Phantom abominations

[patekswiss]

These reactions and comparisons are all over the board - better than my Quads, Goldmund, Magico, not better than my Altec Lansing. I don't know what to think. They sure look like a great product that for most of us high end nuts, could replace a whole system.

I think you hit the nail on the head. They're good enough to appeal to audiophiles, and yet so compact! In  my living room, each Phantom fits into a little niche in the sideboard and that's it! Everything else is out of sight. Try doing that with an audiophile system of comparable sound quality. PS Audio would have a stack of metal boxes in  your living room. I have my office where I'm happy to have all kinds of obtrusive audiophile gear, and I do! But in the communal space the Phantoms provide big sound with a tiny footprint. I just sit down on the couch with my laptop or phone and I'm good to go.

I think part of the problem is the hype that Devialet uses, it gets attention and some of it is the wrong kind.

[Mr_Bill]

Unless i read it wrong, it was a poster that slagged off the Phantoms not Paul. I don't really give a monkeys anyway. I heard them at Franks, loved them, bought them and I am very happy. I own or have owned speakers that are better in some areas but as an overall package they float my boat.

think you read it wrong

Note that he gives no reasoning whatsoever for his dismissal of any and all active powered speakers.

Fact is, the people who really need to listen critically -- music producers and engineers -- use active powered speakers all the time. I use them in music production, although not the Phantoms (I use Genelecs). And I can tell you that Genelecs are among the most respected speakers among audio professionals, and among the best sounding, most neutral monitors I've ever heard. Companies like Dynaudio that make very highly regarded passive speakers for home use also produce marvelous active speakers for pro use (although IMHO not quite as good as the Genelecs).

The comments on the Phantoms are nonsensical. For $5,000, the pair I have competes very well with my passive audiophile speakers, which retail for well over $20K. No, the Phantoms are not ultimately the equal of those others. But there are not far off, they are dynamic and they image and soundstage their asses off, and they sound nothing whatsoever like a "boom box".

Honestly, I wonder what these folks are smoking sometimes, although as someone else suggested he may just be talking his own book.

Are the $5000 a pair actives you are referring to The Phantoms?

[bentrider]

Honestly, I wonder what these folks are smoking sometimes, although as someone else suggested he may just be talking his own book.

Why are you wondering what they are smoking?  PSA is located on Colorado.

For all of our foreign members:  The wacky weed is legal in Colorado.

[sleach]

I think part of the problem is the hype that Devialet uses, it gets attention and some of it is the wrong kind.

Yes, I think that is most of the issue in the case of Pauls comments. Of course this is just a comment he has made in a forum, it's not as if he held a press conference to say this.

I think his comments about active speakers are silly though and if pressed I'm sure he would acknowledge the quality of some of the better active monitors - psi, atc, genelec, me Geithain, Grimm etc. Or maybe not.




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[patekswiss]

Unless i read it wrong, it was a poster that slagged off the Phantoms not Paul. I don't really give a monkeys anyway. I heard them at Franks, loved them, bought them and I am very happy. I own or have owned speakers that are better in some areas but as an overall package they float my boat.

think you read it wrong

Note that he gives no reasoning whatsoever for his dismissal of any and all active powered speakers.

Fact is, the people who really need to listen critically -- music producers and engineers -- use active powered speakers all the time. I use them in music production, although not the Phantoms (I use Genelecs). And I can tell you that Genelecs are among the most respected speakers among audio professionals, and among the best sounding, most neutral monitors I've ever heard. Companies like Dynaudio that make very highly regarded passive speakers for home use also produce marvelous active speakers for pro use (although IMHO not quite as good as the Genelecs).

The comments on the Phantoms are nonsensical. For $5,000, the pair I have competes very well with my passive audiophile speakers, which retail for well over $20K. No, the Phantoms are not ultimately the equal of those others. But there are not far off, they are dynamic and they image and soundstage their asses off, and they sound nothing whatsoever like a "boom box".

Honestly, I wonder what these folks are smoking sometimes, although as someone else suggested he may just be talking his own book.

Are the $5000 a pair actives you are referring to The Phantoms?

Yes. Two silvers at about 2400 a piece plus a Dialog? Ballpark.

[ondesx]

Hi every one.

I owned both a set of Genelec (1032A/1094A) and the Silvers. I carefully compared both systems using the same source (a MacBook Pro with audio files on the DD) and a good DAC (SABRE DSD). Audio levels were perfectly aligned using white and pink noise with a calibrated mike.

While I can easily recognise each system, I have to say that the gap isn't very important in terms of audio quality. But the systems are not in the same league... for the price !

Active monitors are easier to setup than separated audio equipment, since the optimization was already done by the manufacturer. You don't have to fight against tangled links or tweak audio levels and so on : in other words, no headaches. You just have to correctly place the monitors in the listening room following the guidelines of the manufacturer.

With the Phantoms, you begin at a step ahead : you even not need a link from the software audio player and/or the computer itself !... You have nothing to tweak, all will be fine often since the first try ! 

I think the guys who criticize the Phantoms don't really heard them or at least in bad conditions at a hifi show with an inadapted setup and/or with bad sources. Otherwise, IMHO I can't understand their comments...

My Best.

OndesX

[Johnnydev]

Hi every one.

I own both a set of Genelec (1032A/1094A) and the Silvers. I carefully compared both systems using the same source (a MacBook Pro with audio files on the DD) and a good DAC (SABRE DSD). Audio levels were perfectly aligned using white and pink noise with a calibrated mike.

While I can easily recognise each system, I have to say that the gap isn't very important in terms of audio quality. But the systems are not in the same league... for the price !

Active monitors are easier to setup than separated audio equipment, since the optimization was already done by the manufacturer. You don't have to fight against tangled links or tweak audio levels and so on : in other words, no headaches. You just have to correctly place the monitors in the listening room following the guidelines of the manufacturer.

With the Phantoms, you begin at a step ahead : you even not need a link from the software audio player and/or the computer itself !... You have nothing to tweak, all will be fine often since the first try ! 

I think the guys who criticize the Phantoms don't really heard them or at least in bad conditions at a hifi show with an inadapted setup and/or with bad sources. Otherwise, IMHO I can't understand their comments...

My Best.

OndesX

I totally agree with you!!