Integrated Amp Reviews

Devialet Expert 140 Pro integrated amplifier Associated Equipment

Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment

Analog sources: Thorens TD 124 turntable (reconditioned by Schopper AG), Thomas Schick 12" tonearm; Ortofon Xpression cartridge.
Digital sources: Intel NUC computer running Roon Optimized Core Kit; Synology DS918+ DISKSTATION 4-BAY Network Attached Storage device, aka NAS with 4 WD 4TB Red 5400 rpm SATA III 3.5" Internal Hard Drives and my TP-Link 8-Port Gigabit network switch (unmanaged); Pro-Ject CD Box RS2 T CD Transport; Mytek Brooklyn Bridge Streaming DAC.
Preamplification: Auditorium 23 Standard step-up transformer, EAR 834P phono preamp, Pass Labs XP-22 preamplifier.
Power amplifiers: Pass Labs XA60.8 monoblocks.
Loudspeakers: Revel Ultima2 Salon2.
Cables: Digital: AudioQuest Carbon & Cinnamon & Coffee, Comprehensive Connectivity DXLRP-DXLRJ-6EXF (all USB). Interconnect: Auditorium 23, Clarus Crimson (RCA, XLR). Speaker: Auditorium 23.
Accessories: PS Audio Power Plant P10 power conditioner, Oswalds Mill Audio slate plinth (under turntable), Butcherblock Acoustics RigidRack, Auralex ProPanel Fabric-Wrapped Acoustical Absorption Panel (4' by 2' by 2", beveled).—Jim Austin

COMPANY INFO
Devialet SAS
126 Rue Reaumur
Paris, France
Sold through dealers and Devialet boutiques.
devialet.com
ARTICLE CONTENTS

COMMENTS
dcolak's picture
Submitted by dcolak on November 29, 2019 - 10:25am

and it costs 3K USD

MZKM's picture
Submitted by MZKM on November 29, 2019 - 2:06pm

Keep in mind that’s just a power amp. But yes, you can get better measured performance for cheaper.

The Outlaww RR2160 that Stereophile measured is <$1000 and has excellent measurements for the price, and it has subwoofer crossover filters, pre-out/main-in for DSP, tone controls, balance controls, etc.

JHL's picture
Submitted by JHL on November 29, 2019 - 4:58pm

...is no more valuable than when a tossed off opinion invalidates all prior work. When in the market I always dive straight to comments!

JRT's picture
Submitted by JRT on November 29, 2019 - 7:26pm

...

dcolak's picture
Submitted by dcolak on December 4, 2019 - 12:47pm

Even with pre-amp it is cheaper and MUCH MUCH better.

Bogolu Haranath's picture
Submitted by Bogolu Haranath on November 29, 2019 - 11:09am

It would be interesting to see, the in-room frequency response measurements of Devialet Expert Pro with SAM, from the listening position of JCA (if, possible), with and without SAM engaged :-) ........

Bogolu Haranath's picture
Submitted by Bogolu Haranath on November 29, 2019 - 11:07am

TAS also reviewed one of the models of Devialet Expert Pro with SAM ....... That TAS reviewer also had similar listening experience with his speakers as JCA ....... That TAS reviewer discussion about the significance of bass frequencies on the overall sound quality is an interesting read :-) .......

Bogolu Haranath's picture
Submitted by Bogolu Haranath on November 29, 2019 - 11:32am

The wave length of 20 Hz frequency is 56 feet ...... The wave length of 40 Hz frequency is, half of that, 28 feet ....... No wonder, JCA's windows 40 feet away rattled with loud 20 Hz frequency ...... It also goes to show the bass capabilities of the Revel Salon2 :-) .......

Bogolu Haranath's picture
Submitted by Bogolu Haranath on November 29, 2019 - 11:48am

Some of that 'too much bass' JCA heard when playing bass guitar, could be due to 'Allison effect' ........ Another good reason for obtaining in-room FR measurements of JCA's listening room :-) ........

tonykaz's picture
Submitted by tonykaz on November 29, 2019 - 2:21pm

Seems like this Devialet Outfit is showing us what the future will be for us Home Music Reproducers. ( from now on )

I've been building Music systems for a very long time, getting not so good results, spending exaggerated sums of money, trying to have fun doing it and constantly searching for "NEEDED" improvements.

