Amp or all in one to replace my Devialet 200

[Womaz]

I am keen to get some advice on this forum as it is very different to other forums I use and I am intrigued and keen to look at all of my options.
I am looking at changing my Devialet amp for a couple of reasons, but I am wary as I think it still sounds awesome to me.

I know its not rated that highly here on ASR and the 44 or so page thread on it was entertaining to say the least



So I use Roon so the Nucleus feeds the Devialet via USB and I have the Sonus Faber Olympica 2 speakers, which I love.

So yes Hifi gear is something that I have always coveted since I was very young and I have maybe been suckered in by magazine reviews and dealers in the past. However maybe it was willingly as there was also maybe a bit of vanity in some purchases, but the most important thing is how it sounds.

I have been a frequent visitor to this forum for a couple of years now and if I am honest I still don’t know how to take it sometimes. It can be quite brutal, although I do quite like that. Just give people it straight how it is has always been my style , although at times yeah it has not made me popular.

I waffle so lets get to the point.

I may replace the Devialet….to me it sounds tremendous, but is this primarily down to my speakers?

I have always believed the speakers are the most important element in the chain, even when I was being told otherwise.

Is this forum really saying I could replace my Devialet with say a 1k all in one streamer/DAC/Amp and still get the same sound quality?

So is the sound quality I am getting primarily down to the speakers?

I am struggling to get my head around this but would be bloody delighted if it is true.

I am not looking to be contentious or start any arguments here I am genuinely interested to hear your opinions.

I think deep down I may have always been a bit of a cynic about the hifi industry. Although I have spent a lot of money on my system its because I wanted to I guess, however I have NEVER bought into the power cords, cables nonsense. Never have.

I remember being asked several times at a dealers “can you not hear that difference that cable makes”

I tried a 1k interconnect once and my £20 interconnect sounded exactly the same to me. I mean I still buy the Tellerium Q cables but just because I like the look of them and I use entry level stuff.

I am waffling again.

Here is my quandry. Fancy an all in one type of system but terrified that it wont be anywhere near as good as my Devialet.

A few of the options I am considering .

Linn Selekt DSM

Lyngdorf TDAI 3400

NAD M33

Hifi Rose RS520

Cambridge Audio EVO 150



I did look at the Purifi 1ET7040SA Lux Dual Mono amp after reading this forum but it seemed to lack some of the connections I need. But I could maybe work around this?

I confess to having very limited knowledge of how electronics work and that’s why I read this forum a lot.

In your opinion would any of the above sound just as good as my Devialet as its primarily down to my Sonus Faber speakers?

That’s the real conundrum I would love to solve

I struggle to audition at home as not a lot of dealers up here where I am, so I tend to research a lot first.

Like I say I love this forum as it’s the polar opposite of others I visit and the truth is I am not sure which ones I believe

I would really appreciate some guidance and some debate.

 

[pierre]

Sadly price and quality are not correlated. If you replace your excellent amplifier by another good one you will not hear a difference. You need enough power for your use case and low noise, you can check both on ASR.

I know it goes again the common discourse and it is hard to believe.
If you have an avr at home you can check yourself, get someone to swap the amps for you and listen.

What would make a difference is a dsp and at least the lingdorf has one.

 

[Moonbase]

I have the Lyngdorf TDAI 1120 definitely works great with my sf lumina 11s . Room perfect is definitely worth it. No pc required mic comes with the amp. Definitely easier than Dirac and great results.

 

[Womaz]

Sadly price and quality are not correlated. If you replace your excellent amplifier by another good one you will not hear a difference. You need enough power for your use case and low noise, you can check both on ASR.

I know it goes again the common discourse and it is hard to believe.
If you have an avr at home you can check yourself, get someone to swap the amps for you and listen.

What would make a difference is a dsp and at least the lingdorf has one.

