Devialet Phantom

[FL390]

I'm curious. So what are the limitations on their use as a replacement for "old style hifi"?
Sound quality?

Connectivity.

The sound quality is fantastic, particularly in view of the price, I am listening to mine as I type, but the only connection from one to another as a stereo pair is via the proprietary Dialog wireless protocol.

The Dialog has ethernet, USB, and optical digital connections. It connects to the house network using Ethernet and to the Phantoms via its aforementioned proprietary network.
Each Phantom has an Ethernet and an optical digital input too.
Neither the optical nor the USB connections on the Dialog have yet been implemented in firmware.

I have the optical output of a CD transport connected to one of the Phantoms and the stereo is superb, so the Dialog effectively uses that input as well obviously.

Any analogue inputs one wanted to use would have to either be digitised by a device with an optical digital output or by linking it to a normal Devialet amplifier using the USB connection which is not due to be implemented until later this year. The Spark software used to control volume and input is buggy still.

That is why I say it is unsuited to technophobes.

What I get from your excellent response, is that there are some temporary issues, that should be sorted sooner or later, but the sound quality is excellent.

Setting aside the limitation on analogue sources, which for most would be that last vestige of analogue, the phono pre-amp, the Phantom sounds very much like it it would be a very capable replacement for a conventional quality HiFi system.

Is the sound quality good enough to displace a conventional (whatever that now means) amp, DAC, speaker set-up, costing a few thousand £££'s ?

 

[F1eng]

What I get from your excellent response, is that there are some temporary issues, that should be sorted sooner or later, but the sound quality is excellent.

Setting aside the limitation on analogue sources, which for most would be that last vestige of analogue, the phono pre-amp, the Phantom sounds very much like it it would be a very capable replacement for a conventional quality HiFi system.

Is the sound quality good enough to displace a conventional (whatever that now means) amp, DAC, speaker set-up, costing a few thousand £££'s ?

I thought I had replied, but obviously failed to submit it and lost it.

I am super impressed. The gap to my Devialet 800 Tune Audio Anima is smaller than expected in sound, though not convenience.

A home demo would be needed to be sure if you like them but I had enough confidence in Devialet to order them straight away.
I was sure the small almost spherical cabinet would be much better than a rectangular box for both cabinet talk and stereo.

Hats off to Devialet, once Spark is fully functional and stable...

 

[merlin]

I think Devialet should be applauded for actually innovating - something that has been remarkably missing from the conventional hifi industry for three decades or more.

If the industry is to survive past our generation, it will need innovators and free thinking individuals unencumbered by the regimes of the past.

I hope they get the firmware sorted soon and I'm confident that they will. I had the offer of buying a couple of Phantoms but in all honesty could not justify the purchase and could see little use for them at home. It would be wonderful however if they introduced a whole new generation to the joys of true high fidelity sound reproduction.

 

[F1eng]

I had absolutely no justification other than interest either. And I have received a lot of marital grief too...

 

[strummer]

I am super impressed. The gap to my Devialet 800 Tune Audio Anima is smaller than expected in sound, though not convenience.

That's scary!! What Speakers do you use with your D800? Are the Phantoms really that close?


Personally, I don't need any analogue inputs & only 2 digital (one music & TV), so no problem there. I'm worrying about the Wireless, but then I've never paid any thought to my existing D250 Remote, which works perfectly..


I'm looking forward to my delivery!

 

[bownose]

Gotta love disruptive technologies. This could solve our hifi problems when we decide to winter abroad...

 

[F1eng]

That's scary!! What Speakers do you use with your D800? Are the Phantoms really that close?


Personally, I don't need any analogue inputs & only 2 digital (one music & TV), so no problem there. I'm worrying about the Wireless, but then I've never paid any thought to my existing D250 Remote, which works perfectly..


I'm looking forward to my delivery!

The speakers are the Tune Audio Animas. They are a fair bit better than the Phantoms but an 800 + Animas is around 20x the price, so they should be.

I am very impressed by the Phantoms, particularly the bass clarity and lack of overhang.
Most speakers big enough to produce bass this low usually have loads of bloat due to the cabinet talk. The Phantoms are really great for this. I like a full bandwidth (I find the octave between 20 and 40 Hz much more important than that between 10kH and 20 kHz personally) and very, very few of the speakers I have tried at home have been as good as the Phantoms in the bass.
The mid and treble sounds a bit smaller and less refined then the big system, but still - wow!

 

[strummer]

The speakers are the Tune Audio Animas. They are a fair bit better than the Phantoms but an 800 + Animas is around 20x the price, so they should be.

I am very impressed by the Phantoms, particularly the bass clarity and lack of overhang.
Most speakers big enough to produce bass this low usually have loads of bloat due to the cabinet talk. The Phantoms are really great for this. I like a full bandwidth (I find the octave between 20 and 40 Hz much more important than that between 10kH and 20 kHz personally) and very, very few of the speakers I have tried at home have been as good as the Phantoms in the bass.
The mid and treble sounds a bit smaller and less refined then the big system, but still - wow!

