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Devialet dealers at Axpona seem alienated
#1
First time post-love this forum. I went to Axpona this year thinking someone would bring a Pro 220 and hook it up somewhere. Devialet was a no show. The dealers that I spoke with that still have the brand didn't seem very excited about it. I heard from one that the Phantom guarantee caused some problems. Looking to get a Devialet Expert Pro/Dynaudio kit soon. I am yet to hear an integrated that I like better than the Devialet but the new Naim Nova with some Focals caught my attention at the show. My town (Kansas City) is a hifi desert. Guess I'm going to have to do a hifi road trip to get a new kit.
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#2
Well, I guess that Devialet isn't such a great brand from a dealer's point of view as the base Expert products sound great and offer excellent value for money and although the dual mono products do sound marginally better there isn't a huge difference so for many people theres not much point in upgrading. The limited range of ancillaries also offer minimal opportunities for dealers. 

Contrast this with, for example, Naim who offer a wide range of products wth very significant differences in sound as you move up though the range and make a wide range of high-margin add-ons like external power supplies and cables which offer dealers plenty of opportunities to help their customers to upgrade.

As a customer, having tried the Naim approach with built-in upgrade paranoia, I prefer Devialet. If I was a dealer I would rather sell Naim...
IMac macOS 10.15.3 (no link to Devialet Sad ) / MacBook Pro Retina OS X 10.14.4 / Linn LP12 / Devialet 200 Wilson Benesch Discovery. 
Qobuz Desktop Latest Version / Audirvana 3.2.18 / Audirvana Remote / iTunes 12.9 / AIR 3.0.4 / Wi-Fi / FW 8.1.0 / SAM 50%
Cambridge, UK (Updated 27th February, 2020)
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#3
(12-May-2017, 20:05)PhilP Wrote: ... the base Expert products sound great and offer excellent value for money and although the dual mono products do sound marginally better there isn't a huge difference so for many people theres not much point in upgrading...

Agree the base Expert sound great, but do not agree on the marginal better sound for dual mono. That all depends on your speakers and rest of the setup. For me double mono is a big step up as far as control is concerned. Stage is bigger and timbre blossoms more. Plays music so much more refined. The ease double mono performs with and makes music sound effortless outshines the single units as far as I am concerned.

I think dealers mostly have lost interest as the upgrade program kills their profits. Agree fully with you there. The upgrade money goes straight to Devialet, and dealers need to spend time on customers getting nothing in return.

And let's be fair. The double mono route is not for everyones budget. Yes, it is better on all criteria, but not everyone is ready to spend the amount of an Expert times two for the benefits of double mono. The single Expert s are just very good indeed not demanding the step to double mono to be set. These are quite high prices products. But as far as sound quality, naturalness and transparancy the Devialet won hands down against the Naim gear I tried (NAP250DR, NDX and NAC252 on TAD Evolution One) to my ears.

Netz welcome by the way. Well worth the drive to experience Devialet first hand.
Aurender N10 - Kharma Enigma Signature AES/EBU - Devialet 400 - MIT SL-Matrix 28s - Audio Physic Virgo 25 Plus - IsoAcoustics Gaia II - AudioQuest Diamond RCA-AES between Master and Companion - Silent Angel Bonn N8 - AudioQuest Diamond Ethernet cable - Keces P3 with Hifi-Tuning Supreme 3 Silver fuse - GigaWatt 16A automatic circuit breaker - Vibex One 6 Cu - Shunyata Research ΞTRON Alpha Digital and ΞTRON Z PC-10 powercords - Qobuz 24 bit Studio

The Netherlands
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#4
Welcome Netz,

Yes, this is a pretty good forum, though not as large as the Naim forum. Naim does make excellent products, but the sonic presentation is different. PhilP makes good points I think about the upgrade ecosystem. That never-ending line up of expensive upgrades was actually something that I found annoying about Naim, or the Naim sales system; while looking at a new set up in Naim a few years ago, I felt I was already being primed to be spending more and more down the road. That said, plenty of members here have made significant contributions to the French economy by moving up the Devialet chain, so don't let anyone tell you there isn't a clear path of future expenditure!

I love my Devialet for the sound and for the reliability of it, but I agree that they don't quite have the corporate model quite tuned up yet. And that includes their attention to dealers as well as existing owners. I've had great company and dealer support, but many others have not. My Devialet has no connection issues, and others have had continuing problems. For me, the Naim connectivity was terrible. I still feel that, 'UPnP capable' is a warning label, not a feature to be boasted about. Again, just my experience.

There are a few Dynaudio owners here as well if that is of interest. I think they (the Dynaudios) need quite a bit of power, so probably consider something with as much power as you can afford.
Damon
Powernode, NAD M32, Cambridge CD transport, Analysis Plus, Nordost, iFi Nova, CSS Criton 1TDX, KEF C62
Vancouver, Canada
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#5
A dynaudio owner here. . For what it's worth I think the devialet sound matches really well with my little 2 way c1s- they truly perform a disappearing act! Sweet detailed transparent and 3 dimensional sound stage - maybe the work of that soft dome . . .
Roon/mac mini > hqplayer > sms-200 ultra and MC-3+ USB both clocked via Mutec Ref 10 > MIT Oracle MA-X AES/EBU > D440 > Dynaudio C1 MkII via MIT Matrix HD-60
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#6
Spindrift absolut agree i have altso dynaudio C1 signature and the Sound is detailed and 3 dimensional In my room.
AVM  8.3  Rosso volterra 2 ,speaker cable and other cable audio note , turntable tt2 de luxe , caridge clearaudio carisma mm, primare bd mrk 2 shyunata power generator,
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