Jump to content
  • mitchco
    mitchco

    Devialet Phantom Gold Loudspeaker Review

    spacer.pngThe Devialet Phantom Gold loudspeaker is one of the most technically advanced “all in one” wireless speakers I have ever heard or seen. I initially listened to them at the Vancouver Audio Show and was surprised by the sound quality coming out of these oblong spheres. When I got home from the show, I looked them up and read some interesting technical specifications that seem to defy the laws of physics. How can this small package reproduce such low frequencies? My curiosity got the better of me and I asked Chris if he could get a pair for review.

     

    When they arrived, I was surprised again how small and heavy they were. Roughly 10 inches in diameter, 13.5 inches in length and 25 lbs. Yet the Phantom Gold contains an on-board computer, multiple speaker drivers, 4500 watts of peak power amplification, digital to analog converter, and multiple connectivity options.

     

    I must say, I was floored by the sound coming out of these speakers. The dispersion characteristics of this loudspeaker is outstanding, largely due to the shape of the speaker eliminating enclosure diffraction effects. Frequency response sounded full to my ears, even reproducing the lowest octave, as if a subwoofer was somehow hooked into the system. An astonishing technical feat in such a small package.

     

    I am following same format as established in my review of the Dynaudio Focus 600 XD. First a technology overview of the speakers, including setup, followed by subjective listening impressions and quantified with objective measurements. I am not going to repeat the details of the review approach here, but if interested, one can read how I employ industry guidelines for subjective listening and objective measurements to establish a reference baseline in which to compare the speaker under review to.

     

     

    Phantom Gold Technology Overview

     

    With 108 patents, this speaker is a tour de force of advanced technical design and engineering. Analog Digital Hybrid technology combines Class A and Class D amplification. The Phantom is built around two hermetic woofers that function under high pressure to reproduce levels down to 14 Hz. The Active Cosperical Engine designates the spherical design of the Phantom, inspired by the “thrusting sphere of Olson”, the perfect acoustical shape. This is referencing Harry F. Olson’s landmark paper on “Direct Radiator Loudspeakers Enclosures” from 1951. The idea is that a sphere is an ideal shape to reproduce sound and spread its linear energy in all directions, without any detrimental sound diffraction from the surface of the loudspeaker enclosure.

     

    Speaker driver compliment is one titanium tweeter, aluminum midrange driver and two aluminum bass drivers. 4500 watts of peak power per Phantom with 20 Hz to 20 kHz ±2 dB frequency response and a -6 dB bandwidth of 14 Hz to 27 kHz. 108 dB SPL at 1 meter maximum output. System on a chip (SoC) Cyclone V ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore 800MHz dual-core processor, physical IP, and FPGA with 512MB DDR3 memory. Devialet DAC embedded with 24 bit/192 kHz operation. With the purchase, comes free firmware upgrades.

     

     

    Multiple Connectivity Options

     

    The Gold’s can be connected via Airplay, Bluetooth (A2D and AVRCP profiles, aptX, AAC, SBC audio codecs), Spotify Connect, proprietary network Wi-Fi Dual-band (a/b/g/n 2.4 GHz & 5 GHz, Ethernet RJ-45 10/100/1000Mbps, CPL Homeplug AV2 and Toslink optical input.

     

    I used Phantom Dialog to connect my Lynx Hilo via Toslink to the Dialog, then wireless to the Golds. In addition, I used the Spark app to setup and connect to the Phantoms on my Win 10 computer, but I did not use Spark’s music management capabilities.

     

    The Spark app setup is an interesting process as it involves activating the loudspeakers via touch. Check it out:

     

     

    spacer.png

     

     

     

     

    The speakers emit a quiet ethereal sound when going through the steps. When one puts their hand on top of the speaker, another sound emits along with physical movement from the woofers showing activation. An interesting tactile experience that somehow one has brought the speakers to life by merely touching it.

     

    spacer.png

     

     

     

     

    By clicking continue, one is presented with the ability to configure one to many Phantom’s in different locations. In my case, it is a stereo set up in my living room:

     

    spacer.png

     

     

     

     

    Clicking on continue provides a dialog box that indicates setup complete and the next step is to configure music sources:

     

     

    spacer.png

     

     

     

    I configured Spark for local music from my PC.

     

    spacer.png

     

     

     

     

    Here the Dialog is setup so that the music source is from my computer and the optical output from the Lynx Hilo is connected to the optical input of the Dialog, which then transmit the signal wirelessly to the Phantoms. I skipped over creating an account and finally one lands on the Spark apps main page where one can select Sources, Devices and manage music with a Player:

     

     

    spacer.png

     

     

     

     

    That’s it. I was able to launch JRiver Media Center and start playing music. I did not evaluate other sources or devices or any other options as the main focus is the sound quality of the Phantoms. However, it should be clear that one can hook up virtually any source and be playing music in about 5 minutes. Kudo’s to Devialet for a smooth, and interesting way, to set up speakers.

