01-Apr-2021, 17:59
What an interesting bit of audio commentary. I'm not going to attack CAH for his summary of the sound. But I did read his review, and then snoop around a bit on the web site. A few things stand out for me; things that make me a bit cautious about this review.
He states that he D220 Pro 'sounds digitized'. It is fine if he thinks so, but there is not another professional review of the amp that says anything like that. How can the very experienced ears at Stereophile, and SoundstageUltra, and Absolute Sound all come to much different conclusions? (Not to mention me as well).
He may well have spent time reading this Forum, and if so, that is great. Certainly it is a great way to get a sense of what owners think about a product. But I don't see that we are doing nothing but heaping praise on the amp. I've seen plenty of criticism of some of the Expert & Pro models, as well as of the company itself. At least, 'Some of these people seemed credible, had nice systems, were honest and forthright etc'. Whew! Sure, some Devialet owners sold and moved on, and we always encourage them to share their experiences of their new gear; we're interested in their choices. I don't recall, however, that anyone has said that the Devialet didn't hold our interest, musically. That is a curious one.
I suspect this site is a one-man operation. I get the sense that he buys equipment, either new or used, as an avid audio hobby guy, and then writes reviews to post on his own website. The reviews are released sporadically in terms of timing, and they all appear to have been written by one person, CAH. it is a scientific paper shorthand to use the initials of various authors, but there should still be an authors full name somewhere on the paper or publication. I didn't find his name anywhere.
Oh yes, the terms 'phaseyness' and 'Sonic Holography Algorithym'. I puzzled over those bits as well.
Finally, I was interested to see the tabs for 'account details' and a shopping cart icon in the upper right corner of the web page. Following these links, I find that he sells some very inexpensive isolation pads. Which interestingly, have no third party reviews, and the two external sites that mention them (thanks to 'The Google') are dead links.
Anyhow, I'm sure CAH will be back to see what we've written, possibly hoping for some outrage. Why disappoint him? So, let's rally the troops, and rise to the vigorous defence of our chrome pizza boxes! Digitize the marching of our forces into a relentless parade of 1's and 0's! Take your finely crafted, jewel-like remotes and smash the smug, glowing tubes of this rascally infidel!
Actually I don't have the time or energy for that. Just typing all this out has sent me back to my Italian leather listening chair, with another glass of Semillion/ Sauvignon Blanc, where I will turn up the volume, just a bit, and revel in sound that my wife described as 'warm and luscious'.
Written by me, using my real name.
He states that he D220 Pro 'sounds digitized'. It is fine if he thinks so, but there is not another professional review of the amp that says anything like that. How can the very experienced ears at Stereophile, and SoundstageUltra, and Absolute Sound all come to much different conclusions? (Not to mention me as well).
He may well have spent time reading this Forum, and if so, that is great. Certainly it is a great way to get a sense of what owners think about a product. But I don't see that we are doing nothing but heaping praise on the amp. I've seen plenty of criticism of some of the Expert & Pro models, as well as of the company itself. At least, 'Some of these people seemed credible, had nice systems, were honest and forthright etc'. Whew! Sure, some Devialet owners sold and moved on, and we always encourage them to share their experiences of their new gear; we're interested in their choices. I don't recall, however, that anyone has said that the Devialet didn't hold our interest, musically. That is a curious one.
I suspect this site is a one-man operation. I get the sense that he buys equipment, either new or used, as an avid audio hobby guy, and then writes reviews to post on his own website. The reviews are released sporadically in terms of timing, and they all appear to have been written by one person, CAH. it is a scientific paper shorthand to use the initials of various authors, but there should still be an authors full name somewhere on the paper or publication. I didn't find his name anywhere.
Oh yes, the terms 'phaseyness' and 'Sonic Holography Algorithym'. I puzzled over those bits as well.
Finally, I was interested to see the tabs for 'account details' and a shopping cart icon in the upper right corner of the web page. Following these links, I find that he sells some very inexpensive isolation pads. Which interestingly, have no third party reviews, and the two external sites that mention them (thanks to 'The Google') are dead links.
Anyhow, I'm sure CAH will be back to see what we've written, possibly hoping for some outrage. Why disappoint him? So, let's rally the troops, and rise to the vigorous defence of our chrome pizza boxes! Digitize the marching of our forces into a relentless parade of 1's and 0's! Take your finely crafted, jewel-like remotes and smash the smug, glowing tubes of this rascally infidel!
Actually I don't have the time or energy for that. Just typing all this out has sent me back to my Italian leather listening chair, with another glass of Semillion/ Sauvignon Blanc, where I will turn up the volume, just a bit, and revel in sound that my wife described as 'warm and luscious'.
Written by me, using my real name.
Damon
Powernode, NAD M32, Cambridge CD transport, Analysis Plus, Nordost, iFi Nova, CSS Criton 1TDX, KEF C62
Vancouver, Canada
