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Devialet: a few questions

Frank Dernie

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This is in line within the market approach by manufacturers and/or their importers distributors that I have had the occasion to compare with purchasing or RFQ :

Premium brands from Europe or Australia : these are more expensive in the US than in Europe, despite our higher 2x or so VAT sales tax
Premium brands from China : these are more expensive in Europe than in the US, not much TBH, only for the VAT sales tax difference

My conclusions were that European or Australian manufacturers simply work with two export price lists : one for the domestic market, another higher for the US, that's what they call "US export price list" ...

I am sorry - it's not our fault if you guys are richer ... :D:D:D
US equipment in the UK is also usually much more expensive than in the USA, 40% more is not unusual. I bought a pair of Apogee Diva speakers in Akron, Ohio when visiting Goodyear. They were about half the price I would have paid in the UK and even with shipping and duties were much cheaper.
I suppose there is a distributor margin to add to any imported goods, wherever you live. Probably best to buy local stuff!
 

watchnerd

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Just so you know there is a lot of chat on the Devialet forum about the phono stage being noisy with MC cartridges.

Mine is the quietest phono stage I've ever used, either MC or MM. Stereophile similarly noticed quietness.

The lowest output cartridge I have is 0.3 mV, which is below average, but there are lower.

I'm wondering what combination of cartridge and speaker gain they're using.
 

graz_lag

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I got a used, ex-dealer demo 400 for $7500.

My local Devialet's dealer has 2 x 400 ex-dealer demo units on sale for 6 900 euros both blocks ... with some further margin of negotiation as soon as they feel you have the big check with you ... :cool:
 

watchnerd

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My local Devialet's dealer has 2 x 400 ex-dealer demo units on sale for 6 900 euros both blocks ... with some further margin of negotiation as soon as they feel you have the big check with you ... :cool:

Wait...6900 euros for 4 x 200W boxes?

Give me his contact info. :)
 

watchnerd

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I have posted this before but why does Devialet insist on doing all their demonstrations at their shops and at shows in such horrible acoustical environments? They never sound good but I cannot separate the contributions of the acoustics from those of the speaker.

Are you talking about the Expert or the Phantoms?
 

graz_lag

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Are you talking about the Expert or the Phantoms?

Will call them on tomorrow (they are closed today) as I am planning to go there this Saturday.
I attach the picture I got with their newsletter the other day.
 

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Soniclife

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Mine is the quietest phono stage I've ever used, either MC or MM. Stereophile similarly noticed quietness.
Mine is a bit noisier than my Dynavector P75, but the difference no longer matters once the stylus is in the groove. My cart is 0.28mV (at 1KHz, 5cm/sec.)
There are reports all over the map on this issue, I'm not sure what is going on.
 

watchnerd

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Will call them on tomorrow (they are closed today) as I am planning to go there this Saturday.
I attach the picture I got with their newsletter the other day.

That looks like a 400/440 (i.e. 2 x 200). If they're 6900 euro for the set, that's about the same price I paid.
 

watchnerd

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Mine is a bit noisier than my Dynavector P75, but the difference no longer matters once the stylus is in the groove. My cart is 0.28mV (at 1KHz, 5cm/sec.)
There are reports all over the map on this issue, I'm not sure what is going on.

I suspect it may relate to speaker efficiency or not setting up the gain on the phono stage correctly.

If I crank my volume up to 0 db, I can hear hiss. I normally listen at about -15 to - 10 dB.
 

graz_lag

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That looks like a 400/440 (i.e. 2 x 200). If they're 6900 euro for the set, that's about the same price I paid.

Will double check on tomorrow, as they were saying : 2 x 400 Watts as mono blocks or 4 x 200 Watts in multi-amplification
Will be asking for the serial #s as well ...
 

Kal Rubinson

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Are you talking about the Expert or the Phantoms?
I was talking about the Phantoms but the environment would have been just as inhospitable to anything playing through the Experts.
 

watchnerd

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I was talking about the Phantoms but the environment would have been just as inhospitable to anything playing through the Experts.

