Antoine's system

[Antoine]

@maxijazz, to be honest I don't really know what to make of your post. However I always try to steer clear from giving general advice on these matters so won't go there now as well. Of course I do wish you good luck in deciding your next move!

@thumb5, it's not here yet but I'm hoping it'll come back to me coming week. I'm missing it dearly!! From another thread I can see that others who's units have been delivered to Devialet just some days before mine have just received those back so judging from that it must indeed be due very soon.

[Antoine]

As mentioned before I've decided to upgrade my 250 to 250 Pro. I delivered my 250 at a UPS AccessPoint on Monday 31st of October and yesterday it was returned to my home by UPS. Finally, as I was missing it sorely!! 

After unpacking and admiring its gained weight because of the solid copper back plate I hooked it up back in the system and switched it on...nothing happened! Aaaarrrrgh..a DOA!? Please don't do this to me!!!  Unplugged the power from the P3 PowerPlant and used a direct to wall connection, still nothing. Disconnected all cables, power on, still nothing! I checked on the P3 if it used any power when I connected it and hmm yes, some 12 to 20W initially and then dropping to around 3W. OK so it's no broken fuses. Was it too cold? Condensation problems? Nehhh can't be it, not even the red LED light lit up at the back...

You can imagine my huge dissappointment and anger at this time but I figured there was nothing I could do so I decided to call Devialet. After waiting for a while in the caller queue I got the answering machine. Damn. What to do. I picked it up inspected it and shook it a bit and then I noticed a rattle! Did something get loose in transport?  

I decided to open it using the supplied torx tool (which of course is for the remote but it fit the torx screws on the back as well) and looked insight. At first sight everything looked OK. I looked at the add on boards and they seemed to be seated firmly. I picked it up and tilted it and then I noticed that a small board with 10 black components (inductors or whatever) was loose on one side. This board is soldered to the mainboard with four 2cm wide solder points. Hmmm...what to do, shall I fix it myself or send it back to Devialet I thought. Since I really did NOT want to sent it back, wait for them to repair it and sent it back to me again I decided to carefully try and do it myself. I've soldered many times and it wasn't SMD soldering so I should manage.

And so I went ahead, I used my WBT silver solder (probably of a higher quality then what Devialet uses) and for a normal soldering job I actually used a bit too much to get the solder below the board to also melt. When that happened I was able to push the little board flat to the mainboard pushing out the excess solder. I decided to also redo the side of the board which was still connected as I figured it would probably have microcracks because of the movement of the board. After that: job done so I connected a power cable and then I was greeted by many different red LED lights on the mainboard and I saw the D booting. Yes!!

While I was refitting the back plate Devialet called me back. I didn't leave a message but they seem to log the called ID's of people who called and reached the answering machine and call these people back when agents are available again (very professional). I explained the whole story and received a lot of understanding. They would never hold me opening the device trying to fix it myself against me and I asked if she would make a note logging this which she did.

But since I was still closing the case I hadn't tested it yet, did it actually work? After reconnecting all cables and instructing Roon to play a tune: music, yes!! Phewwwww....

Next post: my first listening impressions.


This is the little board that was loose (you can actually see the excess solder on the left):
   

Picture of the full inside. You can see the board middle below.
   

[thumb5]

You're a brave man, Antoine! I've done quite a bit of soldering in my time but I don't think I'd trust myself with that job. Respect!

Great to hear that it's working now, and will look forward to your listening impressions.

[Antoine]

And so after the adventure mentioned in my previous post it was time to do what I couldn't in the previous three weeks: properly listen to music!!

These are my very first impressions. I've listened to my system for about five hours (all evening) directly after powering it up.  

Let me start by saying I haven't noticed the edgy hight/brightness that some reported, rather the opposite.

More natural highs, rich cymbal sound, decaying beautifully
Warmer, more fleshed out/richer upper bass and mids
Cleaner (NOT more analytical but less distortion/noise) presentation and detailing, better microdynamics
Better separation (more air) and better soundstaging.

Old lifeless (eg. 80's pop albums) are much more enjoyable now.

