Devialet 800 or 1000 vs. separates

[Ihmeyers]

Please don't take this as anything other than a honest question as I have never heard a Devialet system before...


I understand that the 800 or 1000 are very high quality units capable of producing beautiful music, in addition to being flexible, wife friendly, space saving etc.  I am old school and grew up with separates.  My main system now consists of a Maker 3A reference amp, NAT Audio preamp and a PS Audio digital front end, DSD DAC and DMP transport and Hansen Le Prince speakers.  System has it's fair share of accessories and cables from Synergistic, Siltech, Furutech, etc.  Not the creme de la creme, but about $100k worth of gadgets.  More than the money, a lot of time was spent finding just the right pieces that work together.  I've had more expensive gear, and less expensive gear, but this sounds more like music, to me, than anything I've had before.  My question is, knowing what I know about the Hansen speakers (they are VERY power hungry) I wonder what it would sound like to swap out the amp, preamp and DAC from my system for an 800 or 1000?  I guess what I am asking is does anyone have experience changing from high end separates to a Devialet and a pair of expensive speakers?

It's tough to get the truth from reviews I read online which at the end of the day describe the Devialet as very, very good but lacking that last bit of transparency or ability to reproduce a super wide & deep sound-stage.

Thanks very much in advance. 

Ian

[no32]

I own 800, it replaced Krell evolution amp audio research reference dcs dac and phono stage ( I forgot what it was )

I still own several separate component systems and so far it’s my fav of all

I used to drive with it Wilson’s and now YG acoustics.

It’s an excellent amp, it requires time to calibrate including playing with the firmware version.

I’m not familiar with your speakers so no comment there.

I dying to replace it for some times now but so far I couldn’t find anything that outperform it without spending 70k-100k

Good luck



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Hifi-Ralph]

Please don't take this as anything other than a honest question as I have never heard a Devialet system before...


I understand that the 800 or 1000 are very high quality units capable of producing beautiful music, in addition to being flexible, wife friendly, space saving etc.  I am old school and grew up with separates.  My main system now consists of a Maker 3A reference amp, NAT Audio preamp and a PS Audio digital front end, DSD DAC and DMP transport and Hansen Le Prince speakers.  System has it's fair share of accessories and cables from Synergistic, Siltech, Furutech, etc.  Not the creme de la creme, but about $100k worth of gadgets.  More than the money, a lot of time was spent finding just the right pieces that work together.  I've had more expensive gear, and less expensive gear, but this sounds more like music, to me, than anything I've had before.  My question is, knowing what I know about the Hansen speakers (they are VERY power hungry) I wonder what it would sound like to swap out the amp, preamp and DAC from my system for an 800 or 1000?  I guess what I am asking is does anyone have experience changing from high end separates to a Devialet and a pair of expensive speakers?

It's tough to get the truth from reviews I read online which at the end of the day describe the Devialet as very, very good but lacking that last bit of transparency or ability to reproduce a super wide & deep sound-stage.

Thanks very much in advance.  :)

Ian
Hi Ian,i have switched from an Audio Note M5 and Nat se2 monoblocks in combination with Mbl 116 F speakers to devialet 400.I did this because i wanted to get rid of a lot of boxes and cables, and it seemed like a good solution for me because i could alto connect my Transrotor deck to the dev.I can honestly tell you that it became  quite a disappointment to me soundwise.If you are used to good tube equipment the difference in sound is quite big.The looks are great and it is easy to use, but after a year i found out that I have lost the fun in my audio hobby, and i dont listen to my set very much anymore.
 regards Ralph

[Ihmeyers]

[quote pid='85659' dateline='1563520497']
[quote pid='85650' dateline='1563510484']
Ian
Hi Ian,i have switched from an Audio Note M5 and Nat se2 monoblocks in combination with Mbl 116 F speakers to devialet 400.I did this because i wanted to get rid of a lot of boxes and cables, and it seemed like a good solution for me because i could alto connect my Transrotor deck to the dev.I can honestly tell you that it became  quite a disappointment to me soundwise.If you are used to good tube equipment the difference in sound is quite big.The looks are great and it is easy to use, but after a year i found out that I have lost the fun in my audio hobby, and i dont listen to my set very much anymore.
 regards Ralph

[/quote]

Thanks very much Ralph.  My Maker amp is solid state but it's a $25k retail amp.  The NAT is tubes and it's a $15k preamp.  They sound really good together; that's not always the case no matter how much you spend.  This idea all came about because I want to get monoblocs and that creates a whole chain of upgrades and moves I need to make; position monoblocs right next to speakers, then I'd need long XLRs and two long power cords (big time $$$), etc., etc.  I'd still like to demo an 800 or 1000 with my speakers to hear what it sounds like.  The Devialet stuff certainly is more home friendly than separates.

Those NATse2 are REALLY nice amps.  Those are amps I looked at but my speakers require too much power.  I was thinking the Maker monoblocks which are 600W per side.  I do think I'll buy a Devialet to drive a smaller system I have in my home office.

Ian


[/quote]

[Gerronwithit]

Please don't take this as anything other than a honest question as I have never heard a Devialet system before...


I understand that the 800 or 1000 are very high quality units capable of producing beautiful music, in addition to being flexible, wife friendly, space saving etc.  I am old school and grew up with separates.  My main system now consists of a Maker 3A reference amp, NAT Audio preamp and a PS Audio digital front end, DSD DAC and DMP transport and Hansen Le Prince speakers.  System has it's fair share of accessories and cables from Synergistic, Siltech, Furutech, etc.  Not the creme de la creme, but about $100k worth of gadgets.  More than the money, a lot of time was spent finding just the right pieces that work together.  I've had more expensive gear, and less expensive gear, but this sounds more like music, to me, than anything I've had before.  My question is, knowing what I know about the Hansen speakers (they are VERY power hungry) I wonder what it would sound like to swap out the amp, preamp and DAC from my system for an 800 or 1000?  I guess what I am asking is does anyone have experience changing from high end separates to a Devialet and a pair of expensive speakers?

It's tough to get the truth from reviews I read online which at the end of the day describe the Devialet as very, very good but lacking that last bit of transparency or ability to reproduce a super wide & deep sound-stage.

Thanks very much in advance. 

Ian
Hi Ian,i have switched from an Audio Note M5 and Nat se2 monoblocks in combination with Mbl 116 F speakers to devialet 400.I did this because i wanted to get rid of a lot of boxes and cables, and it seemed like a good solution for me because i could alto connect my Transrotor deck to the dev.I can honestly tell you that it became  quite a disappointment to me soundwise.If you are used to good tube equipment the difference in sound is quite big.The looks are great and it is easy to use, but after a year i found out that I have lost the fun in my audio hobby, and i dont listen to my set very much anymore.
 regards Ralph

Someone going from tube based amplification to Devialet can find it like moving from a warm, smothering Cadillac to a Porsche. The Devialet will mask nothing and produce lots of detail, which can in fact be quite tiresome to some ears. My room is 6 metres by 4 and have never yet managed to push the Devialet anywhere near its full potential and never had the slightest distortion.