Devialet on the wall

[Hifi_swlon]

Great to find this post - gave me a bit more reassurance in mounting mine to the wall today.

Ended up using only the top 2 screws as weight-wise it seems more than adequate.  Plus drilling into masonry meant I'm about 2 mm out which is upsetting, as I know its not straight even if it looks it!

I need to replace the screws with flat headed ones, as just used whatever would fit for now.  I might go back and pop the lower screws in at some point too, that way if it does budge when pushing cables in or something, at least there's a chance of more catching. I nearly made that mistake first time round shoving the mains lead in!

I read a few people saying it needs a bit more space for ventilation, but I didn't want it sitting proud of the wall really.  In any case, there's exactly the same gap beneath it as when its sitting on the flat, and since heat rises, surely there's more chance of it escaping from underneath now anyway?

It sounds great wall mounted.  Its spent its life so far sitting on top of its predecessor (a Class D amplifier, switched off), so maybe it likes the move away from  the transformers or something. Or maybe its all imaged….  It looks great thats what counts, and I can finally see the screen which is fantastic for tone controls!

Now, I'm not chasing in a conduit for cables unless I know for sure it's staying where it is, so I need a temp fix of some cable sheaths to at least tidy up and semi-hide the wires for the time being.

Mmmmm, the fairly heavily framed picture that's hanging above it suddenly seems a lot heavier and more dangerous.  Might have to get a second set of fixings on that just incase…..

[thumb5]

Sounds like your 200 is staying then -- good to hear that!

[Hifi_swlon]

Sounds like your 200 is staying then -- good to hear that!

Believe it or not, I still haven't decided!

But as my wife fairly reasonably pointed out, that was the whole point of getting it, and even if we're not keeping it can we at least clear out the (currently) unused hifi from the lounge and get it mounted and enjoy it's beautiful looks in the meantime.  Fair play, things do look a lot nicer now and it does look a lot better not sitting on top of another amp!

Weirdly, the changes I've made in the past few days - speaker cables, wall mounting, slight speaker repositioning have made quite a big difference to the SQ. I dont know if I'll ever get there with this setup - its possible I just need different kit and don't know what that is - but its getting there.  Maybe a couple of jitterbugs (arriving tomorrow), a REGEN (just ordered), and the same speaker cables PMC voice with will get me as close as I'm gonna get without buying a new source (which I cant afford).  

So if at the end of these experiments I don't fully love it, I'm clearing the decks and starting again for sure.  

For now, it does look a hell of  a lot better, and for reasons I don't understand, sound a bit better too!

[completeluxury]

have you you ever auditioned any other sources besides the mac mini? couldnt that be your SQ bottleneck?

maybe see if you can get an aurender etc on loan from a dealer for a bit and see how that changes the system.

or do the uptone audio mac mini battery upgrade!

[Manoet]

Yes, you could say the Devialets are 'semi' cages of Faraday. The thick aluminum case will reflect most of the direct hitting 2.4GHz radio waves and absorb the rest. These waves will only penetrate the plastic parts, not the thick metal parts. The 250/D-Premier has it's antenna at the front behind the plastic window but the other Devialet models at the back so afer mounting it on the wall it's harder for the 120/200 to receive the remote signal as these would almost have to "bend" around the big aluminum front to reach the internal antenna.

Further evidence that aluminium (even foil) can act as a Faraday cage One for the DIYers to try

But everyone at least topically, seems to be forgetting the four bigger problems completely surrounding the top 3 sides of the Devialet, inside & out! Affectionately referred to as chrome, nickel, copper and tin over the aluminum inside & out virtually guaranteeing 'aluminum' doesn't even enter into the equation! All of which, even in thin plating layers are a more efficient 'reflector' of UHF than aluminum. The perfect storm of UHF impenetrable layers... nothing gets in, nothing gets out! But none of that should matter in the case of the remote. Mine works with my wall mount from two feet away or 16 feet away in a bathroom, kitchen or dining room. What it won't do strangely enough is work "thru" me standing directly in front of the wall-mounted Devialet with the remote held behind my back. Still haven't figured that one out! But its virtually assured there is a way 'in' for UHF and logically at the front/top of the unit; wall-mount/desk mount... and my bet is the 32mm GUI bezel opening is somehow the signal receiving portal but try as I might, I've yet to identify it or confirm its location unless its embedded in or an integral part of the small LED screen which sits behind the bezel and, I suppose, is entirely possible. The actual LED screen is a tiny little 45mm X 55mm rectangular-ish screen behind the round bezel if anyone's interested. So even tho I find the GUI portal bezel the most obvious place to put the UHF receiver, Devialet has a penchant for doing non-intuitive things which brings me to the second part...

