21-Nov-2024, 23:35
First to say thanks to the guys at OAC and Devialet. Another very well organised event, a very enjoyable event, and I managed to blag some "free" coffee from Jon.
Also, an excellent summary from @thumb5 above. He has written much, which means I can get away with writing less.
Although we attended different sessions, it looks like we mostly covered the same topics, Ian's write up almost reads as a factually accurate summary of the later session that he did not attend. So yes, a great summary.
What can I add? There was quite a bit of chat in our session about the Astra being lower power (on paper) than the Expert Pro that it replaces. We had the same explanation, the Astra is more conservatively rated, and the Astra will sustain high power delivery for longer. In our session, Mathieu made a comment about there being no universal standard for measuring / publishing specifications for audio products. He then clarified that there are some new / updated requirements (legislation?) for publishing specifications for products to be sold in the USA. The figures for the Astra comply with these new regulations, the Expert would not. Essentially, in "real world" terms, the Astra is as powerful as the Expert it replaces.
Mathieu also discussed the better performance for the Astra with high frequencies, saying something along the lines of if you had a high or sustained demand from the amplifier at high frequencies, the performance of the Astra would be "measurably better, and you would be able to hear it". Quite how this would manifest itself in reality is hard to say, I guess it would depend on what you are listening to, at what volume, and how efficient your speakers might be.
There was also some chat about the internals / components. Someone asked why it had less capacitors when compared to the Expert, Mathieu's response was that it did not, the capacitor capacity in the Astra is the same as the Expert.
There was also one guy in our session who did a bit of very straight talking to the Devialet guys, something along the lines of the Expert being a great product, but Devialet as a company had seriously let people down with a lack of support and not promoting the product during the "Pro" era, leading to bad feelings and terrible resale values. This is a much abridged summary, he really did "tell it as it is". The response from the Devialet guys in the room was interesting, they pretty much took it on the chin and agreed. He did then go on to say how much he liked the Astra, make of this what you will.
Now to the subjective stuff. I would agree with Ian's words above, the Astra looked a lot better "in the flesh" than I was expecting based on the photographs. The "grill effect" front and sides serve to give a kind of retro meets modern look, which is not really apparent from the photographs. Subjective of course, but I liked it. That said, in the downstairs showroom of OAC they has a three shelf display of each of the key expert iterations, 170/200/220 style, then 240/250 style, and all topped off with a goldy looking Original D'Atelier. This left me thinking that the "old" Expert still looks like a very nice thing. I liked the look of the Astra too, it is just different. I would not buy the Astra just for it's looks, but if I did want to buy an Astra, I would be happy with it's looks, if that makes sense.
The new remote for the Astra is good, it has the long overdue addition of a display. That said, the "chunky" D-Premier/240/250 style remote is in some ways a little nicer, and more substantial. In feel, the Astra remote is more like the 170/200/220 than the 240/250.
And yes, we were able to actually listen to some music, amplified by a dual mono Astra.
The speakers were Sonus Faber Stradivaris, these seemed to work well in the room and worked well with the Astra. To my ears, the sound was very smooth, very clear, detailed and dynamic. Overall, very impressive. Of course, an Expert Pro would likely have sounded good also, it is impossible to make an absolute comparison with unfamiliar speakers in an unfamiliar room. All that I can say is that on the day and as a system it sounded excellent, I certainly enjoyed everything that we listened to during the session. Based on today's listening, I am pretty sure that the Astra would work well in my system with the Blades, but how exactly it would compare or contrast with the 1000 Pro in absolute terms, I really could not say.
The day also got me thinking about my own history with the Devialet Expert. I bought my first Devialet back in 2013, a single D240 Expert, which later became a 250, then a D800, then part exchanged for a 1000 Pro. If I recall correctly, back in 2013 the D240 Expert was £11900. Looking at the Bank of England inflation checker, this equates to about £16300 today. In the UK the single Astra lists for £14000. Then thinking about what has happened in general to the pricing of audio kit over the same period; in 2024 we have some very good products available for very good prices, some "budget" kit is getting seriously good, technology is getting better. At the same time, the more expensive "ultra high end" kit, seems to be getting ever more expensive, in some cases ludicrously expensive. Maybe the Astra will find it's place in today's market? Time will tell.