At least you have a store.

You'd think a high income techy city like Seattle would have something, even an independent dealer, but no....
 

FrantzM

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Hi

A few things. Corporate parents with immense coffers is not a guarantee of better products... or customer siupports . Ask, in the USA any COmcast customer ;)...

With what I see as the dawn of Active speakers with the kudos for the B&O, Kii and Dutch & Dutch ... I sincerely wonder where the Devialet Expert fit in term of a complete solution. It seems to me that active crossover/speakers are the new frontier .. Trying to build a multi-way with Devialet can be an expensive proposition. I am not sure i see the gains in pursuing it.
I sincerely like the Devialet innovations and frankly, the cool looks and immense flexibility among other things. THis products is spectacular but ... seeing what can be accomplished with a (relatively) cheap minDSP ..it begs the question...


BTW if I get my hands on a pair of Geddes Abbey all this beautiful logic goes out the Windows and I'd get a Devialet plus my current multi-channel pro amp plus miniDSP for the multi-subs :p
 

watchnerd

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Hi

A few things. Corporate parents with immense coffers is not a guarantee of better products... or customer siupports . Ask, in the USA any COmcast customer ;)...

With what I see as the dawn of Active speakers with the kudos for the B&O, Kii and Dutch & Dutch ... I sincerely wonder where the Devialet Expert fit in term of a complete solution. It seems to me that active crossover/speakers are the new frontier .. Trying to build a multi-way with Devialet can be an expensive proposition. I am not sure i see the gains in pursuing it.
I sincerely like the Devialet innovations and frankly, the cool looks and immense flexibility among other things. THis products is spectacular but ... seeing what can be accomplished with a (relatively) cheap minDSP ..it begs the question...


BTW if I get my hands on a pair of Geddes Abbey all this beautiful logic goes out the Windows and I'd get a Devialet plus my current multi-channel pro amp plus miniDSP for the multi-subs :p

I love my DSP active speakers, but.....

If the role of DSP is just to provide a basic crossover, integrating it into the loudspeaker works fine.

But if DSP is now also supposed to play the role of room correction / convolution engine, endpoint streamer for digital sources, and possibly esoterica like DSP RIAA for phono, I don't think it's the best architecture to have all that inside the speaker, for several reasons:

1. Silicon and software advance quicker than driver/box tech
2. Who do I trust more to create what basically amounts to a networked audio computer? An electronics maker or a speaker maker?
3. If I upgrade my speakers, do I want to have to reconfigure all my networked hardware/software, too?

I think the 'external active' approach, used by JBL for the M2 or 7i-series, and Atohm with the Devialet, is a better approach.

The speaker becomes 'dumb' and all the intelligence, from basic driver crossovers to any kind of EQ, comes from external compute / amplification.

I think that's a smarter, better, architecture.
 

watchnerd

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BTW if I get my hands on a pair of Geddes Abbey all this beautiful logic goes out the Windows and I'd get a Devialet plus my current multi-channel pro amp plus miniDSP for the multi-subs :p

Didn't the Abbey cease commercial production and is only DIY now?

So I guess 'gets your hands on' would mean 'build it'. :)
 

andreasmaaan

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If the role of DSP is just to provide a basic crossover, integrating it into the loudspeaker works fine.

I agree, with one disclaimer.

IMO, the only issue that I still don't think has been properly addressed by most manufacturers who integrate DSP into the speaker is inter-channel timing.

If an input is being digitally processed by two separate ASRCs and/or by two separate ADC-DSP-DAC chains, there will be some inter-channel timing error. Our ears are extremely sensitive to these errors, with 10 μs for example being audible, even with speakers in-room.

If I were doing a no-holds barred home or studio system, I'd probably still prefer to do this whole part of the process in one place to ensure these inter-channel differences did not occur.
 
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