Considering Devialet 220: phono and bass questions

[Peter Ward]

I have now taken the plunge and purchased a s/h 250 Expert Pro and have started finding my way around it.

The first things I was very surprised at were how warm it gets, and how much I have to have it turned up! With my Lavardin IT I hardly ever have it turned more than halfway and it's only 55Wpc, while to get similar volume level with the Devialet it has to be in "plus" range of dBs. Obviously some watts are more powerful than others. It also gets too hot to touch.

I have been trying the SAM and it's quite impressive. It doesn't replicate a REL Studio's depth and sense of ease but it makes a good attempt. I will miss the REL...

The phono input isn't bad compared to my Cyrus. Somehow it feels like it has a digital haze on it (I'm using the 192kHz sampling rate) but I guess I'll get used to it. I will miss the Cyrus too....

Now I want to find out out to stream to it. I tried an internet radio app but it didn't find the amp on wifi so I'm trying out Tidal.

It's a shame the Devialet Remote app doesn't work with the amp because it's a pain having to stand over the amp to read the tiny display when making changes to the config, and it would be nice if it could pick up config changes directly from the web configurator rather than having to download the file to the memory card, but I don't think the amps are in Devialet's long-term plans so I'm sure neither of these will fixed.

The sound is very clear and even, perhaps more detailed than the Lavardin. Having remote control for volume is nice. I'm pleased to have it and hope I will enjoy it for many years.

[Stian_Gel]

With my 250 Expert Pro temperatures rarely exceed 50° C
This is while playing quite loud @ -30dB
I would assume something is wrong with your configuration. Only thing i can think of is that you have set the power output to low.
Mine is set to max for my Kef LS50Meta.

[ray1234]

ESL X is 91db sensitivity. I am using my D400 to drive Focal Kanta 2, which I believe is also 91db sensitivity. My D400 is hot, and I also want to make sure it is hot by turning off the power management options, the Devialet sounds much better when it is hot. When you want the Devialet to rest, just turn it off. I usually leave my D400 on 24 hrs beforehand when I have my listening session, this ensures it is at best performance. It will not overheat and degrade the sound quality even if I leave it on for 2 weeks.

Depending on songs, I sometimes need to put my D400 into positive db volume regions as well. This is normal, some songs are recorded with really small volume. But generally speaking -20db to -10db is the normal range.

I only use digital source, so I don't use the RCA input. I read from review some time ago that 192khz may not be the best sampling rate and may sound 'digital', try 96khz.

[Peter Ward]

Thanks for your comments. The power output is set to 250W. I've changed the setting on the phono input to reduce the "max level" - I'm not sure what it should be but I've reduced it to 500uV - and it's helped a bit. I think that input is quieter than the digital one. I'm only going into the positive dB when I'm listening to it loud. Ray, your mention of listening to it hot is useful so thanks for that. I have always left my amps on 24/7 but had planned not to do that with the Devialet since it has standby so I'll have to see about that. I will also try the lower sampling frequency and see what that does to the sound. Overall I'm enjoying it!

[Waiski]

Thanks for your comments. The power output is set to 250W. I've changed the setting on the phono input to reduce the "max level" - I'm not sure what it should be but I've reduced it to 500uV - and it's helped a bit. I think that input is quieter than the digital one. I'm only going into the positive dB when I'm listening to it loud. Ray, your mention of listening to it hot is useful so thanks for that. I have always left my amps on 24/7 but had planned not to do that with the Devialet since it has standby so I'll have to see about that. I will also try the lower sampling frequency and see what that does to the sound. Overall I'm enjoying it!

What is your cartridge? Devialet output uV should be the same as your cartridge output. For Hana ML it should be 400uV.