Initial Questions from New D200 Owner...

[Clark]

My D120 has certainly changed it's sound in the month that I've had it; the top end was a bit sharp at first, and it is certainly less so now. I notice it with each of three pairs of speakers that I play with. I suspect your D200 will also settle in with more hours. 

Just taking one part of the original post, I don't know why the Devialet remote deserves criticism for not having a display; I don't know of any remote that shows volume or other settings. Granted, on many other boxes the front panel display is large enough to show the volume in big, friendly, numbers. My now-former Naim UnitiQute did indeed have that feature.

I'm not saying that it is not a good idea, or that I wouldn't like it; I just think that the absence of a display is not a flaw unique to the Devialet. We had a Linn Classik in the family for a while and the remote is easily the worst I've ever seen; a billion buttons.... and no display. Exhibit A attached. I'll happily stick with the the big metal knob. 

Damon, thanks for the comfort on the "burn-in" ! I'll try to use the unit as much as possible for now and hope for the best... 

Regarding the remote, I think the main difference is that the Devialet display on the unit itself is not visible (unless you mount it vertically which is not possible for me); for other remotes that I have (without a screen), I am able to see what is going through lights and/or a visible display on the unit. In most respects I love the Devialet remote. But a display of some sort would definitely be nice although I expect to have fun with my new toy nevertheless.. 

[Clark]

You can assign a phase invert button to the remote.

Thanks, Pim, found it!

[Womaz]

Hi Clark, congratulations on the new purchase. I am a new 200 owner too and I have to say I am blown away by how good it is.

I guess I have never really owned any "high end " kit, whatever that is, but the 200 sounds sublime to me, and this forum is excellent. There are always people willing to take time out and help.

[Clark]

Hi Clark, congratulations on the new purchase. I am a new 200 owner too and I have to say I am blown away by how good it is.

I guess I have never really owned any "high end " kit, whatever that is, but the 200 sounds sublime to me, and this forum is excellent. There are always people willing to take time out and help.

Hi Womaz, many thanks ! Yes, I agree, the unit is excellent and I am already enjoying it immensely. According to the more experienced members here, it should get even better over time ! Devialet seems very innovative so I look forward to improvements and further developments over time (it seems some members would like to see certain improvements rather quicker but my system seems to be working ok so far!).

[Damon]

Clark,

I totally agree about the visibility of the display; I wasn't giving you grief. I use the Devialet app on my iPhone, and of course I have to keep switching back and forth from Remote, or Rdio, or SimpleRadio, to the Dev app to see the volume. Or else I have to roust myself from my chair, and get up- hopefully without knocking my wine glass onto the rug- and look at the display.

The burn in thing is interesting in that I really do think there has been a change. In one month of ownership, it may have been on for one - two hours a day on average, so within that 30- - 60 hours the high end has lost a bit of zing; a slightly metallic character that I heard on bright recordings. 'Sweetness' as you describe it seems to describe it nicely. I don't know anything about the mechanical or electrical validity of this effect, but I do personally believe the change is real.

[Clark]

The burn in thing is interesting in that I really do think there has been a change. In one month of ownership, it may have been on for one - two hours a day on average, so within that 30- - 60 hours the high end has lost a bit of zing; a slightly metallic character that I heard on bright recordings. 'Sweetness' as you describe it seems to describe it nicely. I don't know anything about the mechanical or electrical validity of this effect, but I do personally believe the change is real.

Damon, the word "metallic" hits the nail on the head ! And it is definitely more noticeable at the high end.. I've only had the unit a short time and believe that I already detect a slight change. In any event, my unit is on more than 1-2 hours a day so I may well catch you up !! And the odd glass of wine certainly makes it sound sweeter !!

[boba2013]

Hi, I have as well, just upgraded from a D120, (had for 5 months), to the D200 which has been running for about 24 hours from set up. So, a newbie to the 200!

