Devialet Can make a okay speaker great?!

[Nickyrboy]

Hi Guys

Wondered if I am going mad and wanted to get your opinion on something.   I have been swapping between Elac 407's and PMC 26's on my devialet 220 always with SAM at 100% on both and on a whim a friend of mine bought over his Klipsch RP 280f's to try as they have also randomly been SAM'd.  Now both of us weren't expecting the Klipsch to sound anything special compared to the other speakers bearing in mind the price difference but we thought it would be fun to see what bass the devialet could get out of the Klipsch.  We fired the Klipsch up and WOW both of our jaws hit the floor the Klipsch came alive and had thunderous bass with incredible clarity, they also had a true soundstage which previously they had lacked whenever I'd heard them at my friends.  We were genuinely shocked at how a "budget" speaker sounded with SAM on the devialet, has anyone had a similar experience with the Expert range?

Thanks

Nick

[ogs]

First of all your 220 Pro and your friend's RP-280 seems to work extremely well together. This kind of synergy of components is not that common even if a good amp and good speakers should work well.
The Klipsch tractrix tweeter horn is a good design and Klipsch has quite some experience making horns!

[David A]

When I got my 130 I had Dynaudio Contour 1.3SEs and I liked what SAM did but I ended up with SAM set to around 25% because I didn't like the sound of the result at higher settings. I replaced the Dynaudios with my current Focal Sopra 2s some months later and I've found that I prefer the Sopras without SAM. I think a lot depends on the speaker and its setup in the room. You might find a different result if you took your 220 to your friend's home than you got when he brought his speakers to your home because room factors play a big part in speaker response in the bass frequencies.

I think another factor may well relate to how the designer voiced the speaker. Extending the bass will change the balance between the bass and the upper bass/midrange where SAM doesn't change things.. With a lot of music, especially music with singers, I find the shift in balance I hear with SAM and the Sopras makes voices sound less pleasant to me but there's other music where I like the sense of a bit more detail and extension I get in the bass with SAM but I don't like going above 15% with SAM and the Sopras and most of the time I leave it turned off.

I think how you end up feeling about SAM depends on your speakers, your room and how the speakers are set up in the room, and a fair dose of personal taste. It can be great for some people and/or with some speakers in some rooms, and others prefer their speakers without it.