D800 upgrade, is it worth it? Alternatives?

[Confused]

Confused is confused, or at least he has to pretend to be.

I don't understand what you mean Ian?

[Confused]

Some interesting suggestions from Dr Tone & Thumb5.... (and excellent embedded links from Thumb5)

There is a problem though. A quick check on the 'net indicates that UK dealers are a little thin on the ground. As an example, the Gryphon has one UK dealer which is located in Glasgow, approximately 400 miles away from where I live. The point is that to get a sensible audition of these various rivals, although not impossible, would be quite a serious and difficult logistical exercise.

If I had serious issues with Devialet's performance, then it might well be worth the effort. Often a case with stuff like this, that you do need to be realistic as to what can sensibly be auditioned, and this does tend to limit options in particular with the less common brands of speakers / amplifiers. Although after listening to the 1000 Pro at my 'local' dealer Oxford Audio, I did spot a Chord Dave lurking there. So although options may be limited, they are not non-existent.

[wikeeboy]

The main alternatives to Devialet in my opinion are the Aavik U300, and the soon to be released Bel Canto Black ACI600.

[thumb5]

Yes, point taken about the logistics. Still, could be an excuse for a nice week-end away in Denmark...but you'd probably struggle to get the Blades on the plane with you...

[deviousalet]

This is a fun topic. I'll add my perspective.

I'm looking for the best sound-quality for the least money and greatest convenience (which includes functions, space, heat, power use, etc.). My ideal would be small, active, full-range speakers with either physical or at least DSP room-correction which could take any digital source including multichannel AV.

Since there's no system which meets my ideal I compromise, prioritizing sound quality while giving up the least in other areas.

Devialet has worked hard to ensure that I have no brand loyalty, so I consider the whole market. However, The Devialet Expert are by far closest to my ideal that I've seen. In terms of sound quality I've only heard better (to my taste) at much higher expense, size, and complexity. I don't know of any active speakers that support multichannel, and all are compromised in other ways as well, although I'm very interested in Kii and Devialet Phantom. Any decent AV Receiver is far more convenient (AirPlay = "A.I.R" that always works, better source support, room correction, multichannel, an "off" switch, etc..) but no AVR sounds anywhere as good as a D200. Many other integrated amps have more of the functions that I want than Devialet, but none of them sound as good either. There are probably better sounding non-integrated amps (Soulution for example) but at higher costs and inconveniences. The Devialet Expert have a lot of what I want. Devialet S.A.M gets me closer to active speakers than any other amp this side of Linn Exaktbox (which are compromised in other ways). Devialet A.I.R works well enough to allow me to play music when convenience is important, and the other digital connections of the Devialet Expert allow me to get better sound quality from room-corrected wired sources. Mostly though, Devialet A.D.H is the best mix of what I like in typical Class-A and Class-D sounds. I've auditioned many alternatives but on balance keep preferring the Devialet sound. I've heard many lovely systems, but none more to my taste than those driven by Devialet Expert (within the realm of realism). I've heard many things sound better in one way or another, but not on balance. Yes, I've heard systems that cost more than my house and require a room almost as big as my house, but while I love hearing ultimate possibilities I'm really going for the best sound in my room. I also appreciate having money left for music (live and recorded).

It is fun to think about all the possibilities. I look forward to reading everyone else's thoughts.

[RebelMan]

To keep this simple, sound quality is the main factor, price is also a key consideration, and that's about it.

At this level I would also add that its got to look the part to play the part.  

Like deviousalet, I wanted a pocket rocket, i.e., kit that delivered tons of performance for the money in a tidy and convieient package that looked as good as it sounded.  NO OTHER piece of gear comes close, NONE.  

[Confused]

