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Devialet and Obsolescence?
#41
You said it perfectly, mdconnelly.
Roon (Mac Mini), Wilson Benesch Full Circle, Expert 1000 Pro CI, Kaiser Chiara
Warwickshire, UK
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#42
From my point of view, the question of obsolesce falls somewhere between irrelevant and inevitable. Yes, one of the promoted product features is the upgradability, and every owner has already benefited from those upgrades; check the SW version threads, and the real or imagined SQ changes (I haven't upgraded the FW ever, so I don't know if there is a SQ difference). Anyone who bought a 110 now has a 120 .... for free. The D170 became a 200. Even the original D Premiers were upgradable; expensive, but there was/ is that option. I don't have a Pre-out board, but I can get one. Think SAM, the SAM lab, DPM and the other functional changes they've added in the last 18 months. A 200 can become a 400; a 250 can become an 800.

Even the O d'A doesn't render my D120 obsolete; it still does exactly what I bought it to do, and I've never heard anything to outperform it at anywhere near the price. A newer Expert, perhaps the D120 MII, would change nothing about the value and utility of the 'plain old' D120.

Buy an outboard phono amp; you may be stuck with a MM or MC only box that is easily made useless if you change cartridges. Again, quite the opposite with the Devialet; a whole world of cartridge compatibility is a configurator-tweak away. Buy a watch, a car, a computer, a bicycle; everything will be replaced with a newer model, but the watch still tells time and last years model will still get you to work. Magico just released the MkII versions of their speakers; are all the very expensive Mk I's now without value? Only if you spend your time listening the equipment and constantly fretting about what you think or imagine you're missing. True, you may hear an amazing system and you'll know what you are missing, but getting off the constant upgrade treadmill must appeal to most of us.

Some users have problems with AIR; that is an issue of function, but has nothing to do with obsolescence. I hope they fix it for the users that have problems, but remember, it is not a universal problem.

I don't expect Devialet to stop developing hardware or software, and I don't expect that my 2015 product, made in 2014, will be compatible with every upgrade they ever release. So, eventually my amp will be incompatible with future SW updates or features.

Streaming technology and streaming services are changing rapidly, and I don't expect Devialet to be able to accommodate every new format or technology, nor do I think they are missing the ball by not supporting the rapidly changing range of music control programs. Many expensive streamers only support Tidal online streaming. If Tidal goes under, that will make many Aries or Auralic boxes fairly obsolete.

With my D120 and my Lawrence Audio Violin SE speakers, I'm done; I'm not shopping or wishing for more. And that is the point I wanted to reach.

C'mon guys! Feet up! Break out the beer! Crack open the Cognac! Ratchet up the remote! Get your money's worth before they release the Expert series in orange paisley.

Sigh. Must go back to work....
Damon
Powernode, NAD M32, Cambridge CD transport, Analysis Plus, Nordost, iFi Nova, CSS Criton 1TDX, KEF C62
Vancouver, Canada
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