21-Sep-2020, 11:14
Lots of mentions of me here, which is curious because I have never actually listened to the Blade 2 with Devialet amplification. (and @ogs - as it happens you were correct, I have been very busy over the last few days!)
What I can say is that when I first has a my "original" Blades I ran a Devialet D240 with good results. I later upgraded to a dual mono D800, but this was more of an incremental improvement rather than a massive step up. Another point, after I had decided to buy the Blades, I auditioned many amplifiers and eventually settled on the D240 as being the best sounding within what was then my budget. Looks, features, or anything else were not a consideration, I simply found the Devialet to sound the best. Some other combinations came close, but it is perhaps worth mentioning that this was before the time that Devialet introduced SAM and one of the outstanding aspects of the Devialet were the bass depth and resolution. I suspect that this is due to the Devialet's very low output impedance, but cannot be sure. Either way, I was very happy with the performance of the Blades with a D240 in the pre-SAM days. At the time I first listened to a Devialet with the Blades, the D240 was very new and my dealer had both the Expert 240 and the then just superseded D-Premier in stock. These two amplifiers were so similar in performance that the dealer could run a D240 and D-Premier in D500 mode, and subjectively you could not really tell these were not a matched pair. EVO platform apart, the D240 and D-Premier are very similar, other than the D240 having a slightly improved power supply.
I am also a little puzzled by the comment that the Blade 2 is a particularly hard load to drive? OK - It has four bass drivers, but the impedance curve is reasonable and the efficiency is quite high. There was Stereophile review which measured the D-Premier as producing 245w into 4 ohms, considering you have a dual mono D500, I simply cannot see that a lack of power is going to be an issue for you, far from it. (unless you have an enormous room and like listening at 110dB?)
I note that in you OP you state that you like the Devialet. So my advice would be to wait for you Blades to arrive, run them with your D500, which I am sure will drive them just fine, and see how you get on.
I can also state that I have very fond memories of the Blades with a D800. This combination does not provide the absolute level of detail and resolution that you get with the Pro, but with some "lesser quality" recordings it was perhaps a touch smoother and easier to live with than the 1000 Pro. However you look at this, I can say the dual mono Expert (pre-Pro) with the Blades was a great combination. I see absolutely no reason why you should not at least stay put with what you have now and try the D500 with your Blades when they arrive.
If after tying this combination you find you are not happy for some reason, then this would be the time to consider Pro upgrades, a Michi or whatever else. Although you might just find that that the D500 + Blades sounds great, so no need to rush into anything before at least trying with the D500 I would say.
As for the Blade 2 with a 1000 Pro, which is one upgrade path open to you, I believe @Jim_Anderson is running this combination, so he might be able to offer a view?
What I can say is that when I first has a my "original" Blades I ran a Devialet D240 with good results. I later upgraded to a dual mono D800, but this was more of an incremental improvement rather than a massive step up. Another point, after I had decided to buy the Blades, I auditioned many amplifiers and eventually settled on the D240 as being the best sounding within what was then my budget. Looks, features, or anything else were not a consideration, I simply found the Devialet to sound the best. Some other combinations came close, but it is perhaps worth mentioning that this was before the time that Devialet introduced SAM and one of the outstanding aspects of the Devialet were the bass depth and resolution. I suspect that this is due to the Devialet's very low output impedance, but cannot be sure. Either way, I was very happy with the performance of the Blades with a D240 in the pre-SAM days. At the time I first listened to a Devialet with the Blades, the D240 was very new and my dealer had both the Expert 240 and the then just superseded D-Premier in stock. These two amplifiers were so similar in performance that the dealer could run a D240 and D-Premier in D500 mode, and subjectively you could not really tell these were not a matched pair. EVO platform apart, the D240 and D-Premier are very similar, other than the D240 having a slightly improved power supply.
I am also a little puzzled by the comment that the Blade 2 is a particularly hard load to drive? OK - It has four bass drivers, but the impedance curve is reasonable and the efficiency is quite high. There was Stereophile review which measured the D-Premier as producing 245w into 4 ohms, considering you have a dual mono D500, I simply cannot see that a lack of power is going to be an issue for you, far from it. (unless you have an enormous room and like listening at 110dB?)
I note that in you OP you state that you like the Devialet. So my advice would be to wait for you Blades to arrive, run them with your D500, which I am sure will drive them just fine, and see how you get on.
I can also state that I have very fond memories of the Blades with a D800. This combination does not provide the absolute level of detail and resolution that you get with the Pro, but with some "lesser quality" recordings it was perhaps a touch smoother and easier to live with than the 1000 Pro. However you look at this, I can say the dual mono Expert (pre-Pro) with the Blades was a great combination. I see absolutely no reason why you should not at least stay put with what you have now and try the D500 with your Blades when they arrive.
If after tying this combination you find you are not happy for some reason, then this would be the time to consider Pro upgrades, a Michi or whatever else. Although you might just find that that the D500 + Blades sounds great, so no need to rush into anything before at least trying with the D500 I would say.
As for the Blade 2 with a 1000 Pro, which is one upgrade path open to you, I believe @Jim_Anderson is running this combination, so he might be able to offer a view?
1000 Pro - KEF Blade - iFi Zen Stream - Mutec REF10 - MC3+USB - Pro-Ject Signature 12
