Does Devialet produce "alive" music?

[Alve]

So I did listen to a few amps as power amps connected to devialet, and aesthetix atlas did quite good job, soundstage detail, voices a bit better but not really alive, on negative side there was way less dynamics with atlas. But my friend’’s old cello monos just did it. Fast, neutral, much more air around instruments and voice came just live, piano was life, just really bigger, punchy, more details, better depth, basically on every dimension strong improvement.

Tomorrow I will have a visit of bricasti you m12 and a power amp that somehow is getting great feedback from pple that heard it. I will compare devialet as  all in one preamp with bricasty m12 which is also all in one preamp, dac, transport.

[Alve]

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M
So I finally made it to have a home demo of the top reference monos from air tight and devialet as preamp. I will not go into audiophile lingo describing the sound, I will just say waw! An hour of listening to music with goosebumps. any music I played has brought so much emotions.... devialet as preamp was quite capable, the sound was very life like through this coupling... I have also tried smaller air tight atm3 but immediately could see lack of dynamics and no special sound as they just could not handle Vandersteen. But the top airtight with PS transformers that you plug in and the lights deem in the entire house just were amazing.

[Alve]

And the smaller airtights

[ICUDoc]

How much do the AirTight Reference Power Amps cost?
And so this sounded great with the Devialet as a preamp? Wow!

[Blackmorec]

Based on your AirTight experience it sounds like the Vandy 5As need a lot of drive current to really come alive. You may want to try an additional D 220 to make a 440, which improves all levels of performance. Its a very easy reconfiguration and may give you exactly what you’re looking for. I use a 440 CI Pro and with Magico S1MkIIs it projects an extremely realistic recording venue acoustic, populated by what sounds like real musicians. The first overall impression is of live music, with all the thrill, excitement and involvement that live music typically generates, so the capability to deliver what you’re looking for is certainly there, but may need more drive to the loudspeakers to unlock it

[Confused]

How much do the AirTight Reference Power Amps cost?
And so this sounded great with the Devialet as a preamp? Wow!

They are not cheap by the look of it.  I presume this is the price for one mono amp?

https://audio-life.nl/product/air-tight-ate-3011r/

[Elztalbiker]

50k USD per pair 3011R


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[NickB]

Very reasonable then for a power amp.

[Alve]

Very reasonable then for a power amp.

By the way I frequent Gibraltar and costa del sol the usual places banus and so on your Spanish setup looks interesting)

[RebelMan]

Reality check, no system on the planet is going to sound "alive" in reproduction, it's all just an illusion, and the quest for the absolute sound will never materialize but it does continue to get better.

I think what @Alve is really trying to ask is if the Devialet sound, especially on vocals, is realistic.  As others have noted the recording is going to dictate that to a large degree.  Interestingly enough only one comment was made about his speakers and to be frank about it that's where closer examination should be focused.

In my experience, Vandersteen speakers come across as a bit dry in the presence region where vocals are the most desirable.  There is a noticeable lack of dynamism and sparkle when I demoed them with various equipment from the likes of Theta, Ayre and Jeff Rowland especially.  Like the Jeff Rowland I suspect the synergy between the Devialet and the Vandersteens does not bode well as @Alve is suggesting.

My preference for using B&W speakers is because the all important vocal reproduction is their raison d'être.  There's nothing wrong with realistic vocal reproduction under the Devialet's direction provided the right speakers are chosen for the job.