     

     

    Subjective Listening Impressions

     

    Introduction

     

    The introduction is intended to establish a vocabulary for correlating subjective descriptions to an objective frequency response range. However, I described that in detail in the first review of the Dynaudio Focus 600 XD, and not going to repeat here. I have followed the exact same procedure, listening level, etc., as described in the previous article. However, I feel it is worthwhile to put up Bob Katz’s frequency response chart with subjective descriptions that correlate to an objective frequency response range:

     

    spacer.png

     

     

     

     

    Phantom Gold Listening Impressions

     

    The Gold’s are set up in an equilateral triangle in the exact same spot as my reference speakers and where I reviewed the 600 XD’s:

     

    spacer.png

     

     

     

     

    If one looks back at the 600 XD review, I have similar picture from this angle to compare.

     

    The Phantom Gold’s sound unlike any speaker I have heard. A fundamental contributor to the speaker’s dispersion characteristics, is its enclosure shape. The tweeter and midrange are housed in a spherical shape. As mentioned at the front of the article, inspired by the “thrusting sphere of Olson”, the perfect acoustical shape. Check out Harry F. Olson’s landmark paper on “Direct Radiator Loudspeakers Enclosures” from 1951.

     

    If you get a chance, audition a pair of these speakers in a stereo setup. The dispersion is simply amazing. No matter where I move across my 6 foot couch, I do not notice any tonal change in frequency response, and the image is completely stable. In fact, I can go far off center in the room and the high frequency response still sounds the same – really amazing characteristic of this loudspeaker.

     

    While waveguides (i.e. a type of horn) are an alternative to achieving constant or controlled directivity, it is over a limited coverage range. For example, my JBL 4722 cinema speakers employs a constant directivity waveguide with a 90 degree horizontal by 50 degree vertical dispersion pattern. That’s just enough to illuminate my couch area, but moving beyond that, the high frequency rolls off, in a predictable and smooth way.

     

    Speakers like BeoLab 90 and Kii Three use multiple drivers and DSP to control directivity and the 600 XD’s I reviewed, use DSP to control speaker resonances and directivity through the cross over range. Speakers like the MBLs produce a full omnidirectional output. For further reading on the importance of loudspeaker directivity or polar response, I refer folks to read Dr. Earl Geddes excellent article on, “Directivity in Loudspeaker Systems.”

     

    The Gold’s offer an interesting design to achieve a wide dispersion pattern using a spherically designed enclosure, yet with a full range sound, in such a small package. I was surprised how much and how low the bass went on these speakers. Make no mistake, they are full range speakers. The bass drivers are unusual to say the least, but solid sounding, with no cabinet resonances. I pushed them quite hard on content I know have reasonably deep bass and still sounded good near peak reference level (i.e. 105 dB SPL at the listening position). While the sound was clear, the bass drivers were visibly vibrating and looked the loudspeaker was going to take off.

     

     

    spacer.pngAre they giant killers? Perhaps a bit unfair to compare to my high efficiency cinema speakers, but still amazing levels of low bass energy come from these speakers. The frequency response is remarkably similar to the 600 XD’s, just delivered in a much different fashion. The sonic signature or tone quality has a bump in the low end and a flat high frequency response.

     

    We will get into the details in the objective measurement section, but I do want to say, while initially the little bit of extra bass and flat extended frequency response, at reference level, has a tendency towards the “boom tiss” type of tone quality. On rock music, especially if it has been overly dynamically compressed, has a tendency towards too much high frequency energy coming at my ears. Initially it is like candy to one’s ears, but over time, my preference would have been towards less of a bass bump and more of a sloping (i.e. tilt) roll-off frequency response on the top. To be sure, that is my subjective preference and it is splitting hairs as the audible difference is subtle.

     

    To my ears, operating the loudspeakers within their recommended range, I did not hear any distortion. The bass response does sound different than a traditional transducer in a wood box. I don’t have any words to describe it really, just different. Again, I recommend auditioning the loudspeakers to hear the difference with your own ears.

     

    The midrange and top end sounds smooth and transparent. At the listening position, some 9 feet away, I do not hear any audible hum or hiss coming from the Gold’s. Moving my ear up close the speaker, I do hear audible hiss coming from the tweeter, but not objectionable at the listening position.

     

    spacer.pngFor such a small package, I am amazed at its omnidirectional dispersion characteristics and full range frequency response.

     

    While this review is intended to be mostly about the sound quality of the loudspeakers, their subjective design really elicits people’s opinions to be one extreme or the other. People either are blown away by the aesthetic design, or… not so much. My wife and daughter said that if they were offered in black, would be an improvement. Now, part of the issue here folks is that my wife and daughter are used to having industrial type speaker designs in my listening room since forever, as I like big waveguides and woofers in black painted “washer size” cabinets. Pretty lucky that the WAF is so high in my household :) 

     

    As far as the speaker’s coherency (i.e. timing) is concerned, they sounded coherent, but in a slightly different way than my time aligned loudspeakers. Of course, I now have hindsight after measuring the speakers, but I must say the speakers timing and imaging sounded very good to my ears.

