Goodbye to Devialet - after upgrade program

[RebelMan]

This was posted by Ian G after the Oxford Audio 1000 Pro launch event.  A fascinating take on power.  I have to be honest, I struggle a bit to rationalise how 'infinite power' would improve on say a much lower figure, such a 1 billion watts, but there you have it.  This was the view of one of the great minds behind the original Devialet project, food for thought.....

This was very interesting. Mathieu explained that, from the current starting point, the priorities were (a) power (b) volume control © quality. What I interpreted from this was that, given Expert’s current quality, their aim was to increase power (Mathieu said that the best power was theoretically infinite power) and then to ensure that existing optimum quality was delivered at all power (volume) levels. In terms of quantifiable measures, he said that the 1000 Pro would now deliver continuous full power for a whole minute whereas the 800 could only deliver continuous full power for two seconds. He also explained that the theoretical optimum mix (but practically unachievable) between A and D was 0% A and 100% D; but that the changes had moved them from 2%/98% to 0.5%/99.5%, improving precision by a factor of four.

So there you have it folks.....   Infinite power is what you want!

Plus, this does remind me of when I listened to a D170 with the KEF Blades, even at modest volume it did not sound good, bass definition, punch etc. was very poor.  With a D240, the Blades were singing.  On paper, the D170 should be fine, easily fine with the Blades, but it wasn't.  It's not a simple topic this one.

In theory its cute to say that "Infinite power is what you want!"  but in practice it's just not so.  The closest thing to an infinite power source (we have) is the Sun and even it has a lifespan.

What I believe is implicit in Mathieu's message is that power is important when it is infinitely linear.  This means that for a given changing load that the power supplied be sufficient to prevent starvation (distortion) throughout the period of demand.  Although the Devialet's are linear to a point they are not unbounded.  Furthermore, as far as I can tell, none of the current or previous versions have any dynamic headroom.  Given Mathieu's remarks I suspect the new Pro series will address these limitations.   

Unless your requirements (difficult load, lifeless room, loss of hearing) necessitate it, the quality of power is important not the abundance of it. The first watt should sound like the last one.  Until then, keep an eye (or perhaps your ear) on the dial.