Thank you for your input.
Yes the Lyngdorf has some room correction stuff going on. The NADM33 and the Linn Selekt DSM also have this too.
I know a room can effect sound massively and I got some great advice on ASR a couple of years ago about using the EQ in Roon to help me with a bit of sharpness and sibilance on some female vocals. I still use that today so it was very helpful.

So you mention power. The Devialet seems powerful to me its 200 watts into 6ohms rings a bell, but those figures mean nothing to me, however i have tried to chose amps with a decent watts figure, if that makes sense. i think any of the above I have chose will be powerful enough to drive my speakers.

I do listen loud when I am actually just sitting and exclusively listening to music.
Unfortunately I cant do the comparison as I only have the one amp in the house.

 

[BDWoody]

Is this forum really saying I could replace my Devialet with say a 1k all in one streamer/DAC/Amp and still get the same sound quality?

Yes, assuming you buy one that is competent.

So is the sound quality I am getting primarily down to the speakers?

Combined with your room, yes.

Here is my quandry. Fancy an all in one type of system but terrified that it wont be anywhere near as good as my Devialet.

The Devialet is a sexy box for sure, but doesn't do anything special with the signal.

I know its not rated that highly here on ASR and the 44 or so page thread on it was entertaining to say the least

It actually measured quite well (after it was fixed...), so nothing in the measurements indicates it doesn't perform very well, it's just something about dying while under test that turned some off...

By the way, that Devialet that was tested here is still in use in my system happily driving my LS50s, and the remote still makes me smile, so I will likely keep it forever. Doesn't sound any better than any of my other amps though.

 

[Womaz]

I have the Lyngdorf TDAI 1120 definitely works great with my sf lumina 11s . Room perfect is definitely worth it. No pc required mic comes with the amp. Definitely easier than Dirac and great results.

Its a good looking piece of kit too.
The TDA120 may even do the job for me , it may have enough power, I think this is where I need to get a better understanding

 

[Womaz]

Yes, assuming you buy one that is competent.



Combined with your room, yes.



The Devialet is a sexy box for sure, but doesn't do anything special with the signal.



It actually measured quite well (after it was fixed...), so nothing in the measurements indicates it doesn't perform very well, it's just something about dying while under test that turned some off...

By the way, that Devialet that was tested here is still in use in my system happily driving my LS50s, and the remote still makes me smile, so I will likely keep it forever. Doesn't sound any better than any of my other amps though.

Its funny as I actaully dont really like the look of the Devialet. I think i like Hifi to look like Hifi
The remote is great although I am now onto my second one and its now packed in too. Dealing with Devialet support at present.

What I would love is to replace it with the EVO 150. The consensus on here seems to be that it will sound just as good .

 

[ZolaIII]

When did you check your hearing last time? I ask as I am trying to understand why very hard to drive speakers which are obviously bright sound great to you?

Sonus Faber Olympica Nova series

I have been unable to find any measurements such as spinorama or any thing regarding Sonus Faber Olympica Nova speakers, many subjective reviews and opinions but no science! Except for this one https://www.hifinews.com/content/sonus-faber-olympica-nova-v-loudspeaker and it doesn’t look good...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Sonus faber Olympica Nova V Loudspeaker Lab Report

Lab Report The largest model in the Olympica Nova series is specified to have a sensitivity of 90dB, bought in part by a nominal impedance of 4ohm. The first part of that description aligns extremely well with our measurements, which recorded 89.9dB SPL at 1m for a pink noise input of 2.83V. A...

www.hifinews.com

Regarding amplifier they did something very wrong attending high frequencies.