     

     

    Listening Impressions Summary

     

    Full range, smooth frequency response, both on and off axis. The off-axis frequency response is simply amazing, unlike anything I have heard to date. Same with the bass response, very unbox like. Amazing full range sound quality coming from such a small package.

     

     

    Objective Measurements - Introduction

     

    I had written a large section on introducing objective measurements in my previous review of the 600 XD and not going to repeat here. If one has questions about the measurement approach, please read the objective measurements intro section in the 600 XD review first, as that may answer one’s question.

     

    However, I do want to leave a frequency response chart here as it will become useful to compare objective measures to subjective preferences.

     

    This is from, “The Measurement and Calibration of Sound Reproducing Systems”, which is a free, open access Audio Engineering Society Paper, by Dr. Floyd Toole. In Dr. Toole’s paper, turning to page 17:

     

    spacer.png

     

     

    My subjective preference is the “trained listeners” curve. I calibrated my reference sound reproduction system using DSP, so that it is a similar frequency response as measured at the listening position and listening area. That target curve sounds neutral to my ears. Note the untrained listeners curve has a tendency to emphasize the low end and a slightly elevated top end, lending to a “boom, tiss” type of tone quality. I call it the “candy curve”, meaning like eating candy, tastes really good for a while, but too much and…

     

     

    Objective Measurements – Phantom Golds

     

    Frequency Response

     

    Here is the frequency response, as measured at the listening position in my room:

     

    spacer.png

     

     

    For an in-room response, a very smooth response, even with the room ripples. The different low end response between left and right speakers, are due to the fact that the left speaker (i.e. red trace) is more towards to the left hand corner of my room as my stereo is offset to the left of center in my room. That can be seen via the photo, earlier in the article. Other than that, both left and right speaker track each other very well, with a dead on match from 2 kHz onwards.

     

    I have included my preferred target frequency response, which is flat to about 1 kHz, with a straight line to about -6 dB at 20 kHz. This, to my ears, is a neutral sounding response. As can be seen, the Gold’s have some bottom end lift and no high frequency roll off or “tilt” down on the top. Leading a bit to a “boom tiss” sound, but the boom isn’t really a boom as there is no cabinet resonance and the tiss is not really that as it is so smooth sounding. However, I listen to mostly overly compressed rock music, which has a tendency to put too much high frequency energy towards my ears already. Folks that listen to classical music on these speakers may not have that preference, preferring the flat to 20 kHz tone quality instead. Again, it all comes down to preference, and these speakers are certainly in the range as compared to the various subjective listening curves in the Toole chart.

     

    Also note, low frequency extension to 14 Hz. There was significant output at 10Hz, when I started my measurements, which sweep from 10 Hz to 24 kHz. Almost defying the law of physics from such a small package.

     

    Off axis response? Check this out. What you are seeing are two sets of left and right speaker measurements. One set is with the measurement mic, moved 3 feet off to the left of center, and the other set, 3 feet off to right of center. That’s 6 feet between the two mic positions and provides a good “in-room” indicator of the tone quality across my 3 seat, 6 foot couch at the listening area:

     

     

    spacer.png

     

     

     

     

    Quite a feat actually. Especially the top end, look how smooth and extended it is. No wonder I hear very little variation in tone quality across a wide listening area. From 5 kHz to 20 kHz is amazingly flat response with very little roll-off. While there may be a tad too much high frequency energy for my tastes, it is remarkably smooth, even off-axis.

     

    Here is a frequency response comparison of the Phantom versus the 600 XD’s that I reviewed previously. Everything is identical relative to the software and equipment used, right down to the speakers and measurement mic in the exact same locations, with the only difference being the loudspeakers themselves:

     

    spacer.png

     

     

     

     

     

    The red and green traces are the left and right Phantom Gold’s respectively. The brown and blue traces are the left and right Dynaudio 600 XD’s respectively.

     

    Note how close the frequency responses are. The Gold’s have a wee bit more bottom end and tad more top end in the 10 kHz range. Otherwise, they are virtually identical tonally, and almost following the room ripples identically. Once could argue that if these two speakers were measured in an anechoic chamber, they are likely to measure almost identical, yet the two speakers are physically very different from each other. Something to ponder…

     

     

    Time Coherence – Step Response

     

    What about the speakers timing response? This certainly is an area of controversy as there is still today, no definitive listening tests to show if time alignment impacts the listening experience. My personal preference, and listening tests, indicate there is an impact. I prefer a speaker that is time aligned. For now, I feel if folks read the 600 XD time alignment section, time coherence is well explained there.

