Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Describe the Devialet Sound
#1
I have been sitting on fence, thinking about changing my rig to a Devialet 400
As I have no local dealer to take a demo.

I know it can be hard, but can you please describe the sound using a Devialet 400.

Current rig, Sunfire Tubed Preamp, VPI Turntable, Carver Silver Seven Tube Amps (500 wpc). B&W 802D speakers.

Thanks Brian
Vinnie Rossi L2iSE integrated amp, VPI Classic TurnTable c/w Transfiguration Phoenix Cart, 
Auralic Aries G2, Audience Front Row USB cable, B&W 803D3 (black) Audience Front Row Bi wire speaker cables, 
6 x OREA Bronze Footers.
                                                                 Ottawa, Canada.                                                                                      

Reply
#2
i think the sound is different between different speakers so personally ive never used/heard them with b&w although i think someone here actually has those speakers so hopefully they can chime in with their experience!
Amp - Devialet 400 Speakers - vivid audio B1 Speaker cable - audioquest oak Power conditioner - furman SPR 16IE Source - audio PC with paul pang audio usb card v3 and paul pang red dual usb cable running through jplay. usb card powered by teddy pardo power supply Source 2 - line in from integra AV receiver (TV)
Reply
#3
(29-Jul-2015, 01:30)BrianT Wrote: I have been sitting on fence, thinking about changing my rig to a Devialet 400
As I have no local dealer to take a demo.

I know it can be hard, but can you please describe the sound using a Devialet 400.

Current rig, Sunfire Tubed Preamp, VPI Turntable, Carver Silver Seven Tube Amps (500 wpc). B&W 802D speakers.

Thanks Brian

Hi Brian,

As I have found out, you don't necessarily need a 'local' dealer. OK, so you are not, I presume 'squatting' or about to get evicted, or on the naughty list Undecided , and have been a respectable member of society for some time? Of course you have Angel

As I found out, a quick call to a Dev good dealer closest, could net you a delivered demo at yours (with a suitable deposit)? I did that recently for a sub.
What have you to lose? Try it!

Keith
Fairford UK area - Devialet 440, Aurender Streamer- Linked to QNAP NAS 453mini - Triangle Signature Deltas, Van Damme Professional Blue Series Studio Grade 2 x 4.0 mm cables, Moon Neo 260D DC Transport, Dell notebook Client linked both ethernet & wifi.
Reply
#4
(29-Jul-2015, 01:30)BrianT Wrote: I have been sitting on fence, thinking about changing my rig to a Devialet 400
As I have no local dealer to take a demo.

I know it can be hard, but can you please describe the sound using a Devialet 400.

Current rig, Sunfire Tubed Preamp, VPI Turntable, Carver Silver Seven Tube Amps (500 wpc). B&W 802D speakers.

Thanks Brian

Hallo

I Heard Devialet 250 with 802D. I was unimpressed. It sounds very technical. Cold. Lack of emotions. But if You like studio like sound, very neutral You can try 802D. I personally preffered sound of 200 with 805D than previous set up.

Devialet 400 sound very very good with Sonus Faber Elipsa. Great combination. Full of Power and great soundstage plus super bass.
Reply
#5
(29-Jul-2015, 13:05)teddlesdee Wrote: Hi Brian,

As I have found out, you don't necessarily need a 'local' dealer. OK, so you are not, I presume 'squatting' or about to get evicted, or on the naughty list  Undecided , and have been a respectable member of society for some time? Of course you have  Angel

As I found out, a quick call to a Dev good dealer closest, could net you a delivered demo at yours (with a suitable deposit)? I did that recently for a sub.
What have you to lose? Try it!

Keith
Keith

My nearest dealer has a trade in 400 that I am interested in at a fair price.
I did ask him if I could have an in home demo, I would pay in full and all the shipping charges.
His reply was.

"Of course. Yes I do have a 30 days exchange policy (I do not have a refund policy)."

I would hate to put that amount of coin out, and not be happy with the sound.

When I asked him to describe the sound, this was his response 

"I will confess that I, personally, am not in love with the product. The product is well engineer and well built. Its aesthetics is stunning. If someone wants to customize the product he/she will be well served. It also offer a good dynamics sounds, with a wide sound-stage and over all pleasant resolution. Nothing annoying. Personally I would have prefer more resolution, more definition and a fuller sound. Still, a lot of our customer have bought Devialet product and loved it."

