1 week with my NEW Expert Pro 440!

[SoCalB]

Been lurking for years...FINALLY have a reason to post!

When I got my 'first' system about 6 years ago, I heard a demo of the Devialet 110 or 120 - whatever the smallest one was back then.  It sounded amazing, and was out of my price range at the time.  I ended up with the KEF LS-50s (white with blue speaker), a nuprime ida-16, and a 10" JL audio e-sub 110....all for about the price of the smaller devialet. 

The system sounded amazing for what it was.  Punched well above it's weight and brought a LOT of enjoyment. 

Then in January of 2019 I picked up a Reactor 900 which I LOVE for what it is.  Cranks PLENTY of sound for the garage gym...and at some point I will add another for stereo. 

Back to the main system...

As we moved and had a much larger "great room", there is only so much air that two 5 1/4's can move.  The sub filled in the low end, but really missed the weight in the midrange. 

So about 4 weeks ago, after 2.5 hours of demo listening - mostly between the KEF Reference 3, and the new R11's.  I decided the white R11's were the right fit (but man oh man, do I LOVE the look of the white Foundry edition Reference 5's with the blue uni-q)

Adding EIGHT 6 1/2's to the equation was awesome...and the 200 watt per channel IDA-16 did a great job pushing them. 

BUT I've always wanted an expert pro 220...and started looked at used ones to see what was out there. 

I ended up stumbling across a dealer selling their floor model Expert Pro 440's.  Luckily they were only a few hours drive away, so I went for a listen. 

They were hooked up to some goldeneye speaker or something, which I didn't think sounded that great...no SAM, wasn't properly set up, etc.  So I didn't put too much weight in the demo.

After they agreed to a 14 day return period so I could listen at my home with my speakers...I paid in full and was out the door.

That night I got the configuration done...and the following day I got them installed. 

Also pulled out my old 8-bay QNAP NAS and got ROON trial set up...  (probably going to do the lifetime...lots to love about it)

I turned everything on at 4:30pm....and in the first 5 minutes I KNEW I was keeping it!

I didn't STOP listening until I looked up and it was 2:10 am!!!

A friend stopped by at 8pm "for an hour" to catch up.  He ended up staying for 4 hours! 

These receivers and speakers sound AMAZING!  

I had to check THREE TIMES that the subwoofer was in fact OFF!! 

I've settled on the SAM at 47, and not using any EQ or room correction of any kind. 

Those KEF R-11s just SING! 

I had 6 music lovers over that Saturday night, and all were blown away. 

Lot of LOUD volume, and ZERO distortion.  After hours of hard driving, they are warm, and NEVER hot to the touch.  

The Devialet sound is just amazing!  From detail, to soundstage, to clarity...just does it all.

One of my wife's friends was over and I played a few songs, and she was like I've heard these songs hundreds of times, but NEVER like this. 

From people with no clue to people that have been in the recording studio - they ALL agree the sound is something special. 

The LS-50's and the nuprime are in the master bedroom...and the e-sub 110 will be joining them, as I have a NEW JL audio Fathom 112 v2 coming for the main room!

Love the JL audio sound, and their new 18 band room correction will be great.  Crossing it over at 45 hertz, so only the lowest of the low goes to it. 

There you have it! 

Had a permanent smile on my face since I got it!  I look forward to listening to EVERYTHING on the system.  

It was worth the wait!  ...and I just pre-ordered the Gemini today.  So excited to swap my samsung buds for those! 

Let me know if you have any questions. 



Oh...I guess I should add that I also got a Niagara 1200 sound conditioner - powered by a 2m Monsoon cable, and the other powercables are NRG-Z3's.  LOVE the simplicity of 2 devialet boxes, 2 speakers, and a sub.  Plus the NRG-Z3 fits perfectly in the 220's. 

In the pic...only 1 would fit under the TV...so one is on it's side which is nice as I can see the little display.  Would be AWESOME if the remote had a screen like the boxes did.

[Laura]

Congratulations on the new system! After owning my 440Pro for 2 years it still has the ability to surprise me with how amazing it sounds. I've done the whole 'lets have a quick listening session' thing and still been sat there 5 hours later so many times! I must say though that you need a better position for the second amplifier. Having it just thrown in behind the TV is triggering OCD in me  Can't you put one either side of the legs of the TV?

[Pim]

Congratulations and welcome to the forum. I reads like quite some journey. If you want to get even more out of your system, buy 'Get Better Sound' by Jim Smith. Read it. Learn from it and set your speakers up the way he teaches. As @Laura gets a bit OCD about your second amp, I look at where the speakers are situated and think by myself that you're not even listening to 50% of the quality available to you. You can get that extra 100% just by moving your speakers around.

