First impressions

[stonedragon]

Two comments:

1) of course 20' listening cannot beat 4 months of ownership (and tweaking and finding the right spot and acoustics). So I am happy to stand corrected on that count. However, the shop owner (who doesn't have to sell an Expert to me, because he already did! Instead, he might want to sell a phantom) thinks just the same as I did.

2) The fact that I did not feel Phantom to be as good as the Expert line doesn't mean that I found it bad for what it is; and that in my situation and current lifestyle, it would make a much better fit for 95% of the time. So it is still very high in my buying list! They are goods for different purposes.

I guess what everybody is scratching their head about is in your first post you said they sounded 'plasticky'. That comment had me and probably the rest of the forum confused.

[Mr_Bill]

Two comments:

1) of course 20' listening cannot beat 4 months of ownership (and tweaking and finding the right spot and acoustics). So I am happy to stand corrected on that count. However, the shop owner (who doesn't have to sell an Expert to me, because he already did! Instead, he might want to sell a phantom) thinks just the same as I did.

2) The fact that I did not feel Phantom to be as good as the Expert line doesn't mean that I found it bad for what it is; and that in my situation and current lifestyle, it would make a much better fit for 95% of the time. So it is still very high in my buying list! They are goods for different purposes.

I guess what everybody is scratching their head about is in your first post you said they sounded 'plasticky'. That comment had me and probably the rest of the forum confused.

Black components sound dark
Silver components sound bright
Plastic components sound plastickey

[midi]

After I few days with one White Phantom I have here at home three Phantoms (one White, two Silvers) and my D120 with the Athoms. I found my impressions with only one Phantom confirmed.

And I can agree with Divasson.

The bass of the Phantoms is really deep. So if you try Still D.R.E. by Dr. Dre or anything else with tremendous bass the Phantoms are very impressing. There is no chance for the Athoms. So this is your favorite music style - go with the Phantoms.

But if you try something else with a deep midrange and no really deep hard bass (like for example a lot of songs from Leonhard Cohen) you will get (only) a deep mixture in comparison to the Athoms, which are clean an exact.

Similar with other calm and good recorded songwriter music, which is much more precisely and detailed with the Athoms.

There is always a curtain in front of the Phantoms, so the treble are in comparison dull.

The biggest difference is the soundstage. With the Phantoms the sound offers no wide soundstage, it´s a very "pointed" sound. The Athoms sound is spatial.

Operability is a plus for the Phantoms.

I borrowed the Phantoms (the White one I have bought) because my plan was to replace the D120/Athoms with two Silvers also to get the better operability (and no AIR problems). Now I must say, I am not sure to go with the Athoms, because the sound difference is bigger than I expected. The Phantoms are good, for some kind of music really good, but overall perhaps not good enough to beat an Expert Line with good (SAM) speakers.

[Divasson]

Two comments:

1) of course 20' listening cannot beat 4 months of ownership (and tweaking and finding the right spot and acoustics). So I am happy to stand corrected on that count. However, the shop owner (who doesn't have to sell an Expert to me, because he already did! Instead, he might want to sell a phantom) thinks just the same as I did.

2) The fact that I did not feel Phantom to be as good as the Expert line doesn't mean that I found it bad for what it is; and that in my situation and current lifestyle, it would make a much better fit for 95% of the time. So it is still very high in my buying list! They are goods for different purposes.

I guess what everybody is scratching their head about is in your first post you said they sounded 'plasticky'. That comment had me and probably the rest of the forum confused.

Black components sound dark
Silver components sound bright
Plastic components sound plastickey

Funny, but it didn't sound "whitish". :-)

Seriously, all loudspeakers have their own signature. I am accustomed to the transparency of the Gallos (with the drawback of their lack of "body"), and the Phantom had much stronger bass, but less transparent.

But to have music in the main hall, without having to sit in the sweet spot, the Phantom is the closest thing to a private disco. What's more: forget about speaker cables, connectors, fussing with the system (all advantages), playing vinyl (a drawback). But I play it seldom - maybe when the kids grow up and i don't have to take care of them all the time.

Now, if what you want is to have a jazz quartet in your room, or have a window to an orchestra, you're better served with an Expert + good loudspeakers. Most of the time, you will not be able to do that (if you want to keep your family in good shape)

[Rodrat2]

I think the Phantoms are being mis-sold. Sure they can do bass but it would appear that all sellers try and find music that demonstrates this to the extreme. A lot of bass heavy material is unpleasant to listen to especially club stuff no doubt due to the recording. Perhaps if the Phantom was demoed in a more balanced way, it's other strengths would become more apparent.