     

    In the case of the Phantoms, the tweeter and midrange appear to be time aligned, with the woofer just slightly behind:

     

    spacer.png

     

     

     

    I know it is a bit difficult to interpret what is shown here. The brown “step” response is calculated as the “ideal” step response given a speaker where all frequencies are arriving at ones ears at the same time. In the case of the Phantom Golds, we are seeing the tweeter and midrange arriving first and the woofer just slightly behind. While the Phantom Golds are not “textbook” time aligned, they do follow the general shape of the ideal step response. Again, it is tricky to determine if it is audible or not. This to me is an area that requires more controlled listening tests to come to a similar understanding that we now know about preferred frequency responses ala Dr.Tooles paper referenced in the previous section.

     

    For some preliminary technical reading on speaker time alignment, see Rod’s article, “Phase, Time and Distortion in Loudspeakers.”

     

    Comparative Measures

     

    I am using John Mulcahy’s REW program below where I measure the Phantom’s and comparing them to my reference speakers, which are custom built (and since sold), 3-way floor standers using digital XO, linearizing and time aligning the drivers, and then applying some overall amplitude and excess phase correction at the listening area, which for me is a 6’ x 2’ grid area where my couch is. I have calibrated my speakers using DSP, so that they have the target frequency response that I prefer, along with time alignment. Again, everything else software and gear wise is the same, the only change is the loudspeakers themselves.

     

    First the frequency response:

     

     

    spacer.png

     

     

     

    My reference speakers are the blue and purple traces and the Phantoms are the red and green traces. As one can see, the Phantoms response from about 80 Hz to 5 kHz are remarkably similar in frequency response to my reference and certainly my preference. A little too much bottom for my taste, but not in a bad way. Like I say, you owe to yourself to hear the remarkable bass that is un-box like (technical term) in sound quality. 5 kHz and above is a departure where the Golds are a bit brighter than my reference/preference.

     

    The hard part to communicate while looking at the measurements is how big of a deal is it? I will say it is certainly audible. One can look at the frequency range and use a digital eq, (like in JRiver DSP Studio for example) and dial in eq on your own speakers that boost the low end and top by the relative difference amounts as shown in the chart above. While listening at reference level (i.e. ~ 83 dB SPL C weighting at the listening positon), switch in and out the eq, in real-time, which will give you a rough idea of the tone change. It is not a lot, but certainly audible.

     

    Step Response:

     

     

    spacer.png

     

     

     

     

     

    This is the first 5 milliseconds of sound arriving at the microphone at the listening position. The reference is pretty close to the calculated ideal step response. With the Phantom, the drivers are not quite time aligned as the woofer pulse is slightly behind the midrange and tweeter. Or at least that is the best I can discern from my measurements, as I have not seen this type of step response before.

     

    Having played for years with speaker time alignment, I have come to the same conclusion as Rod Elliot in his article, “Phase, Time and Distortion in Loudspeakers, “For what it's worth, I originally started this article not to praise, but to debunk the theory that time alignment is the only way a speaker should ever be designed. Having done the research, run tests, and written the article, I confess that I must agree with many (perhaps even most) of the points made by the time alignment proponents. My overall opinion, based on the research for this article (primarily tests and simulations), is that time alignment is a very good thing, and perhaps all speakers should be designed this way.”

     

     

    Conclusion

     

    I must say I am really impressed with the Phantom Golds. No subwoofer required to get some real low end frequency response reproduction at reference level, and beyond. The spherical shape does wonders for a linearly dispersed sound, no matter where one listens in the room. This has all sorts of practical applications where one is not forced to sit in “the listening window” to get the best sound quality.

     

    There certainly was enough power on tap to drive to peak reference level (i.e. 105 dB SPL) without sounding overly stressed. As mentioned before, the bass character is different than a boxed loudspeaker, hard to describe, but worthy of an audition if one is tired of box loudspeakers.

     

    It would be great if there were a few frequency response “profiles” built into the Phantom and that allowed one to select to better match to ones preference. Or the ability to shelf eq the low end to bring the overall level down just a bit. And the ability to “tilt” down the high frequency response (not a shelving eq) so when listening to overly compressed rock and pop music, the high frequency energy coming at ones ears is reduced. That would be my preference.

     

    A small nit that some may or may not notice, but there is an overall system delay to the sound of the Phantoms as a result of the DSP processing. So, if one is watching a movie the sound slightly lags behind the video. I noticed this on lip sync, but after a while it was close enough that it did not bother me. I told my wife about this and it did not bother her at all.

     

    As far as the shape or color of the Phantom’s themselves, that’s a subjective call. I find the shape interesting, but I would have preferred the speakers in black and gold, instead of white and gold. But its unique shape and technical design, that sets its sound quality apart from other traditional box speakers. I still can’t get over how linearly dispersed the sound was. That really sets these speakers apart from the majority of others.

