Thumb5's system

[Axel]

The 440 Pro has gone back now, so it's time to reflect a bit on how it sounded.

To cut it short: it sounded wonderful, and I'll be upgrading (actually using OAC's new-for-old exchange scheme).

First impressions were of a (much!) bigger sound stage and more bass depth.  At a given volume level it sounds "bigger" than a 400.  Mids and trebles have the same character as the 400 -- precise and detailed but without being the slightest bit fatiguing.  I could convince myself that there's a smidge more "air" and space on the 440 Pro, but I wouldn't swear to it (and in any case that might be due to firmware differences - I'm still using 7.1.3 on the 400).  But to put the differences into a single sentence, the thing I kept coming back to is that the 440 Pro sounds more eager to get involved with the music: by comparison the 400 sounds just that little bit detached.

I've never found the 400 wanting and wasn't expecting to hear such a significant change.  It really surprises me that Devialet have managed to wring so more performance out of the 440 Pro with what -- on paper, at least -- seem to be minor tweaks.  It's more of everything I like about the 400.

One other bonus is that both master and companion were completely silent: no trace of any power supply fizzing.  Let's hope that's due to the revised design and not just a happy fluke.

The only very minor negative I could put my finger on was that the push button on the front of the amps isn't quite as elegant as the original design.

Totally agree about the power button. The original was a nice enamel looking object. The new one is very plain silver. Still, If that's all we've got to moan about that's good!