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Reactor - a Devialet first
#1
I heard the Reactor a couple of months ago and went to buy one today. I plugged it in, downloaded the app, did the Bluetooth thing and it worked faultlessly. It’s Devialet - that’s not possible. Never happened before. What faults have I got to look forward to?
250 Pro CI; Innuos Zen Mk3; Claro dual turntable (Expert Stylus Denon + OL Aladdin Mk2); RCM Sensor2; Wilson Sabrina; OePhi speaker cables; Puritan PM156 conditioner and Ultimate cables.
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#2
(15-Dec-2018, 19:09)Just wait, because Devialet... Wrote: I heard the Reactor a couple of months ago and went to buy one today. I plugged it in, downloaded the app, did the Bluetooth thing and it worked faultlessly. It’s Devialet - that’s not possible. Never happened before. What faults have I got to look forward to?
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#3
(15-Dec-2018, 19:35)Don Wrote:
(15-Dec-2018, 19:09)Just wait, because Devialet... Wrote: I heard the Reactor a couple of months ago and went to buy one today. I plugged it in, downloaded the app, did the Bluetooth thing and it worked faultlessly. It’s Devialet - that’s not possible. Never happened before. What faults have I got to look forward to?

Was at my audio dealer this afternoon chatting him up and a young couple came in.  They wanted to hear the Phantom White (single) he had on display.  They put Nils Lofgren's Acoustic album on and damn it sounded good.  The shop is 30 ft wide by 60 ft long with 14ft ceilings.  The one unit filled that room quite nicely.  I have to say it impressed me for what it does (had never really listened to one before now).  If the Reactor can do same then kudo's to Devialet.

Jim
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Roon for life, VPI Aries 3D le/Dynavector XV-1s, 1000 Pro, KEF Blade Two
Okanagan, British Columbia
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#4
Once Devialet releases the software to allow Reactors to play in stereo, I'll want to give it a serious listen.
Devialet 440 Pro (two 220s)- Oracle CD transport - Kuzma Stabi S/Stogi S turntable - Von Schweikert VR-35 speakers - JPS SC3 SCs - PI Audio power conditioning -
Triode Wire Labs ICs and PCs - Roon on NUC 8i7beh running ROCK
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#5
(15-Dec-2018, 23:58)mdconnelly Wrote: Once Devialet releases the software to allow Reactors to play in stereo, I'll want to give it a serious listen.

I watched one of those Marvel movies last night with the Reactor connected to the TV instead of my Sonos Soundbar, that I've had for years. A really big improvement, particularly with voices, surprising given my first impression of the midrange was that it was not that good. 

It's a really impressive unit. Goes very loud as well.
250 Pro CI; Innuos Zen Mk3; Claro dual turntable (Expert Stylus Denon + OL Aladdin Mk2); RCM Sensor2; Wilson Sabrina; OePhi speaker cables; Puritan PM156 conditioner and Ultimate cables.
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#6
(18-Dec-2018, 17:47)ssfas Wrote:
(15-Dec-2018, 23:58)mdconnelly Wrote: Once Devialet releases the software to allow Reactors to play in stereo, I'll want to give it a serious listen.

I watched one of those Marvel movies last night with the Reactor connected to the TV instead of my Sonos Soundbar, that I've had for years. A really big improvement, particularly with voices, surprising given my first impression of the midrange was that it was not that good. 

It's a really impressive unit. Goes very loud as well.

I agree. I have hooked my Reactor to the blu-ray player and watched tv shows, movies, and played games. Of all the ways I have tried them out this is the best experience. If they get stereo, or even better multi-channel, working without the sync delay they will be very successful.
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#7
Since the Reactors have analogue inputs, can you just connect analogue left and right to get a stereo pair for movies?
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#8
(20-Dec-2018, 14:27)booshtukka Wrote: Since the Reactors have analogue inputs, can you just connect analogue left and right to get a stereo pair for movies?

I did that, it works but it's not that straight forward. To get the Reactors working as expected and with a reasonable sound quality I tried 2 options:

Option A- 1 mono cable for each (RCA to 3,5mm) + a mono to stereo female to male converter 3,5mm at the Reactor's input, since its input "expects" a stereo input signal and not only a mono one. That means the tip on the analog input at the Reactor should have 3 contacts (ground-right-left) and not the mono ones that would ground the "right channel" of each reactor. If you do so, they sound strange.

But...if you do that analog input you still end up with a considerably lower sound, good enough, but not as vivid and loud as when you provide a digital input.

Option B- RCA mono cable attached to an ADC (they are not so expensive but I recommend one with minimum 16bit 48khz conversion) and a Toslink to mini-Toslink cable connecting the ADC to the Reactor. You need one set of Mono cable + ADC + Optical cable for each reactor. Using a single ADC splitting the same signal to both Reactors won't give you stereo, just the same sound on both. Around 50EUR for everything.

I ended up using option B, I got a better sound quality and then the Reactors "reacted" as expected. They were really loud and the sound was more vivid in my opinion. I got a simple ADC, that has a digital output on "CD quality" standard and I didn't notice any delay caused by the ADC. I'd say it works as expected.

Remarks:
- The analog input doesn't sound very loud even when you provide a good stereo signal because part of the Phantom(s) loudness come of their DSP.
- With the analog input they do sound good, but with the digital one (even converted out of the analogue signal) it sounds considerably better.
- There are several ADCs on the market, from very cheap to expensive, I got a very simple one, that outputs digital equivalent to what would be a CD quality, and considering the original signal is analog, the sound quality is totally fine, however if you listen to higher-fi sources (blu-ray audio, FLAC, AIFF, etc.) then, a direct digital input either by cable or wireless (without the conversion from digital to analog and then to digital again) would sound better, since the ADC downgrades the quality in this case.

From my experiments with the 2 Reactors I learned they work fine in stereo with analog inputs (as long as you have 2 channels information on each) but in order to shine you need to provide digital input even if they come from an analog source.
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#9
That’s great info, thanks. But I think as with the Phantoms, I’m going to wait until Devialet actually solve this in a proper way that doesn’t require duct tape hacks. Smile

I’d love a 5.1 set up with two golds and three reactors. As soon as this is available (with a low latency mode) I’ll purchase straight away.
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#10
why on earth would they release a speaker that can't be played in stereo  Huh Huh
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