Devialet Expert 200 Amplifier, DAC and Streamer Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Devialet Expert 200 Amplifier, DAC, Phono premaplifier and wired streamer. It seems to be a generation behind the current products offered by Devialet. The Expert 200 cost US $9,650. The Devialet line of amplifiers made quite a buzz when...

www.audiosciencereview.com

rest is quite fine but that doesn't help much. With normal speakers and about - 7 dB to 20 KHz curve it still can satisfy to the medium SPL out. In your combination it's easy to get it bad and clipping in highs as stated before those speakers are bright and have their own fair share of problems tho looking very nice.
You can get much better speakers like Wharfedale Linton's for not that much money. I would stay with pricier solo amplifier with both and tell you to take a look at ATI Hypex range (for warenty, parts and iron core or triodal transformer).
For rest take a look at MiniDSP Flex HT paird with WiiM Mini (Toslink to Flex) and pair of SVS SB-1000 Pro sub's (just for example) and UMIK 1 off course.

 

[Womaz]

When did you check your hearing last time? I ask as I am trying to understand why very hard to drive speakers which are obviously bright sound great to you?

Sonus Faber Olympica Nova series

I have been unable to find any measurements such as spinorama or any thing regarding Sonus Faber Olympica Nova speakers, many subjective reviews and opinions but no science! Except for this one https://www.hifinews.com/content/sonus-faber-olympica-nova-v-loudspeaker and it doesn’t look good...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Sonus faber Olympica Nova V Loudspeaker Lab Report

Lab Report The largest model in the Olympica Nova series is specified to have a sensitivity of 90dB, bought in part by a nominal impedance of 4ohm. The first part of that description aligns extremely well with our measurements, which recorded 89.9dB SPL at 1m for a pink noise input of 2.83V. A...

www.hifinews.com

Regarding amplifier they did something very wrong attending high frequencies.

Devialet Expert 200 Amplifier, DAC and Streamer Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Devialet Expert 200 Amplifier, DAC, Phono premaplifier and wired streamer. It seems to be a generation behind the current products offered by Devialet. The Expert 200 cost US $9,650. The Devialet line of amplifiers made quite a buzz when...

www.audiosciencereview.com

rest is quite fine but that doesn't help much. With normal speakers and about - 7 dB to 20 KHz curve it still can satisfy to the medium SPL out. In your combination it's easy to get it bad and clipping in highs as stated before those speakers are bright and have their own fair share of problems tho looking very nice.
You can get much better speakers like Wharfedale Linton's for not that much money. I would stay with pricier solo amplifier with both and tell you to take a look at ATI Hypex range (for warenty, parts and iron core or triodal transformer).
For rest take a look at MiniDSP Flex HT paird with WiiM Mini (Toslink to Flex) and pair of SVS SB-1000 Pro sub's (just for example) and UMIK 1 off course.

Thanks for the post.
I admit a lot of your last paragraph has gone over my head. Sorry.
My ears are OK, I have just turned 60 so they wont be brilliant.
I am a little shocked that my speakers are considered bright? I mean they have a reputation for rolling off the treble if anything. Anyway the speakers are in my system forever as they were a significant investment for me
I dont have room for subs, and I really dont think i need them. I am not looking to change my whole system. Just maybe the Devialet .......and maybe for a simpler type of solution, ie less boxes.

Can I ask you why would you stay with a single pricier amplifier? If they all sound very similar, this is what i am trying to get my head round. Are their other factors I should be taking into account?

 

[Moonbase]

Its a good looking piece of kit too.
The TDA120 may even do the job for me , it may have enough power, I think this is where I need to get a better understanding

With 4 ohm you get 120w which is good for most rooms, else the 3400 for loud in large rooms. The NAD M33 is another very good amp and also has Roon & Dirac.

In terms of Speaker Sonus Faber (Like many speakers) do tend to be a little bright and I used the Lyngdorf room correction and balanced out at the top end, this helps resolve female voice sibilance and makes everything very well balanced (in room). I have checked with REW and the and Room perfect room correction does a very good.

 

[Womaz]

With 4 ohm you get 120w which is good for most rooms, else the 3400 for loud in large rooms. The NAD M33 is another very good amp and also has Roon & Dirac.

In terms of Speaker Sonus Faber (Like many speakers) do tend to be a little bright and I used the Lyngdorf room correction and balanced out at the top end, this helps resolve female voice sibilance and makes everything very well balanced (in room). I have checked with REW and the and Room perfect room correction does a very good.

