Devialet's newest technology...?

[devianet]

I always had an impression that the ghost of Peter Walker was influencing Devialet with the ADH "current dumping" design, but with the Phantom there are a further three parallels:

1. They explicitly mention the "straight wire with gain" philosophy in the white paper.

2. The Phantom tries to follow the Quad ESL ideal of a point source.

3. The Phantom is near-spherical. Peter Walker was keen on spherical speakers as a concept and researched a spherical ESL which was never productionised.

As far as inspiration goes, they could do far worse....

The most significant thing of all for me - along with all other DXXX owners - is that in the Phantom the ADH is now on an ASIC, bringing a step change in cost of production. There now isn't any reason why Devialet couldn't license this (think B&O ICEPower) for a whole slew of much cheaper products from many manufacturers which could rival the DXXX in SQ.

Great for Devialet, but if you've shelled out a lot of hi-end beer vouchers for a D1, then paid again to get it upgraded to a D250, it's going to suck when you can buy the same SQ from Logitech for next to nothing.

[Eddye]

I always had an impression that the ghost of Peter Walker was influencing Devialet with the ADH "current dumping" design, but with the Phantom there are a further three parallels:

1. They explicitly mention the "straight wire with gain" philosophy in the white paper.

2. The Phantom tries to follow the Quad ESL ideal of a point source.

3. The Phantom is near-spherical. Peter Walker was keen on spherical speakers as a concept and researched a spherical ESL which was never productionised.

As far as inspiration goes, they could do far worse....

The most significant thing of all for me - along with all other DXXX owners - is that in the Phantom the ADH is now on an ASIC, bringing a step change in cost of production. There now isn't any reason why Devialet couldn't license this (think B&O ICEPower) for a whole slew of much cheaper products from many manufacturers which could rival the DXXX in SQ.

Great for Devialet, but if you've shelled out a lot of hi-end beer vouchers for a D1, then paid again to get it upgraded to a D250, it's going to suck when you can buy the same SQ from Logitech for next to nothing.

I never pays to be an early adopter. You always pay "too much" for something that will be a lot cheaper in the (near) future. If you have a problem with that, simply steer clear of any new tech, wait a decade and then buy. It was bad for D-premier owners who had to pay extra to upgrade, it was a bit better with us who bought a 120/200/400/250/800 and it's even better for Phantom buyers. That simply the way innovation works.
The upside is an early adopter can use this new and amazing tech of the future today. Personally I'm happy to own a Devialet. I've had 2 great upgrades to my system already and that includes a power jump of 30 watts. What other device has that?

[tommykh]

Has anyone received invitation code from Devialet in connection with the pre order of Phantom? Postponed from December 22 to, today December 23

Not me, unfortunately, did you?

No, I do not think anyone has gotten this code yet.
I have sent them mail and request on facebook. See answer:

https://m.facebook.com/comment/replies/?...hare_reply


Approximately one hours remaind of the time window of 24 hours.

Update:

Have not yet received an invitation code, or new information.
 
Devialet clearly has challenges and potential for improvement with what they communicate and when.
This is regrettable, as to exclude the dealer network they have established, if this proves to be the case.

Merry Christmas

[axc123]

Phantom info:

http://images.computeraudiophile.com/gra...elease.pdf
http://images.computeraudiophile.com/gra...0Paper.pdf

[nicoludio]

To quote Guillaume from another thread:

I totally agree. I would be absolutely amazed if a pair of phantoms could sound better than a well optimised D120/200/250/400/800 setup. The bass may be amazing for a speaker of that size but that doesn't mean that its tonal quality and texture will even come close to that of a decent pair of standmounts or floorstanders.

I'm sure it will sound very good though and I'm certainly looking forward to giving it a listen in due course. If it can get more people into Devialet ownership then that's surely a good thing since these people will then naturally aspire to own other models in the range. Not to mention all the positive externalities which were will all benefit from, principally better software and control points (UPnP etc).

Guillaume

I would be keen to hear what they have achieved - even after discounting the hype that they have distilled what is achievable with a GBP 50,000 system into the Phantoms, and that the miniaturised ADH chip sounds about as good as the full bore ADH board.

My experience with the Devialets have been rather mixed. D-Premiers monos into Raidho D1 were rather decent if somewhat clinical and dry sounding. D200 into Raidho D2 lacked body, harmonics and texture plus had a mist/haze overlay - it did not help that the dealer had inadvertently swapped the L/R channels, used an unbroken in unit with the CD source some 4+ meters away from the D200.

Subsequently, at a local hi-fi show, I heard the Ensemble (D120 + Atohm). From a brief listen, it sounded quite amazing and so unlike the previous encounters. Surely an "integrated" active system with DSP crossovers would be able to improve upon that? It is conceptually similar to the Grimm Audio LS1/LS1s but at about 1/6th the price.

