13-Jan-2016, 06:37
Hello everybody ! Salut tout le monde!
As my thread's title suggests, I am a pure class A aficionado and also sold to dipolar electromagnetic panels ( IOW, Tympani IV or IVa are sine qua non starting point in my absolute sound system ).
I consider my actual combo to be highly addictive and thrilling. So much realism, ambiance and lifelike performance.
But I must confess that since the first time I have heard about the Devialet's new approach, I was intrigued and fascinated. I said to myself: this might be a revolution and the future path to follow, and one day, I should listen to their best amplifier very seriously.
It finally started two weeks ago, I went to an authorized dealer ( located in Montréal ) to audition the 250. I brought a lot of cd's which I enjoyed and I am very familiar with.
I would say that it was a first encounter.
I am going to share with you this listening experience later and I would also like to receive your inputs and thoughts.
I am tempted to acquire a 250 or even a D-Premier in a first step, ( and even use it with a pair of smaller Maggies like the 3 serie ) and later, go for the monoblocks configuration.
Ultimately I would have to listen to a 800 ( or 500 ) at my home with my Tympani IV because this is, IMVHO, the right layout to match with my beloved Magneplanar. These panels come to life with lots of current and power.
My Classé Audio DR-3 VHC s can easily provide more than 60 ampères of current ( as you might know, VHC stands for Very High Current ) and they make wonders with my panels ...
Could it be better with two Devialet D-Premier or 250?
Devialet 250 audition
Auditioned with Focal speakers ( Aria, I think, I also remember that it was a model benefiting of SAM, as it was advertised with a little card on one of the speakers ... ), cd read from a laptop plugged to Devialet's unit ) in a nice closed listening room.
I listened to a vast range of music types: medieval polyphonies, baroque, rock, blues, jazz, electro pop and lounge, trip hop, ... ( It reminds me that one cd was very unpleasant to listen: The Verve, I think ... )
My first impressions: control and balance
I immediately noticed how everything emerging out of the speakers was controlled and balanced. The highs were absolutely not aggressive, effortless and devoided of compression and limitation, thus blending perfectly with the rest of the frequency spectrum; something I rarely witnessed. Wow!
BUT, unfortunately, that controlled and balanced rendering of the music showed almost no depth, but a pretty forward, magnified and spread image in a two dimensional plane ... It was far from giving me the illusion of a lifelike performance ...
Lots of details ( honestly, I did not perceived more details than my pure class A amplifiers ... ) but almost no depth, and hence, no realistic soundstage nor the impression of a pure liquid and rich ( incarnated ) sound, giving you the sensation of being part of a true three dimensional musical performance ...
Of course, as a dipolar enthusiast, I can blame the cone speakers but I have heard other sound systems ( class A amplifiers with conventional cone speakers ) that were way better in that regard and that I could have ( kind of ) lived with, which is not the case with the 250 and Focal combo and set up heard there ...
Maybe the speakers were not correctly positioned in the listening room but this should not happen when you intend to show one of your flagship amplifier ...
Don't be afraid, I would only give my final judgment after hearing the 250 with properly set up panels ...
That being said, the Devialet 250 impressed me enough by its control and balance to continue further my investigations and to give him a real test in my listening room with my panels.
From what I heard now, it did not deliver the goods regarding of sound richness ( I am not talking about the lush sound of tube amps but incarnated real sound ), soundstage, and lifelike illusion ...
I truly love the concept and hope it could sound like state of the art pure class A amplifiers, but on the other hand, we cannot ignore laws of physics and get something from ( almost ) nothing; when you need considerable current to feed your transducers at realistic sound levels, no matter how efficient is a class D layout, you must have the appropriate pipeline to deliver it ... ( I know how difficult can be a 4 ohms load for an amplifier ... )
How much current can deliver a Devialet 250?
Thank you to read me and share your thoughts, especially those with big Magneplanars ...
As my thread's title suggests, I am a pure class A aficionado and also sold to dipolar electromagnetic panels ( IOW, Tympani IV or IVa are sine qua non starting point in my absolute sound system ).
I consider my actual combo to be highly addictive and thrilling. So much realism, ambiance and lifelike performance.
But I must confess that since the first time I have heard about the Devialet's new approach, I was intrigued and fascinated. I said to myself: this might be a revolution and the future path to follow, and one day, I should listen to their best amplifier very seriously.
It finally started two weeks ago, I went to an authorized dealer ( located in Montréal ) to audition the 250. I brought a lot of cd's which I enjoyed and I am very familiar with.
I would say that it was a first encounter.
I am going to share with you this listening experience later and I would also like to receive your inputs and thoughts.
I am tempted to acquire a 250 or even a D-Premier in a first step, ( and even use it with a pair of smaller Maggies like the 3 serie ) and later, go for the monoblocks configuration.
Ultimately I would have to listen to a 800 ( or 500 ) at my home with my Tympani IV because this is, IMVHO, the right layout to match with my beloved Magneplanar. These panels come to life with lots of current and power.
My Classé Audio DR-3 VHC s can easily provide more than 60 ampères of current ( as you might know, VHC stands for Very High Current ) and they make wonders with my panels ...
Could it be better with two Devialet D-Premier or 250?
Devialet 250 audition
Auditioned with Focal speakers ( Aria, I think, I also remember that it was a model benefiting of SAM, as it was advertised with a little card on one of the speakers ... ), cd read from a laptop plugged to Devialet's unit ) in a nice closed listening room.
I listened to a vast range of music types: medieval polyphonies, baroque, rock, blues, jazz, electro pop and lounge, trip hop, ... ( It reminds me that one cd was very unpleasant to listen: The Verve, I think ... )
My first impressions: control and balance
I immediately noticed how everything emerging out of the speakers was controlled and balanced. The highs were absolutely not aggressive, effortless and devoided of compression and limitation, thus blending perfectly with the rest of the frequency spectrum; something I rarely witnessed. Wow!
BUT, unfortunately, that controlled and balanced rendering of the music showed almost no depth, but a pretty forward, magnified and spread image in a two dimensional plane ... It was far from giving me the illusion of a lifelike performance ...
Lots of details ( honestly, I did not perceived more details than my pure class A amplifiers ... ) but almost no depth, and hence, no realistic soundstage nor the impression of a pure liquid and rich ( incarnated ) sound, giving you the sensation of being part of a true three dimensional musical performance ...
Of course, as a dipolar enthusiast, I can blame the cone speakers but I have heard other sound systems ( class A amplifiers with conventional cone speakers ) that were way better in that regard and that I could have ( kind of ) lived with, which is not the case with the 250 and Focal combo and set up heard there ...
Maybe the speakers were not correctly positioned in the listening room but this should not happen when you intend to show one of your flagship amplifier ...
Don't be afraid, I would only give my final judgment after hearing the 250 with properly set up panels ...
That being said, the Devialet 250 impressed me enough by its control and balance to continue further my investigations and to give him a real test in my listening room with my panels.
From what I heard now, it did not deliver the goods regarding of sound richness ( I am not talking about the lush sound of tube amps but incarnated real sound ), soundstage, and lifelike illusion ...
I truly love the concept and hope it could sound like state of the art pure class A amplifiers, but on the other hand, we cannot ignore laws of physics and get something from ( almost ) nothing; when you need considerable current to feed your transducers at realistic sound levels, no matter how efficient is a class D layout, you must have the appropriate pipeline to deliver it ... ( I know how difficult can be a 4 ohms load for an amplifier ... )
How much current can deliver a Devialet 250?
Thank you to read me and share your thoughts, especially those with big Magneplanars ...