The Lyngdorf amps do appeal , the only issue is I would have to buy without audition as no dealers up where I am.
My room is fairly small I guess 15ft x 12ft , but I do play loud
Thanks for your post

 

[Purité Audio]

If the Devialet is capable of driving the speakers properly ( which I assume it is) then why change?
Loudspeakers and room are always where tangible improvements are to be found.
Keith

 

[ZolaIII]

If this are indeed your speakers:

Sonus faber Olympica Nova V Loudspeaker Lab Report

Lab Report The largest model in the Olympica Nova series is specified to have a sensitivity of 90dB, bought in part by a nominal impedance of 4ohm. The first part of that description aligns extremely well with our measurements, which recorded 89.9dB SPL at 1m for a pink noise input of 2.83V. A...

www.hifinews.com

And those measurements were done properly they are very bright and one of toughest to drive (I have seen) dropping to 1.5 Ohms.
I proposed many box not so easy setup for lot of reason. If you get great good quality power amplifier with enough oomph you are settled down regarding that part for life. Rest is changing rapidly so I don't see a reason to insist on very high quality and durability with something like streamer. You will find handy all the inputs on Flex HT including HDMI and it's not very hard to set up eventually you can also go with Dirac to simplify it further on. It won't last you for life but probably will 10+ year's.
Tell you what buy a decent microphone first and see what you are really getting out and that will give you idea what you can/need to do along with determining real deficits in your hearing in order to compensate for them to possible level. Remember one thing amplifier to drive those speakers really, really nead to be great in low impedance tolerant loads and great all the way down in bass if you insist on speakers only (without sub and such).
All do you don't really need additional chenels in such case I would still stick with MiniDSP as everything else will be more difficult to manage.
Actually when you get measurement microphone you can play for free with Windows PC trough REW and EQ APO to see what DSP correction puts on the table for you.

 

[Womaz]

If the Devialet is capable of driving the speakers properly ( which I assume it is) then why change?
Loudspeakers and room are always where tangible improvements are to be found.
Keith

Hi Keith its not really about improvements, that may sound daft, but I am just looking to change the Devialet. i dont really want to bore you or anyone else on here as to why
The speakers are part of my room aesthetics now I guess.
If I could go to one of the products I mention with no change in sound I would be delighted.

 

[Womaz]

If this are indeed your speakers:

Sonus faber Olympica Nova V Loudspeaker Lab Report

Lab Report The largest model in the Olympica Nova series is specified to have a sensitivity of 90dB, bought in part by a nominal impedance of 4ohm. The first part of that description aligns extremely well with our measurements, which recorded 89.9dB SPL at 1m for a pink noise input of 2.83V. A...

www.hifinews.com

And those measurements were done properly they are very bright and one of toughest to drive (I have seen) dropping to 1.5 Ohms.
I proposed many box not so easy setup for lot of reason. If you get great good quality power amplifier with enough oomph you are settled down regarding that part for life. Rest is changing rapidly so I don't see a reason to insist on very high quality and durability with something like streamer. You will find handy all the inputs on Flex HT including HDMI and it's not very hard to set up eventually you can also go with Dirac to simplify it further on. It won't last you for life but probably will 10+ year's.
Tell you what buy a decent microphone first and see what you are really getting out and that will give you idea what you can/need to do along with determining real deficits in your hearing in order to compensate for them to possible level. Remember one thing amplifier to drive those speakers really, really nead to be great in low impedance tolerant loads and great all the way down in bass if you insist on speakers only (without sub and such).
All do you don't really need additional chenels in such case I would still stick with MiniDSP as everything else will be more difficult to manage.
Actually when you get measurement microphone you can play for free with Windows PC trough REW and EQ APO to see what DSP correction puts on the table for you.

I really appreciate your input so thank you.
So electronics and understanding all of this is not my forte and I have no desire to get extra DSP equipment . I mean if it is in the product I buy then fair enough, but I am not looking to buy an additional DSP product.

