What to do next? It would be fun to repeat the success, or even take it a step further. With that in mind I went searching for new candidates. The prices on wrecked Phantoms has increased after the introduction of the Elevate Program. Really no surprise, but it makes the hunt for speakers harder.
After a while I found this glorious speaker online.
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Why buy a perfectly good speaker you may ask? Well, it's a dummy speaker and the seller said it's not working. Then you'll may ask again, why buy a dummy speaker made from cardboard and clay? My theory is as follows; it's more expensive for Devialet to make an actual dummy speaker than just gutting an ordinary one for the internals and sending it to retailers as a dummy speaker. Hopefully they haven't messed with the drivers. It is quite a gamble, will it pay off?
Incoming!
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Something is telling me it's fake, but making fake fake stickers isn't hard. Kind of like the stickers though.
Another sticker and another hint about the dummy authenticity of the speaker. The serial number ends with FAK1. Should have been FAK3. The model number doesn't match the MX207 of the Gold either.
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So, did my assumptions about the speaker turn out to be right? Was it just a gutted Gold? The answer is (insert imaginary drumroll here) both yes and no.
I’m waiting for the end of the drum roll.
I hope for you that the motors of the woofers are not a missing part.
Jean-Marie
It looked like a Phantom, felt like a Phantom and had the same weight as a Phantom.
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I plugged it in, and voilà!
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It's alive! That's a pleasant surprise. Is it actually a working Phantom Gold? I had to check with the Devialet app.
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Phantom Silver? What is going on? With trembling hands I pressed the update button.
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A first generation Silver dressed as a Phantom Gold? That's weird! To further investigate I had to get hold of the good old Spark app. After a bit of searching the familiar UI emerged.
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That did shed some more light on the freak Phantom. But would it actually play music?
The saga continues.
It did play music, but not very well. The speaker wasn't air tight at all, the dual ported Phantom I accidentally made in my other project sounded marvellous compared to the puffs, hisses and strange noises the SilverGold Phantom made. Air was leaking all the way around the speaker in the joints. Did Devialet skip the rubber sealings to the render it useless? About 10 minutes later my theory was confirmed.
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The rubber gaskets were missing. A couple of questions came to mind; why put electronics in the speaker in the first place, and why ancient Silver parts? It would definitely not sound as good as it should with the wrong amps and EQing; the tweeter is definitely titan. Why render speaker useless when they bothered to fit the electronics? If anyone has a clue or theory why, please let me know.
Anyway; I'm the proud owner of a Frankenphantom and rubber sealings by the meter is on its way. Enjoy the photos of ancient internals while waiting for the next chapter of the Saga.
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Incoming!
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Maybe I've managed to procure some rubber gaskets?