Goodbye to Devialet - after upgrade program

[Vivialet]

the question is what the new pro models will cost. If I can upgrade my 800 to 1000pro for 6000€ and the price of the 1000pro is also 3000€ higher then it is a good deal (if SQ is really better). If the price of the new models is the same then upgrading a 200 to 220pro is not a good deal as you have to spend 50% of the original price again. Maybe selling it and buying a new one makes more sense.

[marcor]

The streamer will be free for those who own a Pro, whether it is from an upgrade or a new one. So instead of thinking that the upgrade is half the price of your existing unit, I would wait and see what the new streamer board is like and compare that with an external streamer of the same cost as the upgrade. That's comparing apples with apples. Until then, it's all speculation and guessing.

As for the 120 gets 100W more and the 200 only 20; The 250 gets no extra power. So the value needs to lie in the sound quality upgrade and the streamer. Probably more so the streamer because I can't see the sound quality get much better than it already is.

I totally agree with you. I have a 250 upgraded from d-premiere. At that time I upgraded only to have ethernet connection, in hope that would have fixed the streaming issues. It did work and I was able to stream through ethernet without issues. However, if you think a out it, the price was quite high for an ethernet board that should have been there in first place, but I also got some extra power so I can live with it. Now this new upgrade seems to give me some extra noise reduction that is debatable how much can be perceived and the promise of a new streamer board (even if there is no mention of it in the official mail). As you said the extra value is in the streamer, if it will give functionality that put it on par with other commercial products I will consider the upgrade, otherwise I will be better off investing in an used 250 and get an 800 that I will update next time Devialet will allow users to jump an upgrade
M

[Hifi_swlon]

So the extra value's in the part that doesn't exist yet, has no definite release date, no specs, and can't be auditioned prior to handing over upgrade cash....

[nicoludio]

the question is what the new pro models will cost. If I can upgrade my 800 to 1000pro for 6000€ and the price of the 1000pro is also 3000€ higher then it is a good deal (if SQ is really better). If the price of the new models is the same then upgrading a 200 to 220pro is not a good deal as you have to spend 50% of the original price again. Maybe selling it and buying a new one makes more sense.

About 15% more than the previous models.  My dealer has the official price list but I did not memorise it.

Edit: Just saw post #782 here (http://devialetchat.com/showthread.php?t...2#pid46002). The rate of increase appears to be different for each market.

[ogs]

The streamer will be free for those who own a Pro, whether it is from an upgrade or a new one. So instead of thinking that the upgrade is half the price of your existing unit, I would wait and see what the new streamer board is like and compare that with an external streamer of the same cost as the upgrade. That's comparing apples with apples. Until then, it's all speculation and guessing.

As for the 120 gets 100W more and the 200 only 20; The 250 gets no extra power. So the value needs to lie in the sound quality upgrade and the streamer. Probably more so the streamer because I can't see the sound quality get much better than it already is.

I can not agree with this Pim. The streamer is in the amps already. Problem is it does not work reliably. Devialet can't fix AIR and can't add DLNA or Roon (it seems) to the existing streamer board. So they decide to make a new streamer board for the Expert amps based on ARM. There is an ARM processor in Dialog too. The new Devialet OS is probably the OS in Dialog adapted for Expert. Then one can stream from Spark, be compatible with Phantom - and get all the bugs too...

I do agree that the upgrade value  is in better sound quality, first and foremost, I believe, from the new ADH and DAC configuration and maybe the power supply. Possibly (hopefully) also the streamer.

[Rodney Gold]

Works out well for me.. I could UG my d prem that I paid 4500 eu for 2nd hand to a 250 pro for a mere total of eu 8000 (eu 3500 ug)
I could buy a 2nd D prem and get a 1000 pro at eu 16k (I think?)
At any rate , sam , usb ,streaming and ethernet are useless to me .. for an extra 4500 eu.. I could buy another dprem .. so I could go dual mono for 9000 in total
Problem is .. i bought my devialet based on its sonics ..I would rather wait till the dust settles and SQ has been probed before UGing anything..not too sure how much better it can get..
what I want to know is what do they do with all the old boards?
Would be a good idea if the user could keep em..backup if the new unit goes west..

