Quick feedback on my purchase: 2x Phantom Classic refurbished by Devialet + a Dialog and some things I discovered that doesn't match what I could read on that forum:
Ok so I bought a pair of refurb by Devialet Phantom Classic with Bluetooth but without Airplay. The price was the same as a pair of phantom II so it was a no brainer for me, also I went into a Devialet Showroon which wasn't that bad (not a glass cubicle if you know what I mean) it seem to have a proper room acoustic, and yet the Phantom II was meh, at best, I'm used to separate audio things, I have multiple pair of speakers, not super expensive but really good quality, including a pair of Revel M16 coupled with a Naim XS which is my absolute go-to when listening to good music. Anyway so in comparison to my setup, the Phantom II was ok-ish, at best, lacking medium. high was ok, it sure is impressive for the size and perfect for lounge / electro type music but that's about it.
In comparison the Phantom 1 was way better, not really awesome either but perfect for my use case: I need a wife-proof small but powerful pair of speakers with minimal cable management to handle a big living room with a really high ceiling.
When I saw an offer for refurbished Classic for the price of the Phantom II I jumped on the occasion, figuring that I will buy a second hand Dialog to get Airplay.
- 1st, I couldn't hear a difference with the Phantom I (silver) I heard in their showroom (given that it was a couple days prior to receiving my Classic ones and my ears are not perfect)
- The sound quality is good, as everyone already know the power coming from these tiny things is just crazy, however they are still good to listen at a low volume.
- the last update gave me the 2 band equalizer, cranking up the medium/high makes a lot of difference and corrects the only concern I had with them
The comes the Dialog
- Second hand, costed me about $40
- got updated to last firmware with no issue
- now that's a big surprise: it seems to be Airplay 2
It shows up as an airplay receiver in all my apple devices, so far so good, but I get the multiroom and all the goodness as well, I can airplay to it and then add as many speakers as I wish from my home, all works perfectly, which I believe is an airplay 2 only feature, normally I shouldn't be able to airplay to other devices at the same time as the Dialog. it's awesome!
- Now that I can airplay properly I can use Spotify EQ instead of Devialet one, that's a big bonus so I let the Devialet one on Flat and worked with the curves of Spotify (I tried a lot of different sources before, and honestly can't tell much of a difference between Spotify over airplay and a proper CD player, so I stick with Spotify and multiroom and the simplicity that comes with it.
- the Phantoms are running super hot when not in use, I suspect there is no proper automatic standby, but I can't click the back button 5 times day so I will make some measurement of consumption when not in use and check with their supports
- The phantoms are classic refurb but somewhat have serial number starting by P20 and P21, so I'm not sure if they updated the serial when refurbishing because the serial would mean it's fairly new. If the serial is legit it should have ADH2 but I have no other way to know that I guess
I will keep you posted with my founding, any questions is welcome
Ok so I bought a pair of refurb by Devialet Phantom Classic with Bluetooth but without Airplay. The price was the same as a pair of phantom II so it was a no brainer for me, also I went into a Devialet Showroon which wasn't that bad (not a glass cubicle if you know what I mean) it seem to have a proper room acoustic, and yet the Phantom II was meh, at best, I'm used to separate audio things, I have multiple pair of speakers, not super expensive but really good quality, including a pair of Revel M16 coupled with a Naim XS which is my absolute go-to when listening to good music. Anyway so in comparison to my setup, the Phantom II was ok-ish, at best, lacking medium. high was ok, it sure is impressive for the size and perfect for lounge / electro type music but that's about it.
In comparison the Phantom 1 was way better, not really awesome either but perfect for my use case: I need a wife-proof small but powerful pair of speakers with minimal cable management to handle a big living room with a really high ceiling.
When I saw an offer for refurbished Classic for the price of the Phantom II I jumped on the occasion, figuring that I will buy a second hand Dialog to get Airplay.
- 1st, I couldn't hear a difference with the Phantom I (silver) I heard in their showroom (given that it was a couple days prior to receiving my Classic ones and my ears are not perfect)
- The sound quality is good, as everyone already know the power coming from these tiny things is just crazy, however they are still good to listen at a low volume.
- the last update gave me the 2 band equalizer, cranking up the medium/high makes a lot of difference and corrects the only concern I had with them
The comes the Dialog
- Second hand, costed me about $40
- got updated to last firmware with no issue
- now that's a big surprise: it seems to be Airplay 2
It shows up as an airplay receiver in all my apple devices, so far so good, but I get the multiroom and all the goodness as well, I can airplay to it and then add as many speakers as I wish from my home, all works perfectly, which I believe is an airplay 2 only feature, normally I shouldn't be able to airplay to other devices at the same time as the Dialog. it's awesome!
- Now that I can airplay properly I can use Spotify EQ instead of Devialet one, that's a big bonus so I let the Devialet one on Flat and worked with the curves of Spotify (I tried a lot of different sources before, and honestly can't tell much of a difference between Spotify over airplay and a proper CD player, so I stick with Spotify and multiroom and the simplicity that comes with it.
- the Phantoms are running super hot when not in use, I suspect there is no proper automatic standby, but I can't click the back button 5 times day so I will make some measurement of consumption when not in use and check with their supports
- The phantoms are classic refurb but somewhat have serial number starting by P20 and P21, so I'm not sure if they updated the serial when refurbishing because the serial would mean it's fairly new. If the serial is legit it should have ADH2 but I have no other way to know that I guess
I will keep you posted with my founding, any questions is welcome
