Phantoms delivered this afternoon

[f1eng]

Hi Guys,

This is my first post to the forum, so howdy :-)

I bought 3 Phantoms about 3 weeks ago from Harrods on the very first day they opened up for demonstrations. I remember being bowled over by them. Me and this other guy sat in the listening room and after about 10 mins he bought a pair straight there and then. I asked him how much his current rig was worth and what he planned to do with the Phantoms. He said he was going to replace everything he had (about £11K's worth) and replace that with the Phantoms. I saw him pay and walk out with a pair.

I couldn't act so quickly, because I had to consult the wife. She was happy to oblige, so two days after auditioning them, I bought 3 and one Dialog and the stands (but they won't be delivered until the summer). However, it is only in the last few days that I've had time to set them up. They have been sitting in my living room all that time, un-boxed.

I must admit I struggled setting them up. My main problem is that I have a Meridian Sooloos Core 15 (ripper and library in one unit). This only has a coaxial out, which of course can't be connected directly to a Phantom. So I tried various convertors etc all in vain. It got to the point I was thinking either having to sell the Sooloos or the Phantoms. Any case, long story short I found out that Meridian do a little unit that has a digital out and I put that between the Sooloos and the Phantom and voila!! It works.

Now to the Spark app. Yeah, very much beta in my opinion. It is very buggy, but it has the kernel of something that I can see developing into something very slick, but it is not there as yet. I've tried it on an iphone and an android device and neither work that well.

The sound. In a word, for me, brilliant. Things I have noted that make it is good IMHO are these observations. If you like listening to loud distortion free music, then it fits the bell. I have only managed to crank it up to about 60 and that is very, very loud. Depending on the recording, 35 is more than adequate, which bring me onto my next point. This is a system that you don't have to play loud to engage with the music. I'm coming from having a pair of mono blocks, 802 B&W Diamonds etc and that was good, but typically in this and all the other set-ups I've had, volume was the key to bringing out all the detail in a track. This is different. You can play something at a low level and still 'feel' the bass and all the other little things going on. So this makes for a more relaxing listening experience because the volume can stay low, without sacrificing detail. The other thing is that bass. Wow. Try playing a track with a lot of proper bass (not dance track music), but something like Marcus Miller. At any volume his guitar is hitting your guts. Incredible. I also use my Phantoms as part of my HT. I notice that dialog is crystal clear, better than my B&W's. Try 'Wolf Hall' where everybody seems to mutter on a normal pair of speakers. On these, dialog is crystal clear. And that same effect translates back into the music. On the mids and trebles there is a real sense of air. You would think everything that is going on in such a small box would be a muddle. But it is not. Really good separation all through the range.

I've still got to un-box and set up my third Phantom, but that won't happen until my stands come through. I want to set up a 3.0 system (as Arif at Harrods described it) so that I have a substitute for my 5.1 system. On the basis on just the two I've heard so far, it should be brilliant.

In conclusion, I think the fact that one can have an audiophile setup without a zillion boxes is so appealing and its nice to dispense with the clutter. Of course if you are into hi-fi to tweek, try things out etc then this system is not going to appeal; its far too simple for that. If you just want to listen to music, knowing everything is taken care of then give it a go.

Are you using a Dialog, and if so how are you connecting your Control 15 to it?

I have had one on its own working fine (without a Dialog) obviously in mono, but have had only a short time of working (badly) in stereo using the Dialog, and now having reset the Phantoms which were stuttering or cutting out, I can't even re-set them up, Spark hangs at the stage of "setting up your Phantoms this could take 1 or 2 minutes" and after ten minutes I can't stand the warbling tone any more and give up...

I have unplugged everything and await a reply from customer service.

I also can't register them on "my maison" where my other Devialets are registered, invalid serial number so probably expert and Phantom have different owners pages???

I have to say the SQ was very good during the few minutes I have had them working before Spark crashed and subsequently only having 1 speaker playing.

My Dialog box smells hot, but that could be newness.