I have posted elsewhere about OAC's demo of the D800 versus the 1000 Pro. However, the plan for the day was also to try some non Devialet rivals, just to get a feel for how the Pro sits in the current hierarchy. Unfortunately OAC do not have any Gryphon's, Aaviks or any of the other suggestions in this thread. They can't stock everything! But they do have one thing in store that I personally was very interested to try, a Chord DAVE. OAC also have Chord' SPM1200 MII power amp. I have heard the Chord with the Blades in the past, on that occasion versus some big Bryston opposition. I knew fro this that the SPM1200 has more than enough grunt to power the Blades nicely, and versus the Byston, the Chord can actually perform a very Devialet like trick of digging down to the very deepest bass. I know some people are not keen on Chord amps, finding them 'dry' or whatever, but they do suit my tastes, and as OAC have one in stock, why not give it a try? I was interested in the DAVE though. I have enjoyed Chord DACs in the past, and depending on what you read it is getting a bit of a reputation of being a 'state of the art' DAC offering, so why not stick it head to head with Devialet's ADH and it's 'old spec' DAC. So after listening to the 1000 Pro, it was onto an Aurender N10, Chord DAVE, SPM1200 plus Blades. And yes! It was actually very impressive in many ways. Versus the Pro, it did seam to have the same level of details and if anything was a touch more dynamic, a touch more 'foot-tappy'. But it was not a good as the Pro to listen to, by quite a margin in fact. Although the DAVE/1200 was finding and resolving all those details, it quite simply did not have that spellbinding realism that the Pro was achieving, it was also harder to listen too. With the Chord combo, you might think OK, I've listened to enough of that track, lets skip to the next, you get a bit fatigued listening to it. With the Pro, you just keep listening and enjoying! The DAVE was kind of ultra hifi versus the Pro simply sounding very realistic. I did put the slight dynamic advantage down to the SPM's good old class A/B construction versus the Devialet's ADH, however, moving onto the next audition, this view changed completely. In the spirit of trying stuff that OAC had in store, the DAVE was switched with a dCS Debussy DAC/Pre. In terms of price and functionality, this is pretty much direct competition with the DAVE. All DACs sound the same right? Well I didn't think so! I though the Debussy sounded very different. Versus the ultra hifi but maybe a touch difficult to listen to aspect of the DAVE, the Debussey was super smooth, perhaps too smooth! Some of the music I use for demos is redbook, and not what you would call be the best audiophile recordings, but his is quite deliberate, because 95% of the music I listen to is redbook and not the best audiophile recordings, any system I have at home needs to work with this stuff. But even the harsher material was being delivered in a remarkably pleasant way by the Debussy. The thing is though, that dynamic advantage I had attributed to the SPM1200 was gone! So I changed my mind here, it was the DAVE delivering the dynamics in spades I think, the Debussy + SPM1200 was a couple of notches down on dynamics versus the Pro. So the Debussy was impressive in it's own way, but not for me. To be blunt, it was a pleasant listen and great at taking the hard edges of recordings, but I found it a bit boring! I did joke with OAC's Alasdair that the DAVE is the one you want for Death Metal and Hard Core Techno, but the Debussy would win with Trance and Ambient. A poor joke maybe, but even thinking about it later I can't think of a better way of putting it. Smarter readers may have sussed out that both of these options are somewhat cheaper than a Pro. So you could have either DAC plus the SPM1200 for maybe £16k or so. In a way this is deliberate. I have a D800 I could sell, add the upgrade money, and I would not be quite up to £16k. Listening to my system recently with the mR + Mutec it is sounding so good that spending MORE money seams ridiculous. So you could consider £16k as full budget. OK, for a true head to head with a £23k Pro, you might want to go up the range with the power amp, but even then it is not that simple. I run a TT, plus I run a surround amp into the Devialet. The Chord only has digital inputs. So to get a system that also matches the versatility of the Devialet, you need a decent pre-amp and a phono stage. Depending on how you do that, it's budget blown out of the water. Then we have the Pro itself, I hadn't had a decent audition of the Pro when I started this thread, but now I have, and you know what, the Pro is so good, so plain detailed and realistic, I don't think the price for price opposition stand a chance. (although I someone want to lend me a Gryphon or whatever for a couple of weeks, I would try it!!)

Oh and one last thing...... You can get spoiled in life, and only notice the good things when they are gone. The DAVE has a remote control that I think is cloned from the one I use for my Panasonic telly. The dCS remote is perhaps fractionally nicer, but not by much, and in low light it is difficult to see the buttons and the volume control is a little bit grainy, difficult to get just right. Then back to the familiar Devialet remote. Ah! Bliss!

I have to say, that taking everything into account, the Devialet's functionality, versatility and the shear performance of the Pro, it's a slum dunk victory for Devialet.

[Pim]

STEREO-Magazine.com gives the Gryphon Diablo 100% for sound quality in this new review. So I dug up this old thread. Someone has to do a serious comparison with the 1000 Pro and Diablo because this looks like some stiff competition. That's if you can get past the look of the Diablo of course...

https://stereo-magazine.com

[Confused]

It scores 100% for sound quality, but it is not top of the Gryphon range. Therefore, using logic, the more expensive models should score at least ........ errr..... ummmm........

[Pim]

It scores 100% for sound quality, but it is not top of the Gryphon range.  Therefore, using logic, the more expensive models should score at least ........   errr.....   ummmm........

They will score 100% on sound quality too but lower on the value for money score