21-Feb-2025, 13:24
I'm not against Astra, I'm just not convinced about what Astra can do and Devialet doesn't give me any good reason to be convinced.
As for the reasons:
I hope my arguments are fact-driven enough. If Astra was an amp that really fit my setup (I need to buy a bunch of new cables and sell a bunch of accessories to switch to Astra, and I don't have the energy for that), I would love to buy it, measure it, and present it to you with an A/B test. But until I get a proper, unbiased comparison, for me the Astra is nothing more than a nice leather bag.
As for the reasons:
- If Expert doesn't live up to the what it promised on paper, how can I expect Astra to, since it's the same company that makes Astra? And on paper, it's worse than Expert.
- We already know that Expert uses a special algorithm for thermal management, so we know that it's not measurable or doesn't give good measurable results in high power benchmarks, I can see in my own measurements that this doesn't reflect on the sound, and I'm comfortable with that.
- When I consider Devialet's approach that started around 2018 and constantly sell false dreams, I don't have a clear idea about why Astra will be supported for a longer time or why I should believe in the promises made with Astra, and Devialet does not and cannot take a single step to change this. No one can say future proof about Expert or Astra, but Devialet has claimed this about Expert line for years and still does on their own webpages!
- There are problems at the hardware level in all Devialet products released in the last 3-4 years, please go and look at Phantom, Dione, Gemini forums, there are dozens of problems from non-working drivers, not being able to bring the sound to stereo balance, battery retention problems, to the most basic connectivity problems, and even replacement with new units cannot prevent the same problems. From the latest releases for these products what I see is, the solutions that Devialet develops are constantly adding more latency, supporting lower resolutions, etc. to downgrade their products to work more stable. From here, I see that it is very difficult for Astra to be a problem-free product, and I add that if Astra claims to solve a problem that Expert has, they probably tried to do this only by downgrading something. That's why we asked for an ADH next gen technical document. Because one of their geniuses said that Expert had problems with high frequencies and they solved that in Astra. Astra is not thicker or bulkier, then the option is to reduce the heat generating factor. My claim from day one of Astra announcement is that ADH next gen is a low spec version of what we have in Expert to ensure lower heat generation. I can't prove my claim but Devialet also doesn't release the technical document that they promised. I hope you see the problem here.
I hope my arguments are fact-driven enough. If Astra was an amp that really fit my setup (I need to buy a bunch of new cables and sell a bunch of accessories to switch to Astra, and I don't have the energy for that), I would love to buy it, measure it, and present it to you with an A/B test. But until I get a proper, unbiased comparison, for me the Astra is nothing more than a nice leather bag.
Audioquest Thunder | High (Variable) Current Power Cable - Audioquest Niagara 3000 - Apple MacMini (2018) - Cardas Clear USB/ Blue Jeans Ethernet Cable - Devialet Expert 440 Pro on IsoAcoustics Orea Bronze - Van Den Hul The Breeze Hybrid Speaker Cables - Focal Scala Utopia Evo on IsoAcoustics Gaia-TITAN Theis