I have played most of the recommended tracks on this forum and have to say that I could not listen to a complete album. Whereas something like Billy Jean really shows off the overall abilities of the Phantoms without rattling my teeth.

[fettler269]

I think you are absolutely right Rodrat2. The bass response and control is outstanding, but it's not the whole picture. The phantoms on stands are capable of so much more and I demoed a stereo pair at The HiFi Lounge with some of my own varied music and they were superb. I liked them so much, they will be my next HiFi purchase. - As soon as I can work out how to hook up multiple inputs.
I'm actually quite surprised that Dialogue is so limited and I would hope that Devialet will address this with an update as not every component is suitable for streaming

[f1eng]

I think you are absolutely right Rodrat2. The bass response and control is outstanding, but it's not the whole picture. The phantoms on stands are capable of so much more and I demoed a stereo pair at The HiFi Lounge with some of my own varied music and they were superb. I liked them so much, they will be my next HiFi purchase. -  As soon as I can work out how to hook up multiple inputs.
I'm actually quite surprised that Dialogue is so limited and I would hope that Devialet will address this with an update as not every component is suitable for streaming

I actually think Devialet were a bit caught out that, should I say, "older" hifi enthusiasts would take to the Phantoms and that any of the customers would require anything other than streaming.

[Benjamin79]

I didn´t believe the hype with the phantoms so i ordered two and a dialog. I have to say that i´m more than impressed with the sound. My main system is (soon was) a set of Sonus Faber Cremona with their subwoofer. I was happy and had no need for a change. But all the talk got me curious. I will sell the Sonus Faber System and use the phantoms as the main system. I have a little bit of hissing, but not so much that it bothers me.

The dialog get very hot though. You could cook an egg on it (really) Should that worry me?

[Novak]

Just importing from another post:

A couple of weeks ago I received a Devialet Phantom (Standard white model) to use as a second system in our spare room, which opens up to the back garden.

Main system is a Chord Hugo / Jadis Orchestra Ref SE / Harbeth P3ESR, which I absolutely love. I did own a Devialet 120 for 18 months which I liked very much (And preferred, for several reasons, to many other amps I had tried) but the Jadis took me by surprise one day and it was a keeper.

Anyway, I have been trying various systems as a versatile second system - to be played in the room and also moved easily into the garden. I quite liked the Shahinian Arcs for this aspect. But, still needed to faff around with moving dacs, amps and cables when hanging out in the garden, and needing to position the speakers near the doors so I could hear them better.

I took a punt on the Phantom as it's an affordable, flexible and intruiging alternative. There's quite a mixed reaction to the Phantoms for how they sound, so I thought to offer a (hopefully) balanced view.

I found the Phantom fairly easy to set up, and out of the box it brings a pretty impressive scale and a decent sound, but I did find it a little dark and bassy at lower volumes. I then placed it on a 50cm wooden stool, away from the walls, and it started to open up more, with less boom, and the mids and details were projecting quite nicely. Still, not perfect though.

When turning it up a a little (40%+) things became a lot more balanced I could really start to see what all the fuss was about. No distortion, no emphasis, just an even, powerful, gutsy and life-like sound started filling the room. This is just with one unit, and I imagine two units are fantastic. Moving further away, and even outside, it becomes spooky with its realism. I was sitting in the garden listening to some Nick Drake, Jono Mccleery and Grey Reverend, which worked particularly well in mono from a distance – and it was just sublime. I was thinking, this is perfect, they've nailed it!

Returning to the room the day after, listening at lover levels, it sounded like a boom box – just congested, bassy, and lacking a natural sound. On discovering the night setting (knocks the bass off a little) things opened up a lot more, and in the smallish room (4 x 4.5m) it was sounding pretty good. I normally have this setting on for day to day listening.

Comparing to the main system, it doesn't have the air and delicacy of the Jadis / Harbeths, although when things get a bit louder it starts to overtake with a more balanced sound and more scale. We all know that valves and Harbeths are not made for these sorts of contests! Anyway, the 'old' system has nothing to worry about. Perhaps two Phantoms would be a different story, if we were to ever let them into the lounge :-)

So, my verdict is the Phantom is an impressive design that probably beats any other lifestyle system out there, and I imagine two units will compete with some pretty high end systems when set up right. Downsides are that I think they could do with an update that balances the sound better at lower volumes. And I don't really like the design so much, I'm a fan of classic designs, however one Phantom unit on its own has a pretty iconic look in the right interior.

