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Devialet Phantom v.s. Focal BE6

pierre

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I wanted to test the phantom for a long time. I ordered a pair of Gold and compare them with my studio monitor focal be6+focal cms sub.

focal-vs-devialet-1-freq.jpg

On the bass side, Devialet didn't lie and deliver an almost flat to 20hz beating my cms sub which is flat only to 30hz.
After that they are both very similar and reflect the poor quality of the room.

focal-vs-devialet-2-distorsion-focal.jpg

Focal THD is high for the bass and then drop to 20db with a peak at 1.5k (crossover?).

focal-vs-devialet-3-distorsion-devialet.jpg

Phantom THD is high for the bass and then drop smoothly. It is not better on average than the focal.

Focal set is around 2.5k and Devialet is around 6k. Quality wise they are very similar, the phantom can deliver more bass and more SPL if you need them. Possibly the cheapest version of the phantom would deliver exactly the same performance with a loss of 6db. Price wise it would match the focal with less clutter and possibly a better look.

In a large room, the phantom impressed me: they are very good off axis, the sweet spot is very large. Subjectively we still prefer our tannoy+accuphase+roon+room correction.

To be noted: the phantom has a super annoying 200ms delay due to its dsp, not a prb for listening for music but i can not track nor play piano with it. My TV also does not know how to shift audio and video. Devialet told me that a minimum phase version exist with a reduce latency. I will reconsider when this firmware is available.
 

amirm

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Thanks for posting the detailed review and measurements. I have not yet gotten into using REW distortion measurements. I need to get into that :).

I did not know about the long delay through it. Other than PC software players, I have not seen any other players be able to delay video so basically this is not going to work for TV watching until they release that new firmware.
 

Frank Dernie

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Thanks for posting the detailed review and measurements. I have not yet gotten into using REW distortion measurements. I need to get into that :).

I did not know about the long delay through it. Other than PC software players, I have not seen any other players be able to delay video so basically this is not going to work for TV watching until they release that new firmware.
I use silver phantoms for my tv sound. The speakers are around 5' nearer to me than the screen and such delay as there is is not a problem for me.
 

Darwin

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Would love to see a comparison of the Devialet to Kef LS50W (which I own). I've seen people say they switched to the Kef's for sound quality but many more connectivity options.
 

Frank Dernie

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Would love to see a comparison of the Devialet to Kef LS50W (which I own). I've seen people say they switched to the Kef's for sound quality but many more connectivity options.
I can't compare with the LS50W but compared to the LS50 with Devialet 800 amp the Phantom has a lot more bass power and goes deeper.
I like the LS50 a lot but they are not in use at the moment.
 

RayDunzl

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LF "distortion" readings can be adversely affected by ambient noise levels...

My observation:

To experiment, start with low level sweep - maybe 40dB SPL and note "distortion".

It will likely be high, particularly at low frequencies.

Increase the SPL of the sweep and repeat, and the (room created) distortion will drop, until, at some point, repeating with increased SPL, it begins rising again.

That's where the speaker distortion overwcomes the room noise contribution.
 

Thomas savage

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Would love to see a comparison of the Devialet to Kef LS50W (which I own). I've seen people say they switched to the Kef's for sound quality but many more connectivity options.
I was in London today, tried out the active LS50 , Beolab 90’s and the phantom silver and gold version..,

I’d leave the LS50 out of the conversation as they just don’t do what the phantoms do, personally I was impressed by the phantom gold and silver. Streaming tidal they both delivered what I consider high Fidelity sound.

The Beolab 90 was decent but fell well short of the hype some give it, on narrow mode the sweet spot was small and while the sound stage was good it lacked the solidity I’m used to at home. Overall I was disappointed with them despite their obvious engineering merit.

The phantom golds challenged the way I think about hifi, if I was not so invested in my own setup I’d happily live with a pair of them. I played a good few tracks I’m well used to listening too and though the presentation was different, the golds were not set up particularly well overall I thought everything was there that I was used to hearing in all the music I chose. Incredible really, so much so I’m going to look into ditching all my hifi other than my speakers and try out a Devialet intergrated, it’s a dac streamer etc , everything I’d need and more in one box.

