17-Jul-2015, 12:09
To respond to @frix with respect to mid range and treble (well you did ask). I need to be clear that I come from a position where day to day, I'm used to KEF Blades and a D800. Chatting to another forum member during the demo, the conversation drifted into "it's hard to go back. So it is probably not the most shocking news that the mids are not as good as D800 powered Blades, nor as good as the dual mono Sash 2's that were playing in OAC's other demo room at the time. So no, they are not as good as a $50,000 system as early Phantom advertising suggested. So versus the best, the mids did lack a little detail, insight and sparkle. Nothing wrong with the mids or treble though, no sibilance or harshness or other bad things, it's just that there are better out there. But hay, two silvers and a Dialog are less than 4k, for the entire system, streamer DAC, amp, speakers and cables. The Sasha's next door had cabling that would cost more than the Phantoms. Some folk on here have streamers that cost more than £4K. So the question is, how would the mids compare to a conventional 4k system? Well that takes the Expert range out of the equation, I'm guessing you could get a system for 4k with better mids, this would take some investigating, but you would probably end up with small stand-mounts, which would be crushed into submission by the Phantoms bass performance. For perspective, during the demo F1eng played a track, I'm guessing that this was the Kodo Heartbeat drummers, that he has mentioned previously on this forum? The power and realism of the drums on this track was staggering, to be clear, not staggering "considering the size of the Phantoms" but staggering in it's own right, by any standards. I have never listened to this on the Blades, (I must try this sometime though!), but if I'm honest, if I had been lead blindfolded into the demo room I might just have guessed I was listening to the Blades. Remarkable! How Devialet have achieved this and left any budget all for the mids and tweeters is almost unfathomable. I'm still trying to work out at what price point I would take a "conventional" system over a pair of silvers. It is well north of 4k that's for sure.....
As a final point to note, I did listen to some different white and silver Phantoms during the day, and I'm figuring that they are all very new. Others have mentioned the mids improve with a few hundred hours of use..... They might actually be better than I am suggesting here.
As a final note, what do I think of them overall? Well, I want one, but I'm still trying to think of a sensible reason to buy one! Maybe one in the bathroom? I have never listened to music in the bedroom. I'm also thinking of giving one to my local pub landlord, the pub has a most splendid choice of music on the jukebox, but rubbish speakers.... Though if I did this, i'd probably drink myself to death living in the pub listening to music everyday. Perhaps one for the garden? Maybe an in car Phantom if I can convert to 12v?
As a final point to note, I did listen to some different white and silver Phantoms during the day, and I'm figuring that they are all very new. Others have mentioned the mids improve with a few hundred hours of use..... They might actually be better than I am suggesting here.
As a final note, what do I think of them overall? Well, I want one, but I'm still trying to think of a sensible reason to buy one! Maybe one in the bathroom? I have never listened to music in the bedroom. I'm also thinking of giving one to my local pub landlord, the pub has a most splendid choice of music on the jukebox, but rubbish speakers.... Though if I did this, i'd probably drink myself to death living in the pub listening to music everyday. Perhaps one for the garden? Maybe an in car Phantom if I can convert to 12v?