I just had to google your speakers. Wow, the Phantoms certainly are a departure from your usual fair


I can't wait to get mine now.


How are you controlling volume? Smartphone?? Will my D250 remote work?

 

[merlin]

I had absolutely no justification other than interest either. And I have received a lot of marital grief too...

I'm sure they will be worth it Frank although I don't know your wife.

 

[F1eng]

I just had to google your speakers. Wow, the Phantoms certainly are a departure from your usual fair


I can't wait to get mine now.


How are you controlling volume? Smartphone?? Will my D250 remote work?

I have used laptop, iPhone and iPad.
The D250 remote does not work, and the dedicated remote control is not yet ready.

 

[FL390]

F1eng (Frank), thanks for your replies and other posts above.
This has really got me interested in the Phantom.

I'm personally convinced that the various iterations of computer and digital audio will start to bring forth many new developments like the Phantom, i.e. wireless/wired digital active speakers, aimed at the audiophile/HiFi market.
I can foresee the "conventional" HiFi industry being largely wiped out by such products.

The surviving companies will be those who recognise this early enough and start to develop high quality audio products to suit the changing market.
Dynaudio appear to be going firmly down this route, with the launch of their 3rd range of HiFi active speakers.
ATC have launched the first active version of their entry level range.
Elac are in there and Linn are dabbling too.
Who next?

Deviate are on the next step above everyone else already.
I really need to hear the Phantom, before I do something rash and splash out on a D120 + Atohm, or D200 + expensive speakers.

 

[merlin]

The loudspeaker engineering in the Phantom is way in advance of most box loudspeakers that have populated the audio world for the past few decades.

Coaxial mid and treble with active crossover and digital correction and time alignment. Curved baffle with smooth off axis energy distribution and non resonant cabinet construction.

It doesn't matter how good the drive units are IME, there will always be compromises with a traditional box that simply aren't necessary in 2015. I'm intrigued as to how effective this manifestation of a theoretically superior loudspeaker design turns out to be and look forward to a (brief) listen to Frank's at the show.

 

[Rodney gold]

Meridian have been on the forefront in this regard for yonks , and their products have not revolutionized the hifi world...hasnt wiped out traditional setups...

 

[merlin]

Meridian IS traditional hifi in reality - just with the odd bit of originality.

We were having this discussion yesterday. They've done room correction in traditional boxes. Active speaker DSP in traditional boxes powered by traditional technologies. They might spray them yellow and charge the same price as a car but underneath I couldn't see any reason to think of them as revolutionary.

 

[Purité Audio]

Do the Phantoms have room correction built in?
Keith.

 

[merlin]

No Keith. The technology is there - they just haven't applied it to DRC yet.

To be honest, the tech that they have applied is IMHO of far greater import and more convincing than DRC efforts I've used in the past.

DRC without other controls is a bit like putting the cart before the horse.

 

[Purité Audio]

Having owned/owning Genelec and Grimm loudspeakers which both use DSP for crossovers,phase alignment and to correct driver anomalies, I am already a fan.
Devialet have said that they want to be the French ,B&O mixing style and good sound quality, it will be interesting to see how many units they sell, apparently the UK is responsible for nearly a quarter of their amplifier sales.
Keith.

 

[merlin]

I'm led to believe that sales of the amplifiers has pretty much kept the likes of John Harker in business over the past couple of years.

IMHO, Devialet amplifiers are simply the best I've heard regardless of topology or cost. The fact that they come in a sleek shiny package is just the icing on the cake. I cannot think of other product I have owned or used that compares. That has surprised me.

 

[bownose]

That pretty much sums up my experience. I hope the phantoms live up to the spec hype and to be honest I have no reason to disbelieve them. All the right decisions are being made except the beta state of the user experience.

I wonder if these will eventually obviate the need for giant speakers? I hope so. I want almost no visible signs of ownership and all of it virtualised so it fizzles away when I am dead and gone. All these things are worthless except for the experiences they bring... there is no pride in ownership and if I can just pick up a hifi that does what I already have In a small box and go wherever I want to live, I would be satisfied. I am not even sure Stereo is that important, I tend to forget stereo when listening to mono.

Until that day it's B&Ws and D200 -- which is where I stop... and Is a great place to be.

 

[Rodney gold]

DRC is sort of an antithesis to devialets ethos..which seems to be more a set and forget scenario. DRC requires huge investment in time and knowledge to get right..there are no automated systems that just "work".

And despite that , the room is still the most important component of all , I cannot see a set of Phantoms plonked down in some minimalistic lifestyle room , will sound amazing..no speaker would

However , I would buy a set of silver phantoms and a dialog if they were available here , just for interest sake..I would be very surprised and delighted if they came close to My Giya G1's and D premier..