Devialet D200 2D soundstage (FIXED)

[Stephen_V]

Hi guys,

So I have been listening to the Devialet D200 and feel the soundstage is not deep compared to my last equipment.  Equipment for comparison was my VAC Signature Mk II preamp and VAC Renaissance 140 amplifiers.  They might just be a completely different animal...

I am using a VPI HR-X turntable w/ van den hul colibri xgw cart and a Lumin T1.  Both are seeming to be 2D.

For the Phono I have it set as follows:
MC, Stereo, 500 uVRMS
Loading: 460, 700
Auto wifi standby off
RIAA 1976
192 kHz

For the Lumin:
Line input
192 kHz

Thanks guys!

[Stephen_V]

DO NOT POWER the Devialet off or let it go into sleep mode.  I was recommended that I leave it on as it can take 8 hours to stabilize in temperature and can sound not as good if you play it before it has stabilized.  The difference is night and day.  The presentation is still more forward than the other gear I had but it is undeniably 3 dimensional. Love it now! 

[yabaVR]

Try on some decent power cables from your local dealer to compare. The Dev is tricky when it comes to power, filters etc. Personally I prefer no filters, but know of power cables that get more 3D out of the Dev. Why? Who knows? I suspect the switching power suply of the Dev doing strange things on the power line.

gui

[Pim]

DO NOT POWER the Devialet off or let it go into sleep mode.  I was recommended that I leave it on as it can take 8 hours to stabilize in temperature and can sound not as good if you play it before it has stabilized.  The difference is night and day.  The presentation is still more forward than the other gear I had but it is undeniably 3 dimensional. Love it now! 

Nice  

One of the things I dislike about Jim Smith when he writes about what to do is that he doesn't always explain why. In his book Get Better Sound, he talks about having digital equipment on at least 24 hours before auditioning (try to talk a dealer into that one) But he doesn't explain why. I go away for work a bit and almost every time enjoy my second night of listening more than the first. It's hard to tell whether it is because things actually sound better (I think so) or that my ears take a day to get used to the difference between my UE boom at the rig and my Dev at home.

I leave my Mac on for days, whit the odd restart, just to clear the memory, and keep the Dev on standby at least. When the missus isn't home, it's on 24/7 playing at low volume.

[Confused]

Reading Pim's post about really struck a chord with me. Often in the past I have noticed that some days my system sounds better than others. I put this down to mood, maybe a quirk of the source material, maybe changes in mains quality, who knows.

However, my listening patterns are probably fairly similar to Pim's at the moment, that is more or less weekends only. One week ago, the Devialets were on for maybe three hours on Saturday, that was it until this weekend just gone. This weekend I listened to a selection of music, for maybe four hours in total. Saturday was one of those days where the sound quality niggles you a bit, a little harsh, maybe more digital, just not quite there. On Sunday, again more listening. The thing is, on Sunday, everything sounded terrific. OK this was not careful A/B testing, and different music was being played, but everything sounded great, even the stuff where I know the actual source material is not that good was still a good listen despite this. How big was this difference? Maybe in the region of dual mono vs single box stereo. I didn't think to much about this, putting down to being just one of those things, but then reading Pim's post I realise that we have experienced exactly the same thing. OK, this might be a one off coincidence from my side, but I will be keeping an eye (ear) on this one in the future, to see if there is some kind of repeatable pattern.

[yabaVR]

... he talks about having digital equipment on at least 24 hours before auditioning (try to talk a dealer into that one) 

For me it's not the 24hours, but at least 4 to 6 hours a Dev needs to PLAY, before it resolves its charming sound, thought 24h is the best if you've got the time.
Also the powerline is not so "dirty" in the night and on sundays than at other times. It's no illusion that it sounds better than.

Why does the Dev (or any other audio component) need a long warmup to perform best? I can just imagine. Perhaps there are so much of little voltage-potential-differences in parts of the electrical components that have to even and that differ with temperature and "loading" time? For me this is the best illustration I was given until now. And maybe digital components are even more touchy to it because of the higher frequencies they are driven at?

gui

[MusicLover]

I've noticed this effect too. As Confused, I've always blamed it on mood but there must be something else for sure!

Could have never expected for a digital amp (as some "rocket scientist" define the Dev) to take longer to warm up than the most vintage valve amps out there, hehe

[BjornWiman]

...I have noticed that my D250 sounds its best when the temperature of the Class A amplifier and the power supply have reached a temperature of approximately 42 degrees. This takes normally about one hour or so when playing music on my regular volume level... ( around -25dB)

Best regards

Björn


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[JohnnySix]

Hey everyone... don't forget you are all listening through loudspeakers as well. For instance, metal cones probably take 30-60min to get going every day. (Although, I suppose that isn't a factor if you are sure that leaving the Devialet on is curing the variability.)