     

    If the thought of a small, full range speaker, that does not require a sub, and with wide dispersion characteristics are of interest to you, then the Phantoms are well worth an audition.

     

     

    Product Information:

     

    • Product - Devialet Phantom Gold $2,990 each, Dialog $329
    • Phantom Gold Product Page - Link
    • Dialog Product Page - Link

     

    Where To Buy:

     

    The Audio Salon

     

     

     

    Mitch “Mitchco” Barnett. I love music and audio. I grew up with music around me, as my mom was a piano player (swing) and my dad was an audiophile (jazz). My hobby is building speakers, amps, preamps, etc., and I still DIY today. I mixed live sound for a variety of bands, which led to an opportunity to work full-time in a 24-track recording studio. Over 10 years, I recorded, mixed, and sometimes produced over 30 albums, +100 jingles, and several audio for video post productions in several recording studios in Western Canada.

     

    I wrote this book to provide the audio enthusiast with an easy-to-follow step-by-step guide for designing a custom digital filter that corrects the frequency and timing response of your loudspeakers in your listening environment so that the music arriving at your ears matches as closely as possible to the content on the recording. Accurate Sound Reproduction using DSP. Click on Look Inside to review the table of contents and read the first few chapters for free.




    User Feedback

    Recommended Comments



    Great work as usual Mitch.

     

    Wish I would've had the Phantoms sent on to me after their visit to you :~)

    Share this comment


    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Mitcho

     

    How did the Golds compare to the Dynaudio Focus XD600 - as in which would you live with or is better?

     

    Thanks,

    Share this comment


    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Good stuff. Thanks for the thorough review. What you hinted at, but didn't actually say, is if you enjoyed listening to the Phantoms? Could you see this as a speaker you could have as your main one long term?:

     

    Also,  didn't you and Chris say you have a review of the Kii Three in the offing? That will be a very interesting comparison, if you make it. 

    Share this comment


    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Very interesting indeed. How would I connect my Aurender that has only usb2 out?

    Share this comment


    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Scratch that - ethernet of course. Dumb.

    Share this comment


    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    I auditioned a pair of these late last year and was all set to purchase based on reviews. I walked out of the listening room after 15 minutes. Too aggressive for me, no subtlety or delicacy. Plus the bass sounded like someone banging a shoe on the wall. Most will no doubt love them, but not musical to my ears and not something I could live with long term after the novelty wore off. 

    Share this comment


    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    @mr_bill both loudspeakers have almost identical frequency responses, but delivered in very different packages. As mentioned before, speakers are hard to review as it comes down to ones personal preference. What I am trying to do is verify the speakers advertised performance against a neutral reference or as close as one can get. For my own personal preference, both speakers have too much high frequency energy coming at my ears and a bit too much of a bass bump.

     

    As @GrahamJohnMiles has indicated the "type" of bass response of the Gold's is audibly different than traditional box speakers that some may like and others, like Graham, don't like. I mentioned in the article as well that the bass quality is different, I can't describe it, but I don't think I would describe it in quite the way Graham did :) In the case of the 600 XD's, I believe the latest firmware upgrade provided a way to reduce more of the top end, which I did not get a chance to audition, but that would be welcome to my ears.

     

    @coot no worries, I found the documentation as different as the speakers.

     

    @firedog my preference is for high efficiency speakers, usually large 15" woofers with compression drivers mated to large waveguides, like the JBL 4722, which is as fugly as one can get from a visual perspective. The JBL M2's or JBL 4367 are delivered in a more visual appealing package, but again more along the lines of my own personal preference. Which you can see is far removed from the two speakers I have reviewed so far. The 600 XD's are a competent design and perform exactly as advertised. The Golds are as different as a design as one can get, both visually and sonically. Toning down the bass bump and top end would make them sound more subtle in my opinion. But they do have excellent dispersion characteristics because of the shape of the cabinet. I would love to review the Kii Three's

    Share this comment


    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    5 hours ago, GrahamJohnMiles said:

    I auditioned a pair of these late last year and was all set to purchase based on reviews. I walked out of the listening room after 15 minutes. Too aggressive for me, no subtlety or delicacy. Plus the bass sounded like someone banging a shoe on the wall. Most will no doubt love them, but not musical to my ears and not something I could live with long term after the novelty wore off. 

    From what I've read about the various models of Phantom, many people react somewhat like you.

    Others think they sound great.

    It's a good reminder why we should always try to audition before we buy.

    Share this comment


    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    8 hours ago, GrahamJohnMiles said:

    I auditioned a pair of these late last year and was all set to purchase based on reviews. I walked out of the listening room after 15 minutes. Too aggressive for me, no subtlety or delicacy. Plus the bass sounded like someone banging a shoe on the wall. Most will no doubt love them, but not musical to my ears and not something I could live with long term after the novelty wore off. 

