Goodbye to Devialet - after upgrade program

[Confused]

I have to say that I was very struck reading AlanB's very considered post earlier. The thing is, much of what he had written was stuff that I have thought myself over the last few months. When I first heard about the Pro, I too was a little disconcerted that Devialet had worked on the O'dA, apparently as a bit of a side project to produce a limited edition that would sit nicely above the D800. Then when this appeared to be working well, the plan to hone the design a bit, and release as the all new Pro range. This thought sat very badly with me, I felt that I would want the new model to be the best they could achieve, the result of many years hard R&D effort, that kind of thing. The Pro looked to me like a bit of a half hearted effort designed to extract cash from existing owners. I did actually get a bit of information regarding this a while back, this is second hand information so I have no idea exactly how accurate it is, but here goes. The story is that the O'dA was indeed something of a side project, although as this was Mathieu Pernot's (Devialet's Chief Designer) personal project, to call it a side project is perhaps the wrong term, a lot of care effort and expertise was going into this. What I was told was that in the early stages of this project it was becoming clear that big improvements in performance was possible, and the green light was given for a very serious R&D effort (many people and much cash) to push this even further and create the Pro range. It would appear that once the decision for the Pro range had been made, the O'dA had just been announced. Appalling timing, and we know how that one worked out. Even with this tale (if it is accurate, does anyone know for sure?) in mind, I still did not feel this was the 'many years hard R&D effort' that I felt a new range should justify. It was with all this in mind that I went for my audition of the 1000 Pro. To be honest, I was happy with the D800 and had no intention of trying anything new, but the upgrade scheme effectively forced me to consider my next step, this is why after listening to the 1000 Pro, I also had a listen to option from Chord (DAVE) and dCS, I was annoyed enough with Devialet (AIR, communication, all the above) to try some rival products to get a feel for just how good Devialet products really are. I think is was at some point during the second or third track that that I listened to on the 1000 Pro that all these thoughts were banished. The Pro was special. I had one of the moments when I started thinking this is it, this is what I have been looking for all these years, then a kind of primeval feeling 'I want one'. All very simple. So here is the great Devialet quandary at the moment. Some of what Devialet are doing is the kind of stuff that customers simply that should not accept. My default position with any company like this is simple, do not use them. Bad meal at a restaurant, stop going there, unreliable car, buy a different make next time. It's very simple. However, if you love music, love music beautifully reproduced, and your quest is to have the best possible sound quality for the money, then in my view, the Devialet Pro is a triumph, something you would be foolish to ignore. In a way, the fact the Pro is so good just serves to exacerbate the rest of Devialet's short comings and make all of this all the more annoying. After all, if the sound quality was rubbish we would all simply walk away, most of us would not have purchased in the first place and the annoying entity that is Devialet would be bankrupt. The Pro is just so good I fear that Devialet will survive and prosper.

As for the streamer board...... A bit of a joke I think. My view? Why didn't they just make this an option, sell the Pro and do the upgrades without it. This would make the upgrades cheaper, and the streamer board could then live or die on it's merits when we all know what it will do, and how it will sound. Ridiculous. The thing is they haven't done this, it is what it is, and I've still bought a Pro, I am not walking away in disgust. The sound quality cannot be ignored. It just adds to the annoyance.....