PLC networking

[supaDean]

@supaDean  Did you get a chance to do a new Dirac correction? We'd also love to know your verdict on the difference to the II 98dB. A little early for that maybe, but in due course...

Where to start... here are some thoughts.

First off, it's perhaps easy to forget what a breakthrough Phantoms are. What Devialet has accomplished with audio playback is pretty astounding. Not just Phantoms, but their amplifiers as well. It's almost difficult to criticize, but as lovers of music, music playback in-house and gear, there are things to mention about the Phantoms.

Just to first address it quickly because it should be addressed,... comparing the Phantom II 98dB and the Phantom II Premier 103dB. As with any speaker the biggest influencer on their sound is the room they're being asked to play in. Without paying attention to speaker placement, room correction (digital and physical), power source, and audio source, one is wasting money. Just go buy an inexpensive set up and be done with it. Case in point, after setting up the stereo Phantom I to replace the stereo Phantom II, I placed the smaller Phantoms as mono speakers in other rooms. One is on a dresser, the other is on a shelf. Both are not remarkable. I could use a good boombox and have sound that is just as satisfying.

Okay... the quick comparison. I've a relatively small living room as a listening space. There are a couple of large, plush sofas, big cushions and a decent carpet which fill the room and act as physical room correction. No sound wall paneling or anything of the sort. There's also a large television further back, with Phantoms sitting forward so nothing sits in-between them affecting soundstage. The main difference between the Phantom I and Phantom II is scale. The larger Phantom sounds larger. and can play louder. Devialet uses the word "dense" to describe their sound, and I'd say it's a good word. It doesn't mean better or worse. It's just different. I thoroughly enjoyed having the smaller Phantoms as my main speakers the past couple of years in my space. Also, appearance should be looked at. The smaller Phantoms are remarkably small for the large sound they produce, and as such they are fairly unobtrusive. In my room they had no problem filling it with high fidelity sound. Any criticism I'd have is the Devialet stands for the Phantom II, the "Legs". I think they're designed more for form than function. They should stand taller, as the "Tree" does for the larger Phantom. Secondly, the Phantom I is big compared to the Phantom II. They dominate the room. And if you're not a fan of their design, well, let's say they stare at you like large droids from Star Wars, especially from the front when you've sat down to enjoy music or TV.

Speaking of TV, I really enjoy the large Phantoms for TV watching. They throw out a large soundstage that fills the room, and I don't miss a full home theater set up. They easily shake the room, as they can do for music.

The elephant in the room is audio dropouts. I believe it's a problem with Roon playback. Maybe in combination with a network problem? I've had three different ISP routers / switches with 2 different providers, two different sets of Phantoms, two different Roon Cores, and the problem has persisted. It was horrible with the stereo Phantom I. Even hard-wired via Ethernet dropouts were frequent. With the Phantom II's now set up as mono speakers wirelessly, the dropouts are much less frequent, but occurred twice this morning during a a half hour of playback. The dropouts were much more frequent on all Phantoms when the larger Phantoms were hooked up both with Ethernet and wireless, so there is definitely something going on. I read on another post somewhere on DC, from another member, that Devialet engineers are aware there is a playback issue with hi-res file playback via Roon and the Phantoms. If that's the case it's really not acceptable as the Phantoms are certified "Roon Ready".

Roon "casts" hi-res files to Chromecast smart speakers i have in the house without any issues what-so-ever. None.

I've been dealing with a Devialet customer service rep to try and solve the issue, but I feel it shouldn't be an issue to begin with. She hadn't even mentioned Direct Optical Mode as a fix. I believe this is because it is considered a custom install, and is not really how the Phantoms are designed for use... the rep actually asked me why I've hooked up the Phantoms the way I do when it's not how they were intended to be used.... she was referring to my using a preamp (my Dirac room correction). So obviously not all service reps are audiophiles. 

Also, when setting up in Direct Optical Mode, Devialet recommends setting the max volume to 70% to avoid compression. I presume this is for playing at louder volumes. In my space it's not really an issue at all.... I don't need 500 watts RMS per channel!

The process of dealing with a Devialet customer service rep is time consuming and goes on for weeks with everything done via email, considering the 6 hour time difference between Canada and France, and having a full time career. Perhaps there is the option of getting a North American rep on the phone during trouble shooting, but I didn't have a chance to explore that.

I should note that in every other respect their customer service is wonderful. They've replaced two Phantoms for me that arrived with damage (one from Devialet direct, the other from a retailer), no questions asked. And they've been responsive with other email inquiries.

Anyway, I hope the above is useful to some. Here's a couple of images of my listening space with both the Phantom I and Phantom II setup in stereo on their respective Devialet stands. I think I've posted these on other threads on DC, but here they are. Cheers.