[ozthepoz]

I always had an impression that the ghost of Peter Walker was influencing Devialet with the ADH "current dumping" design, but with the Phantom there are a further three parallels:

1. They explicitly mention the "straight wire with gain" philosophy in the white paper.

2. The Phantom tries to follow the Quad ESL ideal of a point source.

3. The Phantom is near-spherical. Peter Walker was keen on spherical speakers as a concept and researched a spherical ESL which was never productionised.

As far as inspiration goes, they could do far worse....

The most significant thing of all for me - along with all other DXXX owners - is that in the Phantom the ADH is now on an ASIC, bringing a step change in cost of production. There now isn't any reason why Devialet couldn't license this (think B&O ICEPower) for a whole slew of much cheaper products from many manufacturers which could rival the DXXX in SQ.

Great for Devialet, but if you've shelled out a lot of hi-end beer vouchers for a D1, then paid again to get it upgraded to a D250, it's going to suck when you can buy the same SQ from Logitech for next to nothing.

I never pays to be an early adopter. You always pay "too much" for something that will be a lot cheaper in the (near) future. If you have a problem with that, simply steer clear of any new tech, wait a decade and then buy. It was bad for D-premier owners who had to pay extra to upgrade, it was a bit better with us who bought a 120/200/400/250/800 and it's even better for Phantom buyers. That simply the way innovation works.
The upside is an early adopter can use this new and amazing tech of the future today. Personally I'm happy to own a Devialet. I've had 2 great upgrades to my system already and that includes a power jump of 30 watts. What other device has that?

Agree with Eddye. Just hope that Phantom takes off so that the company can continue to invest in all its products.

[GuillaumeB]

My experience with the Devialets have been rather mixed. D-Premiers monos into Raidho D1 were rather decent if somewhat clinical and dry sounding. D200 into Raidho D2 lacked body, harmonics and texture plus had a mist/haze overlay - it did not help that the dealer had inadvertently swapped the L/R channels, used an unbroken in unit with the CD source some 4+ meters away from the D200.

Subsequently, at a local hi-fi show, I heard the Ensemble (D120 + Atohm). From a brief listen, it sounded quite amazing and so unlike the previous encounters. Surely an "integrated" active system with DSP crossovers would be able to improve upon that? It is conceptually similar to the Grimm Audio LS1/LS1s but at about 1/6th the price.

I think what you are effectively intimating is that setup is massively important with the Devialets. I've also heard Devialets sound thin/dry/bright, including with some decent speaker combinations.

Get them properly optimised (and in some cases that includes running in!) and they sound out of this world. Tweaker's Corner is your friend. Source is important too, even AIR can sound different depending on whether you are using iTunes, Audirvana... and as we've discovered thanks to in-depth reports shared by forum members the actual hardware you are using as a source matters too. How you connect from the source to Devialet also appears to have an impact (For e.g. USB v ethernet).

Can't speak for the D2 but Rufus on here owns the C1.1 which I believe is a very similar speaker to the D1. Perhaps he'll chime in with his experiences.

Cheers

Guillaume

[Rufus McDufus]

I can imagine a D200 with Raidho D-2s would be a little underpowered? My C-1.1s are probably about on the cusp with the D200. The power boost from 170 to 200W was welcome.
Not terribly familiar with D-1s (but would like a pair!). I don't find my C-1.1s dry though. They are a bit fussy to speaker cables and I've used some cables that just made them sound a bit dead. They seem to like a 'dynamic-sounding' cable like Nordost (or Ansuz).

[IanG-UK]

I always had an impression that the ghost of Peter Walker was influencing Devialet with the ADH "current dumping" design, but with the Phantom there are a further three parallels:

1. They explicitly mention the "straight wire with gain" philosophy in the white paper.

2. The Phantom tries to follow the Quad ESL ideal of a point source.

3. The Phantom is near-spherical. Peter Walker was keen on spherical speakers as a concept and researched a spherical ESL which was never productionised.

As far as inspiration goes, they could do far worse....

The most significant thing of all for me - along with all other DXXX owners - is that in the Phantom the ADH is now on an ASIC, bringing a step change in cost of production. There now isn't any reason why Devialet couldn't license this (think B&O ICEPower) for a whole slew of much cheaper products from many manufacturers which could rival the DXXX in SQ.

Great for Devialet, but if you've shelled out a lot of hi-end beer vouchers for a D1, then paid again to get it upgraded to a D250, it's going to suck when you can buy the same SQ from Logitech for next to nothing.

The pivotal difference is that Peter Walker developed his designs over many years before public launch, most noticeable in my era and his with the 405 and the ESL63. Devialet have launched their Phantom and Dialog offerings at a time when a key element of all Devialet amplifiers simply does not work.

[Confused]

I see the UK / English Devialet website has now been updated, with some very basic details of Dialog, Spark etc. plus a Phantom remote, with display.

---

I also note that the Devialet website states that Phantom is "1000 times superior to current systems". Impressive! Assuming it's true?