Upgrade Expert 120 to 140/220 Pro?

[Melville]

Hi,

I am very satisfy with my Expert 120 but the warranty is coming up soon.
Wandering if I upgrade to 140 or 220 Pro, sounding wise, what is the different between the two model?

Currently, I am streaming via AIR from my MacBook Pro and Spotify via my Sony ZX500.
Let me know if you have tryout the two model above.
Thanks

Kai

[WTree]

Hi,

I am very satisfy with my Expert 120 but the warranty is coming up soon.
Wandering if I upgrade to 140 or 220 Pro, sounding wise, what is the different between the two model?

Let me know if you have tryout the two model above.
Thanks

Kai

Hi Kai,
I have both 140 and 220 but i have never heard 120
Between 140 and 220, if you are ok with spending the money, go for 220 as I can definitely hear the difference between the two. I used to drive the KEF Reference 201/2 with 140 Pro and then got 220 Pro. I like the way the speakers sound on 220 pro (Better midrange and more bass control). If you have an easy load speakers then may be it won't be so apparent

[Damon]

Hi Kai,

When the Pro upgrade was announced, many of us wrote extensively about the differences we heard with the Pro upgrade, and I and some others then noticed a second improvement with the CI board installation.

Do a search for posts about the Pro sound changes and I think you'll have a good start on the differences. As I've noted before, most of us love the change but there were some owners who did not like the sound presentation difference. These threads would be from the second half of 2016.

I went from a D120 to the 220 Pro and the change was dramatic, and I loved it.

[markush]

Going from 120 to 220 Pro is one of the best decisions you can make - and highly recommended.
That is such a major improvement - an absolute different level.

[Melville]

Here is what I found from the forum include the above reply from @WTree and @Damon:

220 Pro:
* Better midrange.
* Better Base control with more bottom end energy
* More details in highs and lows compared to D120
* Better imaging and dynamics

Kai

[Cwhtam]

I just complete my upgrade process and received the 220pro. I am using Atohm GT1 (i.e. upgrade from the ensemble 120 kit).

I have in mind my apartment has the limitation on glass wall and uneven shape, the sound from 220 has a more appealing mid to low range. High end is similar to 120 - clear. As I don’t have pre-out in 120, I use the high-pass with REL, now I switch to pre-out to connect to REL. There are less confusion on the bass section while maintain the same sound stage with sub-woofer.
Spotify and AirPlay works flawless in my setup, no issue at all with WIFI setup.

Overall experience, worth the upgrade.

[Flashman]

I just complete my upgrade process and received the 220pro. I am using Atohm GT1 (i.e. upgrade from the ensemble 120 kit).

I have in mind my apartment has the limitation on glass wall and uneven shape, the sound from 220 has a more appealing mid to low range. High end is similar to 120 - clear. As I don’t have pre-out in 120, I use the high-pass with REL, now I switch to pre-out to connect to REL. There are less confusion on the bass section while maintain the same sound stage with sub-woofer.
Spotify and AirPlay works flawless in my setup, no issue at all with WIFI setup.

Overall experience, worth the upgrade.

In the past, before I moved to Vivid Audio speakers, I paired my Devialet 200 and then Devialet Expert 220 Pro with the Atohm GT1.  What a great little speaker!  I highly recommend that you use SAM with the GT1.  I believe it was the original speaker that Devialet used when it created SAM profiles.  I used SAM at 100 percent on the GT1 but you might find a lower percentage works better for you.

[Jean-Marie]

I just complete my upgrade process and received the 220pro. I am using Atohm GT1 (i.e. upgrade from the ensemble 120 kit).

I have in mind my apartment has the limitation on glass wall and uneven shape, the sound from 220 has a more appealing mid to low range. High end is similar to 120 - clear. As I don’t have pre-out in 120, I use the high-pass with REL, now I switch to pre-out to connect to REL. There are less confusion on the bass section while maintain the same sound stage with sub-woofer.
Spotify and AirPlay works flawless in my setup, no issue at all with WIFI setup.

Overall experience, worth the upgrade.

In the past, before I moved to Vivid Audio speakers, I paired my Devialet 200 and then Devialet Expert 220 Pro with the Atohm GT1.  What a great little speaker!  I highly recommend that you use SAM with the GT1.  I believe it was the original speaker that Devialet used when it created SAM profiles.  I used SAM at 100 percent on the GT1 but you might find a lower percentage works better for you.

Indeed, the GT1 was the first speaker to be SAMed and used to demonstrate SAM. 

An other consideration in favor of the 220 is that increasing the power is particularly beneficial for SAM.

Jean-Marie

[Cwhtam]

I just complete my upgrade process and received the 220pro. I am using Atohm GT1 (i.e. upgrade from the ensemble 120 kit).

I have in mind my apartment has the limitation on glass wall and uneven shape, the sound from 220 has a more appealing mid to low range. High end is similar to 120 - clear. As I don’t have pre-out in 120, I use the high-pass with REL, now I switch to pre-out to connect to REL. There are less confusion on the bass section while maintain the same sound stage with sub-woofer.
Spotify and AirPlay works flawless in my setup, no issue at all with WIFI setup.

Overall experience, worth the upgrade.

In the past, before I moved to Vivid Audio speakers, I paired my Devialet 200 and then Devialet Expert 220 Pro with the Atohm GT1.  What a great little speaker!  I highly recommend that you use SAM with the GT1.  I believe it was the original speaker that Devialet used when it created SAM profiles.  I used SAM at 100 percent on the GT1 but you might find a lower percentage works better for you.

Thanks a lot.. let me try different SAM % later..