Jeff Fritz on Phantom @ CES

[GuillaumeB]

http://www.soundstageglobal.com/index.ph...et-phantom

Guillaume

[Pim]

Sounds promising enough. I'm not expecting miracles from Phantom (873 times better than anything else will do) but if it's just a really good alternative to other speakers the same size then Devialet have produced a winner, regardless of the stupid add campaign.

[flohmann]

I stopped by at CES today and spent a few minutes listening to the Phantoms. My impressions:

#1: They are beautiful. Like few other high-end audio items, these are really beautiful objects. But, thanks to the shape and brilliant white and chrome color scheme, they won't suit every interior. Like some other European speakers (some of which I have owned), these are better suited to a more modern and minimalist aesthetic. That's not a criticism, merely an observation.

#2: They sound very good. I heard them both with music and in a home theater set up, but not with familiar program material. As everyone has said, the sound is very full, with truly impressive bass (wow, the woofer covers really dance around in a very visible way!). On the one hand, there are several speakers that sound better at the $4k price point. But, of course, those speakers require amplifiers, DACs, and cabling. Once you start trying to compare system cost, well, the whole thought experiment begins to fall apart. Once you imagine an integrated/DAC (perhaps something from Peachtree or Hegel) plus pair of speakers (PSB? GoldenEar?), you're talking about something that seems altogether different from a pair of Phantoms, likely to appeal to very different listeners.

#3: It's a luxury lifestyle product. Now, before you all get upset, I don't mean that as an insult. But this product really isn't for traditional high-end audio customers. To put it plainly, it's more like the original B&W Zeppelin or Sonos than it is like Joseph Audio or DeVore (to name two great sounding speaker demos I heard at CES). And that is probably a good thing, because it should open up the hobby and industry to new customers (altho very well-heeled customers -- how many non-audiophiles consider spending $4k for speakers plus $700 for stands?).

#4: Integration and UX is hard to demo. Even after talking to the very helpful staffers at the demo, I must admit I don't really understand how all the pieces fit together -- Phantom, Dialog, existing digital sources (NAS, cloud, iTunes), and control interfaces (Spark, Sonos, other existing Android and iOS music apps, etc). Devialet is not to be blamed for this -- it's simply a mess out there, and very hard to predict how it will all integrate in your house and with your existing sources. This really strikes me as the weak link in the value proposition -- who will want to spend $10k to outfit a house with multiple Phantoms without knowing how all the past, present, and future digital music offerings will work together, and whether it will be fun an easy (as opposed to troubleshooting your PC at work)?

[thumb5]

Thanks for the interesting review.  It sounds like Devialet have achieved a real breakthrough in performance for self-powered speakers.

For me personally, your point #4 is the crucial thing.  The UI (Spark) has to be attractive, stable and efficient, the equipment has to "just work" without requiring specialised computer/network knowledge, and there has to be a degree of future-proofing.

[Confused]

Yes, an excellent summary Flohmann, far more interesting an informative than anything I've read from the official press!

Picking up on Thumb’s point, could you see if they were actually using Spark? I notice on Devialet’s website that Spark is still listed as “coming soon”, despite the fact that they are taking orders for Dialog. I am assuming that Spark will be available when the first Dialog deliveries start in a couple of weeks, but you never know with Devialet.

Regarding your point #2. Have you ever heard the Devialet Ensemble? It strikes me that two Phantoms with Dialog would be a little cheaper than the Ensemble. From your comments, I wouldn’t be surprised if many folk found that they actually preferred the Phantom option to the Ensemble with respect to sound quality. Although if you wanted to run a turntable or multiple input sources then the Ensemble would have many advantages.

[nicoludio]

Thanks, flohmann. This is definitely a helpful and realistic first impression. At this price point, the ease of use and integration would be critical - should be plug and play, ideally.

On the sound quality, like Confused, I would be keen to know if dual Phantoms + Dialog would be competitive with the Ensemble from a sound quality perspective. Less clutter with the Phantoms.

As for their looks, even if Devialet were to offer different colours in future, the design (plus the Branch stands) would only lend themselves to a modern interior, I would think.

[flohmann]

I did not see whether they were using Spark. All source selections were made behind the screen, as it were.

[GuillaumeB]

Super write up flohmann!  

I agree with thumb5, integration and user experience will be critical to the success of Phantom. It has to be easy to use and flawless in execution... just like Sonos.

Guillaume

[Jean-Marie]

Yes, an excellent summary Flohmann, far more interesting an informative than anything I've read from the official press!  

Picking up on Thumb’s point, could you see if they were actually using Spark?  I notice on Devialet’s website that Spark is still listed as “coming soon”, despite the fact that they are taking orders for Dialog.  I am assuming that Spark will be available when the first Dialog deliveries start in a couple of weeks, but you never know with Devialet.

Regarding your point #2.  Have you ever heard the Devialet Ensemble?   It strikes me that two Phantoms with Dialog would be a little cheaper than the Ensemble.   From your comments, I wouldn’t be surprised if many folk found that they actually preferred the Phantom option to the Ensemble with respect to sound quality.  Although if you wanted to run a turntable or multiple input sources then the Ensemble would have many advantages.

I had the chance to listen to two Phantoms on a handful of my own music selection, and compared to my home configuration (D120 + Apertura ArmoniA) which is at least as good as the Ensemble (in fact the SAMed ArmoniA have a better bass extension that the GT1), I can tell you that the pair of Phantom were at least as qualitative as my home configuration, with probably a better bass extension and their spherical shape with the concentric medium and tweeter were giving a stereo image that was at least as good as my configuration if not better.

Therefore yes, I would not be surprised that people having to choose between an Ensemble and a pair of Phantom would actually choose the Phantoms from a pure SQ perspective.

[amabrok]

Yes, an excellent summary Flohmann, far more interesting an informative than anything I've read from the official press!  

Picking up on Thumb’s point, could you see if they were actually using Spark?  I notice on Devialet’s website that Spark is still listed as “coming soon”, despite the fact that they are taking orders for Dialog.  I am assuming that Spark will be available when the first Dialog deliveries start in a couple of weeks, but you never know with Devialet.

Regarding your point #2.  Have you ever heard the Devialet Ensemble?   It strikes me that two Phantoms with Dialog would be a little cheaper than the Ensemble.   From your comments, I wouldn’t be surprised if many folk found that they actually preferred the Phantom option to the Ensemble with respect to sound quality.  Although if you wanted to run a turntable or multiple input sources then the Ensemble would have many advantages.

I had the chance to listen to two Phantoms on a handful of my own music selection, and compared to my home configuration (D120 + Apertura ArmoniA) which is at least as good as the Ensemble (in fact the SAMed ArmoniA have a better bass extension that the GT1), I can tell you that the pair of Phantom were at least as qualitative as my home configuration, with probably a better bass extension and their spherical shape with the concentric medium and tweeter were giving a stereo image that was at least as good as my configuration if not better.

Therefore yes, I would not be surprised that people having to choose between an Ensemble and a pair of Phantom would actually choose the Phantoms from a pure SQ perspective.

Interesting.

In your audition was it Phantom or Phantom Silver?


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