advertisement


Devialet Phantom (part II)

merlin

merlin

Avatar changed - Town names deemed offensive.
I'm not sure how to explain this again but if I were "in the market" or just genuinely interested in forming a valid opinion, I would simply order a pair on line and return them for a refund if I wasn't blown away.

That's how 21st century commerce works IME. Great for us - and the only way to form a proper opinion on a loudspeaker is to live with one in YOUR listening room for a week or so.

If you are interested then why not do that? Spend a couple of weeks at home with a pair, invite some friends over, and report back.
 
Yes I did this with the IMO artificial sounding (rave reviews) Sony TA-IAES amplifier, Sony pay return carriage. i doubt if the French will do the same.
 
At the end of the day this Martin Colloms is just another person with an opinion. I assume he has ears eyes and a brain like the rest of us. I see no reason why anyones opinion is any more valid than another. I don't read HiFi Magazines because I never see the point, I am not interested in some other guy's opinion, I have no desire to learn anything about something I do not want to learn about and what can he tell me that a few hours with a product that interests me cannot? This artificial separation between reviewers and the rest of us is a product of a bygone age.

Its not something you liked in a demo room at a department store, no big deal, so move along. Plenty more other things to spend you time and money on...
 
It's written in EU law I'm afraid.

If traders want you to bear the cost of returning goods after you change your mind, they have to clearly inform you about that beforehand, otherwise they have to pay for the return themselves.

Traders must also clearly give at least an estimate of the maximum costs of returning goods bought on the internet, before the purchase, so you can make an informed choice before deciding from whom to buy.

Given that neither Collette nor Devialet seem to do that I think you are safe.
 
CliveGrace said:
I see no reason why anyones opinion is any more valid than another.
Click to expand...

IME there are opinions, expressed opinions, and vested interests in this world.

I envy those who can unquestioningly take the word of a journalist or politician at face value.
 
So having read no review other than forum posts and briefly hearing them at scalford ( Not impressed at the time but circumstances were not ideal , wrong music and a cramped room ) Where do people honestly put them. Are they going to replace a high end system say 6k and upwards? Are they just a real quality lifestyle product like B&O Sonos etc.
 
I think they do indeed replace a high end HiFI. What £6K as a system will get you is hugely variable. Also other factors are important to people other than sound: ease of setup, non fiddly placement, untweakable and lack of wires, small size. Sound quality is not the only metric and how a thing fits into my life should be just as (and perhaps more) important than sound quality.

@merlin I have never heard of Martin Colloms until today. But when I hear of people quoting a reviewers opinion or saying they have a Guru or whatever then its saying "I do not think for myself."

Life is too short to get hung up on people whose opinions differ from yours.

disbeliever said:
Harrods glass walled small demo room with speakers positioned on a shelf is totally inadequate
Click to expand...

Unless it's you own living space pretty much any demo room will be inadequate.
 
CliveGrace said:
I have never heard of Martin Colloms until today. But when I hear of people quoting a reviewers opinion or saying they have a Guru or whatever then its saying "I do not think for myself."
Click to expand...

That's pretty much my thinking too. I've personally always preferred to follow my own path for better or for worse. I guess some simply don't have the time or the confidence to do so.

The internet has however opened up the option of (risk free) unpressured home listening for many of us denied such luxuries in times gone by. I'd just urge those relying on others for advice to take advantage of these new opportunities.
 
It seems from Colloms' own forum that he was hoping to stir up some controversy with his article - possibly to get some people to subscribe to his publication.

I quote

I am really surprised that there was so little reaction

some expected smearing of yours truly on the D supporters site but not much reasoned discussion on the pros and cons....

I was primarily interested in SAM as I have an ongoing investigation on group delay and its audibility, and the correction was subtly audible in good operating conditions , the D amplifier notwithstanding.

The value proposition is quite reasonable, even if it does not work quite as well as advertised,

it is highly puffed and the new loudspeaker even more so.

I feel that this degree of puff may well be disbelieved, and discredit much of the good work.

It did quite well for a hybrid Class A/D with a switch mode power supply, much better than the batch I did a few years ago.

Much of it was Hi Fi but if your taste was towards good rhythm and timing , here it was not so strong.........( in my opinion)

Martin Colloms
Click to expand...

It appears he's been disappointed by the lack of response. IMHO it just shows the relative irrelevance of his current publication as well as a degree of confidence from Devialet owners that his expressed opinion is based on something other than pure listening.

The last line in that quote just summed it up neatly for me. I've personally not had a more involving system in a quarter of a century and my ankles grow stronger by the day given their constant work outs when listening.

We are all entitled to our opinions but do try to either form your own based on listening or take those expressed by industry insiders with more than a modicum of skepticism.

If Colloms' wants a reasoned debate on the pros and cons then I suggest he opens himself up to questioning on PFM rather than trying to get people to read HiFi Critical.
 
Mongeddavid said:
So having read no review other than forum posts and briefly hearing them at scalford ( Not impressed at the time but circumstances were not ideal , wrong music and a cramped room ) Where do people honestly put them. Are they going to replace a high end system say 6k and upwards? Are they just a real quality lifestyle product like B&O Sonos etc.
Click to expand...

Having heard the Phantom's at Frank's house and at Scalford (not surprisingly sounded better at Frank's house) I am going to get a pair for use in the States when I move there.

I had considered many options of buying unusual HiFi kit but decided that the sound was very good and that I would have to spend a lot of time and money to better it.
 
I found SAM anything but subtle. Enabling it on a digital signal with 16Hz Sub Bass during a remix made the 800s reach to way way way below what they were advertised as being capable of.

When I get the Z stands made I shall be comparing the two on a more even footing and deciding if I really need the D200/B&Ws.I want to keep them as they are objects of beauty to me, however the thought of moving 250kg of speakers every 6 months into stowage does not really appeal although if things go well I may be moving back to the USA semi-permanently or we may move around a bit and use this as a base of operations and retreat here for summer. The current setup is a nice one but i can live without it if I am going to move 6 months of the year. I'm not really attached one way or the other.
 
FWIW Art Dudley heard them and felt that they were both surprising and excellent sounding, but not, for him, good enough to replace a "big" system. Art has pretty sound opinions so I'd consider that high praise given the form and price of the Phantoms
 
@dr.sah It's one of those newfangled apps that uses the universal resolution -ndependent framework so it takes into account the device. Doesn't work in landscape mode yet but I hear they are putting that in the next software update and the compile option was overlooked.

It's pretty good on my iPad, big and friendly. I don't like too much detail thrown at me. Stabbety stab at big pictures.

Qobuz and spark by c-g., on Flickr
 
Thanks for the Collom's quote merlin:

"I am really surprised that there was so little reaction

some expected smearing of yours truly on the D supporters site but not much reasoned discussion on the pros and cons...."

I interpret this as:

"I am depressed to find that nobody really gives a toss what I say or write. I have spent years becoming the most important person in the UK hifi press (and possibly the world). I have devoted half my life to developing the most efficacious scoring system ever devised in the known universe. All that after going to the expense and discomfort of having my ear drums gilded. And now I find nobody gives a damn!
 
Just think: all those colloms he has written, and now his mag is on the critical list!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


advertisement


Back
Top