I’m not sure how the Devialet Phantoms measure but by ear I’d say the off axis performance was very good, a similar sound to my vivids in that way.

With DSP and high quality music streaming , we really are in a golden age for Audio, genuine high performance is available at relatively modest cost. It’s amazing.
 

Darwin

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I see both SVS and Elac are showing their wireless active speakers.
 

svart-hvitt

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I was in London today, tried out the active LS50 , Beolab 90’s and the phantom silver and gold version..,

I’d leave the LS50 out of the conversation as they just don’t do what the phantoms do, personally I was impressed by the phantom gold and silver. Streaming tidal they both delivered what I consider high Fidelity sound.

The Beolab 90 was decent but fell well short of the hype some give it, on narrow mode the sweet spot was small and while the sound stage was good it lacked the solidity I’m used to at home. Overall I was disappointed with them despite their obvious engineering merit.

The phantom golds challenged the way I think about hifi, if I was not so invested in my own setup I’d happily live with a pair of them. I played a good few tracks I’m well used to listening too and though the presentation was different, the golds were not set up particularly well overall I thought everything was there that I was used to hearing in all the music I chose. Incredible really, so much so I’m going to look into ditching all my hifi other than my speakers and try out a Devialet intergrated, it’s a dac streamer etc , everything I’d need and more in one box.

I’m not sure how the Devialet Phantoms measure but by ear I’d say the off axis performance was very good, a similar sound to my vivids in that way.

With DSP and high quality music streaming , we really are in a golden age for Audio, genuine high performance is available at relatively modest cost. It’s amazing.

Mitchco measured the Phantoms:

https://www.computeraudiophile.com/ca/reviews/devialet-phantom-gold-loudspeaker-review-r654/
 

Thomas savage

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I’ve seen a number of people sell their Devialets after trying the Kefs.
Like this guy;
http://www.stevehuffphoto.com/kef-ls50-wireless-speaker-review-my-speaker-of-the-year-so-far/
What do you mean they don’t do what the phantoms do?
The kef did not deliver the same or even approaching the same level of room filling , intense , deep , powerful sound. They sound like a nice pair of hifi speakers, to me fairly dull, a little thin and just not anything like the fun of the phantom gold.

Comparing the specs obviously they are very different to the phantoms , they were not designed to do what the phantom gold manages.

So I guess that’s what I mean:)

I’d add that I tried them in a totally different room but neither set up ( the phantoms or the kefs) were what I’d consider optimal. So that’s likely a contributing factor.
 

Thomas savage

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Cosmik

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Frank Dernie

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As some of you know I was intrigued by Devialet as a startup company and auditioned and bought one of the earliest D-Premiers. I got to know their senior engineer (employee no 1) who kept me abreast of development. When I heard about what they were doing with the Phantom I ordered a pair of silvers but had to wait months.
Frankly streaming music is a pita if you listen to classical because even finding what you want is hard so I don't use them much, but I think they sound great and of course their shape gives them advantages over a box.
What did you find the difference between gold and silver Thomas? I haven't heard the gold and am unconvinced by the difference in tweeter being important.
 

Thomas savage

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As some of you know I was intrigued by Devialet as a startup company and auditioned and bought one of the earliest D-Premiers. I got to know their senior engineer (employee no 1) who kept me abreast of development. When I heard about what they were doing with the Phantom I ordered a pair of silvers but had to wait months.
Frankly streaming music is a pita if you listen to classical because even finding what you want is hard so I don't use them much, but I think they sound great and of course their shape gives them advantages over a box.
What did you find the difference between gold and silver Thomas? I haven't heard the gold and am unconvinced by the difference in tweeter being important.
It’s hard to say as though I listened to both in the same room the silvers were setup significantly worse ( they were much closer together for one) .

The gold seemed to have more weight in the mid bass , I’m not totally sure that was always a good thing though at least not in the relatively small demo room at it did tend to blur things definition wise a fraction ( I’d put that down to poor setup though).