I have a LINN Majic DSM acting in Streamer only mode to feed my Synology based, ripped music, Tidal and range of Internet radio stations, (must flag Radio Paradise as one of the best). The other source is the DV137 SACD player from ARCAM. Sources are connected via Siltech Silver/Gold Anniversary COAX interconnects to the D200. 

The 92dB sensitive Speakers are driven via Siltech's 2.5M Silver/Gold Anniversary. Their custom build using SEAS Exotic drivers, (T35 and W8), with cross-overs built with Duelund Resisters, Mundorf Inductors and Caps. All wiring is Silver in the speakers.

The original Amp was an Italian Quad 300B tube based from MasterSound so moving to SS was originally felt as a bit of a gamble. Not only was it not a gamble, the move has met and exceeded my expectations. I was worried that with all the silver in my cables, I would be looking to replace them with copper cabling but that worry has been abated!

As others have experienced with the upgrade at first, is felt as a loss of the sweetness of the broken-in D120 but even with only 24 hours on the D200, I can hear not only some of that coming back but with it, an increased body and clarity that promises to offer a lot of smiles in the next few years.

I have a UK built sub, (MJ Acoustics Reference 200) and have left/right channels feeding it via the pre-outs at 100Hz, 2nd level cross-over. 

Room conditioning is basic but functional so I feel I know if I am hearing what I want from the system with minimal room effects. 

To say I can't wait to grab another album from Tidal or from the library and listen to a cut here or there is the truth. An eclectic mix would have me grab K. D. Lang, or the Stones, or Cat Stevens at 24 bit/192kHz, or Van Morrison, Doors, or even that cut that separates the boys from the men in respect to vocals and instrument clarity, Nils Lofgren's, Keith Don't Go!

I am already planning to add a second D200 even though I may decide later to not go that route, (heavens knows, the speakers don't need that power), I know that my audiophile objectives have been sated! How much better can it get!

I don't want to give the impression that I really know audio playback so well that I can tell the difference between one excellent system vs another. What I do know is that biting the bullet to go Devialet at first, then upgrade to the D200 has been a no risk adventure and the payback is extraordinary music!

My main source is via the LINN Majic DSM acting as a Streamer so am using the LINN Kazoo on my iPad for music source control, using the Devialet volume controller. I have not got Air running yet but have time to add that later.

I am definitely, an elder Devialet fanboy! I can only hope my ears will continue to allow me to appreciate what I have over the next 10 to 15 years. Simpy fantastic.

Al little Mike Oldfield or Pink Floyd anyone 

Cheers

Bob

[ledesc]

Hello boba2013 !

I would like to know your first impression about the upgrade, what are the main differences you noticed listening D200 vs the D120 in your system ?

Question from also a Pink Foyd fan who will go to D120 or D200 soon..

[Juerg123]

Hi, I have as well, just upgraded from a D120, (had for 5 months), to the D200 which has been running for about 24 hours from set up. So, a newbie to the 200!

I have a LINN Majic DSM acting in Streamer only mode to feed my Synology based, ripped music, Tidal and range of Internet radio stations, (must flag Radio Paradise as one of the best). The other source is the DV137 SACD player from ARCAM. Sources are connected via Siltech Silver/Gold Anniversary COAX interconnects to the D200. 

The 92dB sensitive Speakers are driven via Siltech's 2.5M Silver/Gold Anniversary. Their custom build using SEAS Exotic drivers, (T35 and W8), with cross-overs built with Duelund Resisters, Mundorf Inductors and Caps. All wiring is Silver in the speakers.

The original Amp was an Italian Quad 300B tube based from MasterSound so moving to SS was originally felt as a bit of a gamble. Not only was it not a gamble, the move has met and exceeded my expectations. I was worried that with all the silver in my cables, I would be looking to replace them with copper cabling but that worry has been abated!

As others have experienced with the upgrade at first, is felt as a loss of the sweetness of the broken-in D120 but even with only 24 hours on the D200, I can hear not only some of that coming back but with it, an increased body and clarity that promises to offer a lot of smiles in the next few years.

