03-Jun-2019, 10:04
I''d try and borrow a D229 for a trial.
There have been improvements in power handling tin the Expert Pro range which may compensate twosome degree (I don't know how much) for the change to a single amp. I had Dynaudio Contour 1,3 SEs when I bought my 130 Expert Pro pre the CI board and the 130 did a better job driving them than the NAD M3 I had before, despite the fact that the 130 had less power when you compared the specs. Since then there have been further improvements with the Expert Pros including the CI board and some changes to how the power supply is run. I'm not certain an up do date D220 will equal the D400 but I have a feeling it will go closer than you might think, definitely some of the advantage adding the second amp to the first D200 will be gone.
The other improvements with the Expert Pro range with the CI board relate largely to streaming. You haven't mentioned what your sources are. If you're using Roon with Roon Air with the D400 you may find the Roon Ready streaming input now available using Roon's RAAT to get the signal to the Devialet an advantage. Some prefer RAAT, some prefer Roon but it's worth a trial to see what you think of the advantages associated with the CI board and the 200 to 220 upgrade bring to the table. You will probably lose a little in control of the Dyns but that may be less than you think and you will get a slightly different sound character and other changes with the upgrade to a current 220. You may still prefer the 400 but if you're thinking about it I think it's worth borrowing a 220 if you can and seeing what you think. Failing a borrow for a home trial then I'd see if you can arrange a demo in a shop with the same speakers you have. I would not recommend making the swap without hearing some sort of comparison of a D400 to a current D220 at the very least, preferably with the same speakers you have and in your own home if at all possible. There will be pros and cons to the change and there's no way anyone can assure you that the pros will outweigh the cons, they may for some people but not for others.
There have been improvements in power handling tin the Expert Pro range which may compensate twosome degree (I don't know how much) for the change to a single amp. I had Dynaudio Contour 1,3 SEs when I bought my 130 Expert Pro pre the CI board and the 130 did a better job driving them than the NAD M3 I had before, despite the fact that the 130 had less power when you compared the specs. Since then there have been further improvements with the Expert Pros including the CI board and some changes to how the power supply is run. I'm not certain an up do date D220 will equal the D400 but I have a feeling it will go closer than you might think, definitely some of the advantage adding the second amp to the first D200 will be gone.
The other improvements with the Expert Pro range with the CI board relate largely to streaming. You haven't mentioned what your sources are. If you're using Roon with Roon Air with the D400 you may find the Roon Ready streaming input now available using Roon's RAAT to get the signal to the Devialet an advantage. Some prefer RAAT, some prefer Roon but it's worth a trial to see what you think of the advantages associated with the CI board and the 200 to 220 upgrade bring to the table. You will probably lose a little in control of the Dyns but that may be less than you think and you will get a slightly different sound character and other changes with the upgrade to a current 220. You may still prefer the 400 but if you're thinking about it I think it's worth borrowing a 220 if you can and seeing what you think. Failing a borrow for a home trial then I'd see if you can arrange a demo in a shop with the same speakers you have. I would not recommend making the swap without hearing some sort of comparison of a D400 to a current D220 at the very least, preferably with the same speakers you have and in your own home if at all possible. There will be pros and cons to the change and there's no way anyone can assure you that the pros will outweigh the cons, they may for some people but not for others.
Roon Nucleus+, Devilalet Expert 140 Pro CI, Focal Sopra 2, PS Audio P12, Keces P8 LPS, Uptone Audio EtherREGEN with optical fibre link to my router, Shunyata Alpha NR and Sigma NR power cables, Shunyata Sigma ethernet cables, Shunyata Alpha V2 speaker cables, Grand Prix Audio Monaco rack, RealTRAPS acoustic treatment.
Brisbane, Qld, Australia