They do seem to have more guts and seem to be a little more open , extended and cleaner in the HF range. Generally when listening to music with heavy base that’s all dynamically squished up ( the modern way with the loudness war and all) I thought the gold gave you more headroom and they kept their shit locked down no matter what I threw at them .(remained linear ? )

Iv been on the search for a speaker system as my mum and her partner have been after something for their main reception room , just about all the stuff we’ve auditioned has left me underwhelmed. B&O being (minus the 90 ) exclusively terrible ( my mum liked their design aesthetic) .

The phantoms were the only thing that sounded ‘right’ to me, I think a deal of that might be due to their design being in keeping with my own speakers in regard to the off axis , inert cabinet , it’s defractive nature acoustically etc but who knows. ( all things I found out after after listening to them) . We all love the look of them , they add a sense of drama , Chris my mums partner seemed entertained just by watching the side fiering base drivers throwing in and out lol

Streaming tidal was easy in the store but Iv read about a few people having issues out in the real world with connectivity and the like.
 

oivavoi

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It's interesting how different these perceptions can be. Which just goes to show the importance of measurements and systematic approaches to hifi. I recently heard the Phantom Golds at a hifi-shop. The room was far from ideal, though. Still, I was disappointed. The sound was hard-bound to the speakers, didn't create a solid and free-floating sound stage independent of the two boxes, and the bass felt constrained to my ears. "Is this it?", I remember thinking. Didn't take notes so can't provide more details about my perceptions.

It might be that the room was too small to create an engaging ambience though. I will go back to another hifi store which has them. Their listening room is amazing, and makes most speakers sound good. Will give them another listen!
 

Purité Audio

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Devialet won’t repair Phantoms, they will replace under warranty but after that you are on your own, hard to believe but confirmed by Devialet.
Keith
 

Thomas savage

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It's interesting how different these perceptions can be. Which just goes to show the importance of measurements and systematic approaches to hifi. I recently heard the Phantom Golds at a hifi-shop. The room was far from ideal, though. Still, I was disappointed. The sound was hard-bound to the speakers, didn't create a solid and free-floating sound stage independent of the two boxes, and the bass felt constrained to my ears. "Is this it?", I remember thinking. Didn't take notes so can't provide more details about my perceptions.

It might be that the room was too small to create an engaging ambience though. I will go back to another hifi store which has them. Their listening room is amazing, and makes most speakers sound good. Will give them another listen!
I’d agree tbh in so far as the soundstage being a bit diffuse and Iv found speakers with side firing base drivers are ‘different’ base wise and that subjective impression was there with these phantoms .

Can’t relate to the sound being hard bound to the speakers though. You do get 45 days with them in which time you can send them back, if I can’t get them to image as well as I think they should that would be a big negative for me but not really for my mum and her partner . They are normal folk so they don’t sit obsessively perched in the sweet spot lol

When you are off to one side or even well out of the direct sound zone the quality of the sound is very good, that’s a big plus for those normal non sweet spot people :)

On your comment on not taking notes, Iv stopped listening too hard and coming up with deep and detailed impressions of sound. It leaves me open to creating impressions rather than going strictly on what I’m experiencing. That’s why I don’t give too much detail when I relate my impressions too, it makes nice prose but it’s fairly unhelpful really.

I did have high expectations of all of these speaker systems, so they all started from the same base of expectation in a way. I know in the past Iv got a little too keen on stuff when Iv gone in not expecting much then been ‘ surprised ‘ .

It’s funny , our different takes on things.. I like to see the measurements nowadays , leave the confused frail lump of meat out of it:D
 

oivavoi

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I’d agree tbh in so far as the soundstage being a bit diffuse and Iv found speakers with side firing base drivers are ‘different’ base wise and that subjective impression was there with these phantoms .

Can’t relate to the sound being hard bound to the speakers though. You do get 45 days with them in which time you can send them back, if I can’t get them to image as well as I think they should that would be a big negative for me but not really for my mum and her partner . They are normal fol so they don’t sit obsessively perched in the sweet spot lol

When you are off to one side or even well out of the direct sound zone the quality of the sound is very good, that’s a big plus for those normal non sweet spot people :)

Sounds good. And those kind of considerations are part of the reason why I'm attracted to the omni idea. It's a much more democratic kind of speaker!
 
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