Also, I agree with previous comments that many of the demos are probably sounding awful because they're smashing out some awful bass heavy music to show their capability, but I think they have so much more to offer with some well recorded music, in a quiet room, as per any decent system.

Overall, I'm 'mostly' happy with it. It seems like very good value, it's really versatile and has some impressive moments. You can throw anything at it and it will never falter. I probably couldn't have picked something more contrasting to my much loved classic valve / BBC system, but it complements it nicely in its own room with its own requirements. Here's to appreciating the old AND the new!

It has been getting such mixed reviews on the forums, from the fanboys to the haters, hope this is useful to read. As always, go hear one (or two) for yourself.

[GuillaumeB]

Just importing from another post:

A couple of weeks ago I received a Devialet Phantom (Standard white model) to use as a second system in our spare room, which opens up to the back garden.

Main system is a Chord Hugo / Jadis Orchestra Ref SE / Harbeth P3ESR, which I absolutely love. I did own a Devialet 120 for 18 months which I liked very much (And preferred, for several reasons, to many other amps I had tried) but the Jadis took me by surprise one day and it was a keeper.

Anyway, I have been trying various systems as a versatile second system - to be played in the room and also moved easily into the garden. I quite liked the Shahinian Arcs for this aspect. But, still needed to faff around with moving dacs, amps and cables when hanging out in the garden, and needing to position the speakers near the doors so I could hear them better.

I took a punt on the Phantom as it's an affordable, flexible and intruiging alternative. There's quite a mixed reaction to the Phantoms for how they sound, so I thought to offer a (hopefully) balanced view.

I found the Phantom fairly easy to set up, and out of the box it brings a pretty impressive scale and a decent sound, but I did find it a little dark and bassy at lower volumes. I then placed it on a 50cm wooden stool, away from the walls, and it started to open up more, with less boom, and the mids and details were projecting quite nicely. Still, not perfect though.

When turning it up a a little (40%+) things became a lot more balanced I could really start to see what all the fuss was about. No distortion, no emphasis, just an even, powerful, gutsy and life-like sound started filling the room. This is just with one unit, and I imagine two units are fantastic. Moving further away, and even outside, it becomes spooky with its realism. I was sitting in the garden listening to some Nick Drake, Jono Mccleery and Grey Reverend, which worked particularly well in mono from a distance – and it was just sublime. I was thinking, this is perfect, they've nailed it!

Returning to the room the day after, listening at lover levels, it sounded like a boom box – just congested, bassy, and lacking a natural sound. On discovering the night setting (knocks the bass off a little) things opened up a lot more, and in the smallish room (4 x 4.5m) it was sounding pretty good. I normally have this setting on for day to day listening.

Comparing to the main system, it doesn't have the air and delicacy of the Jadis / Harbeths, although when things get a bit louder it starts to overtake with a more balanced sound and more scale. We all know that valves and Harbeths are not made for these sorts of contests! Anyway, the 'old' system has nothing to worry about. Perhaps two Phantoms would be a different story, if we were to ever let them into the lounge :-)

So, my verdict is the Phantom is an impressive design that probably beats any other lifestyle system out there, and I imagine two units will compete with some pretty high end systems when set up right. Downsides are that I think they could do with an update that balances the sound better at lower volumes. And I don't really like the design so much, I'm a fan of classic designs, however one Phantom unit on its own has a pretty iconic look in the right interior.

Also, I agree with previous comments that many of the demos are probably sounding awful because they're smashing out some awful bass heavy music to show their capability, but I think they have so much more to offer with some well recorded music, in a quiet room, as per any decent system.

Overall, I'm 'mostly' happy with it. It seems like very good value, it's really versatile and has some impressive moments. You can throw anything at it and it will never falter. I probably couldn't have picked something more contrasting to my much loved classic valve / BBC system, but it complements it nicely in its own room with its own requirements. Here's to appreciating the old AND the new!

It has been getting such mixed reviews on the forums, from the fanboys to the haters, hope this is useful to read. As always, go hear one (or two) for yourself.

Great post 

Guillaume