Magico S3 - 200 vs 250 vs 400

[ozthepoz]

And a dealer told me that Devialet thinks that 2 x 400 is better than a 800…!

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I can only comment on my own experience, which was a back to back listen of the 170 vs the 240, but even this is loosing relevance now that the 170 has grown up to become a 200. With KEF Blades the 240 was clearly superior compared to the 170. This was not a small difference, in areas such as bass definition the difference was stark. I am not 100% clear what the difference between the 200 / 250 is, but there are some clues out there. The 250 case provides superior cooling, some say that there are power supply differences. Some folk suspect that the additional cooling allows changes to the way the power supply is configured or controlled electronically, which accounts to the 250 sounding better, but perhaps mainly in cases where the speakers are a more difficult load. To be honest, from what I have read, no one seams to know for sure. (Although there must be a boffin at Devialet who knows many secrets)

I agree entirely. I demoed a 170 and a D-Premier at home for a couple of weeks, both driving Martin Logan Vantage speakers. The D-Premier was significantly better in terms of imaging, control and lower end definition. The 170 was OK, but the improvement when I switched to the D-Prem seemed like more than just increased power.

Obviously it depends on room, speakers, music and ears, but for me, the decision was an easy one.