upgrade is back

[mdconnelly]

@ismarketing - I could make the case for you to not upgrade. I say this as a 1000 owner who has upgraded and received the new CI board. It all sounds great, but, I also have a original 120 in a separate space feeding some old Advent speakers and I am amazed at the sound, and to be honest, as I listen to it, it makes me a little queasy to think how much I have spent on my main system. Unless you need some of the new functionality that come with the upgrade,  I think your upgrade monies are better spent elsewhere.

I think I agree with @Dan.     

When it comes down to it, it's no different than any other audiophool decision.   Is there something you desire that such an expenditure could get you?   From my perspective, if I owned a D120, loved the Devialet sound, but had an itch (and funds) for something more, this upgrade offer provides two nice opportunities...

1) Go for the 140 Expert Pro.  The Pro will offer a nice improvement in SQ and your 140 will get the latest firmware and opportunity for future firmware improvements.   This will also buy you a future opportunity to add a second and go dual Mono down the road.
2) Go for the 220 Expert Pro with a good bit more power and further SQ improvements, get you back on the firmware improvement program and give you even further opportunity for dual Mono to get to a 440 Pro down the road.

Admittedly, those are all itches just begging for for an audiophile to scratch (and likely an integral part of Devialet's marketing strategy ;-).    But perhaps new speakers might offer you more.  Or hey, maybe just a nice vacation somewhere.

I have heard rumor of a rare breed of audiophiles that seem totally content with what they already have.   if you love your D120 and have no interest nor funds to upgrade, just say no.  Your 120 will continue to bring an immense amount of joy to your ears and your wallet.

[Jacke89]

Could the high prices be because of CI upgrade? Didn't they say before that when you upgraded to Pro in the first place, you got CI for free and that it was worth about 1000-1500 euros? So now the CI upgrade is no longer free?

[griffithstrife]

How much to go from original Devialet to 250 pro

[RebelMan]

Could someone here make a case for upgrading a 120 other than "preserving resale value?"  My 120 (with the sub output) sounds great and works great with Roon for streaming.  Other than a bit more power, what does another three grand buy me in terms of sound quality and/or improved functionality?

The case was already made.  You benefit from the upgrade by keeping the system current (which in-turn preserves value).

As Dan noted, upgrading the 120 is not going to improve sound quality in any appreciable way but it will improve functionality.  For example, as a Roon user the upcoming support for RAAT might be/become a pretty big deal to you and it alone maybe enough to justify doing the upgrade.

[zaienk]

now 4990€ in france, it was 3490€ before

You can see all possibilities and prices and this link:

https://www.devialet.com/fr-fr/expert-pro-upgrade/

[marcor]

Can you still upgrade from the D-premier to the latest version? I f I want to add a second 250 to my pro, do I need to search the second hand market for expert to upgrade or I can look also for dpremier?
thanks
M

[zaienk]

Yes, it is still possible to upgrade D-premier to the D250 pro with core infinity, the option is available if you have a d-premier registered in your account, it cost 4990€

[griffithstrife]

Please tell me the cost to upgrade 2 d premieres 6hsnk you.

[Damon]

Could someone here make a case for upgrading a 120 other than "preserving resale value?"  My 120 (with the sub output) sounds great and works great with Roon for streaming.  Other than a bit more power, what does another three grand buy me in terms of sound quality and/or improved functionality?

The case was already made.  You benefit from the upgrade by keeping the system current (which in-turn preserves value).

As Dan noted, upgrading the 120 is not going to improve sound quality in any appreciable way but it will improve functionality.  For example, as a Roon user the upcoming support for RAAT might be/become a pretty big deal to you and it alone maybe enough to justify doing the upgrade.

@ismarketing I think that some further searching here will yield plenty of color commentary on the upgrade from 120 Expert to 220 Pro. But I think most of that material is about 18 months old. Perhaps Pro Listening Impressions, or something like that.

Regarding the upgrade, I disagree with the above statement by @RebelMan regarding sound quality. The change, and improvement, in sound quality with the Pro upgrade is profound. I had to stretch financially for the original 120 and again for the 220 upgrade, and it is absolutely worth it for the SQ improvement alone. I have not taken advantage of any of the improved functionality; I haven't even changed any of the software/ firmware since the CI installation. I cannot say anything about an upgrade to the 140 Pro. 

I do agree with RebelMan and some others that there is value in keeping current. That said, the D120 all by itself is an excellent amplifier. I might even buy another for the office.

[RebelMan]

Regarding the upgrade, I disagree with the above statement by @RebelMan regarding sound quality. 

That's okay, but the sobering truth is it just doesn't matter.  There is no disputing that the Pro series has seen an improvement over the previous generation but unless you have a near perfect environment from which to listen the infinitesimal benefits to sound quality are inconsequential.  

From the outset the Devialet engineers were tasked with only two key criteria when developing the brand's image.  The first was to produce a product that approaches, closer than what has ever been realized before, the "theoretically" ideal amplified signal.  The second was to produce a product that was capable of producing 1000 watts in a pizza-sized box.  Unorthodoxically, Devialet has refused to voice (tune) their product by ear.  In fact, they do not even employ a listening room for that purpose.  Instead they have let the principles of science be their only guide.

Since the engineers had already achieved their first goal, with the introduction of the D-Premier, in their minds, they didn't set out to produce a better sounding product with the Pro series. They did, however, set out to make it far more efficient in an effort to achieve their second goal, which again in their minds they had succeeded in doing with the introduction of the Expert 1000 Pro.

Regardless of anyone's stature in society the cost benefit to upgrade from the 120 to the 140 Pro on the basis of sound quality alone is misguided thinking at best and delusional at worst.  Anyone that undertakes the task to upgrade for sound's sake alone will be kidding themselves and will eventually be left wanting or sorely disappointed.  The 120 is already that good (sounding) it's just not as capable.   Keep in mind these comments come from someone that has a technical background and the resources to own a Devialet Expert 1000 Pro.

As has already been mentioned, one will be far better served using their upgrade funds elsewhere in their system if they are simply looking to improve sound quality.