Good luck and happy listening.

Cheers,

Pim

[Jean-Marie]

Welcome to the club of music lovers hooked by how a Devialet amplifier is a game changer and makes your speakers sound like nothing else.

Jean-Marie

[SoCalB]

Congratulations on the new system! After owning my 440Pro for 2 years it still has the ability to surprise me with how amazing it sounds. I've done the whole 'lets have a quick listening session' thing and still been sat there 5 hours later so many times! I must say though that you need a better position for the second amplifier. Having it just thrown in behind the TV is triggering OCD in me  Can't you put one either side of the legs of the TV?

I totally get it with regards to the placement of the 2nd one.  I've gotten a LOT better with my OCD...lol 

It is a rental...that is why I'm not getting too crazy.  The sides of the fireplace make it so I can't put it on the side without it sticking out 5-6 inches...and with a dog and kids, no bueno. 

It is on a piece of foam, and has 2 points it is leaning on.  It is stable and not going anywhere.  I COULD have hid it behind the back completely, but I actually like that I can see the screen. 

Soooo wish one of those screens was on the remote!

[SoCalB]

Congratulations and welcome to the forum. I reads like quite some journey. If you want to get even more out of your system, buy 'Get Better Sound' by Jim Smith. Read it. Learn from it and set your speakers up the way he teaches. As @Laura gets a bit OCD about your second amp, I look at where the speakers are situated and think by myself that you're not even listening to 50% of the quality available to you. You can get that extra 100% just by moving your speakers around.

Good luck and happy listening.

Cheers,

Pim

Thanks Pim!

I'm aware there is a lot more that can be gotten out of them.  Just doing the best I can at the moment with integrating into the 'main' room with family, dogs, etc. 

Here is a pic of the room (with the LS50's) so you can see how NOT perfect it is for true audiophile listening. 

I will check out the book.  Could probably move the speakers a bit wider.  They are 11-12 inches from the rear wall...(KEF said minimum of 9).  I have them next to the tile fireplace as out of the way. 

I'm guessing moving them wider would be a simple thing I could do?

In the end...even how they are....they sound pretty good.  and I will take any improvements I can get!  

Thanks for the help!


Have tile floors, and lots of glass.  and the room is about 20' wide, and the first 'square' part of the room is about 22' deep then the shape opens up.

[Pim]

There's actually quite a bit to like about the set up. There's no rear wall reflection to worry about. The part of the room where the set up is has high ceilings so no reflection issues there either (Maybe from the ceiling wall behind you but I wouldn't think that's a biggy)

You would be surprised but taking the speakers further apart isn't what I would be looking at. Jim found by trial and error over the years that on average he ended up about 83% of the distance from your tweeters to your ears as the distance between tweeters. In your case, they look to be about 2m apart and your are sitting about 3m away, so you could come into the room by another 50-60cm or so. That's good for sound stage. Your tweeters are also quite low to the ground due to the d'appolito designs you'd want to tilt the speakers backwards. Also, toe them in a bit.

All these things are guidelines and a place to start from, NOT rules. One thing I can say that for every hour you spend on setting your system up, you would have to work ten days to pay for better quality gear to get the same improvement in sound quality. The improvement it that profound.

Enjoy!

[PeppaPig]

Been lurking for years...FINALLY have a reason to post!

When I got my 'first' system about 6 years ago, I heard a demo of the Devialet 110 or 120 - whatever the smallest one was back then.  It sounded amazing, and was out of my price range at the time.  I ended up with the KEF LS-50s (white with blue speaker), a nuprime ida-16, and a 10" JL audio e-sub 110....all for about the price of the smaller devialet. 

The system sounded amazing for what it was.  Punched well above it's weight and brought a LOT of enjoyment. 

Then in January of 2019 I picked up a Reactor 900 which I LOVE for what it is.  Cranks PLENTY of sound for the garage gym...and at some point I will add another for stereo. 

Back to the main system...

As we moved and had a much larger "great room", there is only so much air that two 5 1/4's can move.  The sub filled in the low end, but really missed the weight in the midrange. 

So about 4 weeks ago, after 2.5 hours of demo listening - mostly between the KEF Reference 3, and the new R11's.  I decided the white R11's were the right fit (but man on man, do I LOVE the look of the white Foundry edition Reference 5's with the blue uni-q)

Adding EIGHT 6 1/2's to the equation was awesome...and the 200 watt per channel IDA-16 did a great job pushing them. 

BUT I've always wanted an expert pro 220...and started looked at used ones to see what was out there. 

