Devialet v Benchmark/Parasound/Pass Labs

[ozthepoz]

Hi,

It was I who wrote the letter to Jeff Fritz and I note that Flashman and ozthepos (purposely?) misinterpret my mail. I did NOT ask Jeff Fritz to tell me what is best or what to buy. My mail concerned a technical question based on a curiosity about my own reactions when comparing the Devialet with a separate component solution. Given his long experience with many different types of amplifiers (and that his profession is to analyze hi-fi equipment) I thought it would be interesting to hear his view about the differences I heard in my comparison.

The types of comments that you post are so typical for those who really are uncertain on their own ears (which I am not). It is called regret aversion, i.e. a manic fear of having purchased the wrong thing, resulting in a Don Quixote behavior fighting every expressed opinion that does not imply an unreserved hallelujah for the product under discussion.

I might, or I might not, purchase a Devialet. But that decision will surely be dependent only on my own ears (and budget). I hope that you two can relax a bit and be happy with your Devialet(s) instead of worrying about what other persons might prefer. You deserve it, the Devialet is an outstanding product and you have made a very good purchase!

/Kari

No offence intended. That's hi-fi I guess - loads of different opinions, no universal truth :roll eyes: Far too easy to get dogmatic about this stuff when it's really all about the music!

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Guillaume, Flashman - nice posts!

I take the point particularly about the journey of discovery without a destination. For me one of my strongest memories of hearing what I thought was "proper" hi-fi was in the late 1970s or early 1980s, in a specialist shop in Coventry (of all places). I vividly remember listening to a large chunk of John Martyn's "Solid Air" on a demonstration system - I have no idea what it was, but certainly nothing truly high-end - and being almost literally awestruck by the sound picture it created. I'm sure it was a happy combination of beautiful music along with some technical aspects such as realistic imaging etc. that I hadn't heard before. Although my current system probably "does everything better" than what I heard that day, it is still with me as a strong guide to the emotional reaction that tells me when a system is working well.

[Sorry, this is well off the original topic...]

When I was 18 and bought my first (AKAI) separates system with AR speakers I thought I had achieved audio heaven! I mention that because John Martyn was one of the main people I was listening to back then. In fact, I'm going to play some now