Back 1963ish, when I owned a Mcintosh MC40, I'd kinda thought that Audio Gear needed to be bigger to be better. Ideas like a Devialet Amp would be SciFi exaggerations .

Egads..

Now, Devialet is reality. Pinch me, I lived to see it, I won! ( we're all winning )

Tony in Venice

ps. from now on, Home Audio Systems are probably better than my hearing.

tonykaz's picture
Submitted by tonykaz on November 29, 2019 - 2:22pm

Seems like this Devialet Outfit is showing us what the future will be for us Home Music Reproducers. ( from now on )

I've been building Music systems for a very long time, getting not so good results, spending exaggerated sums of money, trying to have fun doing it and constantly searching for "NEEDED" improvements.

Back 1963ish, when I owned a Mcintosh MC40, I'd kinda thought that Audio Gear needed to be bigger to be better. Ideas like a Devialet Amp would be SciFi exaggerations .

Egads..

Now, Devialet is reality. Pinch me, I lived to see it, I won! ( we're all winning )

Tony in Venice

ps. from now on, Home Audio Systems are probably better than my hearing.

Ortofan's picture
Submitted by Ortofan on November 29, 2019 - 4:47pm

It also has a built-in DAC, plus about the same power output as this Devialet unit - but at one-quarter the price.
https://audio.com.pl/testy/stereo/wzmacniacze-stereo/2855-denon-pma-1600ne

The Denon product also won a Hi-Fi Choice group test:
https://files.hifiklubben.com/4a500a/globalassets/tester/denon/2017/pma-1600ne-hfc-group-test-verdict.pdf

Bogolu Haranath's picture
Submitted by Bogolu Haranath on November 29, 2019 - 5:12pm

Can it rattle the windows? ....... It doesn't have SAM and DSP ....... It does't have built-in Wi-Fi access capabilities :-) .......

Ortofan's picture
Submitted by Ortofan on November 29, 2019 - 5:23pm

... is it "liquid and unperturbable"?

Bogolu Haranath's picture
Submitted by Bogolu Haranath on November 29, 2019 - 5:38pm

Denon PMA-1600NE does keep the analog signal in analog domain ....... So, if you are an analog fan and use tube phono pre-amp, then the Denon could be 'liquid and unperturbable' :-) ......

jeffhenning's picture
Submitted by jeffhenning on November 30, 2019 - 5:51am

Wow. Given the hype behind Devialet's products, I expected this box to measure a lot better than it did.

I agree with the first poster about the AHB-2. Also, Bruno Putzeys' work with nCore & Purifi show that you can have Class D with vanishingly low levels of noise and distortion.

I'd be interested in you guys getting a NAD M32 on the bench. It's a very similar product.

It would seem to me that having this much noise (-80dB @ 1 watt) in a product regardless of its linearity and lack of distortion would leave a veil of haze on everything.

A decade ago, I owned a Sony TA-E9000ES digital pre-amp. In spite of it's fantastic tone controls, listening modes and alleged lineage from Sony's Oxford mixing board (which I seriously doubt), the unit was really noisy. Just like this unit. And then, one day, it just died.

I could never truly enjoy my listening experience because of the constant noise which was about 85-90dB below maximum output.

For a little less money, you can get Benchmark's AHB-2 amp & DAC3 as well as a MiniDSP Dirac processor. That will give you everything the Devialet offers, but the phono pre. You will, though, gain room correction on top of speaker correction. So long as you don't need analog inputs, you'd be getting much better performance.

Bogolu Haranath's picture
Submitted by Bogolu Haranath on November 30, 2019 - 7:30am

Stereophile has already reviewed NAD M32 :-) .........

JHL's picture
Submitted by JHL on December 1, 2019 - 6:26am

Bench-racing technophiles are never gone long. Too much correcting of the legions of rubes in audio remains to be done.

It's audio virtue signalling. Its ultimate expression is to reduce all audio down to about six components, none of which actually need to be experienced, much less enjoyed.

