Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Devialet vs Everything Else
#1
I thought instead of littering up other threads with gear comparisons, I start a dedicated thread and the only place that seemed like the right fit was the "Suggestions For Improvements" forum.

Big Grin

McIntosh C47 preamp, Transparent Music Link Balanced, McIntosh MC152 poweramp vs D220Pro

The MC152 power amp isn't as slow as the MAC6700 integrated I last tried. The MAC6700 4 ohm tap was a tad too warm and had less punch, the 8 ohm was better. I went straight to the 4 ohm on this amp and don't feel I am missing much punch and snap at all.

McIntosh is fuller without any harshness that can still exist in the D220 Pro.  The Devialet is blacker with better instrument seperation but the McIntosh is richer.

The DAC in this preamp is a HUGE upgrade over the DAC in the MAC6700 I last tried.  I'm currently upsampling everything to DSD128 with HQPlayer.  DSD256 is a little wonky, I haven't quite figured out the magic HQPlayer formula to make it work perfect.

I have allot of stuff to get my head around. These separates are closer to the D220 Pro than the MAC6700 was to the D200 when I last test drove.

So far I have HQPlayer upsampling everything to DSD128 delivered over DOP from a Windows 10 box.  I can power the amp and cycle inputs and not lose my USB connection unlike the D220 Pro.  I think Air is more stable than the USB driver now.  Sheesh!
Roon->HQPlayer->McIntosh C47->McIntosh MC301s>Transparent Super->Wilson Audio Sabrinas w/ Shunyata Denali, Rega RP8, Rega Apheta 2


Reply
#2
I was supposed to try the Aavik U-300 integrated amp today but my dealer got sick so next week we will try it against my 440.

   

My dealer runs Aavik in his shop with TAD E1 and TAD CR1 MK2 and that is a really nice combo at home he runs the Aavik with Sonus faber Stradivari. He used to have Devialet but he thinks the Aavik is better and the phonostage is a killer in the U-300.
Speakers:TAD CE-1. Amplifier: TAD M2500mk2. Digital: TAD DA1000-TX, Innuos Statement Next-gen, Innuos PhoenixNET.

Miscellaneous: Qobuz Studio, Ansuz Mainz 8 D2, Ansuz Darkz DTC, Tubulus Argentus ethernet cable, Tubulus Concentus USB cable, Tubulus Argentus V2 XLR cable, Tubulus Argentus V3 + V3 bass, iFi Nova powercables. 

Second system
Qobuz Studio -> Devialet Silver Phantom, Devialet Tree









Reply
#3
Interesting looking piece.

The DAC being only 24/192 again would be an issue for me now that I have fallen in love with HQPlayer. Lack of balanced inputs would be another.

Looking forward to your impressions.
Roon->HQPlayer->McIntosh C47->McIntosh MC301s>Transparent Super->Wilson Audio Sabrinas w/ Shunyata Denali, Rega RP8, Rega Apheta 2


Reply
#4
Looking at list price, the true comparison would be against a Devialet 1000 Pro I guess.
Aurender N10 - Kharma Enigma Signature AES/EBU - Devialet 400 - MIT SL-Matrix 28s - Audio Physic Virgo 25 Plus - IsoAcoustics Gaia II - AudioQuest Diamond RCA-AES between Master and Companion - Silent Angel Bonn N8 - AudioQuest Diamond Ethernet cable - Keces P3 with Hifi-Tuning Supreme 3 Silver fuse - GigaWatt 16A automatic circuit breaker - Vibex One 6 Cu - Shunyata Research ΞTRON Alpha Digital and ΞTRON Z PC-10 powercords - Qobuz 24 bit Studio

The Netherlands
Reply
#5
(27-Mar-2017, 14:43)kerkhoffd Wrote: Looking at list price, the true comparison would be against a Devialet 1000 Pro I guess.

+1
Pro-Ject CD BOX RS--Roon--Qobuz Studio--Technics SL-1200GR--Synergistic Research Tricon Analogue 20th Anniversary--AT-OC9XSL--AudioQuest Niagara 1200--AudioQuest NRG-Z3--Devialet 220 Pro CI--Kimber Kable 4PR--Harbeth SHL5--Sumiko S.9 Subwoofers--Sennheiser HD 540 Reference Gold--IsoAcoustics GAIA II and Orea Graphite
Alicante (Spain)
Reply
#6
(27-Mar-2017, 14:43)kerkhoffd Wrote: Looking at list price, the true comparison would be against a Devialet 1000 Pro I guess.

Yes that would of course be the one to compare it to but I have no plans to upgrade to a 1000Pro and here in Sweden a 1000Pro is around €6000 more expensive than an Aavik. 

