Is the Phantom still bad for a home theater?

[kmjy]

Unfortunately they are not great for home theater in my opinion. I really tried to make it work, but in the end I missed the proper .1 channel (LFE) and in order to get satisfying volume/impact out of the speakers I needed to turn the volume quite high. But then I had another problem, while there was some pretty good mid bass punch, the highs were too hard and bright for me. Some scenes simply hurt my ears.

Recently went back to a 2.2 system with proper subwoofers and the golds dont compare at all. But for the size and it being a stereo set up they are fine. Can't expect a proper home cinema experience with speakers this size.

I didn't have lip sync issue's when they were connected to my tv or beamer. Only noticed it when I connected them to my pc monitor.

It’s not that the Gold’s don’t compare. It’s literally what you said. They weren’t receiving the proper LFE channel. Which is a problem when it comes to balancing out the overall sound. The highs are too bright because of the same issue. The correct channels aren’t being decoded properly. And rather just becoming a mash of everything.

The Gold’s would truly outperform most Home Cinema setups. Including some (some) actual cinemas. Just depends how it’s being done.

Devialet have been showing Phantom home theatre off for a while and the way they execute it is astonishing. Really takes my breath away. It just takes quite a bit of extra components to do atm which is why it’s been held up. It needs to be practical before release. But once it does launch you’ll have a hard time comparing it to much else.

What they eventually want to do is have something like an all in one Dialogue which will do. Connectivity (Wi-Fi, optical, Bluetooth, HDMI) as well as the processing and decoding of the cinema audio. All channels being send out properly to the intended Phantom. With that all in one unit also doing the processing for each Phantom and setting a ‘maximum’ output level of them so Devialet can remove the current processing method from the Phantom itself (without risk of blowing the speakers by having no SAM real time monitoring enabled) and have the all in one unit do that processing but in a way that it’s pre-determined so we can have 0 sync issues and still have a safe and well performing system.

In time. It’ll come. In time.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes, I agree that having the channels being decoded would surely help. But even when the channels are decoded properly, they will not hit subwoofer levels of bass, at high volume they won't be able to produce hz in the lower freq range with authority.

The high's were also too bright for me with music, so I think that isn't a fair argument when talking about home cinema performance.

Comparing the Phantom Golds with a subwoofer set up is comparing apples and oranges. However, I must say there's no alternative this small with the amount of bass the Phantoms can produce. (for music absolutely plenty)

I’ve watched movies with a Phantom cinema setup and it absolutely does produce the lower frequencies with as much, if not more authority than a subwoofer. I picked my own movies and damn was it impressive. People say the Phantoms can’t hit even a solid 20Hz at higher volume levels but I’m not sure on what basis. In all my experiences they play from 20 all the way up very very impactfully. I’ve had my White Phantom’s vibrating the house on those lower frequencies. And even the ones I can’t hear. Can feel it. But I do suppose it depends on the setup. And environment. And locations and all of that.

For cinema each Phantom is delivering the equivalent of two subwoofers worth of bass (and the reason I say subwoofers is because they are actually subwoofers, there’s some really advanced technology going on behind those domes), and those drivers together are heading up past 17” in diameter. You add a second or third or fourth Phantom and you’re essentially adding another 2, 4 or 6 subwoofers if you wanna look at it that way. Sounds outrageous but really adds an impact. The setup I got the privilege to mess with was 7 Silver Phantom’s. Three front. Two side. Two back. Setup with Devialet’s method. It was breathtaking. Gold’s being twice as powerful as Silvers, having 25% more woofer excursion, and a more advanced range of output I would think even a four Gold setup would be incredible. Capable of those lows. No problems. I think in my listening environment two would be fine and I’d be more than happy with the bass output. But diversity in preference is what makes this field so enjoyable.

The highness is fair. Although in my experience the environment and positioning makes a big impact on how Phantom’s sound. A very very big impact.

The thing about these Phantom’s is that unless they’re being fed the absolute right source they’re not putting out their full potential of sound. With the right source that bass will thicken up incredibly. You may notice with a dedicated LFE track heading into Phantom the range of bass may increase. As well as the depth and thickness. And authority of sound. I’ve noticed this in the past.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk