I was attending this workshop, it was my 250pro, the 400 belongs to a friend. A 3rd Devialet 400 owner was also present. All Devialet owners liked the Devialets very much, they had a much blacker background and also better details than any other amp. The 250pro was compared to a 30k€ frontend of DAC and preamp and NAT tubes costing about 8000€. In the end a unfair comparison, but for my ears the 250pro was better on a Wilson Benesch Discovery and much better on a horn speaker. In the other room the 400 has to fight against a 40k€ system which was sounding better in terms of nicer but not in terms of correctness. The music played was very tube friendly. When playing Yello it was obvious that the tubes have limits. I guess most of the audience were tube fans that simply heard what they wantet to hear (my impression). And some points of criticism were simply wrong, the Devialet 400 was the only amp reproducing sibilants of a choir correctly. Not better sounding but correctly.
There are always some people who think they know how music should sound, but sometimes they are simply wrong. They think if an amp sounds nice and forgiving it is the better amp. My choice would still be the 1000pro that I have, I would even prefer a single 250pro to the tubes. Maybe the tubes shine with some very special music, but as it gets more complex and louder and bass heavier tubes have no chance against a powerful solid state amp.
Not speaking about the heat and extreme power consumption...
For some people the Devialet is like a red rag, and most people still think the Devialet is a Class-D amp. And a Class-D amp is bad...
There are always some people who think they know how music should sound, but sometimes they are simply wrong. They think if an amp sounds nice and forgiving it is the better amp. My choice would still be the 1000pro that I have, I would even prefer a single 250pro to the tubes. Maybe the tubes shine with some very special music, but as it gets more complex and louder and bass heavier tubes have no chance against a powerful solid state amp.
Not speaking about the heat and extreme power consumption...
For some people the Devialet is like a red rag, and most people still think the Devialet is a Class-D amp. And a Class-D amp is bad...