     I was going to post my impressions but they are the same as yours after hearing them at the same high end shop in two occasions, a couple months apart. Very fatiguing sound and thumpy bass.  Some people there liked them. We all have different tastes and actual auditions, hopefully in your own room, are always recommended.

    Share this comment


    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    3 hours ago, firedog said:

    From what I've read about the various models of Phantom, many people react somewhat like you.

    Others think they sound great.

    It's a good reminder why we should always try to audition before we buy.

    While that is true, a lot depends on the conditions for the audition.  I have heard the Devialets three times.

     

    First was a single Phantom in a large convention space at CES and, for what that matters, it was loud enough and intelligible.  I could not expect more.

     

    Second as at a more recent CES but their prefabricated enclosed demonstration facility was surfaced in hard plastic and had lots of glass.  The sound of any of the Phantoms, single or pair, was intolerably harsh and boomy although the demonstrator (and some other listeners) seemed please with it.  I also pushed them to play something in multichannel  over a quintet of Phantoms but that, too, was in a hard plastic, tiered mini-amphitheater and the sound was equally poor.

     

    Third was at their NYC shop in SoHo but the acoustics there were, clearly intentionally, the same.  In fact, they had another (or the same) torture chamber that they used at CES.  In addition, they have continually declined to play any files that I brought with me.

     

    I had completely written them off following my personal experiences.  Even though I do acknowledge the influence of the acoustics, their lack of concern or apparent lack of awareness of the truly awful sound was truly discouraging. So, Mitchco's report of what he heard and measured in his listening room is intriguing.

     

     

    Share this comment


    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    As indicated in the article, there is too much bass and treble, which is reflected in the comments here. The most telling chart is the frequency response comparison between my reference/preference and the Golds. There is a +10 dB SPL bass boost from about 20 Hz to 80 Hz with the Golds. Perceptually to our ears, that sounds roughly twice as loud as compared to my reference. So I can understand the comments of thumpy bass, which may be more problematic in some rooms compared to others.

     

    From 5 kHz to 20 kHz, the Golds have approximately +5 dB SPL more high frequency output as compared to my reference/preference. As indicated in the article, too bright for me. And understand for some, including myself, can sound fatiguing.

     

    However, both my reference and the Golds measured frequency response fall within the range as indicated by Dr. Toole's (and Sean Olive's) research on subjectively preferred steady-state room curves looking at the chart in the article. The difference in curves are that the Gold's fall in the "untrained listeners" curve and my reference, that has been DSP'd falls in the "trained listeners" curve. I call the untrained listeners curve the "candy" curve, which after too much, one wants to leave, as @GrahamJohnMiles did (novelty).

     

    I hope Devialet reads the review and readers feedback. I use DSP already on my reference system, and given that the Devialet speakers are DSP'd, it should not be a big deal to dial back the bass and treble to fit more with Toole's "trained listeners" curve and likely a better fit for folks that don't like the candy curve. Or at least have two or three user selectable curves. Of course, one can DSP/eq the speakers to one's preference, but it would be nice, like the 600 XD's, to be able to tailor fit the bottom and top of the frequency spectrum to better fit one's listening preference using controls that came with the speakers. Further, I feel if Devialet fine tuned the time alignment of the bass drivers with the mid and high frequency drivers, would also better integrate the transient response of the Golds.

     

    Given the excellent dispersion characteristics of this loudspeaker, reducing the acoustic output at the frequency extremes would realize its full potential.

    Share this comment


    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    The DSP cannot be altered by the user? Incredible.

    Share this comment


    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    just sayin'

    check out this thread for a sample of Devialet's relationship to their customers....I have their mono blocks and these are simply amazingly, wonderfully musical, dynamic and all the audiophile bits (seriously!) but as a company their customer relationship team is so poor as to be simply astonishing.  Is it a French thing...dunno.

    https://help.devialet.com/hc/en-us/articles/115001996589

    Share this comment


    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    7 hours ago, Kal Rubinson said:

    Third was at their NYC shop in SoHo but the acoustics there were, clearly intentionally, the same.  In fact, they had another (or the same) torture chamber that they used at CES.  In addition, they have continually declined to play any files that I brought with me.

     

    I had completely written them off following my personal experiences.  Even though I do acknowledge the influence of the acoustics, their lack of concern or apparent lack of awareness of the truly awful sound was truly discouraging. So, Mitchco's report of what he heard and measured in his listening room is intriguing.

     

    4 hours ago, mitchco said:

    However, both my reference and the Golds measured frequency response fall within the range as indicated by Dr. Toole's (and Sean Olive's) research on subjectively preferred steady-state room curves looking at the chart in the article. The difference in curves are that the Gold's fall in the "untrained listeners" curve and my reference, that has been DSP'd falls in the "trained listeners" curve. I call the untrained listeners curve the "candy" curve, which after too much, one wants to leave, as @GrahamJohnMiles did (novelty).

