not actively marketing either in the UK or in specific home audio market?


Is it of Boris Johnson‘s fault?

.sjb
 
I think they have done some VERY impressive stuff in the last few years. Innovative in a way few other manufacturers have.

I am sure their products sit in many design conscious homes but not perhaps in one's of more traditional Audiophiles (and forum users)

They had a slight 'issue' with their Phantom products as they reportedly could not be dis-assembled/repaired if faulty. I have not heard of them failing in large numbers but I believe the company responded by increasing the warranty period.

Style wise I kinda like their products, they are certainly different and instantly recognisable but the shiny SS surfaces must be a b***** to keep clean.
 
On a couple of dedicated auditions I could not quite like how they sounded to me, but I know I wanted one!
 
Maybe not a fad, but product exposure and popularity tends to follow a bit of a trend , first you'll have the advertising, marketing, release, reviews and then it's everywhere for a while, then something else new comes along and it's no longer the darling of the press or forums.

I guess in the UK this could depend upon the distributor as sometimes a change in distribution can mean more or less advertising and therefore more or less reviews.
 
I am sure their products sit in many design conscious homes but not perhaps in one's of more traditional Audiophiles (and forum users)

In many cases I'm sure you are right, but not here. My house is far from 'design conscious', in fact probably the polar opposite.

My Devialet 440 Pro sits alongside, and competes with, various other bits of kit, including my own designed and built valve amplifiers, preamps and phono stages that I have constructed during more than forty years of interest in HiFi and music reproduction . My wife tolerates monoblock valve amps on the lounge floor and trailing cables etc.

The Devialet is an excellent sounding amplifier, DAC, phono stage and streamer etc, as well as being an example of excellent design. I accept that it can be a bugger to keep clean, but I just don't touch it as there is no real need to, just a quick dust off once a week.
 
There are plenty of videos online showing they can easily be opened and repaired if Devialet could be bothered. To be fair when one of my Phantoms packed up after three years they replaced both FOC. However I bought them direct and I don’t think they have been as generous to people who bought from Dealers.
 
My FIL upgraded to the 1000 pro. He loves the amplifier. I suspect people are very happy with it, like they are with their Linn turntables or Naim amps Etc. It’s a bit of a classic line already IMO.
 
I bought a D240 and was very happy with it, just one box mounted on the wall that sounds great driving anything. I was able to upgrade to the new version 250 Pro when it came out for around 25% of the full new cost. I agree that the serviceability of the phantoms seems to be a mistake, hopefully something they will resolve, but the Expert line seems well catered for.

It does make the box swapping itch more difficult which could lead down dangerous Foo Accessory avenues if you're not careful!

Also, really easy to use, with Roon, Airplay or Spotify Connect, makes it great for use by all the family.
 
I think they have had 2 rounds of hardware upgrades, the last around 5 years ago. Everything else has been FOC software updates.
 
They don't have the endless upgrade ladder of Lin or Naim to make you keep going back to the dealer
They do, they actually offer upgrades to older models in the same way that Linn do, and if you fancy it, you can buy a second one and use them as mono blocks with one acting as master and the other as a slave... there’s a very solid upgrade path. And it’s no bad thing with any of these brands, you upgrade the product rather than replacing it wholesale.
 
There are plenty of videos online showing they can easily be opened and repaired if Devialet could be bothered. To be fair when one of my Phantoms packed up after three years they replaced both FOC. However I bought them direct and I don’t think they have been as generous to people who bought from Dealers.
I thought they were supposed to be hermetically sealed, something like heat welding the plastic. In that case 'easily opened' would mean cutting, which is doable I guess, but then how is it resealed? I can't believe for an item that expensive they think it's ok to have it not be serviceable. Extending the warranty for some customers is just postponing the trip to the landfill, and I can't believe people are ok with that.
 
I thought they were supposed to be hermetically sealed, something like heat welding the plastic. In that case 'easily opened' would mean cutting, which is doable I guess, but then how is it resealed? I can't believe for an item that expensive they think it's ok to have it not be serviceable. Extending the warranty for some customers is just postponing the trip to the landfill, and I can't believe people are ok with that.

Perhaps it's made from recycled plastics. Perhaps it is mostly recyclable?
 
Perhaps it's made from recycled plastics. Perhaps it is mostly recyclable?
By who? If Devialet won't even try to open it to fix it, who's going to recycle it? I doubt a company that makes something like this would bother to use recycled plastic to make it unless it was cheaper. There's nothing sustainable about it IMO.

It's like selling a car with everything welded together and offering free replacement for 3 years if things go south. Then what?
 
I had heard that the expert line had taken a bit of a back seat and a lot of emphasis has gone into the phantoms and earbuds etc. More mass market, I guess that would make sense commercially.

I think their ventures into Sky TV boxes and other accessory speakers were a bit of a brand damaging move.

I recently heard an expert 220, and was surprised to see the mobile app hadn’t changed since owning one around 7 or 8 years ago - again, probably less of a priority.

They’re still a great product through, specially now with added streaming capabilities and added features. But, as before, whilst the sound is impressive and powerful, I always feel it has a certain veil to it, unless you give it a bit of volume and then it all gets a bit too much.
 


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