Phantom VS Homepod

[mak972]

Can someone compare those two?

[Rodrat2]

Not much point, they are the equivalent to a Sonos one and therefore not even in the same ball park.

[kmjy]

It’s basically no comparison. Maybe the HomePod does some excellent room calibration but sound wise and quality wise Phantom will always excel.

HomePod doesn’t accompany a dedicated mid range driver either. All the mid range is handle by the single woofer. I find that a mid range cannot be accurately reproduced in some cases by just a woofer.

For me personally. I listen to a lot of very heavy bass music. All the artificial bass in the Pop and HipHop realm, this sounds great on Phantom because the woofers are dedicated to that bass and the mid range is there to do what it does.

In the past. This experience on say two of the new SONOS: Play 5’s wasn’t ideal as the woofers are all taken up by the high excursion bass that the mid range gets drowned out and in some cases not played at all. After adding a SONOS: Sub to the system the mid range was great, as those woofers ONLY played the mid range and the Sub of course did ALL the heavy bass.

There are cases where the long excursion woofer can do a great job of both but only if it isn’t being pushed to it’s max excursion while trying to play subtle mid range.

This is the reason I have Phantom and the dramatic LEAP in sound quality is what took me from a full SONOS setup to a Phantom only setup. HomePod looks nice, easy, and simple and I’d love to have one but I’ll never buy one for the fact that I have Phantom. Just won’t be the same.

HomePod is a step above a SONOS: Play 5 (Gen 2).
The SONOS one is in no realm to compare to it whatsoever other than the ‘smart’ features.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Rodrat2]

Interesting, I assume you have heard a direct comparison. Apart from the cost the restrictive nature of Apple products would put me off. I suppose it could be argued that the same applies to the Phantom but this is not by design I would imagine.

[mak972]

I don’t care about Siri and the fact that the HomePod doesn’t have any input make it a no go but the room correction technology they made seems great.

https://www.reddit.com/r/audiophile/comm...rspective/

[ogs]

The guy at Reddit seems to have done a good job measuring. It is nice with built in RC, but I'm sure I'd get better sound with Phantoms and Audiolense (which I own) or Acourate (which I do not own). I agree that Devialet should at least put tone controls in Phantom. Even better would be parametric EQ to help fix room modes in the bass.
HomePod is way cheaper than Phantom though and the crowd commenting the test are not audiophiles...

[mak972]

Phantom are 10x more expensive does they sound 10x better ?

Devialet should up his game on software side I own a pair of Phantom BTW.

[ozthepoz]

I heard a Homepod at the weekend and thought it sounded awful, even in comparison to my Bose Sounddock.

Not in the same league as Phantom, IMHO.

[mak972]

What credits do you give to the reddit analysis of HomePod vs. KEF X300A? 


Extracted from the reddit article

I am speechless. The HomePod actually sounds better than the KEF X300A. If you're new to the Audiophile world, KEF is a very well respected and much loved speaker company. I actually deleted my very first measurements and re-checked everything because they were so good, I thought I'd made an error. Apple has managed to extract peak performance from a pint sized speaker, a feat that deserves a standing ovation. The HomePod is 100% an Audiophile grade Speaker.

I'm waiting to listen to one(shipping in spring for France) to compare to my Phantoms.

[ogs]

Oh dear! "The HomePod is 100% an Audiophile grade Speaker." This is of course pure BS. The HomePod is a 100% lifestyle speaker. As it is locked in to Apple with no possibility to handle HighRez it is positively not Audiophile. Apple music is lossy. Airplay is max 16/48. I am sure it can sound nice and "impressive" compared to other boom boxes and will most certainly fill the need for many. If it is 'impressive' it is more than likely an added coloration to make it so and to sell. The HomePod is probably good as a zone in the kitchen, hall or patio, but main speakers? Not for me!