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Moved to Devialet

Blindspot

Blindspot

pfm Member
Recently bought a 2nd hand Devialet expert 220 pro CI, replacing a led a Tucana 2, MF M6 DAC and a SOTM sms200.

Speakers are monitor audio pl200s, and using Roon with a recent MBP to feed it tidal and lossless files.

Crikey, what an improvement! A big part of the appeal was simplification, and no longer arseing around trying to make flaky streamers to connect. The speaker matching was also really appealing.

But the sound - wow. So clean, detailed, compelling.

But - now what? I want a turntable, but it seems mad that it converts AD then DA.

And if I want even better sound, do I have to get crazy good speakers (like what??), get another 220, or move to a 250?

or just accept that this is as good as it gets without throwing the price of quite a decent car at it and just enjoy??
 
Blindspot said:
Recently bought a 2nd hand Devialet expert 220 pro CI, replacing a led a Tucana 2, MF M6 DAC and a SOTM sms200.

Speakers are monitor audio pl200s, and using Roon with a recent MBP to feed it tidal and lossless files.

Crikey, what an improvement! A big part of the appeal was simplification, and no longer arseing around trying to make flaky streamers to connect. The speaker matching was also really appealing.

But the sound - wow. So clean, detailed, compelling.

But - now what? I want a turntable, but it seems mad that it converts AD then DA.

And if I want even better sound, do I have to get crazy good speakers (like what??), get another 220, or move to a 250?

or just accept that this is as good as it gets without throwing the price of quite a decent car at it and just enjoy??
Click to expand...

Speakers possibly/probably next... what’s lacking currently?
 
Blindspot said:
Recently bought a 2nd hand Devialet expert 220 pro CI, replacing a led a Tucana 2, MF M6 DAC and a SOTM sms200.

Speakers are monitor audio pl200s, and using Roon with a recent MBP to feed it tidal and lossless files.

Crikey, what an improvement! A big part of the appeal was simplification, and no longer arseing around trying to make flaky streamers to connect. The speaker matching was also really appealing.

But the sound - wow. So clean, detailed, compelling.

But - now what? I want a turntable, but it seems mad that it converts AD then DA.

And if I want even better sound, do I have to get crazy good speakers....
Click to expand...
Yes, it does seem mad to me too to convert the signal, but I bet if you get a good turntable and try it, you'll be happy. The people at Devialet seem to know what they're doing.

Much better speakers will sound much better!
 
I switched for the same reason- ‘downsizing‘ from ARC REF3, EAR509 Anniversaries and got a real ear opener. The phono stage is of a very high standard with multiple adjustments and cartridge matching in the digital domain. I’ve had great results with vdH Grasshopper, ART-9, AT33PTG etc. You can even flick between multiple correction curves on the fly!
 
when did you buy the Devialet ?, and how much did you pay, and does it matter it converts AD to DA, seems like you made a hasty buy, of course if you want better you have to stump up, we all do, i don't actually get the thread, one minute you love it, next your moaning about upgrading, :rolleyes:

its also a long time we have heard the name Devialet on this forum,
 
Blindspot said:
or just accept that this is as good as it gets without throwing the price of quite a decent car at it and just enjoy??
Click to expand...

This is the conundrum facing all hifi users. There's always going to be something better. Eventually a) you run out of money, or b) the law of diminishing returns kicks in, and you have to spend ££££s for a relatively small improvement.
 
Blindspot said:
Recently bought a 2nd hand Devialet expert 220 pro CI, replacing a led a Tucana 2, MF M6 DAC and a SOTM sms200.

Speakers are monitor audio pl200s, and using Roon with a recent MBP to feed it tidal and lossless files.

Crikey, what an improvement! A big part of the appeal was simplification, and no longer arseing around trying to make flaky streamers to connect. The speaker matching was also really appealing.

But the sound - wow. So clean, detailed, compelling.

But - now what? I want a turntable, but it seems mad that it converts AD then DA.

And if I want even better sound, do I have to get crazy good speakers (like what??), get another 220, or move to a 250?

or just accept that this is as good as it gets without throwing the price of quite a decent car at it and just enjoy??
Click to expand...

