Expert 140 What’s Hifi

[RebelMan]

Not a good review for Devialet I would say. (maybe they have not been placing enough adverts recently?)  I would describe it as damning with faint praise.  It is a slightly curious review also, they seam to be comparing it to the memory of the old D-premier, rather than the 110 that they reviewed a while ago.  Plus, the review of the 110 was far more favorable, it is worth a read I think for comparison:

https://www.whathifi.com/devialet/110/review

So is the 140Pro a clear step back from the D110?  This is what the What Hi Fi reviews seam to be saying, assuming they are being consistent.  I have never done a comparison of the D110 to the 140Pro, so cannot comment from experience.  Has anyone done this as a direct comparison?

Picking up on @Drifter 's point, personally I think the ATC SCM50's are actually quite a lean sounding speaker, so maybe not the best synergy with a neutral sounding Devialet, although the mid range performance of the ATC's is exceptional I think, so that should shine through with a Pro.  It is a shame that WHF's "reference" speaker is not on the SAM list, they might have got a better result with the SCM40's?

But is has to be said, not a good review for Devialet.  I am sure that there are some folk out there that take WHF reviews seriously that would be put off by this review.

A final note to @Pim - Get it sent off!!!  The 1000Pro is epic.

I concur, it isn't a very flattering review of the Pro series.  Unfortunately, I am one of those "What HiFi" readers that takes some stock in what they have to say only because my personal experience has aligned with some of their reports.  When the Expert series was called out for "losing some magic at low volumes" I noticed this with the 200 I was evaluating at the time.  Mind you I came across that report after my audition.  As I tend to listen at lower volumes I had valid concerns about this.  

SAM was not out at the time so I took a leap of faith that it would help in this area when I purchased the 120.  I was willing to place bets on the 120 before sampling SAM only because it ticked all the other boxes for me.  I was not disappointed although the B&W Diamonds I was driving with it I believe exacerbated the problem a bit.  I suspect as @Confused noted that the speakers used in this review maybe partially to blame.  However, a growing consensus among publishers in support of the conclusions made in this review have me wondering.