This is mostly a test for my dealer to compare Aavik to Devialet, we will also compare Gryphon Diablo 300 to my 440.
Speakers:TAD CE-1. Amplifier: TAD M2500mk2. Digital: TAD DA1000-TX, Innuos Statement Next-gen, Innuos PhoenixNET.

Miscellaneous: Qobuz Studio, Ansuz Mainz 8 D2, Ansuz Darkz DTC, Tubulus Argentus ethernet cable, Tubulus Concentus USB cable, Tubulus Argentus V2 XLR cable, Tubulus Argentus V3 + V3 bass, iFi Nova powercables. 

Second system
Qobuz Studio -> Devialet Silver Phantom, Devialet Tree









Reply
#7
I posted the text below in italics last summer, but it appears to be very 'on topic' for this thread, so I thought it was worth repeating here.  I would also add that a few weeks after listening to the 1000 Pro I was lucky enough to listen to the full dCS Vivaldi rig with DAG mono blocks and Sasha II speakers, this was with a big chunk of the playlist that I used for the 1000 Pro audition.  This was a very very expensive set up!  It was of course very good indeed, but the thing is, I was not blown away, I did not end up thinking how much better it was versus the 1000 Pro those weeks before.  OK, this is subjective in the extreme, two systems a few weeks apart with different speakers, but at least I had the commonality of my own demo music.  Whilst on the subject of dCS, I'd still like the Vivaldi Upsampler and Clock as the front end for my own Devialet, definitely the best front end I have ever listened to, but I simply cannot justify £24k, especially when you consider how fast technology appears to be developing with music streaming.

This is the repeated post from last summer:

I have posted elsewhere about OAC's demo of the D800 versus the 1000 Pro. However, the plan for the day was also to try some non Devialet rivals, just to get a feel for how the Pro sits in the current hierarchy. Unfortunately OAC do not have any Gryphon's, Aaviks or any of the other suggestions in this thread. They can't stock everything! But they do have one thing in store that I personally was very interested to try, a Chord DAVE. OAC also have Chord' SPM1200 MII power amp. I have heard the Chord with the Blades in the past, on that occasion versus some big Bryston opposition. I knew fro this that the SPM1200 has more than enough grunt to power the Blades nicely, and versus the Byston, the Chord can actually perform a very Devialet like trick of digging down to the very deepest bass. I know some people are not keen on Chord amps, finding them 'dry' or whatever, but they do suit my tastes, and as OAC have one in stock, why not give it a try? I was interested in the DAVE though. I have enjoyed Chord DACs in the past, and depending on what you read it is getting a bit of a reputation of being a 'state of the art' DAC offering, so why not stick it head to head with Devialet's ADH and it's 'old spec' DAC. So after listening to the 1000 Pro, it was onto an Aurender N10, Chord DAVE, SPM1200 plus Blades. And yes! It was actually very impressive in many ways. Versus the Pro, it did seam to have the same level of details and if anything was a touch more dynamic, a touch more 'foot-tappy'. But it was not a good as the Pro to listen to, by quite a margin in fact. Although the DAVE/1200 was finding and resolving all those details, it quite simply did not have that spellbinding realism that the Pro was achieving, it was also harder to listen too. With the Chord combo, you might think OK, I've listened to enough of that track, lets skip to the next, you get a bit fatigued listening to it. With the Pro, you just keep listening and enjoying! The DAVE was kind of ultra hifi versus the Pro simply sounding very realistic. I did put the slight dynamic advantage down to the SPM's good old class A/B construction versus the Devialet's ADH, however, moving onto the next audition, this view changed completely. In the spirit of trying stuff that OAC had in store, the DAVE was switched with a dCS Debussy DAC/Pre. In terms of price and functionality, this is pretty much direct competition with the DAVE. All DACs sound the same right? Well I didn't think so! I though the Debussy sounded very different. Versus the ultra hifi but maybe a touch difficult to listen to aspect of the DAVE, the Debussey was super smooth, perhaps too smooth! Some of the music I use for demos is redbook, and not what you would call be the best audiophile recordings, but his is quite deliberate, because 95% of the music I listen to is redbook and not the best audiophile recordings, any system I have at home needs to work with this stuff. But even the harsher material was being delivered in a remarkably pleasant way by the Debussy. The thing is though, that dynamic advantage I had attributed to the SPM1200 was gone! So I changed my mind here, it was the DAVE delivering the dynamics in spades I think, the Debussy + SPM1200 was a couple of notches down on dynamics versus the Pro. So the Debussy was impressive in it's own way, but not for me. To be blunt, it was a pleasant listen and great at taking the hard edges of recordings, but I found it a bit boring! I did joke with OAC's Alasdair that the DAVE is the one you want for Death Metal and Hard Core Techno, but the Debussy would win with Trance and Ambient. A poor joke maybe, but even thinking about it later I can't think of a better way of putting it. Smarter readers may have sussed out that both of these options are somewhat cheaper than a Pro. So you could have either DAC plus the SPM1200 for maybe £16k or so. In a way this is deliberate. I have a D800 I could sell, add the upgrade money, and I would not be quite up to £16k. Listening to my system recently with the mR + Mutec it is sounding so good that spending MORE money seams ridiculous. So you could consider £16k as full budget. OK, for a true head to head with a £23k Pro, you might want to go up the range with the power amp, but even then it is not that simple. I run a TT, plus I run a surround amp into the Devialet. The Chord only has digital inputs. So to get a system that also matches the versatility of the Devialet, you need a decent pre-amp and a phono stage. Depending on how you do that, it's budget blown out of the water. Then we have the Pro itself, I hadn't had a decent audition of the Pro when I started this thread, but now I have, and you know what, the Pro is so good, so plain detailed and realistic, I don't think the price for price opposition stand a chance. (although I someone want to lend me a Gryphon or whatever for a couple of weeks, I would try it!!)