Glad you’re pleased with your purchase. I moved from Naim (after years of upgrading) but finally got off the Salisbury bandwagon thanks to Devialet. I am Now using a D250, but had a 200 and then 400 previously. I decided that one amp was all I needed, so I finally swapped the the 400 combo for the D250. I think the presentation sounded fuller and more weighty, but I also wanted to own a model based on the D Premier casework, with the heavy remote; however, the 200/400 were still great sounding amps. As for the 200/400 upgrade, in hindsight I’d have gone straight to the D250 as the difference in quality with an additional D200 was marginal.

My D250 is now coupled via Ethernet to my Roon Nucleus and the sound quality and ease of use cannot be faulted. I’m using Sopra 2’s with a pair of REL S/3 SHO subwoofers (a much more worthwhile upgrade than pairing with another D250!) and the sound is now even more effortless, with scale, presence and detail in abundance. I can listen at volumes which are truly immersive, and correspondingly very loud, without any fatigue whatsoever. An increase in volume just makes the soundstage even bigger. The quality of the recording is ultimately exposed though, which means that compressed recordings, well still sound compressed compared with a high quality recording. The phono stage also sounds great and as previously mentioned, it’s so flexible too.

I’m sure someone will be along to say that their Vitus, Gryphon or whatever sounds better, but the reality is the speaker and room interface combo is all I focus on nowadays, since the amplifier is so capable it’s just doing all it’s designed to do i.e. make the signal bigger with no distortion/colouration and with superb control of any loudspeaker load. Enjoy
 
One of the worst sounds I ever heard from a turntable was through a Devialet. It was the first model that came out about 9 years ago. Better to buy a good stand alone analogue phono stage and just use the Devialet to process the line level signal from the phono stage as opposed to using their digitised phono offering.
 
I'm pretty sure the Phono stage has been improved somewhere along the way since the original D-Premier, they certainly added the configurable settings in a software update.
 
G T Audio said:
One of the worst sounds I ever heard from a turntable was through a Devialet. It was the first model that came out about 9 years ago. Better to buy a good stand alone analogue phono stage and just use the Devialet to process the line level signal from the phono stage as opposed to using their digitised phono offering.
Click to expand...

All I can say is that my turntable has never sounded so great as it does via my Devialet phono stage.
It knocks spots off my previous MC phono stage in my Naim NAC 82 but then again so does the amp (previously a NAP 250) so difficult to compare.

Sure there are better and more expensive phono stages out there but the laws of diminishing returns applies. I think the inbuilt phono stage sounds excellent as it is and I would not want another box to add to my system .
 
Whaleblue said:
Speakers possibly/probably next... what’s lacking currently?
Click to expand...

Good question - I occasionally feel that it could do with a bit more punch in the lower bass, but that's almost certainly because I've a big L shaped room - and moving house is an upgrade too far for now..

It's more that sort of malaise that for whatever reason car, watch,hifi geeks have that means we want it to be just a bit better, or wonder what we could do to make it just a bit better.

Really though, it's meant that I've spent quite a lot more time listening to and enjoying the music. Pretty awesome with films too.
 
Brucedgoose said:
Yes, it does seem mad to me too to convert the signal, but I bet if you get a good turntable and try it, you'll be happy. The people at Devialet seem to know what they're doing.

Much better speakers will sound much better!
Click to expand...

I've had a hankering for a Michell Gyro SE with a tecnoarm and DL304 since playing with one about 15 years ago when I worked in a 7oaks. But I just can't get my head around the notion of choosing this lovely analogue source, and then converting to digital - if I'm doing that, why bother with the turntable if I've got the lossless high res files already?? Just cos it looks good and there's a sense of occasion?

Still want the Gyro though.
 
graystoke4 said:
when did you buy the Devialet ?, and how much did you pay, and does it matter it converts AD to DA, seems like you made a hasty buy, of course if you want better you have to stump up, we all do, i don't actually get the thread, one minute you love it, next your moaning about upgrading, :rolleyes:

its also a long time we have heard the name Devialet on this forum,
Click to expand...