I have a UK built sub, (MJ Acoustics Reference 200) and have left/right channels feeding it via the pre-outs at 100Hz, 2nd level cross-over. 

Room conditioning is basic but functional so I feel I know if I am hearing what I want from the system with minimal room effects. 

To say I can't wait to grab another album from Tidal or from the library and listen to a cut here or there is the truth. An eclectic mix would have me grab K. D. Lang, or the Stones, or Cat Stevens at 24 bit/192kHz, or Van Morrison, Doors, or even that cut that separates the boys from the men in respect to vocals and instrument clarity, Nils Lofgren's, Keith Don't Go!

I am already planning to add a second D200 even though I may decide later to not go that route, (heavens knows, the speakers don't need that power), I know that my audiophile objectives have been sated! How much better can it get!

I don't want to give the impression that I really know audio playback so well that I can tell the difference between one excellent system vs another. What I do know is that biting the bullet to go Devialet at first, then upgrade to the D200 has been a no risk adventure and the payback is extraordinary music!

My main source is via the LINN Majic DSM acting as a Streamer so am using the LINN Kazoo on my iPad for music source control, using the Devialet volume controller. I have not got Air running yet but have time to add that later.

I am definitely, an elder Devialet fanboy! I can only hope my ears will continue to allow me to appreciate what I have over the next 10 to 15 years. Simpy fantastic.

Al little Mike Oldfield or Pink Floyd anyone 

Cheers

Bob

I have a LINN DS-I myself. How did you connect it to the Devialet? TOSLINK or SPDIF?

[Clark]

I have now had my D200 for around 3 weeks (following a short spell with a demo D120) and whilst the initial sound was a little “metallic” or “scratchy”, it is now becoming much “sweeter”, more “liquid”. I am also now noticing the ability of the system to clearly resolve and separate multiple strands of music rather than generate a rather untidy sonic mess which many lesser systems do. I was initially concerned that the D200 was not performing as well as the D120 but this is no longer the case and the extra power reserves and additional connectivity options all made it a worthwhile upgrade for me. I should also add that I have recently upgraded the cabling but given the many variables involved could not say whether the improvement is due to some burn-in effect, due to the better cabling or purely psychological. But I am not sure it matters: all in all I am thoroughly enjoying it and some of my favourite tracks sound simply wonderful!

I nevertheless have a couple of questions if I may:

AIR: I am using the system predominantly via Ethernet AIR (has been pretty stable so far in contrast to what I have read here), fed from iTunes running on a fairly new MacMini. I have been experimenting with Tidal and, whilst I have been very pleasantly surprised with the quality, the control on a headless MacMini is quite cumbersome. However, I have just discovered that I can stream wirelessly to the Devialet (itself remaining connected by Ethernet to a local Apple Extreme) from my laptop (with AIR installed), essentially giving me a much more convenient set up (is this the WiFi configuration talked bout here or does that refer to a direct WiFi link to the Devialet?). Unfortunately, this set up appears unstable as I typically start to hear pops and clicks after a while and the music becomes unenjoyable. If I stream Spotify (presumably lower data rate) it remains perfectly stable. Is there a way to solve this or is this the same problem that others are experiencing and writing about here? BTW, I also have a Linn Majik DS-I which remains perfectly stable when I stream Tidal to it from my laptop via Linn’s Songcast system.

Subwoofer: I have a Piega Sub1 MkII subwoofer and would like to optimise the integration. Right now, it is connected via the pre-outs (stereo) to the line-level inputs on the Piega. I have also set a 50Hz filter on the D200. It is generally working ok but occasionally sounds a bit boomy and I can’t help thinking some improvement might be possible. I have looked at the configuration options on the Devialet but don’t understand much, e.g. order of filters (or similar), filters for the main speakers (mine are Piega C3 LTD), etc. Any suggestions?

Thanks, Clark