Review Hans Wetzel

[MrSinister]

Digitalaudioreview wrote an nice two part review and compared them with kef ls50 + expert 200.

http://www.digitalaudioreview.net/catego...dspeakers/

[deviousalet]

Hans wrote a good response to some questions about his review, bugs in Phantom software, etc.:
http://www.soundstageaccess.com/index.ph...pointments

[sekriT]

"In terms of traditional functionally, I think you’re right, the Phantom clearly lags behind. "

"[i]Clearly they have some more work to do on the software front to make the thing bulletproof for all users, and to bring additional functionality online, such as multichannel support, Spotify compatibility, and pure NAS compatibility, among others. "[/i]

Thanks Hans, for mentioning what is severely lacking in Phantom's software department. It is appalling to me that a company that spent millions of euros to develop hardware technology behind the Phantom, cannot spend a fraction of it to write firmware that will utilize it's full potential. Something is not right here. I won't be surprised if Devialet is acquired by a company whose name begins with a fruit!

[jonstatt]

I keep seeing requests and concerns that the Phantom's are not being compared to the Kii Three, when the Kii is a MUCH more expensive speaker. A review will typically focus on set-ups or equivalent "boxes" that are in the same price bracket or near to it. It is hard to decide quite what to compare the Phantom's too considering that they include integral amplifiers and DACs and have all the in-built network connectivity. So do you compare it with speakers and amplifier set-ups that are the same price, or a bit higher. I would have set the bar a bit higher, considering that multiple boxes always cost more, and Devialet's claim to be a bit of a giant killer. However, the Kii Three is a stretch too far in my opinion, and if the Kii wasn't quite a bit better, then Kii have made a major mistake in product pricing themselves. Fortunately the Kii does seem to be justifying its price tag. A review of the Kii Three against the Phantom would be more for Kii owners to justify their "twice the price" purchase over a Phantom, rather than being a useful comparison. Afterall, if we all had 50 million dollars in the bank, we would probably spend our money elsewhere entirely.

[EvPa]

I keep seeing requests and concerns that the Phantom's are not being compared to the Kii Three, when the Kii is a MUCH more expensive speaker.

I was also considering the Kii Three but a pair somehow got 3,000€ more expensive between its unveiling and when they started selling it.
That's almost the price of two regular Phantoms!

[deviousalet]

I find it useful to have comparisons both within and outside of a price bracket. Constraining reviews to a tiny price bracket is just a way of pleasing advertisers who can then compete in a "price point" without fear of realistic comparisons outside an artificial constraint.

Some people are shopping within a tight price range while others are not, and a review should serve both audiences. Also, prices change but the comparative sound remains. So comparing a $5k system is fine until it becomes $2k used or a $15k speaker is $5k used and suddenly the same money as the new $5k system.

It is useful to write a few more words, such as "Furthermore, the only speakers I’ve heard that can equal or exceed the Silver Phantoms’ imaging and soundstaging talents are made by companies like Magico and Vivid Audio -- and their lowest-priced models cost far more than Devialet’s overachieving little wonders." or more obliquely, "Nor does the Silver Phantom offer reference-level transparency and resolution; it’s merely very, very good." The more precise and direct those comparisons are the more useful the review is, if only for comparison to the state of the art. This is why many reviewers have a reference system and measure everything against that, and why that's useful.

In the case of the Phantom such comparisons are even more valid since Devialet themselves directly compares the Phantom to far more expensive systems so making comparisons between the Phantom and the state of the art is just fact-checking Devialet's claims. Devialet said that the Phantom are "the best sound in the world—1,000 times superior to current systems", so every system is a fair comparison.

[jonstatt]

I keep seeing requests and concerns that the Phantom's are not being compared to the Kii Three, when the Kii is a MUCH more expensive speaker.

I was also considering the Kii Three but a pair somehow got 3,000€ more expensive between its unveiling and when they started selling it.
That's almost the price of two regular Phantoms!

That would be a better price than I have seen anywhere. They are listed in reviews as 10,000 Euros per pair, which is about 7800 pounds, which is considerably more than double the cost of two silver phantoms. (about 3650 pounds including a dialog). I know Devialet say the Phantoms are best in the world, but honestly, that is just stupid. They even quantify that it is 1000 times better....1000 times of what? based on what? They just got carried away with the excitement of their new product.

[EvPa]

That would be a better price than I have seen anywhere. They are listed in reviews as 10,000 Euros per pair, which is about 7800 pounds, which is considerably more than double the cost of two silver phantoms.

The Kii Three were supposed to cost 7,000€ but ended up being sold for 10,000€, hence the 3,000€ increase I mentioned.

[dogbait]

We were not able to measure the Silver Phantom in the anechoic chamber at the NRC prior to the review going live, but our goal is to measure one in the near future. Keep an eye out on the review going forward. I'm as interested in the results as you are!

Apologies for resurrecting an old thread - it's been a few months since Hans Wetzel mentioned that he'd try to get the Phantom measured. Has he (or anyone else) ever published measurements of the Devialet Phantom speakers?

[Gremlin]

We were not able to measure the Silver Phantom in the anechoic chamber at the NRC prior to the review going live, but our goal is to measure one in the near future. Keep an eye out on the review going forward. I'm as interested in the results as you are!

Apologies for resurrecting an old thread - it's been a few months since Hans Wetzel mentioned that he'd try to get the Phantom measured. Has he (or anyone else) ever published measurements of the Devialet Phantom speakers?

A good point. I imagine that many people would actually like to see some real measurements rather than relying on Devialet's hype. And sometimes silence speaks louder than words.