I ended up stumbling across a dealer selling their floor model Expert Pro 440's.  Luckily they were only a few hours drive away, so I went for a listen. 

They were hooked up to some goldeneye speaker or something, which I didn't think sounded that great...no SAM, wasn't properly set up, etc.  So I didn't put too much weight in the demo.

After they agreed to a 14 day return period so I could listen at my home with my speakers...I paid in full and was out the door.

That night I got the configuration done...and the following day I got them installed. 

Also pulled out my old 8-bay QNAP NAS and got ROON trial set up...  (probably going to do the lifetime...lots to love about it)

I turned everything on at 4:30pm....and in the first 5 minutes I KNEW I was keeping it!

I didn't STOP listening until I looked up and it was 2:10 am!!!

A friend stopped by at 8pm "for an hour" to catch up.  He ended up staying for 4 hours! 

These receivers and speakers sound AMAZING!  

I had to check THREE TIMES that the subwoofer was in fact OFF!! 

I've settled on the SAM at 47, and not using any EQ or room correction of any kind. 

Those KEF R-11s just SING! 

I had 6 music lovers over that Saturday night, and all were blown away. 

Lot of LOUD volume, and ZERO distortion.  After hours of hard driving, they are warm, and NEVER hot to the touch.  

The Devialet sound is just amazing!  From detail, to soundstage, to clarity...just does it all.

One of my wife's friends was over and I played a few songs, and she was like I've heard these songs hundreds of times, but NEVER like this. 

From people with no clue to people that have been in the recording studio - they ALL agree the sound is something special. 

The LS-50's and the nuprime are in the master bedroom...and the e-sub 110 will be joining them, as I have a NEW JL audio Fathom 112 v2 coming for the main room!

Love the JL audio sound, and their new 18 band room correction will be great.  Crossing it over at 45 hertz, so only the lowest of the low goes to it. 

There you have it! 

Had a permanent smile on my face since I got it!  I look forward to listening to EVERYTHING on the system.  

It was worth the wait!  ...and I just pre-ordered the Gemini today.  So excited to swap my samsung buds for those! 

Let me know if you have any questions. 



Oh...I guess I should add that I also got a Niagara 1200 sound conditioner - powered by a 2m Monsoon cable, and the other powercables are NRG-Z3's.  LOVE the simplicity of 2 devialet boxes, 2 speakers, and a sub.  Plus the NRG-Z3 fits perfectly in the 220's. 

In the pic...only 1 would fit under the TV...so one is on it's side which is nice as I can see the little display.  Would be AWESOME if the remote had a screen like the boxes did.

Welcome to the club!

After 2 years I am still enjoying my 1000Pro and I haven’t hear anything better.

[SoCalB]

There's actually quite a bit to like about the set up. There's no rear wall reflection to worry about. The part of the room where the set up is has high ceilings so no reflection issues there either (Maybe from the ceiling wall behind you but I wouldn't think that's a biggy)

You would be surprised but taking the speakers further apart isn't what I would be looking at. Jim found by trial and error over the years that on average he ended up about 83% of the distance from your tweeters to your ears as the distance between tweeters. In your case, they look to be about 2m apart and your are sitting about 3m away, so you could come into the room by another 50-60cm or so. That's good for sound stage. Your tweeters are also quite low to the ground due to the d'appolito designs you'd want to tilt the speakers backwards. Also, toe them in a bit.

All these things are guidelines and a place to start from, NOT rules. One thing I can say that for every hour you spend on setting your system up, you would have to work ten days to pay for better quality gear to get the same improvement in sound quality. The improvement it that profound.

Enjoy!

Thank you!

I ordered the book you recommended, and found a PDF of his 31 tips that he did before the book.  

My head was partly spinning...and I just had to step back.  Music is supposed to be fun, and all in all, the system sounds GREAT and was a huge improvement.  

I'm sure I can get more out of the system, and in time, I will.  Especially when I buy a place and can set it up appropriately from the beginning. 

For now, I'm NOT spending the majority of my time in the exact middle of the couch where both speakers are equidistant.  I do when I listen...but that isn't the majority of the time. 

I'm just enjoying the sound and the enjoyment it is bringing to others.  I will go through the book when I get it, and see what 'simple' things I can start with and see what improvements I can get out of it. 

Thanks again, and have a great weekend!

[hardcore]

Welcome to the dual-mono club! Next thing to experiment with is probably cables... many of us are using an RCA-XLR interconnect between the Master & Companion and find that it a noticeable step up from using RCA-RCA. Worth trying if you haven't.

I've been a Devialet Expert user for the past 2 years, started with a 250 and now a 1000. Still amazed by the sound, the transparency, refinement and control. Listening is always fun.