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Devialet Expert 200 Amplifier, DAC and Streamer Review

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amirm

amirm

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Perhaps I misunderstood. My impression was that the people you're asking for help from on this problem are in France - Paris to be exact. Is that mistaken?

Paris has nearly 6,000 people hospitalized with COVID-19 infections. It seems to me rather optimistic to expect Devialet in Paris to get back to you anytime soon.

If you reach out to a dealer or distributor in the U.S. or Canada you might have a better chance of getting a response.
This is not the responsibility of any dealer. It is not like I purchased it from such and could go back to them. No dealer can repair this unit nor explain why it is performing this way.

Devialet management I am sure is on email and still conducting business that way. All they have to do is authorize a repair and get a designer to explain the measurements we are seeing. They can also send a current unit to me for testing if it doesn't have these issues.

The support person got back to me by the way saying message was forwarded to management and that is all they can do.
 

RigorDude

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Dealers and service depots have very strict agreements and can be severely punished for breaking what amounts to several 3" binders of text agreements. Been there and done that. The best route is to stay out of this sort of thing and keep clean.

Um, okay. Leaves the question what the dealers are there for if they don't service or troubleshoot what they sell. Not everyone working at those Devialet shops is just standing around in form-fitting dresses to lure businessmen returning to the office after lunch, one would think. But who knows. Times change.

Does Devialet HQ know their dealers dive for cover when approached with a problem?
 

RigorDude

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This is not the responsibility of any dealer. It is not like I purchased it from such and could go back to them. No dealer can repair this unit nor explain why it is performing this way.

Devialet management I am sure is on email and still conducting business that way. All they have to do is authorize a repair and get a designer to explain the measurements we are seeing. They can also send a current unit to me for testing if it doesn't have these issues.

The support person got back to me by the way saying message was forwarded to management and that is all they can do.
Why would management need to be involved, if it is as straightforward as writing a service ticket?
 

RayDunzl

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Doodski

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Um, okay. Leaves the question what the dealers are there for if they don't service or troubleshoot what they sell. Not everyone working at those Devialet shops is just standing around in form-fitting dresses to lure businessmen returning to the office after lunch, one would think. But who knows. Times change.

Does Devialet HQ know their dealers dive for cover when approached with a problem?
I don't get it... Devialet has dealer agreement prohibiting dealer involvement in legal matters. What is to question? You're not making sense.
 

GXAlan

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When Devialet launched the Phantom in the US, they bragged about a in-home trial. They gave no support to their dealers.

My dealer explained that if a customer returned the Phantom, it would be used and he would have to eat the cost of selling it as an open box unit later. At the time, I am sure profit margins were 100% but even so, I think that speaks a bit to the philosophy and culture of Devialet.
 

Doodski

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When Devialet launched the Phantom in the US, they bragged about a in-home trial. They gave no support to their dealers.

My dealer explained that if a customer returned the Phantom, it would be used and he would have to eat the cost of selling it as an open box unit later. At the time, I am sure profit margins were 100% but even so, I think that speaks a bit to the philosophy and culture of Devialet.
erm... Me coming from a 9 year retail and then extensive service background i can say I only wish 100% margins existed...lol... I would be rich beacoup! :D
 

fredoamigo

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When Devialet launched the Phantom in the US, they bragged about a in-home trial. They gave no support to their dealers.

My dealer explained that if a customer returned the Phantom, it would be used and he would have to eat the cost of selling it as an open box unit later. At the time, I am sure profit margins were 100% but even so, I think that speaks a bit to the philosophy and culture of Devialet.

Yes, that's exactly it, above I talked about their "philosophy", they also have the same policy in France...
even a mass consumer product with a relocated hotline gets better support.
 

RigorDude

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I don't get it... Devialet has dealer agreement prohibiting dealer involvement in legal matters. What is to question?
In that case I agree. It's nothing to do with dealers; they're staying in their lane. But what is the legal matter you mention, which dealers need to stay out of?

No one will say, so I will take the liberty of speculating. It seems possible that Devialet's counsel may want to discourage the use of their products purchased retail in ways that wouldn't be covered by warranty, such as stress-testing them for the purpose of publishing reviews online. On a forum where everyone pisses on their client's brand following the appearance of said reviews.

If that's how it is then I agree, it certainly is the kind of thing lawyers will want to look into. And - to state the obvious - it is nothing so straightforward as writing a service ticket, as has been suggested. I'm not a lawyer, but to me that looks like a fair problem for a lawyer to think through.

At the university where I worked we had a rule of thumb anytime we needed counsel to sign off: allow 3-5 weeks. That was with an office full of lawyers working full-time for one client, which Devialet certainly does not have. I doubt they have even one lawyer on retainer full-time.

And Paris is melting down and the lawyer may be in a hospital, for all we know. If I were in this position I would allow 8-10 weeks.
 

