Phantoms - mids

[Mr_Bill]

More details, air, space, exactly bass, live atmosphere - test it by yourself. Devialet 120 with Atohm GT1 SE vs. Phantoms  inclusive. Dialog or 7000 Euros vs. 3700 Euros. Dev 120 with Focal Aria 926 is also fabulous.. But for 3700 Euros the Stereo Phantoms are unbeatable.


Sent by iPad

I take this response as you have had the Phantoms at home or listened at a dealer to a well set up pair?

[f1eng]

I have written this elsewhere but at the risk of boring people I have in front of me in my listening room at the moment, a pair of Goldmund Epilog 1&2, the best speakers I have heard, a pair of Tune Audio Anima horns and a pair of Silver Phantoms.
The Phantoms are close to the Goldmunds but have a quite different presentation to the horns.
The Goldmunds are better, to my ears but are over 30x times as expensive.
I have KEF LS50s but haven't done a direct comparison, the immediate impression is that the Phantoms are in a different league. For me, music is about the whole performance,not just mid. Maybe somebody who mainly listened to the sort of easy listening female vocalists so popular at shows would hear something I don't notice.
OK they don't have beryllium or diamond tweeters but the mid is superb IMO. They have the superb clarity that first attracted me to the Devialet D-Premier in the first place.

It does depend on taste though. Some listeners "clear" is another's "bright".
Listeners who prefer the sound of the extra overtones added by the SET amps and their like (the OP mentioned this sort of thing) may well find them not to their taste.

[ghosttipper]

Jepp listened both configs by a Dealer last Saturday

[davidadamson]

I have written this elsewhere but at the risk of boring people I have in front of me in my listening room at the moment, a pair of Goldmund Epilog 1&2, the best speakers I have heard, a pair of Tune Audio Anima horns and a pair of Silver Phantoms.
The Phantoms are close to the Goldmunds but have a quite different presentation to the horns.
The Goldmunds are better, to my ears but are over 30x times as expensive.
I have KEF LS50s but haven't done a direct comparison, the immediate impression is that the Phantoms are in a different league. For me, music is about the whole performance,not just mid. Maybe somebody who mainly listened to the sort of easy listening female vocalists so popular at shows would hear something I don't notice.
OK they don't have beryllium or diamond tweeters but the mid is superb IMO. They have the superb clarity that first attracted me to the Devialet D-Premier in the first place.

It does depend on taste though. Some listeners "clear" is another's "bright".
Listeners who prefer the sound of the extra overtones added by the SET amps and their like (the OP mentioned this sort of thing) may well find them not to their taste.

I think you nailed the explanation. 
The Phantoms are different than anything I have listened to and often shock me on a particular track at how different (read better, crisper, clearer, more separation, fuller, richer ) they sound to my conventional speakers ( Quad Esl's, Martin Logan Theos) . Yet on some tracks the phantoms can be too clear and I yearn for a tube buffer to mellow them out. 
Is that the Phantoms problem - I do not think so, I think it is probably the recording which sounded fine on a conventional dac /amp/speaker and all the associated wiring. 
One can only assume so many interfaces dull the mix and what you hear with the Phantoms is so much purer. That said I would rather listen to what sounds wonderful on the Phantoms and skip the ones that do not until Devialet comes up with a software equivalent of a tube buffer.

[Dom]

Someone I know of said he practically ran out the room in scalford where the phantoms were playing. That put me off but u guess it could be the rooms but I really hope they do it for me. Listened to the 120 or 200 not sure which through a pair of large focals with a tt and they sounded very smooth but didn't excite me in any way. Wasn't buying at the time so only gave 15 minutes or so. Can't wait until they have the phantoms and I'll chance my arm and ask if I can take both for a home demo.

[MountainGuy]

What do you mean by 'ran out of the room in scalford...'

[f1eng]

Someone I know of said he practically ran out the room in scalford where the phantoms were playing. That put me off but u guess it could be the rooms but I really hope they do it for me. Listened to the 120 or 200 not sure which through a pair of large focals with a tt and they sounded very smooth but didn't excite me in any way. Wasn't buying at the time so only gave 15 minutes or so. Can't wait until they have the phantoms and I'll chance my arm and ask if I can take both for a home demo.

It was mine playing at Scalford. We played a broad range of music and varied recording quality but I guess anybody who really wanted to run out of the room really doesn't like that sort of sound. I know somebody who preferred the sound of the Omnis in the same room, accepting that they were much more coloured and rolled off but he just prefers that sound (in his home system too).

The room wasn't that bad, and whilst there was a variation in bass balance as one moved about the room (laws of physics not repealed) they didn't sound bad anyware, to my taste.

If you have the same taste as your friend you won't like them.

They are certainly very realistic sounding on good recordings. They have that rare quality of making you wonder if there is live music being played when you are just outside the room, very rare in hifi kit IME it is usually obvious it is a hifi...

[stonedragon]

Someone I know of said he practically ran out the room in scalford where the phantoms were playing. That put me off but u guess it could be the rooms but I really hope they do it for me. Listened to the 120 or 200 not sure which through a pair of large focals with a tt and they sounded very smooth but didn't excite me in any way. Wasn't buying at the time so only gave 15 minutes or so. Can't wait until they have the phantoms and I'll chance my arm and ask if I can take both for a home demo.

It was mine playing at Scalford. We played a broad range of music and varied recording quality but I guess anybody who really wanted to run out of the room really doesn't like that sort of sound. I know somebody who preferred the sound of the Omnis in the same room, accepting that they were much more coloured and rolled off but he just prefers that sound (in his home system too).

The room wasn't that bad, and whilst there was a variation in bass balance as one moved about the room (laws of physics not repealed) they didn't sound bad anyware, to my taste.

If you have the same taste as your friend you won't like them.

They are certainly very realistic sounding on good recordings. They have that rare quality of making you wonder if there is live music being played when you are just outside the room, very rare in hifi kit IME it is usually obvious it is a hifi...

I know a good sound to 'my' ear and like others have said before, these speakers are not a one trick pony with just doing bass really well. IMO they excel in all areas and I just don't get what the poster meant about 'do they do mid's well'. LOL.

They do top, mid and bottoms well. Try Rumer (Seasons of my soul) or Sarah Maclachian (Angel) and that will tell you all that you need to know. Like F1eng, at the risk of sounding boring, I sold up my entire system for the Phantoms and not for ONE moment do I wish it back. Yes they are that good. So do yourself a favour and let your ears do the judging and not your dealer. IMO, Hifi has entered a new era, the old ways have passed away and the sad truth is, there are going to be casualties along the way (read, big box systems)

[superstock]

I think you've got to listen to them for yourself to judge what suites you. The HiFi industry thrives because we all have different preferences and appreciate the merits of various pieces of equipment differently.

I like my Phantoms because they deliver a balanced output across the whole frequency range (I can't vouch for the treble extension as I'm of a certain age). I am personally more critical in listening test to the midrange reproduction as it's more of an indicator of the overall quality of the speaker. In my view they perform well in this area.

They can deliver very deep bass (if required) but it doesn't muddy the sound or bleed into the midrange like a ported design. The Phantoms are definitely not what I would call "boom boxes" with an accent of bass reproduction to impress, they just do great bass.

[GuillaumeB]

The Phantoms are definitely not what I would call "boom boxes" with an accent of bass reproduction to impress

The trouble is that this is how Devialet were demonstrating them in Munich, as loud as possible with shock and awe bass.

I would have liked to have heard them in a more tranquil setting, playing perhaps classical music. Perhaps they might have impressed me more in this context.

Guillaume