Devialet Ensemple vs B&W 805 Diamond?

[mixart]

Has anyone compared the Atom GT1 SE against B&W 805 Diamond with a Devialet 120/200? And witch one wins?

[Gentleman]

I have compared the Athom GT1 SE against B&W 805 Diamond. Each time connected to a Devialet 120 and with SAM.


From my point of view the speakers sounded simply different but non is overal really better. In context with the price I would call the Athom the winner.


But keep in mind that this was only a short test at my dealer and I don't know how well the speakers were run in. Neither do I know if the cables were wisely chosen...


Finally I would like to point out to take a closer on the speaker stands, too. The B&W stands of the 805 did NOT satify my needs as these seem to make a ringing noise at slightly higher levels.


Besides, I have tested the FOCAL Diabolo Utopia III on the matching stands powered by a Devialet 250 as well. They showed me that "small" speakers (matched with nicely made stands) can do it right. In fact they are in a total different league (Including the price.... )


I like these even more than the (nearly same expensive) B&W 802 Diamond which replaced the Diabolos in the same chain afterwards.


From my experience I would say in HiFi it depends always on the weakest component of the setup. At the shootout of the Atom and the 805 the choice of the right source (PC based music server instead of a CD-transport) and the use of really good power supply (PS Audio P5 plus Furutech cables and plugs) did improve the SQ more than the exchange of the two speakers.......