Also, an excellent summary from @thumb5 above. He has written much, which means I can get away with writing less.
Although we attended different sessions, it looks like we mostly covered the same topics, Ian's write up almost reads as a factually accurate summary of the later session that he did not attend. So yes, a great summary.
What can I add? There was quite a bit of chat in our session about the Astra being lower power (on paper) than the Expert Pro that it replaces. We had the same explanation, the Astra is more conservatively rated, and the Astra will sustain high power delivery for longer. In our session, Mathieu made a comment about there being no universal standard for measuring / publishing specifications for audio products. He then clarified that there are some new / updated requirements (legislation?) for publishing specifications for products to be sold in the USA. The figures for the Astra comply with these new regulations, the Expert would not. Essentially, in "real world" terms, the Astra is as powerful as the Expert it replaces.
Mathieu also discussed the better performance for the Astra with high frequencies, saying something along the lines of if you had a high or sustained demand from the amplifier at high frequencies, the performance of the Astra would be "measurably better, and you would be able to hear it". Quite how this would manifest itself in reality is hard to say, I guess it would depend on what you are listening to, at what volume, and how efficient your speakers might be.
There was also some chat about the internals / components. Someone asked why it had less capacitors when compared to the Expert, Mathieu's response was that it did not, the capacitor capacity in the Astra is the same as the Expert.
There was also one guy in our session who did a bit of very straight talking to the Devialet guys, something along the lines of the Expert being a great product, but Devialet as a company had seriously let people down with a lack of support and not promoting the product during the "Pro" era, leading to bad feelings and terrible resale values. This is a much abridged summary, he really did "tell it as it is". The response from the Devialet guys in the room was interesting, they pretty much took it on the chin and agreed. He did then go on to say how much he liked the Astra, make of this what you will.
Now to the subjective stuff. I would agree with Ian's words above, the Astra looked a lot better "in the flesh" than I was expecting based on the photographs. The "grill effect" front and sides serve to give a kind of retro meets modern look, which is not really apparent from the photographs. Subjective of course, but I liked it. That said, in the downstairs showroom of OAC they has a three shelf display of each of the key expert iterations, 170/200/220 style, then 240/250 style, and all topped off with a goldy looking Original D'Atelier. This left me thinking that the "old" Expert still looks like a very nice thing. I liked the look of the Astra too, it is just different. I would not buy the Astra just for it's looks, but if I did want to buy an Astra, I would be happy with it's looks, if that makes sense.
The new remote for the Astra is good, it has the long overdue addition of a display. That said, the "chunky" D-Premier/240/250 style remote is in some ways a little nicer, and more substantial. In feel, the Astra remote is more like the 170/200/220 than the 240/250.
And yes, we were able to actually listen to some music, amplified by a dual mono Astra.
The speakers were Sonus Faber Stradivaris, these seemed to work well in the room and worked well with the Astra. To my ears, the sound was very smooth, very clear, detailed and dynamic. Overall, very impressive. Of course, an Expert Pro would likely have sounded good also, it is impossible to make an absolute comparison with unfamiliar speakers in an unfamiliar room. All that I can say is that on the day and as a system it sounded excellent, I certainly enjoyed everything that we listened to during the session. Based on today's listening, I am pretty sure that the Astra would work well in my system with the Blades, but how exactly it would compare or contrast with the 1000 Pro in absolute terms, I really could not say.
The day also got me thinking about my own history with the Devialet Expert. I bought my first Devialet back in 2013, a single D240 Expert, which later became a 250, then a D800, then part exchanged for a 1000 Pro. If I recall correctly, back in 2013 the D240 Expert was £11900. Looking at the Bank of England inflation checker, this equates to about £16300 today. In the UK the single Astra lists for £14000. Then thinking about what has happened in general to the pricing of audio kit over the same period; in 2024 we have some very good products available for very good prices, some "budget" kit is getting seriously good, technology is getting better. At the same time, the more expensive "ultra high end" kit, seems to be getting ever more expensive, in some cases ludicrously expensive. Maybe the Astra will find it's place in today's market? Time will tell.
1000 Pro - KEF Blade - iFi Zen Stream - Mutec REF10 - MC3+USB - Pro-Ject Signature 12
