05-Aug-2016, 21:31
Firstly, a welcome from me too!
Good advice from Ian I would say, if you take a look at the advanced configurator you should be able to get a very good idea of how the tone controls can be used. Go to 'general settings' and then 'balance and tone controls. Basically, this allows you to set the cut off frequency from which the bass and treble controls start to roll off (or roll up!)
Actually, the words re the phono stage configuration are accurate. As you mention, cartridge manufacturers do tend to state average outputs at a specific frequency, so therefore the maximum output will be higher. But yes, the Devialet requests the maximum. So you have to set with a margin for the headroom. A bit of trial and error, but it is easy enough to do. It is worth mentioning here that the Devialet can be set to display input meters on the little display window. So you can pick out a nice 'loud' record, maybe a deep cut 12" single, or whatever else you have, you can then view the input level, which you need to keep below the red/ 0dB level. It is perhaps worth mentioning that before I bought my first Devialet I felt a little uncomfortable about lovely analogue records going through a pure digital phono stage. I have got over this, it simply is not a problem, in fact the reverse is true, doing the RIAA correction digitally is far more accurate than can be achieved in the analogue domain, and being done in 24bit it is analogue to the human ear. Fully adjustable for any cartridge too, curious that the worlds most digital amplifier is in many ways the vinyl lovers perfect amp.
Don't get me started on Devialet's advertising! You ask, 'Is the Phantom really 1000 times better than the Quad ESL 63 or the Harbeth Monitor 40'. The answer is no. A few folk have challenged Devialet on this, I think their answer was that the '1000 times better' claim referred to other portable speakers. But yes, it's nonsense. To be fair, in terms of power and bass response, bass accuracy the Phantoms are remarkable, and not just for their size. Do they provide the level of detail, insight and accuracy you might get from say a Quad ESL, no they don't. They are good little things though, and if I had a £4k budget for a system they might very well be what I would buy. It is interesting that in the early days, Devialet's website was almost all clear technical information, today it's not!
Now here is a wild guess! I have spent some time listening to the B&W 800 Diamond's in the past, this was being powered by very many Naim boxes. The thing I found with the B&W's was accuracy, detail and a real insight into the music. If you like this, then I'm guessing you'll like a Devialet. Hard to say of course, so take this as inspired speculation. It is also worth noting the almost incredible range of speakers used by Devialet owners on this forum, the range is staggering. So this does suggest that they work with most speaker options, of course a more demanding speaker would need the higher power Devialet's, but that is common sense. The only exception this this I can think of are some of the Martin Logan range. Some of the ML's dip to very low impedances, well below 2 ohms. This does cause some issues. I only mention this because you are planning to use with electrostatics, but to be honest I have no idea if this issue is specific to the Martin Logan's or if the Quads might suffer also. I'm guessing that as a long term Quad owner you will know the answer to this one, in terms of impedance curves.. To be clear, low resistances are not a problem with a Devialet, my own speakers dip a little below 3 ohms I think, but drop much below 2 ohms and you risk some harshness. Conversely there are some happy ML + Dev owners on here, it is not a massive issue, but one owner switched amps because of this. (I love the sound of Quads by the way, I wish I had the room to try them as a second speaker!)
Oh, and another thing Ian is right about, we are quite a helpful bunch on here, so if you have anymore questions or niggles, jump in and ask. (You'll probably get more sense out of us than Devialet to be honest!)
Good luck getting a decent demo!
Good advice from Ian I would say, if you take a look at the advanced configurator you should be able to get a very good idea of how the tone controls can be used. Go to 'general settings' and then 'balance and tone controls. Basically, this allows you to set the cut off frequency from which the bass and treble controls start to roll off (or roll up!)
Actually, the words re the phono stage configuration are accurate. As you mention, cartridge manufacturers do tend to state average outputs at a specific frequency, so therefore the maximum output will be higher. But yes, the Devialet requests the maximum. So you have to set with a margin for the headroom. A bit of trial and error, but it is easy enough to do. It is worth mentioning here that the Devialet can be set to display input meters on the little display window. So you can pick out a nice 'loud' record, maybe a deep cut 12" single, or whatever else you have, you can then view the input level, which you need to keep below the red/ 0dB level. It is perhaps worth mentioning that before I bought my first Devialet I felt a little uncomfortable about lovely analogue records going through a pure digital phono stage. I have got over this, it simply is not a problem, in fact the reverse is true, doing the RIAA correction digitally is far more accurate than can be achieved in the analogue domain, and being done in 24bit it is analogue to the human ear. Fully adjustable for any cartridge too, curious that the worlds most digital amplifier is in many ways the vinyl lovers perfect amp.
Don't get me started on Devialet's advertising! You ask, 'Is the Phantom really 1000 times better than the Quad ESL 63 or the Harbeth Monitor 40'. The answer is no. A few folk have challenged Devialet on this, I think their answer was that the '1000 times better' claim referred to other portable speakers. But yes, it's nonsense. To be fair, in terms of power and bass response, bass accuracy the Phantoms are remarkable, and not just for their size. Do they provide the level of detail, insight and accuracy you might get from say a Quad ESL, no they don't. They are good little things though, and if I had a £4k budget for a system they might very well be what I would buy. It is interesting that in the early days, Devialet's website was almost all clear technical information, today it's not!
Now here is a wild guess! I have spent some time listening to the B&W 800 Diamond's in the past, this was being powered by very many Naim boxes. The thing I found with the B&W's was accuracy, detail and a real insight into the music. If you like this, then I'm guessing you'll like a Devialet. Hard to say of course, so take this as inspired speculation. It is also worth noting the almost incredible range of speakers used by Devialet owners on this forum, the range is staggering. So this does suggest that they work with most speaker options, of course a more demanding speaker would need the higher power Devialet's, but that is common sense. The only exception this this I can think of are some of the Martin Logan range. Some of the ML's dip to very low impedances, well below 2 ohms. This does cause some issues. I only mention this because you are planning to use with electrostatics, but to be honest I have no idea if this issue is specific to the Martin Logan's or if the Quads might suffer also. I'm guessing that as a long term Quad owner you will know the answer to this one, in terms of impedance curves.. To be clear, low resistances are not a problem with a Devialet, my own speakers dip a little below 3 ohms I think, but drop much below 2 ohms and you risk some harshness. Conversely there are some happy ML + Dev owners on here, it is not a massive issue, but one owner switched amps because of this. (I love the sound of Quads by the way, I wish I had the room to try them as a second speaker!)
Oh, and another thing Ian is right about, we are quite a helpful bunch on here, so if you have anymore questions or niggles, jump in and ask. (You'll probably get more sense out of us than Devialet to be honest!)
Good luck getting a decent demo!
1000 Pro - KEF Blade - iFi Zen Stream - Mutec REF10 - MC3+USB - Pro-Ject Signature 12