     

    I think these two comments hit the nail on the head. Devialet made this advanced tech marvel, which they talk about as being the best in the world, but basically voiced it for non-discriminating users. I guess they think that if you want to sell a $4-6K pair of speakers to the general public, you have to make it sound like "ear candy", which impresses at first.

    Strictly in marketing terms, if you want to sell expensive equipment to people that think good sound comes from mp3's on Beats headphones, then maybe you need to make it with that same type of pumped up sound that many people associate with "good sound". I know that sounds snobby, but I"m merely pointing out that "untrained listeners" will often prefer mp3 and boosted frequency response, because that's what they're used to and think that's how things are "supposed" to sound.

     

    In terms of showroom/quick sales, they are probably right. That's also why it is being marketed through Apple Stores and some department stores. Walk in, get impressed by the looks and form factor, hear the "impressive" demonstration. Buy on the spot. Less emphasis apparently given to audiophile dealers for this item.

     

    It's a pretty interesting approach,as their power DACs are totally marketed to audiophiles (and well heeled ones, at that) and by all accounts sound great. And they include DSP. I've heard them, and concur with the positive opinion.

    Share this comment


    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Wow, that's a review I've been looking for! Well done Mitcho! This show exactly what I've been hoping for. Meaning that the potencial those speakers have in the bass and treble department is excellent! I take overly "bassy and trebley" every day if the sound can be reproduced clear and loud. You can (and they will in the Devialet app later) take it down with the DSP (or Dirac, Acourate DRC.) and get your desired curve or sound signature without boosting what's not there! 

    I've been surpriced as well to see the direct comparison with the XD600 being as well a DSP speaker they output very similar in your room (withing couple db's of boost in the lows and highs).

    Some have swapped the Phantoms for the KEFs LS50 wireless and I can understand why now. But the LS50 can't performe in the bass region without the addition of a sub like the Phantom. LS50s might have enough bass but not sub-base like the Phantoms.

    I've heard the Kii's then in a smallish Hotel room with Phantoms next door and lately I've auditioned the BeoLab 90s and I can say that HiFi is looking damn good those days with all-active DSP speakers whether you like that fact or not.

    Cheers from Slovakia and thanks a lot again!

    Share this comment


    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    I had a connecting flight in Houston last Thursday. Wandered over to get breakfast at the new restaurants where you order on iPads and then your food is brought out, and while I was waiting I thought, wow, that music sounds pretty decent for being played in a cavernous airport terminal on airport terminal speakers... Looked up and I saw several of these Devialets mounted up 15 to 20 feet or so on the scaffold-like structure over the middle-of-the-terminal restaurants. It was no doubt Devialets, unless someone else is producing a speaker of the same size, profile, and round and moon shaped fronts.  I'm sure that they were picked by the designer because of how they looked - fit right in with the overall design.

    I think there were four, two pointing in each direction, and the pairs weren't arranged like they were being used as stereo pairs. I just went searching all over the web to see if I could find a picture to share here but no luck. If you're passing through Houston, Terminal E - when you get to the string of restaurants with iPads for service, look up.

    Share this comment


    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Thanks Mitch for the wonderful review! Appreciate the time to get all those measurements; not easy... Definitely difficult to get a grasp on the sound at the Vancouver Audio Show last year!

     

    A buddy recently commented to me that he was interested in getting these but I know he'll be wanting them attached to his big screen TV and using them for movie purposes. You commented on the slight audio lag and voice sync - presumably due to communication overhead and FIR filter latency... Did you by chance estimate how many milliseconds that was? I suppose one would have to use a computer or blu-ray player with audio compensation features to get it spot on.

     

    I'd certainly be curious if Devialet publishes any information on this and whether latency changes in a 4-speaker multichannel configuration. Also, you're using the Dialog which I gather allows more connectivity options. Does this device also decode home-theater multichannel CODECs? AC3+/DTS? I see there's no HDMI input so I assume lossless surround like DTS-HDMA and TrueHD are out? Can it handle multichannel 5.1 FLAC over the ethernet?

     

    Share this comment


    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    i recently purchased a pair of golds for my second home.  it was a bit of a leap of faith, but here's some thoughts:

    1) i have a reference rig at home with wilsons and jl subs and a lovely mix of simaudio and wavelength electronics that i love for its subtlety AND slam

    2) the devialets are not that setup at all, but what they are is AUDIO FUN!

