Expert 500 vs Expert 400

[Confused]

@Redwingnine - As it happens, your experience is pretty much what I would expect. To my ears, the D-Premier sounded pretty much the same as the later Expert D250. My understanding is that the case (as mentioned by ogs above) and most of the electronics in the D250 were identical to the D-Premier. There are some differences, the D250 had a slightly improved power supply, and the additional "EVO" electronics that later allowed the addition of SAM etc. But the point remains, the D-Premier in practical use, sounds more or less identical to a D250, assuming you do not use SAM in the latter. With the D200, you have the same electronics as the D250, but Devialet had to tweak the firmware in the PSU due to the inferior cooling characteristics of the case, and this does seem to hold back the ultimate sound quality a little.

So listening to a D-Premier D500 is going to sound almost as good as a D800, so yes, a touch better than a D400. (Assuming SAM is omitted from the comparison)