I almost never listen without sub but use the button on my remote now and then to to switch between 2.0 and 2.1 and test sub performance. The difference between sub on and off grew smaller, although 2.1 is still way superior in my room/system which is of course tuned to having the sub in the system.

The system has played all night so I will continue enjoying it later today and tomorrow. Free weekend so I have all the time!

It sounded great from the box and I would be happy even if it stayed like this but if things do improve due to 'burn in' effects, well I of course wouldn't mind that! To be continued!

[Antoine]

You're a brave man, Antoine! I've done quite a bit of soldering in my time but I don't think I'd trust myself with that job. Respect!

Great to hear that it's working now, and will look forward to your listening impressions.

Thank you Ian!

Well I was disappointed so much that I thought that if I would screw it up I would have to send it back and if I did nothing I would also have to send it back. So I just tried. I did my best to relax, take my time and do it very carefully and in the end it proved to be quite easy because of the very wide solder points. I think it's now probably in an even better condition than it is usually from factory and in my case it probably were poor solderings. I can't imagine these to come loose if it wasn't a poor job done. The D, being made out of a solid block of aluminium really can't torque. So the board either was loose from the start or it just needed a bit of a shock during transport to come loose.

[Confused]

Kudos points for bravery from me too!  I have to say though that this does make me wonder about Devialets quality control, first Helloworld's shocking chrome plating and now this.  One for another thread though, I don't want to clutter Antoine's lovely thread with Devialet woes.

I have to say I too am very much enjoying my Pro today!  Treble and highs are fine here also.  Although I did listen to one track earlier where the treble did sound harsh and I actually felt the need to turn the treble down a few clicks.  It was just one track though and I reckon if I still had the D800 I would not be thinking about it too hard and would not have noticed, or just casually thought, 'the treble's a bit harsh on this track'.  Anyway, that's an aside.  Today I'm loving my Pro!  Looking at your initial impressions, cleaner and more natural, better micro-dynamics?  Yes, I'd go with that.  I just hope yours doesn't start sounding worse when it 'beds-in'.

[Antoine]

Thank you too Confused! I fully agree with you on quality control...

Great to read you're enjoying your Pro as well! And you make a very valid point which I thought about yesterday as well. If bedding/burning/settling in does improve things as I've noticed before with digital gear then that's OK but I wouldn't like it to become 'warmer'. If it does I may have to re-tune somewhere else to get some vibrancy back. A bit of 'edge' can be a good thing, makes the sound more alive with rock music for example. So far, so good, very good!

I've kept it playing a burn in disk (through Roon) all night at a low volume so it now has about 21 hours on it. I'll go back to listening now, but will first read and answer your PM!

[yabaVR]

Oh, Antoine...case was open...case was open...could just rip 'em blunt binding posts off...and exchange the IEC for a Furutech and solder it right to the contacts of the SMD-Fuses   
Ok, ok, just making fun on it, but the seed is planted and next spring it will reach surface  

Enjoy your PRO 

gui

[Antoine]

Thanks Gui, and you can be sure I'd like to do as you propose however I'm too scared to lose my 5 year warranty.

I did do this on my Mutec (removed the internal PSU and soldered a DC lead from the Paul Hynes PSU directly to the mainboard but the Mutec costs 1/14th of the new price of the 250Pro.

[Hifi_swlon]

Thanks Gui, and you can be sure I'd like to do as you propose however I'm too scared to lose my 5 year warranty.

I did do this on my Mutec (removed the internal PSU and soldered a DC lead from the Paul Hynes PSU directly to the mainboard but the Mutec costs 1/14th of the new price of the 250Pro.

Since they didn't mind you soldering that piece, maybe they'd be happy for you (or others) to make the mods and retain warranty if you asked them first?

You're much braver than me - I'd have sent it back and got it checked out. Apart from the fact I haven't soldered anything in years, let alone something worth reasonable money, I'd be worried that whatever caused it (maybe a bit of a courier bashing) might have weakened other parts.

What happens with the heatsink pad - doesn't it need a new one once it's been separated from the baseplate?

Glad it arrived and you're finally enjoying it anyway.