Disappointed w/ Gold Phantom. Am I doing I wrong?

[aasch08]

I intitially saw the gold phantom in Taipei 101 tower.
Year later I downsized to a small apartment had some extra money and decided to finally get a dream speaker.

Well now I have a gold phantom & tree stand & I am terribly disappointed. The bass from the phantom feels completely lacking to me. Typically I have the volume set to 40-60 pending of music/movie/games I’m watching. I can barely feel/hear any base. The sub woofers are moving and doing their thing, but unless I push the volume up to 80 it’s lacking (imo) and at that volume everything except the bass become unpleasant to listen to. All my music feels hollow, explosions no longer sound explosive, the experience thus far has be disheartening. 

I am in a small apartment, phantom is in the living room/kitchen, it’s about 14ft by 20ft room. Phantom isn’t placed anywhere specific, I’ve been moving it around hoping for some effect. The phantom was supposed to be an upgrade from my Sony soundbar ct80, and again (imo) the bass from that is much better.

I solely listen to rap, R&B, play games, watch movies (action/horror/suspense). I have contacted Devialet thinking something might be wrong, but they confirmed it’s working as it should.

Has my life growing up/being around listening to heavy bass everything permanently ruined my interpretation of sound? Or is there something I can do to improve this. Am I just doing the gold phantom wrong? Or maybe this type of speaker isn’t meant for someone like me. I’d be willing to try any suggestions.


Thanks

[ragwo]

Kind of a stupid question, but have you unchecked the night mode button in Spark?

[aasch08]

Yup. Night mode is not active. This was my first thought as well.

[daibaron]

do you use WIFI over Bluetooth ? Do you listen to lossless audio files ?

[Jamington2004]

Kind of a stupid question, but have you unchecked the night mode button in Spark?

Good call that caught me out loads it’s not exactly obvious when it’s off or on!

But it may just be the way they sound - and depending on what you are used to they may sound like there is less bass. But it could be there is just tighter, cleaner bass exactly as it’s recorded, which can sound lacking compared to a system which artificially enhances bass, or simply can’t control the bass so it ends up sounding bassier because the driver doesn’t stop and start the notes quickly, instead just vibrating longer and creating the “boom” that’s most are used to

A dealer once told me how he tried to talk someone out of buying some B&W nautilus, his “dream speaker” - because compared to what he had the bass would be so “accurate” that he would think it was missing. True enough he hated them and went for something more to his taste basswise even

If that’s the case and you prefer a more upfront / accentuated bass - you could try adding some EQ via Spotify over airplay to see if it sounds better? Also try putting in a corner / close to a rear wall / side wall as like any speaker they respond to placement

I have to say I adore the sharp crisp sound and super tight bass that is only loud and deep when the recording wants it to be....... but sometimes I too wish I could just turn up the bass a bit too

Anyway no expert in the arena of bass, or what sounds “good” but it could just be they are different to what you are used to and need some getting used to 

Like an album you hated at first listen and is now your favourite.....

[kmjy]

Yeah basically the bass is only played at the level intended and it’s not distorted so a lot of people aren’t used to that because distortion is generally perceived as loudness. When there is no distortion it can initially seem underwhelming.

In this case though I think your listening area is too small for the density of sound being output from the Phantom.

If I put my Phantom in a small area and play a song with heavy bass it either sounds WAY WAY TOO overpowering or completely lacking, almost non existent. If I put it in a large area the sound becomes almost live feeling. Big bass that travels the room and really reverberates well.

Phantom is 100% absolutely dependant on placement. If there is not enough material in the room it can sound like there’s no bass at certain frequencies. If there’s too much material it can sound flat. Reflective surfaces help the sound flow but too many can stop it in its tracks. If it’s positioned in the middle of the room or in an area where there is space to walk around it on all sides the bass can sound non existent in a small room. I’d place it closer to a wall. But not in a curve. Just a flat area of wall.

In all my testing of the Gold Phantom it should be strong at all levels. With noticeably thick bass starting at 40% and up. 80%+ should be actually room shaking. Like thunderous. Felt in your body.

Gold Phantom in my experience has powered a small concert in a warehouse with bass as thick as a nightclub. So at higher volumes you should really be shook. I truly believe the smaller the room the worse it sounds. Especially as you go up the range of Phantom.


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[aasch08]

Great help in here so far! Then you all, you’ve definitely reinvigorated my thoughts on this.

When I first viewed the phantom it was in the plaza of a tower and the bass didn’t just sound unreal, it felt it too.

I wasn’t aware I could play with EQ via the Spotify app directly, that will for sure help.

As far as positioning, I’m going to spend some time this weekend and see what I can manage.

Thanks everyone

[Don]

80+!?  I had a very heavy bass hiphop track playing at 65 and I had to immediately turn it down.  It shook my house at 65.  Something to consider.  (I was using Tidal, Two Gold Phantoms in Stereo and it played over PLC wirelessly).

[Deezel]

Has my life growing up/being around listening to heavy bass everything permanently ruined my interpretation of sound? Or is there something I can do to improve this. Am I just doing the gold phantom wrong? Or maybe this type of speaker isn’t meant for someone like me. I’d be willing to try any suggestions.


Thanks

I'm just going to focus on this. This has nothing to do with Devialet or Phanom mind you. I backed the Audeara A-01 which is a pair of headphones with which you do a hearing test first through their app and which then creates a profile based on your hearing and program it into the headphones. 
If you have some issues with your hearing, it can be pretty dramatic difference. You can apply the profile in different steps and when I went 100% the first time I wondered if I was listening to the music with a band pass filter pretty much. Now tho, I can really appreciate what I've been missing frequency wise ^^

But personally I have no issues with my two gold phantoms, I rarely go above 60 in volume and I love the tight response =)

[Pim]

It's possible your room is just a really bad shape for bass but if you put the Phantom in a corner you should at least get some sort of reasonable bass. Keep this in mind; the Phantoms do incredible bass compared to most speakers and compared to just about any speaker it's size. The Sony sound bar you're comparing it to would be considered rubbish by most here so there's definitely something else going on. As @kmjy says, the bass just gets played without distortion and it might be that you just have to get used to what a proper speaker sounds like. That's not impossible at all.

One speaker though does have to work quite hard to get good sound in any room / setup so you might want to consider using the 30 day money back guarantee to change to two white or silver Phantoms with a Dialog. Not only will it possibly sound fuller but properly setup you will get incredible sound stage which, if you're used to listening to a sound bar, can be quite spectacular when you hear it for the first time.

You've just put your big toe into the High End of sound reproduction @aasch08. Once you've jumped right into it, there no going back to sound bars!

Good luck,

Pim