Oh and one last thing...... You can get spoiled in life, and only notice the good things when they are gone. The DAVE has a remote control that I think is cloned from the one I use for my Panasonic telly. The dCS remote is perhaps fractionally nicer, but not by much, and in low light it is difficult to see the buttons and the volume control is a little bit grainy, difficult to get just right. Then back to the familiar Devialet remote. Ah! Bliss!

I have to say, that taking everything into account, the Devialet's functionality, versatility and the shear performance of the Pro, it's a slum dunk victory for Devialet.
1000 Pro - KEF Blade - iFi Zen Stream - Mutec REF10 - MC3+USB - Pro-Ject Signature 12
Reply
#8
(27-Mar-2017, 14:40)Dr Tone Wrote: Interesting looking piece.

The DAC being only 24/192 again would be an issue for me now that I have fallen in love with HQPlayer.  Lack of balanced inputs would be another.

Looking forward to your impressions.

Yes that can be a downside with the DAC.

You dont have balanced inputs on your 220Pro or is it something you want if you were to buy something else.

I dont use balanced inputs so no problem there for me and as I wrote it is just a test no plans to buy it.
Speakers:TAD CE-1. Amplifier: TAD M2500mk2. Digital: TAD DA1000-TX, Innuos Statement Next-gen, Innuos PhoenixNET.

Miscellaneous: Qobuz Studio, Ansuz Mainz 8 D2, Ansuz Darkz DTC, Tubulus Argentus ethernet cable, Tubulus Concentus USB cable, Tubulus Argentus V2 XLR cable, Tubulus Argentus V3 + V3 bass, iFi Nova powercables. 

Second system
Qobuz Studio -> Devialet Silver Phantom, Devialet Tree









Reply
#9
I knew it was only a matter of time before Confused would show up in this thread wrapped in a French flag and chanting Devialet, Devialet, Devialet!

Big Grin
Roon->HQPlayer->McIntosh C47->McIntosh MC301s>Transparent Super->Wilson Audio Sabrinas w/ Shunyata Denali, Rega RP8, Rega Apheta 2


Reply
#10
(27-Mar-2017, 15:39)Dr Tone Wrote: I knew it was only a matter of time before Confused would show up in this thread wrapped in a French flag and chanting Devialet, Devialet, Devialet!

Big Grin

Big Grin

Well it is a free world and it is fun comparing things, I see no problem letting my dealer bring home all sorts of stuff to my house  Smile

Problem for me is I cant get a 1000Pro to try at home and it is almost €30k in Sweden compared to around €16.5k for my 440Pro and no good deals on them anymore Sad my dealer has left Devialet behind and works mostly with TAD, Aavik and Gryphon.
Speakers:TAD CE-1. Amplifier: TAD M2500mk2. Digital: TAD DA1000-TX, Innuos Statement Next-gen, Innuos PhoenixNET.

Miscellaneous: Qobuz Studio, Ansuz Mainz 8 D2, Ansuz Darkz DTC, Tubulus Argentus ethernet cable, Tubulus Concentus USB cable, Tubulus Argentus V2 XLR cable, Tubulus Argentus V3 + V3 bass, iFi Nova powercables. 

Second system
Qobuz Studio -> Devialet Silver Phantom, Devialet Tree









Reply


Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)