Sound differences between Devialet 200 and Devialet 250

[Stigmater]

Stigmater - For comparison, have you tried using the Akurate's digital output direct to the Devialet.  Hence by-passing the Linn's DAC, and going direct to the Devialet DAC.  Might be interesting?  This is certainly more of a "purist" approach, than using an external DAC.

Interesting. Is it possible to disable internal ADC and use Devialet as a pure integrated amp or pure power amp?

Yes. You are right. That is why majority of streamers (transport+DAC) use I2S interface with reclocking system. It is the most advanced way to send digital data from transport to DAC nowadays.

There is no reason to worry. But taking into account the fact that Akurate DS is not only transport, but also DAC with high-quality internal volume control, it is possible to use it with a pure two-channel power amp. Why do you need Devialet then?
Triple-convertion (from digital to analog and then analog to digital and then again digital to analog) is not good for SQ.

No, it's not possible to disable the ADC inside the Devialets for analog inputs. All inputs signals must be(come) digital as they all tie in to the DSP which is the central hub of the Devialet. It's needed for the ADH amplifier part to do it's work. The ADC is known to be very transparant (as is the rest of the Devialet design) capturing even the analog sound character of an external DAC.

Yes, at least in theory the triple conversion should be detrimental for SQ to some degree. It could however be that in the end it is still sounds better than the digital output of the Akurate. Not saying it does but I've learned one simply can't generalize based on textbook knowledge/theory alone. In the end it's the real world result that matters.

FWIW in this discussion I came from an all-Linn Klimax system.

At first I held onto my KDS/1 as I found it more convenient to stream through the KDS (all my music on a NAS etc). The KDS had no digital outputs so I used a couple of analogue RCA cables to connect to the Devialet master.

I was very happy with this setup from a SQ perspective.

However I started experimenting with other transports and soon realised that the Devialet DAC (without preceding ADC stage) was equally good. It was a no-brainer to sell my KDS and use to proceeds to invest in better cables.

I believe Rufus had a very similar experience also coming from a KDS/1.

The KDS definitely had a more velvety presentation, quite pleasant actually. But I do think the Devialet DAC (being fed by a transport or AIR) is ultimately more detailed and transparent.

Ultimately it all comes down to personal preference. More recently I have been amazed at the results when feeding a Trinnov Amethyst into my master, via analogue cables! Even with room optimisation switched off it is a very different presentation than the Devialet on its own. In some ways I prefer it!

Guillaume

Hi and welcome, I can share my little experience,
Not long ago I upgraded my D200 to D250 and that's after trying D200 in monoblocks (D400).
I liked D250 much better even though according to specs D400 should be superior.
D250 will give you better control of the speaker, more air and dynamics.
Most important thing D250 brought to my system is very sweet sound , with D200 I started to regret that I purchased my d800 diamonds,  mostly because those diamond tweeters that were bright and harsh.
Now after upgrade im in heaven, highs are so sweet that I'm enjoying of so much more music , things that before I couldn't listen because of unpleasant and bright sound, I of course blamed it on record quality and my speakers.
I have to be honest and I'll say that D250 was not my only upgrade , I did upgrade DAC and speaker cables ,I chose Stealth audio Reverie which I really liked after my Neotech Sahara (as my dealer said: someone's entire level is other flagship )  and regarding DAC, I found that Linn Akurate DAC is better then Devialet internal DAC and sounds more analog and resolving.
I can share even more, couple of days ago I tried Luxman 700 pre and power (10000$ x2) in my setup , and I liked  Devialet more.

Thanks for your extensive reply Stigmater.

The experienced differences between D200 vs D250 as described by you are equal to what I have heard from my dealer.
His opinion is that the D250 is even better than a D400 when it comes to a more resolving and less grained sound, better resolution and separating of voices and instruments, and even a tighter and more powerfull bass.
The advantage of more power can be the icing on the cake when it comes to speakers which are less sensitive and have a low efficiency.
But honestly, I was not expecting such a good performance of the demo D200 on my Kharma,s. If the D250 will impress me with significant better performance it must be the right amp for me.
Time for an audition at home I guess  

I Can share some more interesting insights from my side,
and i hope JeanF will let me use his thread for further comparison D200 - D250 and now D800 (and maybe even will change the header) Thanks in advance.

So week ago i took home another D250 for demo and now i have D800 ,
For some reason i didn’t get the WOW effect,
I have a little hard to drive speakers, i thought D800 will do the magic,
but sadly it didn’t happened.
I spent some sleepless nights in comparing the D250 and D800 so i could understand if i'm willing to go for such upgrade, or not.
At first master and slave was connected with some cheap SPDIF cable, i thought that i should change it to something descent before i'll return the unit.
I took from another dealer Stealth SPDIF cable and after connecting it i thought that i here a real difference now , but after playing a little more with swapping cables and D250 vs D800 i once again can’t decide if im hearing the difference or not, maybe i do hear the deference and i think that D800 maybe a little better , but the difference is really not big.
I  know that people here that their opinion is important to me are really like and think that's D800 is the best thing at this price point that money can buy or at least one of the best, and im agree, even though i didn’t test a lot of hi end amps at my place.
I expected the major impact to be on the bass of my speakers i expected it to be more cleaner and tight and i really can’t say if i get it.
The question is , what I’m missing here is it expected that the difference  between D250 and D800 is really not big.