Devialet Chat

I've been on the hunt for some speakers to replace my ProAc D20R.  I love the ProAcs, but I wanted something with a dedicated midrange driver. I auditioned the B&W 804 D3, but wasn't impressed. I preferred the ribbon tweeter on the ProAcs to the diamond tweeter on the 804's, which I found to be too toppy in my room although the bass and mids seemed OK. Also I didn't think that the 804s looked like a seven grand speaker , and on balance, I thought they'd be a sideways move.
Next I tried the PMC twenty five.26 and thought that the treble was a bit "rough" sounding and the bass was too much for my room. Then came the Focal Sopra 2 and again found that the treble and midrange seemed to overpower the bass and the styling didn't suit SWMBO.
Next came the Sonus faber Olympica ll, which from the outset really clicked with me and my room/system. I'd read that they were no good with heavy rock, but they sounded fine, with plenty of slam and great timing. What I liked about them was the lovely mid range, which is slightly warm and really suits the female voice and instruments like saxophone, trumpet etc. The treble reminded me of the ring radiator tweeter that I had on a pair if AE 1 Mk3 SE which I really liked because of its range up to 40 kHz, and although I obviously can't hear the treble above about 15kHz, I feel that it has a bearing on, and interaction with the lower frequencies. I gave them a thorough audition with varied music genres and was very happy with the performance. They are the most beautiful speaker I've ever clapped eyes on, apart from other Sf speakers higher up the range.
I decided to go for them!
I've had the Olympicas for four days now and have about 15 hours on them. I'm running them in gently. SAM is turned on, but only at 0%. Really looking forward to getting them properly bedded in and sounding sweet.
I must point out that these results are in my room with my gear and with my ears, so other people will have a different experience, and I'm sure that all of the speakers that I turned down will perform well in other environments.
I'd like to give a recommendation to Guildford Audio and it's owner, Trevor Martin. I have no affiliation with the company, but I received brilliant service from them and a very generous trade in on my ProAcs. If you're thinking of upgrading or buying new gear, I strongly recommend paying Trevor a visit. His showroom is in his house which makes a nice change from the usual listening rooms. He is a gentleman and really knows his stuff. He also travels all over the country demonstrating and installing systems, so distance is no problem.

Happy listening,

Alex

Yes i can subscribe to the SO II's also! I found them the most all-round performing speakers in this price range i heard, compared to Kef reference 3, B&W 804 D3 and even the pricier Wilson Benesch Vector (which sounded superior with small jazz and classical settings, but is unable to rock or dance). And yes, looking per genre you can probably find a better sounding speaker for that specific genre, but a better one then the SO II's (in our rooms) which sounds great with everything you throw at it is hard to come by.

Hi Axel

Have heard SF O II once at a dealer and they sounded very good. I can imagine that they perform better in your set up!    Especially when broken in and with SAM. That would be something to hear. Perhaps you could upload a pic with your updated interior and the speakers? Please keep us posted if you change speaker cables.

I'm always impressed when someone finds something they like. Congrats! I'm still on the eternal hunt.

I demo'd them but not at home. I thought they were beautiful but probably a bit 'showy' for my lounge, and didn't quite have the depth of bass I was hoping for. But that was without SAM and the dealers room was bigger than mine so they probably would have 'done the business'. I started looking at the OIII, but they seemed a bit big and then I sort of gave up looking.

I know Womaz here was very happy with his (not seen him here for a while come to mention it).

I'm no expert but I don't think you need to break speakers in gently. As long as they're working within their designed range, you should be free to run them as hard as you like - you're only 'softening them up' - and SAM protects you anyway so you can go flat out (or maybe just enjoyably deep and loud).

I've read a few technical articles from manufacturers who claim drivers reach their optimum mechanics pretty quickly (hours) but that's probably disputed in the general Devialet camp I guess - where I hear talk of months/years burnin even for speaker cables, especially the very expensive ones

Hello, since 1980, many speakers have accompanied me on my way to optimal sound quality. They remained some time, and were then replaced by new ones. With every new speaker I've believed that will stay for longer periods of time. But wrong!
These were my companions until today!

Linn Kan
Linn Isobarik
Infinity Kappa 9 - killed lots of amplifiers
Klipsch La Scala
B & W 802 D
Naim Ovator S-600
Focal 1028
Focal Sopra 2
Focal Sopra 3
Times look, what the future still brings!

(27-Aug-2017, 19:07)Hifi_swlon Wrote: [ -> ]I'm always impressed when someone finds something they like. Congrats!  I'm still on the eternal hunt.

I demo'd them but not at home. I thought they were beautiful but probably a bit 'showy' for my lounge, and didn't quite have the depth of bass I was hoping for. But that was without SAM and the dealers room was bigger than mine so they probably would have 'done the business'. I started looking at the OIII, but they seemed a bit big and then I sort of gave up looking.

I know Womaz here was very happy with his (not seen him here for a while come to mention it).

I'm no expert but I don't think you need to break speakers in gently. As long as they're working within their designed range, you should be free to run them as hard as you like - you're only 'softening them up' - and SAM protects you anyway so you can go flat out (or maybe just enjoyably deep and loud).

I've read a few technical articles from manufacturers who claim drivers reach their optimum mechanics pretty quickly (hours) but that's probably disputed in the general Devialet camp I guess - where I hear talk of months/years burnin even for speaker cables, especially the very expensive ones

I'm probably getting speakers and cars mixed up! I'll take your advice and give them a bit more volume and introduce some SAM. To be honest I just want to hear them start to blossom, otherwise I'd probably leave a burn in disc on repeat. Are there any other Oly ll owners who have burn in info?
@Jonas. I'll get a picture up asap. When the speakers are run in, I'd like to borrow some Shunyata power cables from Guillaume, and Trevor from Guildford Audio said he'd lend me some others to compare. After that I may try some different speaker cables, but I'm very happy with what I've got at the moment. Trouble is, that I need two 7m runs of cable which works out kinda expensive!

(27-Aug-2017, 11:28)Jonas Wrote: [ -> ]Hi Axel

Have heard SF O II once at a dealer and they sounded very good. I can imagine that they perform better in your set up!    Especially when broken in and with SAM. That would be something to hear. Perhaps you could upload a pic with your updated interior and the speakers? Please keep us posted if you change speaker cables.

Here's the photo!
[attachment=2272]

Thanks Axel, it looks really cozy in your music room. 

Axel, your setup and rack look great, can I ask what plinth you are using under your TT, Oppo and Expert, is there some sort of lighting you have incorporated into the plinth? Happy 60th birthday to he/she in your household BTW.

If it was Axel, I guess we know what present he got!