Devialet 110 What Hifi review

[GuillaumeB]

http://www.whathifi.com/review/110

[moreno1973]

Dear GuillaumeB

I am interested in Your opinion abour Wadia Intuition. I know from other forum that You had Wadia nad Devialets for review in Your system. Do You still remember Wadia sound? What are the differences between Wadia and 170 or 240?

[GuillaumeB]

Dear GuillaumeB

I am interested in Your opinion abour Wadia Intuition. I know from other forum that You had Wadia nad Devialets for review in Your system. Do You still remember Wadia sound? What are the differences between Wadia and 170 or 240?

Hi

Yes that's right I did demo a Wadia Intuition back to back with a 170 and 240.

In short I didn't like it at all. It sounded really flat and harsh.

I understand that the unit has since gone back to Wadia for a recall and judging from some recent reports I should probably give it another shot.

Lovely looking unit.

Guillaume

[moreno1973]

Thank You for information. This Wadia should be very good for its asking price. I prefer Devialet design and Devialet's functionality but I was curious about sound. There were some optimistic reviews... maybe too optimistic;-)

[ciptip]

Hi,
as you can see in the review, there's a "loss of sonic magic at low volumes". Is it a question of dynamics? The rated power of some 80w into 8ohms should normally be enough to drive at least bookshelves.
Thanks!

[Rufus McDufus]

Hi,
as you can see in the review, there's a "loss of sonic magic at low volumes". Is it a question of dynamics? The rated power of some 80w into 8ohms should normally be enough to drive at least bookshelves.
Thanks!

I wondered about that. I have a small listening room and often need to keep the volume pretty low. I do find my 170 is slightly poorer when at 'background' volumes.

[ciptip]

Hi,
as you can see in the review, there's a "loss of sonic magic at low volumes". Is it a question of dynamics? The rated power of some 80w into 8ohms should normally be enough to drive at least bookshelves.
Thanks!

I wondered about that. I have a small listening room and often need to keep the volume pretty low. I do find my 170 is slightly poorer when at 'background' volumes.

Thanks indeed Rufus! That means that even with the power increase through the firmware update (and even more on the "bigger" 170/200) the issue remains unsolved. Maybe we should address this to Devialet itself, I'm curious what's their point on this.

[simplicate]

Hi,
as you can see in the review, there's a "loss of sonic magic at low volumes". Is it a question of dynamics? The rated power of some 80w into 8ohms should normally be enough to drive at least bookshelves.
Thanks!

I have a D-Premier and Sashas. Sounds good to me at low volume. Just listened to Ives, Forth of July at 28 dB in my mid-sized room. Great sound.

Maybe we should be a little cynical about subjective terms like magic?

[IanG-UK]

The "low volume" issue is probably not one where the unit introduces deficiencies which lead to "loss of sonic magic". If you read Peter Walker, late of Quad and arguably the greatest audio engineer of his generation, he said that there was only one correct volume to listen to a piece of reproduced music, where the equipment/human interface worked optimally. Turn the volume down by 20db and it sounds different and not just in terms of loudness. Turn it up by 20db and you will experience similar issues.

These journalists, probably well intentioned, have to write something and the What Hifi model pretty much forces them into doing a "for" and "against" list - and the writer may have to display similar "expertise" when they move him to What Car or What Whatever.

Just use your own ears and use reviews primarily to weed out the unsuitable and the dross.

[Jnan_devi]

I have ordered Deviate yesterday (for the Love of Music on Valentines ); to receive D120 by next week; Eagerly waiting..

...and then I hit What Hi Hi reviews and below sentence disturbed me.
"We’d even go as far as to say if you regularly listen to music at very low volumes this is probably not the amplifier for you."

I dig into this forum, under review section and found this exact topic.

so ... Mr IanG, thanks for sharing "Peter Walker, late of Quad" thoughts. feels nice now. My room acoustics needs huge improvements. but i m gonna do it slowly (step by step) to find difference and enjoy each moment.

... and Mr Guillaume - Thank you for making the Deviate Forum so organised and posting this review too.

Read more at http://www.whathifi.com/devialet/110/rev...JiHkxev.99

/Jnan