    3) i had auditioned them pre-purchase in the soho showroom.  it's literally all glass and tile and basically death to all subtelty ... i don't know why devialet auditions them that way but i do suspect that casual listeners might appreciate some of the slammy, bright chaos that can emerge under those conditions

    4) i was actually surprised at how capable they were under those super hostile conditions, and how much "fun" they still conveyed, so i figured they would get a lot better properly set up

    5) they do

    6) i am not done playing around with them but the imaging and off axis performance od these things is phenomenal, and what they give up in subtelty they add back in attack and effortlessness and joy factor.  i think that if devialet can add eq / voicing to spark software that will be fascinating, and i think that if they can knock a little more price off of the base phantoms and emphasize selling them in stereo pairs, they would have a home run that would make terrific audio very appealing to a huge swath of customers.  these things are fast and loud and emotional and kind of silly and draw you out of your seat to move.  not my classic audiophile sound but damn i really like them.

    Share this comment


    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    On ‎6‎/‎23‎/‎2017 at 8:06 AM, Archimago said:

    Thanks Mitch for the wonderful review! Appreciate the time to get all those measurements; not easy... Definitely difficult to get a grasp on the sound at the Vancouver Audio Show last year!

     

    A buddy recently commented to me that he was interested in getting these but I know he'll be wanting them attached to his big screen TV and using them for movie purposes. You commented on the slight audio lag and voice sync - presumably due to communication overhead and FIR filter latency... Did you by chance estimate how many milliseconds that was? I suppose one would have to use a computer or blu-ray player with audio compensation features to get it spot on.

     

    I'd certainly be curious if Devialet publishes any information on this and whether latency changes in a 4-speaker multichannel configuration. Also, you're using the Dialog which I gather allows more connectivity options. Does this device also decode home-theater multichannel CODECs? AC3+/DTS? I see there's no HDMI input so I assume lossless surround like DTS-HDMA and TrueHD are out? Can it handle multichannel 5.1 FLAC over the ethernet?

     

     

    Hi Arch, thanks for the kind words. Yes, I was going to use the acoustic timing reference feature in REW to determine the milliseconds delay, then work got in the way and ran out of time.

    I could not find any info on home-theater/multi-channel type configurations. Not supported it seems. However, your friend should contact Devialet directly to get the definitive answer.

    Share this comment


    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Something not mentioned: they are unserviceable. Devialet claim this is due to their inability to open and reseal the cases. This could be important for prospective purchasers, since outside warranty they're essentially throw-away if they develop a fault. 

     

    @cootI don't think you'll be able to connect your Aurender via Ethernet, but I could be wrong. 

     

    All ill say is as an existing Devialet customer I ruled them out simply because they're Devialet. (And the fact that the Spark player went wrong in all three demos I had, despite very unconvincing assurances that it never happens. Not least since in one demo the guy said it happened all the time).  They are amazing tech, but it takes more than that to make a good product. 

    Share this comment


    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Now that I think about it one of my earliest cars was a French Simca. What a disaster that was! 

     

    Share this comment


    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Thank you for the detailed measurements of the Phantom Gold in a stereo setup. I may be wrong, but I believe this is the first true measurements of any Phantom, which is something a lot of people like myself have been waiting to see.
     

    I think it's worth noting that the comparison to the Dynaudio 600 XD is quite interesting, in that the measurements are nearly identical as stated in the article, but the 600 XD retails north of $13K USD. So it seems Devialet accomplished what they set out with the Phantom series, which was to offer the experience of the traditional designed much larger speakers, but at a fraction of the size. It also appears they have done so at a fraction of the cost too when put into perspective with this comparison.

     

    Looks and sound quality are of course subjective.

     

    I think a lot of the harsh criticism could have been mitigated if Devialet didn't make so many bold claims. And i think people coming from an audiophile background are harsh critics in general. But let's put things into perspective. These are quite simply a groundbreaking approach to hifi reproduction. And being they are in uncharted territory, there is room for improvement. Such was the case in delta between the White and Silver. And now the delta between the Silver and Gold. It's not unreasonable to see the evolution of Phantom get to a point where even the most jaded traditional audiophile will be impressed. Let's be glad companies like Devialet are pushing the envelope and bringing audiophiles into the 21st century. Lest not us forget they are a very small company to boot as well.

     

     

     

    Share this comment


    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    On 6/24/2017 at 3:31 PM, hifi_swlon said:

    Something not mentioned: they are unserviceable. Devialet claim this is due to their inability to open and reseal the cases. This could be important for prospective purchasers, since outside warranty they're essentially throw-away if they develop a fault.

     

    For me, this is the one question mark. These are not the most expensive speakers, but if they do have a hardware issue, they are still a decent amount of money to throw out the window.  Knowing they are unserviceable is a strong reason to put off some prospective buyers.

     

    Hopefully there is a plan to make them serviceable for later revisions.

    Share this comment


    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    has anyone compared these active speakers to the majic 140 made by linn driven by the exakt amp? or let me rephrase, has anyone recently heard both the linn dsp and the devialet?

    Share this comment


    Link to comment
    Share on other sites




    Create an account or sign in to comment

    You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

    Create an account

    Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

    Register a new account

    Sign in

    Already have an account? Sign in here.

    Sign In Now




×
×
  • Create New...