Who will buy Astra

[MightyMart]

Have you seen this? I must say the amp looks very nice but as always it's what's on the inside that really counts.

It's in German but auto translation does an OK job.

https://youtu.be/DxqgGY5wW1k?si=uBsEzLtjXt9JTXRF

[markush]

In this article are pictures from inside Astra https://www.tatlerasia.com/lifestyle/gea...alet-astra

[Ecki]

"Who will buy Astra?"

Not me. Simple reason: all in all the upgrade will become much too expensive in my opinion, esp. with respect to going dual mono, the need of even better loudspeakers, an even better streamer to send purest data to ADH, etc.
I'm not open to that level of ... luxury (as mentioned in the link above).

But it's good to see Devialet back in the amp section and i do not even doubt, Astra will sound great. Looking forward to reviews, comparisons, ...

[finix]

I won't buy an astra.

1. it ist to expensive

2. and most important, they don't give a f.ck about me. No App support. No update. I have to use a SD to configure and it ist not necessary. They could update it.
My expert pro sounds great but I won't buy any new Devialet products. They don't care about me.

[mdconnelly]

The real question (and the one I can't believe Devialet didn't seem to ask) is... what would it take for a prior or existing owner of an Expert or Expert Pro to want to buy an Astra? Clearly (at least to me), that wasn't part of their product design, placement and marketing strategy.
As an owner since 2015, I am disappointed in Devialet, but given the last 4+ years of being ignored, I'm not at all surprised.

[PeppaPig]

I won't buy an astra.

1. it ist to expensive

2. and most important, they don't give a f.ck about me. No App support. No update. I have to use a SD to configure and it ist not necessary. They could update it.
My expert pro sounds great but I won't buy any new Devialet products. They don't care about me.

Yea very bad attitude.

Look at these rubbish they throw at us, and not implementing it.. just move to new platform with sky high price.

https://www.devialet.com/soon/amplifiers...-infinity/

[Rocketmannequin]

I have the Expert Pro 220 since 2016 and have been very happy using it with Roon along with the CI board upgrade. I also feel somewhat duped as regards the many promises of further upgrades and features. However, for a novice audiophile like me, this was always silly money to spend on an amplifier and if it didn't look as great in the chrome pizza-box as it does, I may have gone for something else. So the aesthetics and design were not unimportant along with the audio quality. In this vein, is the new Astra even aimed at me/us and should we be disappointed at the cost? It's the same form, the specs seem similar and there is no real new killer functionality. With so many brands seeking to differentiate their products, there is now a Opéra de Paris gold leaf version. While I like it, it seems gimmicky and I wonder what other audiophiles would think of us spending cash on gold leafing! (I do see this hanging on the wall of am exclusive villa in Dubai) Regardless, my point is that I am very happy with what I have, I am lucky to have no technical glitches and should perhaps not have expected a niche company to be able to offer any real upgrades for a niche product for any length of time. Whoever does decide to buy the new Astra, welcome to the Devialet club and enjoy your new and shiny pizza box. I'm not really feeling left behind.

[mdconnelly]

When Devialet released the Expert Pro and CI platform, I do believe they fully intended to extend the platform going forward. Many promises were made, but ultimately few were kept. I don't think this was intended as deception, but the lack of ongoing development was more likely the result of a change in management commitment and concern for the bottom line. The price of the Astra coupled with the Opéra de Paris version with a huge price bump for nothing more than gold leaf, is a good indicator that they are targeting a very different market than the hearts of audiophiles that they once won over.