Now you might see why I asked users to describe the sound. 

Thanks Brian
Vinnie Rossi L2iSE integrated amp, VPI Classic TurnTable c/w Transfiguration Phoenix Cart, 
Auralic Aries G2, Audience Front Row USB cable, B&W 803D3 (black) Audience Front Row Bi wire speaker cables, 
6 x OREA Bronze Footers.
                                                                 Ottawa, Canada.                                                                                      

Reply
#6
Hi Brian,

I had tube gear years ago, and then spent about 10 years or more with Naim equipment. I like tubes, and I had some excellent time using McIntosh, Leek, Dynaco (heavily modified) tube amps in integrated, power and mono-block formations. I eventually found that I preferred the cleaner, more rhythmic sound of the Naim equipment. Tube gear was still pleasing, but I did not want to go back to it. As a bass player esp, tubes did not do it for me. Granted, I did not spend time with ARC or other expensive tube setups, but I was not swayed by Pathos, Jadis, Cary, or even newer McIntosh tube gear.

The background story is just to set up a bit of context for my descriptive terms. I heard the Devialet and it was exactly what I wanted. For me, the Devialet gives sound that is exceptionally clear and uncoloured. It has a 3D sense to the notes, without fuzz or overhang, that I have not heard from other gear. It is also extremely revealing and neutral. Music comes out of the Devialet with an ease and nuance that I, personally, have not heard before. In addition, the bass extension, control and detail is beyond any other amp I've heard, including massive Classe mono blocks. These are my opinions and descriptions, so I'm not looking to start a debate or challenge anyone else's opinions.

I don't think there are many amps that have better resolution or clarity of expression, so I disagree with your dealer on that point. Curiously, the local dealer here who has McIntosh amps (big stacks of them with a wall of blue meters) quietly agreed with me when I mentioned my take on the Dev-Mac comparison.

I'll point out that I have not spent years going from dealer to dealer listening to a huge range of products. In fact, I'd say that many others here and elsewhere have much more experience than I do, and are certainly much more educated as to what is available. It is also true that I have not heard any of the gear that you list as your current system.

But I suggest you search for threads from about eight months ago, that have Devialet (vs or v) Einsten tube amps; v the best; v Parasound/ Pass; v Naim superuniti. There are some very good posts there from others who came to Devialet from other brands; F1eng and PhilP come to mind as two who have made a number of very good posts about what they like about Devialet. Their posts were very helpful to me when I was in the pre-purchase stage.

I am surprised that your dealer won't do or allow a home demo. The Devialet is nothing if not easy to move around. But if a 'fuller' sound is to your liking, then perhaps the Devialet would not be the right amp. To me, fullness is either in the recording or it is not; having it added by the system is not my preference. Some here have tweaked away, in spite of the limited opportunities for doing so (again, IMHO). I don't think it is a system for folks who like to fuss with the gear. It is not to everyone's taste, just as we all have different speaker preferences.

Sorry for the long post; it's either play here, or go back to work.
Damon
Powernode, NAD M32, Cambridge CD transport, Analysis Plus, Nordost, iFi Nova, CSS Criton 1TDX, KEF C62
Vancouver, Canada
Reply
#7
IME
Transparent.
Clear without harshness, open without brightness, clean unexaggerated bass without overhang.

If you like extra added colour from your electronics it is not for you...

I have had mine for over 4 years now nobody who has heard it disliked it. The only person who preferred a different amp (his own) is into the warmer but less detailed sound of his valve amp. He called the Devialet a bit clinical, I judged his valve amp warm and 3D (higher background noise gives the impression of greater stereo depth) but masking detail and with less well defined bass.

My Goldmund Mimesis 29.4s seemed to have more stereo depth too, but they had more low level noise too.
Devialet Original d'Atelier 44 Core, Job Pre/225, Goldmund PH2, Goldmund Reference/T3f /Ortofon A90, Goldmund Mimesis 36+ & Chord Blu, iMac/Air, Lynx Theta, Tune Audio Anima, Goldmund Epilog 1&2, REL Studio. Dialog, Silver Phantoms, Branch stands, copper cables (mainly).
Oxfordshire

Reply
#8
(30-Jul-2015, 17:31)f1eng Wrote: IME
Transparent.
Clear without harshness, open without brightness, clean unexaggerated bass without overhang.