About 3 weeks ago - £3300 in folding, and had to drive from civilisation (the right side of the M4) to the other side of Birmingham to collect. Was on its 3rd eBay listing, as two previous 'buyers' had flaked for whatever reason.

Still loving it, just that little voice - how can I make it even better?? Might not be a sensible answer to that. That's fine, I'm pretty happy anyway!
 
I moved from Naim to Devialet and back to Naim. Sold the 220 to the Decamaron on here. Only really sold as I could never get the streaming to work effectively all the time and just got fed up of the dropouts. Devialet would do well to get their own app up and running for streaming.

I found the phono stage to be perfectly ok and I understand anything you feed into the Devialet gets digitised.

I'm thinking of going old school ish with the Yamaha A-S3200 integrated, looks cool in a 70's way.
 
That's interesting - I've had a couple of dropouts, but only when I've been listening to Tidal and my broadband has fallen over. The massive advantage for me so far is that the Devialet just always works. My previous SOTM streamer kept shitting the bed and having to have its firmware re-written to the micro SD card. Sounded great, but never worked for more than a week or so before needing another bout of brain surgery.

Definitely a lot to be said for an old-skool Japanese amp. Got a bit of a soft spot for massive old Sansui amps in champagne gold, and/or with half a tropical rainforest on the cheeks..
 
Blindspot said:
That's interesting - I've had a couple of dropouts, but only when I've been listening to Tidal and my broadband has fallen over. The massive advantage for me so far is that the Devialet just always works. My previous SOTM streamer kept shitting the bed and having to have its firmware re-written to the micro SD card. Sounded great, but never worked for more than a week or so before needing another bout of brain surgery.

Definitely a lot to be said for an old-skool Japanese amp. Got a bit of a soft spot for massive old Sansui amps in champagne gold, and/or with half a tropical rainforest on the cheeks..
Click to expand...

This is a new Yamaha amp, old school as in it's appearance.
 
jms1 said:
Glad you’re pleased with your purchase. I moved from Naim (after years of upgrading) but finally got off the Salisbury bandwagon thanks to Devialet. I am Now using a D250, but had a 200 and then 400 previously. I decided that one amp was all I needed, so I finally swapped the the 400 combo for the D250. I think the presentation sounded fuller and more weighty, but I also wanted to own a model based on the D Premier casework, with the heavy remote; however, the 200/400 were still great sounding amps. As for the 200/400 upgrade, in hindsight I’d have gone straight to the D250 as the difference in quality with an additional D200 was marginal.

My D250 is now coupled via Ethernet to my Roon Nucleus and the sound quality and ease of use cannot be faulted. I’m using Sopra 2’s with a pair of REL S/3 SHO subwoofers (a much more worthwhile upgrade than pairing with another D250!) and the sound is now even more effortless, with scale, presence and detail in abundance. I can listen at volumes which are truly immersive, and correspondingly very loud, without any fatigue whatsoever. An increase in volume just makes the soundstage even bigger. The quality of the recording is ultimately exposed though, which means that compressed recordings, well still sound compressed compared with a high quality recording. The phono stage also sounds great and as previously mentioned, it’s so flexible too.

I’m sure someone will be along to say that their Vitus, Gryphon or whatever sounds better, but the reality is the speaker and room interface combo is all I focus on nowadays, since the amplifier is so capable it’s just doing all it’s designed to do i.e. make the signal bigger with no distortion/colouration and with superb control of any loudspeaker load. Enjoy
Click to expand...

Sopras and a pair of REL S3s? What are you listening to in your medium sized stadium??

That sounds like a pretty serious set up, and very possibly the sort of direction I'd like to go for future improvements. Perhaps B&W rather than Focal, but I do like the time-alignment of drivers idea..

I didn't realise that there was a difference in the remotes? Mine is a pretty chunky chrome effort with the rotating dial. Seems like a wasted opportunity to have a little OLED display for source selection in the middle though.
 
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