29-Mar-2024, 12:01
Hello Peter,
Welcome to the forum, and good to hear from someone in my neck of the woods!
While I can't answer your questions definitively, I can make some comments which I hope will be helpful.
The Devialet phono stage is generally very good, but some people find that with low-output MC cartridges there is too much noise for their taste. There are several threads here which touch on this topic, for example:
As you can see from the second thread, there has been some to-and-fro with Devialet to see whether this is due to a fault, but nothing conclusive came of it; I get the impression it's probably working within design parameters.
If you have an opportunity to try the Devialet with your Hana ML, that would obviously allow you to judge whether or not noise could be a concern. (For what it's worth, when I replaced my cartridge recently I chose a Hana MH rather than ML just to be on the safe side; I must say the MH sounds excellent.)
Another solution some people have used is to add a step-up transformer, but to me that flies against the "one-box" principle of the Devialet.
I see the Martin Logan ESL-X have quite a low impedance (1.6 ohms) at 20 kHz. That could mean they're not a great match for a 220, because its ability to deliver current tails off towards higher frequencies; this is a not very well-documented "feature" of the Devialet ADH design. However, the fact that they have a SAM profile is reassuring. Whether SAM would give you enough bass to get rid of a sub-woofer is again rather a matter of taste.
In short, I think it's a case of try it and see. I appreciate that may not be a very helpful answer, but if it's not possible for you to arrange a demonstration which would help answer those questions, I'd be happy to meet up and try hooking up one of my 250s in your system if you like.
Ian
Welcome to the forum, and good to hear from someone in my neck of the woods!
While I can't answer your questions definitively, I can make some comments which I hope will be helpful.
The Devialet phono stage is generally very good, but some people find that with low-output MC cartridges there is too much noise for their taste. There are several threads here which touch on this topic, for example:
- https://devialetchat.com/Thread-very-noisy-phono-stage
- https://devialetchat.com/Thread-Phono-st...asurements
As you can see from the second thread, there has been some to-and-fro with Devialet to see whether this is due to a fault, but nothing conclusive came of it; I get the impression it's probably working within design parameters.
If you have an opportunity to try the Devialet with your Hana ML, that would obviously allow you to judge whether or not noise could be a concern. (For what it's worth, when I replaced my cartridge recently I chose a Hana MH rather than ML just to be on the safe side; I must say the MH sounds excellent.)
Another solution some people have used is to add a step-up transformer, but to me that flies against the "one-box" principle of the Devialet.
I see the Martin Logan ESL-X have quite a low impedance (1.6 ohms) at 20 kHz. That could mean they're not a great match for a 220, because its ability to deliver current tails off towards higher frequencies; this is a not very well-documented "feature" of the Devialet ADH design. However, the fact that they have a SAM profile is reassuring. Whether SAM would give you enough bass to get rid of a sub-woofer is again rather a matter of taste.
In short, I think it's a case of try it and see. I appreciate that may not be a very helpful answer, but if it's not possible for you to arrange a demonstration which would help answer those questions, I'd be happy to meet up and try hooking up one of my 250s in your system if you like.
Ian
Roon (Mac Mini), Wilson Benesch Full Circle, Expert 1000 Pro CI, Kaiser Chiara
Warwickshire, UK