If you like extra added colour from your electronics it is not for you...

Yes, exactly this. 

I remember reading a pieces in Stereophile some time ago, in a review I think by J. Atkinson, in which he said that the job of a power amplifier should be the easiest of all components; take a signal and make it louder (or amplify it) without doing anything else to it. I thought that point was obvious, but I hadn't really thought about it until he stated it so simply. Auditioning the Devialet I realized that all the other gear I had owned, or listened to, added its own tonal colour, and emphasized certain parts of the music, or of the original signal.

The Devialet reveals the music that you put into it. It does not make bad recordings sound good. Compressed music files- crappy music files  in other words- are more apparently crappy. My Naim gear was not as ruthless in this respect. I'm more disappointed with the sound quality of discs of some of my favourite music than I was before, but that simply demonstrates that the Devialet gives a more truthful rendering of the input signal. Those discs are crappy. I just didn't realize how compressed they are.

BTW, I feel that I also get more emotion from recordings than I did before. Hearing Sarah Vaughan sing 'Key Largo' or 'Whatever Lola Wants' is still amazing. Close, clear and immediate.

And I'm using a D120. I'd expect more space, dynamics and authority from a D400. But who has space to store two boxes?
Damon
Powernode, NAD M32, Cambridge CD transport, Analysis Plus, Nordost, iFi Nova, CSS Criton 1TDX, KEF C62
Vancouver, Canada
Reply
#9
Thanks guys for the reply's

f1eng Description > Transparent.

Clear without harshness, open without brightness, clean unexaggerated bass without overhang.

Sounds like what I am looking for, but I'm afraid about the lack of warmth.
The last owner who traded this set in, went with Macintosh amps, I am not a lover of them
as I have always found them to be mushy in the bottom end.

On Thursday, I sent the dealer an Email, telling him that I am will the purchase the 400 (paid in full before he ships)
if he will give me a 7 day money back return, his response was "we have a 30 day exchange" business must be real good for him.
If for some reason I do not like the 400, I do not want to be stuck in purchasing a Macintosh from him.

I have found another dealer 500km away, but he does not have any perviously owned units, and I would not ask him for a demo
if I had no intension of purchasing from him, I do have ethics. The trade in unit is at a fair price 12K and a new one is not in my budget. Sad

Thanks Brian
Vinnie Rossi L2iSE integrated amp, VPI Classic TurnTable c/w Transfiguration Phoenix Cart, 
Auralic Aries G2, Audience Front Row USB cable, B&W 803D3 (black) Audience Front Row Bi wire speaker cables, 
6 x OREA Bronze Footers.
                                                                 Ottawa, Canada.                                                                                      

Reply
#10
(01-Aug-2015, 00:15)BrianT Wrote: Thanks guys for the reply's

f1eng Description > Transparent.

Clear without harshness, open without brightness, clean unexaggerated bass without overhang.

Sounds like what I am looking for, but I'm afraid about the lack of warmth.
The last owner who traded this set in, went with Macintosh amps, I am not a lover of them
as I have always found them to be mushy in the bottom end.

On Thursday, I sent the dealer an Email, telling him that I am will the purchase the 400 (paid in full before he ships)
if he will give me a 7 day money back return, his response was "we have a 30 day exchange" business must be real good for him.
If for some reason I do not like the 400, I do not want to be stuck in purchasing a Macintosh from him.

I have found another dealer 500km away, but he does not have any perviously owned units, and I would not ask him for a demo
if I had no intension of purchasing from him, I do have ethics. The trade in unit is at a fair price 12K and a new one is not in my budget. Sad

Thanks Brian

Sounds like the best bet is to tell us approx where you live (sorry if I have missed that bit), then post something on this forum asking if anyone near-ish has a dev 400 for you to go listen to. I am sure us Dev guys would be more than happy to accommodate! All you need to do is leave the Magnum and your samurai swords at the door for collection on your way out! Big Grin
Fairford UK area - Devialet 440, Aurender Streamer- Linked to QNAP NAS 453mini - Triangle Signature Deltas, Van Damme Professional Blue Series Studio Grade 2 x 4.0 mm cables, Moon Neo 260D DC Transport, Dell notebook Client linked both ethernet & wifi.
Reply


Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)