Any feedback on Phanotom from Paris and/or London?

[davidadamson]

I know it was not an optimal environment, however, could you comment on the sound compared to the BW system?
Thx

[Jwg1749]

Ian, many thanks for taking the trouble to write in such detail. It sounds like you asked some very pertinent questions and received fairly candid replies.

Matt

[IanG-UK]

Splendid summary Ian, thanks!  One point I would make, if you look at the AIR user survey on this very forum, the white noise issue effects 38% of respondents, rather more that the 2 to 5% reported by Devialet.  Maybe we are an unlucky bunch here, maybe Devialet are trying to talk down the issue?  My view?  I suspect Devialet are perhaps understating the issue a touch.

Probably true, and actually 19 out of 31 if you include drop outs.

They have sold, or had sold by the end of their last financial year, 7,000 units. I'd guess 1,000 to 1,500 are probably in the UK. US penetration has been late and slow.

Those who experience the white noise etc are much more likely to be forum participants, I guess, but as you rightly point out they would all have to be forum participants for the 2% to "work" in certain situations (19/1000 perhaps).

Anyway, the Devialet guy I spoke to (Yann Wachten) said they are fully committed to fixing it. I suspect they will devote more resource now that Phantom and Dialog are launched although much work is to be done on those new products in the future.

I'm more optimistic than before! At least today.

[IanG-UK]

I know it was not an optimal environment, however, could you comment on the sound compared to the BW system?
Thx

Yes, though inevitably qualified - small room, passing traffic, ...

The Expert 200/B&W SAMed set up was smoother, more relaxing.

The Phantom seemed more raw, and the closer spread of the Phantoms perhaps limited the ability to create a convincing stereo image.

The visual aspect possibly influences my view: the B&W speakers are easily ignored, visually; the Phantoms are certainly not, because of their shape, colour and physical movement. They appeal to quite different market segments - probably best summed up by saying that the Expert kit is serious and the Phantom kit is fun.

I should try to sell that to them as a marketing strap line!

[Rufus McDufus]

7000 units sold - that's impressive.

[PhilP]

@Ian-G.  They would never use your strap line - it's far too clear and simple

Thanks for taking the time to post all this info - must have been a fascinating day.  I wonder how Harrods staff will handle similar questions after the Devialet team have flown back to France?  

The Spark app looks great - did they let you play with it? Did they demo streaming from Qobuz or was it all from the Mac?

I understand that the other music service at launch is Deezer.

[IanG-UK]

@Ian-G.  They would never use your strap line - it's far too clear and simple

Thanks for taking the time to post all this info - must have been a fascinating day.  I wonder how Harrods staff will handle similar questions after the Devialet team have flown back to France?  

The Spark app looks great - did they let you play with it? Did they demo streaming from Qobuz or was it all from the Mac?

I understand that the other music service at launch is Deezer.

Thank you! (times two)

The Harrods point should be a slight concern for them because (at least for eggheads like me) you do need an expert there to answer all the questions I can dream up. I guess they won't get that many eggheads in, and plenty of "loadsamoney" people. Maybe they will fly different people over to broaden their experience. 

The Spark app does look great. They didn't let me play with it but its flexibility looked fantastic. But it is a bit like Apple kit, you just have to use it and try things out to realise its potential and how you want to use it. In fact, I think that is how Devialet will sell it - like Apple do with their iPhone. 

They did not demonstrate streaming - I think it was either all on the Mac or quite possibly just on the Dialog itself. Yann said its storage capacity was huge.

And yes, it is Deezer plus Qobuz to start - thanks.

[PhilP]

I may be in London later this week so I may drop in to take a look. My 6 year old son would love Harrods

When they say the Dialog has huge storage I'm not clear what they mean? According to the white paper it has 1Gb RAM and there's no mention of an internal HDD. Do they just mean that you can connect a USB HD to it?

[IanG-UK]

I may be in London later this week so I may drop in to take a look. My 6 year old son would love Harrods

When they say the Dialog has huge storage I'm not clear what they mean? According to the white paper it has 1Gb RAM and there's no mention of an internal HDD. Do they just mean that you can connect a USB HD to it?

Well I got the impression that one only needed a Dialog and either a Phantom or an Expert plus speakers; and that the library capability was 'huge". 

In the Phantom white paper, the Dialog spec says that it  has 1GB of RAM memory and 2GB of flash memory (which I presume is like a USB flash drive). And in terms of CDs I think (though I know little here) that that is equivalent to around 2,000 discs?

PS At Harrods, they have been pretty sneaky - because the Audio floor is the same as the Toy floor including all the electronic "little boys toys" which are also "bigger boys toys" and which you cannot avoid if you use the wrong escalator or lift. So your son (or you yourself) may spend all your money before you arrive at the Devialet shop. Good luck!

[Pim]

I may be in London later this week so I may drop in to take a look. My 6 year old son would love Harrods

When they say the Dialog has huge storage I'm not clear what they mean? According to the white paper it has 1Gb RAM and there's no mention of an internal HDD. Do they just mean that you can connect a USB HD to it?

Yes, a bit strange. This is the first time I'm reading that the Dialog has internal storage. And then to say 'it's huge' rather than just what size hdd is inside... weird.

BTW, thanks for your report Ian. Going to work for Stereophile next?