So my speakers are the version befpre that. I have the original SF Olympica 2. I would imagine they are very similar though.

So my speakers are very hard to drive? So this means I will need a lot of power in my amp to drive them properly? This may mean a few of the products I mention above will not be suitable.

The Devialet is powerful its 200watts into 6 ohms I think......

 

[ZolaIII]

It's not about strength as it is but robustness to operate and keep the heat dispersion under control with such low impedance. As impedance goes down the Amperage goes up and with it heat.
I didn't know what you are getting received on listening spot and neither do you. That's why you use measurement microphone to see that.
Unfortunately I don't know any high quality high power and low impedance tolerant AVR which would be a all in one box pandan you are looking for. Maybe someone else does.

 

[Purité Audio]

Hi Keith its not really about improvements, that may sound daft, but I am just looking to change the Devialet. i dont really want to bore you or anyone else on here as to why
The speakers are part of my room aesthetics now I guess.
If I could go to one of the products I mention with no change in sound I would be delighted.

I understand, electronics are ‘done’ just look at Amir’s list of dacs and amplifiers Hypex/Purifi/Benchmark all superb, what you might consider is acoustically measuring your room with a microphone and REW software ( which costs virtually nothing) and then introducing a mechanism for implementing any filters it suggests just to control the low bass region.
This might be software with Peq, dacs with eq, streamers with eq sorting out the bass is almost certainly the largest improvement in SQ one can make.
Keith

 

[Womaz]

It's not about strength as it is but robustness to operate and keep the heat dispersion under control with such low impedance. As impedance goes down the Amperage goes up and with it heat.
I didn't know what you are getting received on listening spot and neither do you. That's why you use measurement microphone to see that.
Unfortunately I don't know any high quality high power and low impedance tolerant AVR which would be a all in one box pandan you are looking for. Maybe someone else does.

Thanks again.
So really me looking at the watts into however many ohms is a bit of a waste of time. Not that I understand it.
I just know the speakers a floor standers and probably need an amp with decent power to drive them.
Your post is very helpful but makes me think the only way I will know if the amp will drive my speakers is to try it......that could be an expensive trial

I know I could use a Mic as you suggest, but I admit I am just not that dedicated to do that

 

[Moonbase]

I really appreciate your input so thank you.
So electronics and understanding all of this is not my forte and I have no desire to get extra DSP equipment . I mean if it is in the product I buy then fair enough, but I am not looking to buy an additional DSP product.

So my speakers are the version befpre that. I have the original SF Olympica 2. I would imagine they are very similar though.

So my speakers are very hard to drive? So this means I will need a lot of power in my amp to drive them properly? This may mean a few of the products I mention above will not be suitable.

The Devialet is powerful its 200watts into 6 ohms I think......

In some ways the speakers are sensitive at 90db,so do don't need much wattage. Though in the their review, it says 2ohms in the bass which needs some power and a decent amp.

Lyngdorf supply 1120 supply an exceptional 30 amps and can handle low ohm speakers, the Daliant does not seam to get a very good review as it struggles with low Ohm speakers.

Not sure the issue around DSP, Lyngdorf has DSP as an all in one box unit, rather than have a traditional D/A converter and volume control. Effectively an all digital chain from streamer to speakers, with the direct driving DSP. It a fairly unique solution. Comes with quality correction mic and stand, so al ready to go.

 

[Mart68]

Its funny as I actaully dont really like the look of the Devialet. I think i like Hifi to look like Hifi
The remote is great although I am now onto my second one and its now packed in too. Dealing with Devialet support at present.

What I would love is to replace it with the EVO 150. The consensus on here seems to be that it will sound just as good .

I think it will - since you are in the UK just get one from your local Richer Sounds on a home demo. Or order it on-line then you can send it back within 14 days, you don't need to give a reason.

Your room is not massive I think 150watts will be plenty with those speakers.