With Devialet it somehow makes sense to bury it under the case. Make it a little tougher for a signal to wriggle it's way in... throw some obstacles at it and force some gymnastics on those pesky UHF waves. Don't make it easy for em! A place that just kinda screams Devialet... the big gold-colored "E" just inside one of the viewing windows in the belly pan. There's a small chip module soldered to the digital board above it. Would be easy to test; just cover with a piece of foil and try your remote right next to it. If no-go there's the answer. But I still believe the GUI portal to be the most likely suspect as its the most accessible UHF wave-wise in any position from any angle. Same test works for the GUI portal as well (unless they run dual array receivers, ie; front & back) its just I'm unable to conduct any of these tests right now for rather obvious reasons ;-)

[Hifi_swlon]

have you you ever auditioned any other sources besides the mac mini?  couldnt that be your SQ bottleneck?

maybe see if you can get an aurender etc on loan from a dealer for a bit and see how that changes the system.

or do the uptone audio mac mini battery upgrade!

Could be, but haven't got the budget for it right now so won't be auditioning.  AIR - That was a key reason why I bought the Devialet so I didn't have to get a new streamer, but I've covered those frustrations elsewhere already.

I'm hoping the Jitterbugs and REGEN (both ordered) will help the mini along a bit.  Possibly the Facts are just too revealing, or not the right speaker for me, or possibly the Devialet itself.  Thing is, my living room is my listening room, and there's no way to accommodate any changes really, so its already fighting suspended wooden floors, hard surfaces but with a few soft furnishings like sofa/chairs, no doubt all in the wrong places - that's London houses for normal people.

Most likely I just haven't heard the combination of things that work for me.  Thats sort of what tempted me to try the Phantom, but I'll wait until it evolves a bit and see if Devialet get their software act together before even trying.

I've now found a slightly taller piece of 'furniture' (if you can call a recycled wooden crate furniture - boho don't you know) so it hides the cables from the Devialet and I can now gaze into the beautiful mirrored rear of the mac mini… Does look a lot neater.  With the right piece of furniture in front I might not even need to chase cables, it can look like it just floats level...

[brit]

have you you ever auditioned any other sources besides the mac mini?  couldnt that be your SQ bottleneck?

maybe see if you can get an aurender etc on loan from a dealer for a bit and see how that changes the system.

or do the uptone audio mac mini battery upgrade!

Could be, but haven't got the budget for it right now so won't be auditioning.  AIR - That was a key reason why I bought the Devialet so I didn't have to get a new streamer, but I've covered those frustrations elsewhere already.

I'm hoping the Jitterbugs and REGEN (both ordered) will help the mini along a bit.  Possibly the Facts are just too revealing, or not the right speaker for me, or possibly the Devialet itself.  Thing is, my living room is my listening room, and there's no way to accommodate any changes really, so its already fighting suspended wooden floors, hard surfaces but with a few soft furnishings like sofa/chairs, no doubt all in the wrong places - that's London houses for normal people.

Most likely I just haven't heard the combination of things that work for me.  Thats sort of what tempted me to try the Phantom, but I'll wait until it evolves a bit and see if Devialet get their software act together before even trying.

I've now found a slightly taller piece of 'furniture' (if you can call a recycled wooden crate furniture - boho don't you know) so it hides the cables from the Devialet and I can now gaze into the beautiful mirrored rear of the mac mini… Does look a lot neater.  With the right piece of furniture in front I might not even need to chase cables, it can look like it just floats level...

We need a picture of this creation .


David

[Hifi_swlon]

So, now I've wall mounted my D200, the remote sensitivity isn't too hot. It's in an alcove next to the fireplace as well which probably doesn't help.

Maybe that's a benefit of the proper wall mount rather than just screws - that it moves it away from the wall a bit to help with remote signals? I prefer having it mounted more flush with the wall, but I'd be prepared to buy one if anyone's experienced a big improvement with remote signal. I can work with it - just takes a few goes and needs a bit of waving around... And that lovely smoothness has gone.

I read in another thread that the remote can connect to wifi, and then control the Dev via Ethernet? Can't find that thread now when searching.  I have mine hard wired,,and since I don't use Air any more, this would be a great solution if anyone knows how.

And I will update a photo once I've tidied it up. It will be a bit of an anticlimax though - there are so many amazing systems and beautiful listening rooms depicted here.... Having it in the lounge doesn't quite compete  

[Morten]

Hallo I use the original wall mount, from time to time I have to move the remote to get it to work, it may be the batteries that needs replacement... But all in all I do not have any issues, I also looks coll that it is a little offset from the wall, but that is just my opinion

Kind regards Morten

[f1eng]

 Thing is, my living room is my listening room, and there's no way to accommodate any changes really, so its already fighting suspended wooden floors, hard surfaces but with a few soft furnishings like sofa/chairs, no doubt all in the wrong places - that's London houses for normal people.

IME the biggest thing hurting sound quality is the design fashion of modern rooms. The most important part of getting a good sound is the room and the speaker and listener positions in it. Loads of hard surfaces for harsh reflections and often no carpet will never sound good. You can spend a million pounds on a hifi and it will still be imperfect if the room is bare and the speaker position has to be compromised.
One thing I have found helps in reflective rooms with brightish speakers is to toe in the speakers so much that their axis crosses well in front to you. This reduces wall reflections and keeps you off the tweeter axis.

In the case of the remote (not the app the rotary volume control) I have had no problems vertically mounted. I don't know exactly how it works, but it does not use wifi (the remote worked fine before wifi was added and the hardware supplied)