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Would you do it again.
#1
I want to love these speakers. I want to buy "in".......BUT........

I have been following along and reading everything i can about these Phantoms. I read glowing gushing reviews and then i read reviews of how bad they are. 

I am not in a position to be able to hear them myself due to my remote location. So no way to demo the Phantoms. I could of course just buy them on a 45 day trial, but it seems unfair to Devilet to let them go to all that cost and then i just send them back. 

Then there are all the issues of connectivity, and the SPARK issues. 

I know i am asking the converted here so the answers will most likely all be positive but in reality, if you had the chance to start over , would you buy IN again?

Really looking forward to your replies.

Thx
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#2
Im interested in this question too.
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#3
I have a Silver Phantom and I love it.
I have no troubles with Spark and my radio stations are playing great.

I don't find other wireless speakers with this great sound.
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#4
I would buy the speakers again any time Smile
I've had little to no trouble with Spark or the connectivity, so it is not a deal breaker for me. Spark has gotten a lot better the last year and I believe it will get more refined in the next releases. The only trouble I've had, and still have, is an annoying hissing noise while playing music at low volume. Devialet claims it is a software problem and they are working on a solution.
If I were in your shoes I would buy the speakers from Devialet with the intention of keeping them. If you are affected by the hissing problem you could return the speakers if you don't want to wait for a software patch. Don't feel any pity for Devialet, the 45 day return policy isn't forced upon them, they chose to offer it to the customers.
Living room: Kii Three/BXT with Control.
Den: Tannoy Precision 8 iDP with TS112 iDP subwoofer.
In the cupboard, waiting for a sibling: 1st gen. Phantom Silver running DOS1
My Phantom Voyage
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#5
I got a pair of Silvers quite early. To start with the user experience was terrible. In particular, if the Phantoms were left switched off for any length of time, they'd require a complete new set-up routine, which I found infuriating. Also Spark was very clunky.

I now find the Phantoms totally unproblematic: they work every time and without interruption. To my mind, the sound quality is excellent for the price. The quality of the bass, the dynamics and the imaging are all first class. The treble and upper mid-range aren't as clear as many traditional speakers, but you can't have everything.

Sonos Connect (W4S) > DSpeaker Antimode 2.0 > Sanders Magtech > Martin Logan Montis
Sonos Connect (W4S) > Devialet 200 > Vivid V1.5
Silver Phantoms (just the two)
London
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#6
Thanks for the replies.

Thing is, we believe what we want to believe. And i WANT to believe.....badly. I want to believe these speakers are the answer for my needs.

So let me tell you what my needs are and maybe you can tell me if i am going the right way, going down this road.

I have no equipment at all apart from a soundbar connected to the flat screen and a mini system that has 2 speakers as part of it. No serious hi-fi gear at all, so starting from scratch. I used to have a Luxman separates system but that was in another life long ago.

I want to have a NAS to store the music files on. I don't want to have a separate preamp and amp and DAC and so on. That's why these speakers appeal to me.....simplicity, all in one. Plug in a NAS via some sort of network streamer (rasp pi 3 with an onboard card with optical output?) to plug into the dialog to get the files from the NAS to the dialog and then into the Phantoms. Everything from there is onboard.

Sounds ideal to me.

But for the money, are there alternatives that will sound better? Of for the money, is this about as good one can expect?

So reading every review i can find, it seems these speakers lack a little in the mids and tweeters and the bass is boomy. I dont even know what that means... I am no "audiophile". I just like to listen to music with nice sound coming from the speakers. I know good sound when i hear it. I dont want to play music stupidly loud. I like the volume up a bit but not silly levels. I like a little bass, but not too much. I can't stand loud thumpy bass - gives me a headache. I want rich luscious sound - i don't know how you describe that in audio terms. I just know good music when i hear it.

So in essence these speakers seem to be exactly what i want. But I worry when "Audiophiles" say in reviews that these speakers lack in some way and are not true audiophile.

Maybe i am splitting hairs and these are fine for people like me. I am NEVER spending 20K on a sound system, so perhaps at the level i am at these speakers are absolutely fine and i will never hear whats missing from them because i am not that sophisticated a listener?

OK so lets assume the sound part will suit me. I have read time and again about the horror stories of connectivity and getting them setup and then they drop the link and have to be setup again. Must be something to it, because there are too many stories out there about it.

Again and again i read avoid spark like the plague. So much criticism aimed at SPARK. COuld it be those who already own this gear have convinced themselves that SPARK is not so bad?

Then there is the whole Roon Thing. Would be nice if the Phantoms could be a Roon end point. But i read time and again, Devialet are not going to accommodate user requests for the Phantoms being a Roon end point. Therefore, workarounds needed. At 5K for 2 speakers, is it right we have to deploy "workarounds" to use Roon? 

I am just doing due diligence here. I want to leap in, i really do. I find myself dismissing every bad review i read and rereading the good reviews. But i am trying to pull myself up before i order and make sure i am really going ahead for the right reasons and not because i have convinced myself this is the way to go despite what appears to be valid criticism.


And lastly, there is a new version on the horizon. I am wondering if i should wait for the Gold Phantoms. More money yes, but not a big deal in the general scheme of things once you have accepted 5K for 2 speakers already.

Again, thanks for the insight.
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#7
P.S

Could someone please do a new review of the phantoms...... i need something new to read (while i listen to Spotify thru my soundbar which is surprisingly good for what it is)
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#8
I had the NAIM Muso for about a week when I discovered Phantom. I loved how the mu-so sound until I heard a pair of phantoms in a showroom. After 2 weeks of owning the muso

I traded it + cash for a pair Silver Phantoms w/ Dialog. I could never be happier.
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#9
I probably would due to what I think is an excellent compromise between aesthetics and sound quality. Not sure what else would come close.

But IMO you have to be ok with: 

- using just Spotify Connect or an alternative 3rd party streamer
- tinkering with wireless and networking, possibly also buying a dedicated router


If you do use a 3rd party streamer, be aware that the optical input on the Dialog was broken with last firmware update (!!). Either don't update (and not have Spotify Connect, which was introduced with last update) or do update and connect 3rd party streamer to optical input on one of the phantoms.


Br,
Martin
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#10
I bought a pair of white Phantoms about 9 months ago. If they were to be stolen or destroyed I would buy another pair, even at twice the price!

If you had been following this forum for a year you would notice that almost all the initial problems have gone away with recent updates. Spark is limited, but I have not found that much of a concern. The Phantoms can not yet access a NAS directly nor play gaplessly, maybe one day, but a streamer will sort out these limitations (I use a Sonos connect).

The sound quality of the Phantoms is amazing, well beyond my expectations - it still surprises me. I am not an audiophile, but I have regularly attended live classical and chamber orchestras over last 50 years, and I find this system to be the nearest thing to having a piano and cello playing in my room. I am not concerned with what others see as lacks in the treble and boomy bass, nothing is perfect, and besides, room acoustics will have a greater affect on the sound.
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