[Confused]

Works out well for me.. I could UG my d prem that I paid 4500 eu for 2nd hand to a 250 pro for a mere total of eu 8000 (eu 3500 ug)
I could buy a 2nd D prem and get a 1000 pro at eu 16k (I think?)
At any rate , sam , usb ,streaming and ethernet are useless to me .. for an extra 4500 eu.. I could buy another dprem .. so I could go dual mono for 9000 in total
Problem is .. i bought my devialet based on its sonics ..I would rather wait till the dust settles and SQ has been probed before UGing anything..not too sure how much better it can get..
what I want to know is what do they do with all the old boards?
Would be a good idea if the user could keep em..backup if the new unit goes west..

The upgrade is effectively a part exchange deal for the old innards.  The old boards are not being thrown into a big skip somewhere in France, Devialet plan to use them in pro audio applications.  (This is what we were told at the Oxford Audio 1000 Pro launch)

[Tregee]

My dealer offered me a nice price for an 200 Companion. So I decided to go for that instead of upgrade. I'm convinced that it is more SQ for the money.

[KIBM]

I guess I will be in a minority but here goes!

The upgrade from 800 to 1000 is £4990. I paid £5150 for the upgrade of my D-Premiers to 800. For the 'high-end' I thought it was good value then and, given inflation and the pound tanking, think it is absolutely great value now. I will probably leave it a year until I have the funds and have listened to a 1000 via local'ish dealers. No one is been forced to upgrade and I would definitely listen first or get a trusted dealers advice.

I got into HiFi in the late 70's and had a my first 'proper' high end system in the early 90's (Krell, AudioResearch, Wilson).  

I've had a tone arm that took over a year to get to me (2 months promised), electronic repairs that have taken 3-6 months to get sorted, a new turntable (from a very well respected manufacturer) that had to go back twice before they admitted the motor was junk (running at 120 rpm was a clue) and then send me a new one with an armboard that did not fit my arm! I've had a speaker (£20k) baffle delaminate because of 'a bonding malfunction' (no shit!). My friend had a very powerful and famous set of valve monoblocks which gave a dirty blue flash each time he switched them on - he was so scared he started doing it with a broom handle - no kidding! That amp would regularly blow valves like popcorn - junk!     

So my message is that the high end is simply a bloody unreliable and frustrating cottage industry that we have all put up with for years. 

When I got my D-Prems upgraded they were picked up from my house and the upgrades delivered 17 days later - 17 DAYS!!!!! That is simply unheard of in my experience. I've also had AIR issues like many of you but found out that on one occasion it was my router and on another the wifi signal on my repeater was dying - I stopped complaining after that. I was apparently the first UK customer to get a D-Premier (s/n 011) and I have had zero issues with it and the upgraded versions. Hell, even my battle tank Krell FPB 400 developed a display LED fault after 3 years. I am continually amazed at the changes wrought by the 1-3 FREE Firmware changes we get every year - not liked every one but it is my choice to use the one I like best. I've also had very prompt replies to queries I've made to Devialet - mind you I don't make too many.       

I totally get peoples frustration but for me Devialet have been a breath of fresh air blowing through the continually crappy high end industry.

You have to accept that the only way for this cottage industry to survive is to evolve new models every few years - that has always been the way and will always require the tiny minority of people like us to keep it going. An uneasy and frustrating alliance that has to survive - otherwise it's Sonus and lifestyle products

K

[RebelMan]

It is unlikely that I will take advantage of the upgrade program but I will not abandon Devialet either. Like others have said the Expert series performs admirably and whatever improvements there are on paper they should be confirmed in critical listening evaluations first. That said I am intrigued about the improvements to sound quality at all volumes that has been commented on by Devialet. As it stands now the Devialet does suffer some at lower volume settings so any improvement in this area would be very welcome indeed. I still wouldn't upgrade though. I would sell my existing unit and repurchase the new one instead as it would be far more cost effective (assuming price increases do not exceed 15%).

On the subject of the streamer board, I get the impression the upgrade would include the new board. Devialet says... "New architecture supporting Devialet OS in 2017" as part of the upgrade features. I can't imagine upgraders would have to send their unit in twice to get what the OdA owners need to wait months for. My guess is the feature will not be "turned on" until the software is released in concurrence with the OdA upgrades. Costs aside it would be a massive undertaking to perform two upgrades for the teams involved in doing them so I highly suspect that is not the case.