Bogolu Haranath's picture
Submitted by Bogolu Haranath on December 1, 2019 - 6:44am

NAD M10 ($2,750) ...... Stereophile review coming soon :-) .......

Bogolu Haranath's picture
Submitted by Bogolu Haranath on December 1, 2019 - 7:33am

NAD M10 has 2 subwoofer output connections :-) .......

JRT's picture
Submitted by JRT on December 10, 2019 - 3:32pm

The streamer functionality belongs on a separate device than can be replaced or upgraded separately from the longer life hardware (DAC, control preamplifier, power amplifier, etc.).

dcolak's picture
Submitted by dcolak on December 6, 2019 - 4:46pm

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/nad-m10-strea...

Bogolu Haranath's picture
Submitted by Bogolu Haranath on December 6, 2019 - 6:14pm

See Stereophile review and measurements, January 2020 issue :-) .........

Archimago's picture
Submitted by Archimago on December 1, 2019 - 9:11am

Likewise I'm surprised by that 1W distortion result of ~0.2%.

Not saying this is audible of course, just that there are many amps in the Class D world capable of better than that from an engineering perspective for less money.

Bogolu Haranath's picture
Submitted by Bogolu Haranath on December 1, 2019 - 9:58am

Well ....... Better than twice as expensive BorderPatrol power-amp :-) .......

Bogolu Haranath's picture
Submitted by Bogolu Haranath on November 30, 2019 - 7:18am

If you consider integrated amps between $5k and $10k, more powerful 220 Expert Pro with SAM ($9,990) is also available ...... 220 Expert Pro was TAS 2019 'Golden Ear' award winner :-) ......

Bogolu Haranath's picture
Submitted by Bogolu Haranath on November 30, 2019 - 8:43am

More powerful 300 WPC McIntosh MA9000 integrated amp is $10,500 (reviewed by Hi-fi News) ........ MA9000 has 8 band parametric EQ :-) .......

doak's picture
Submitted by doak on November 30, 2019 - 9:37am

"analog signals deteriorate in ways that digital signals don't, as long as they (the digital signals) remain error-free, which technology itself can assure."
This is a ridiculous statement,particularly the final part.

tonykaz's picture
Submitted by tonykaz on November 30, 2019 - 2:00pm

Is ridicule necessary or appropriate?

Audio engineering in France has been at a consistently high level.

Tony in Venice

Jim Austin's picture
Submitted by Jim Austin on November 30, 2019 - 3:16pm

and self-apparently so. Very simply, digital signals have dual "natures". They exist as an analog electrical signal and as data--information. The latter aspect of their nature is of course the "digital" part; "digital", used this way, refers to the fact that each piece of information exists in one of two levels, up or down, 1 or 0, 0V or 5V, or what have you. The integrity of their digital nature can be assured with error checking--as anyone who has ever copied a CD with EAC, or done a bit-perfect test on a digital audio stream, can attest.

So while all analog signals degrade--including those representing digital data--the digital aspect of their nature in general "remain error-free," even as that degradation occurs. It is of course possible for those signals to degrade to the point where the integrity of the digital data is compromised, but this rarely happens in a properly functioning audio system.

And before you start lecturing us about jitter, bits not being just bits, and all that, please know that I'm aware of it, but it in no way contradicts what I wrote. And please notice this phrase from the review: "as long as those A/D and D/A conversions are done with great care."

Jim Austin, Editor
Stereophile

Archimago's picture
Submitted by Archimago on December 1, 2019 - 8:52am

Excellent summary of the situation and clarifying the true nature of digital.

doak's picture
Submitted by doak on November 30, 2019 - 3:34pm

...was not addressing the equipment under review. The language I quoted distinctly reminds me of the "perfect sound forever" line we were sold by companies and reviewers way back when. It was not true then and remains untrue.

Jim Austin's picture
Submitted by Jim Austin on November 30, 2019 - 4:11pm

What I wrote--what you called "a ridiculous statement--was true, and it remains true.

Jim Austin, Editor
Stereophile

doak's picture
Submitted by doak on December 1, 2019 - 8:10am

What you stated is a theoretical ideal - one that is never fully attained.