BaaM

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No one will say, so I will take the liberty of speculating. It seems possible that Devialet's counsel may want to discourage the use of their products purchased retail in ways that wouldn't be covered by warranty, such as stress-testing them for the purpose of publishing reviews online. On a forum where everyone pisses on their client's brand following the appearance of said reviews.
That's exactly what I thought from the beginning, unfortunately, I strongly doubt that Devialet will repair/replace the amplifier.
 

Thomas savage

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In that case I agree. It's nothing to do with dealers; they're staying in their lane. But what is the legal matter you mention, which dealers need to stay out of?

No one will say, so I will take the liberty of speculating. It seems possible that Devialet's counsel may want to discourage the use of their products purchased retail in ways that wouldn't be covered by warranty, such as stress-testing them for the purpose of publishing reviews online. On a forum where everyone pisses on their client's brand following the appearance of said reviews.

If that's how it is then I agree, it certainly is the kind of thing lawyers will want to look into. And - to state the obvious - it is nothing so straightforward as writing a service ticket, as has been suggested. I'm not a lawyer, but to me that looks like a fair problem for a lawyer to think through.

At the university where I worked we had a rule of thumb anytime we needed counsel to sign off: allow 3-5 weeks. That was with an office full of lawyers working full-time for one client, which Devialet certainly does not have. I doubt they have even one lawyer on retainer full-time.

And Paris is melting down and the lawyer may be in a hospital, for all we know. If I were in this position I would allow 8-10 weeks.
Let's just ignore this as anything else will bring unwanted attention and may hurt our brand.

See also , let's not dignify this with a response.

See also , if we respond to this we validate it.

I expect no response.
 

anmpr1

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1) When I think of Hirsch, "no bad reviews" isn't what comes to mind. It's more like "these specs, which we've confirmed in our lab, tell you everything you need to know about the Pioneer RCH-2745 solid-state receiver." Which would turn out to sound deadly when you brought it home from the hifi shop.

2) Any idea where I might read a Heyser review?

1) Hirsch always argued that once you matched levels and used the amplifier in question within it's rated specs then any sonic differences would disappear. That's why he never discussed the 'sound' of amplifier stages.

On the other hand, SR was one of the earliest (I can recall) that actually conducted audible distortion tests. In one article (circa early '70s) Bob Carver brought in a specially modified Phase Linear amp--rigged to inject set levels of distortion (don't remember if it was IM or THD) and the SR crew conducted listening tests in order to determine sonic thresholds of this particular phenomenon.

Hirsch mostly commented on ergonomic and price/performance factors. Sometimes aesthetics. When Garrard sent in the GT-55 (successor to the Z100 turntable) he commented how the thing sure didn't look like a top of the line record player in fit 'n finish. Around that time I think the company was sold by Plessey to a Brazilian outfit, and cost cutting could be seen in their items. Frank Dernie who posts here was an engineer at Garrard, and would know more about the business end of the company.

2) The link below is to a Richard Heyser review of a famous speaker. 1986. You can find more of his reviews in Audio magazine archives at the second link. Heyser really set the bar for loudspeaker reviews. However his output was limited, because in addition to measurements he'd live with the product for a while in order to attempt to correlate subjective impressions with his measurements. His work was done before current-day measurement tools, such as the Klippel, and because of that he had to figure out a lot of technique for himself since back then you couldn't just buy something ready-made 'off the shelf' in order to measure loudspeakers.

http://www.soundhifi.com/klipsch/86horn.htm

https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Audio/Audio-Magazine.htm
 

RigorDude

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That's exactly what I thought from the beginning, unfortunately, I strongly doubt that Devialet will repair/replace the amplifier.
Agreed, it is very difficult to see how doing so would be in their interest. It seems highly unlikely at this point that it would change their image around here, and I suspect there is little or no overlap between people on ASR and their market demo.
 
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amirm

amirm

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Why would management need to be involved, if it is as straightforward as writing a service ticket?
The service desk doesn't have authority to comment on reviews, or make repairs for free that is out of warranty.
 
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amirm

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Agreed, it is very difficult to see how doing so would be in their interest. It seems highly unlikely at this point that it would change their image around here, and I suspect there is little or no overlap between people on ASR and their market demo.
Well, it will hugely change my outlook on the company should they refuse to even engage. It would also fully verify that the issues I found are real for people who still doubt them. Their owner forums already know about this review so the news has spread to their target market.
 

Dialectic

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They're too busy sending this nonsense to engage! An email I got from them today:

Screenshot_2020-04-03 Home, but not alone .png
 

Sir Sanders Zingmore

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Well, it will hugely change my outlook on the company should they refuse to even engage. It would also fully verify that the issues I found are real for people who still doubt them. Their owner forums already know about this review so the news has spread to their target market.

Their owner forum (devialetchat) has people continually complaining that the company itself has zero presence on that forum.
 
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amirm

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