Archimago's picture
Submitted by Archimago on December 1, 2019 - 9:01am

Jim's sentence: "Devialet's designers believe — in this they are correct — that analog signals deteriorate in ways that digital signals don't, as long as they (the digital signals) remain error-free, which technology itself can assure."

It's obviously true on a routine basis due to digital error detection and correction. If this were not, we would not be communicating with confidence that the Internet is conveying the same message across thousands/millions/billions of screens, your computer would not be able to run at >1GHz, the gigabytes of RAM would be unreliable, and terabytes of music on hard drives would be suspect.

Enough with the hand wringing and nonsense unless you have evidence to show that this were not so.

JRT's picture
Submitted by JRT on December 1, 2019 - 1:28pm

If you have been brainwashed by Pastafarian cultists into believing in the existence of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, it will be very difficult to reprogram your thinking and convince you that your deep dish plate of frutti di mare fra diavolo is merely the main course of your dinner and not the Pastafarian Holy Eucharist. ...perhaps more especially when the eating feels much like some sort of reborn religious experience.

Bogolu Haranath's picture
Submitted by Bogolu Haranath on December 1, 2019 - 1:28pm

Man, you are making me hungry :-) ......

JRT's picture
Submitted by JRT on December 1, 2019 - 1:47pm

...perhaps I should have reworked that to utilize bouillabaisse, loaves and fishes instead.

Bogolu Haranath's picture
Submitted by Bogolu Haranath on December 1, 2019 - 2:10pm

Sorry .... We will just settle for either country ham and grits or, fried chicken and grits ....... Or, may be just Buffalo wings and Budweiser :-) .......

Jim Austin's picture
Submitted by Jim Austin on December 6, 2019 - 7:55pm
SETTLE for country ham and grits? I'm OK with a good French fish soup, this is when my Alabama roots kick in: Country ham and grits makes me hungry. Jim Austin, Editor Stereophile
Bogolu Haranath's picture
Submitted by Bogolu Haranath on December 7, 2019 - 6:25am

Country ham and grits is the secret to success, the Alabama Crimson Tide had all these years ....... Alabama native Tim Apple also owes his success to country ham and grits :-) ........

Jim Austin's picture
Submitted by Jim Austin on December 7, 2019 - 7:08am

Well, while I didn't exactly grow up in Alabama--we left when I was 4--most of my family was still there so we visited often, several times a year. But I did not discover true country ham--salt cured--until we started vacationing in North Carolina and Virginia. So I feel comfortable saying that it's not so much an Alabama thing.

Jim Austin, Editor
Stereophile

Bogolu Haranath's picture
Submitted by Bogolu Haranath on December 7, 2019 - 7:58am

True .... Lot of southern states restaurants serve country ham and grits, and shrimp and grits :-) .......

Bogolu Haranath's picture
Submitted by Bogolu Haranath on December 7, 2019 - 7:04am

If you like seafood, shrimp and grits is also excellent :-) ........

Bogolu Haranath's picture
Submitted by Bogolu Haranath on December 1, 2019 - 5:01pm

Is that French baguette with that bouillabaisse? ....... Actually, JCA likes French baguette ....... Now we know how Devialet got a favorable review :-) .......

airdronian's picture
Submitted by airdronian on December 6, 2019 - 6:01pm

I think the owners of the Devialet gear and the Benchmark gear should gather together with said gear and have a small party. Bet everyone comes away happy.

Now, the reference to Pastafarians got me. I recall a few years back a dispute in the local media of a Western Canadian city - the Province was refusing to issue a drivers licence to an individual because of his photo.

The official photo was of the individual wearing of his religious headgear that consisted of a plastic colander (!). Personally, I was good with it, it showed his features, and apparently a willingness to cope with linguini at any moment.

Hope he got his licence.

T-NYC's picture
Submitted by T-NYC on December 1, 2019 - 10:35am

M2Tech Joplin Mk III DSP-based phono stage. It's possible that this is a remarkable phono preamp based on the architecture. A thorough bench test and audition would have real value.

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