Devialet's Hi-Tech "Phantom" New concept 1 cubic foot & 16hz -25khzFR

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ACHiPo

That's for one, but $4000 - $4800 for a pair of speakers with amplification is not a bad price at all if they come near their performance objectives.

Steve
Yep.  I'm intrigued, but skeptical.  Definitely looking forward to hearing some one of these days.  I never thought I'd cotton to the idea of wireless Sonos, but they fit a niche quite nicely.  I treated myself to a Sonos connect so I can now hear vinyl, SACD, etc. around the house and not just in my listening room.   :green:

JLM

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Just like your speakers, "no revolution."  8)

Hard to fool mother nature and those pesky laws of physics.  As a result there is no perfect loudspeaker, just perfectly competent execution of the best set of compromises for the particular listener (and his/her listening environment).

kingdeezie

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Very cool concept, but I am not sure that it will be applicable in anywhere but a desktop setup. I would assume that 105DB limit at 5000 dollars for the stereo pair is at 1 meter (I didn't read the white paper). So, at a 6DB drop per doubling, you are at a maximum of the low to mid 90s as you sit 10 or so feet away.

It would be pretty sweet however, if they improve on the design, maximized the output to a higher level, and made the price more reasonable. A HT setup with these would probably have a high amount of WAF, be easy to setup, and provide a great experience.

sts9fan

Just like your speakers, "no revolution."  8)

Whoa whoa whoa! Vapid is the only inovative company in the world!!

JP78

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I signed up for email notification for pre-order a while back.  I'm hopeful several more reviews will be published before my number gets called. More importantly I will play side-by-side with my speakers at home - the thought of simplifying my system and putting a lot of money back in my pocket is appealing.

JLM

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Very cool concept, but I am not sure that it will be applicable in anywhere but a desktop setup. I would assume that 105DB limit at 5000 dollars for the stereo pair is at 1 meter (I didn't read the white paper). So, at a 6DB drop per doubling, you are at a maximum of the low to mid 90s as you sit 10 or so feet away.

It would be pretty sweet however, if they improve on the design, maximized the output to a higher level, and made the price more reasonable. A HT setup with these would probably have a high amount of WAF, be easy to setup, and provide a great experience.

If you add "typical" room gain plus a 2nd channel, the rating at 1 meter is close to what you should be able to achieve.  But agree with your concern for the 105 dB limit (IMO 16 Hz would be way too much and looks too big for a desktop).

firedog

Quote
Very cool concept, but I am not sure that it will be applicable in anywhere but a desktop setup. I would assume that 105DB limit at 5000 dollars for the stereo pair is at 1 meter (I didn't read the white paper). So, at a 6DB drop per doubling, you are at a maximum of the low to mid 90s as you sit 10 or so feet away.

It would be pretty sweet however, if they improve on the design, maximized the output to a higher level, and made the price more reasonable. A HT setup with these would probably have a high amount of WAF, be easy to setup, and provide a great experience.

It's totally not intended for the desktop. It's intended for rooms, even pretty big ones (with the more powerful Silver model). The 105 db is for one.

I love how you "haven't read the whitepaper" but are already suggesting they "improve the design...etc". I don't know how good this thing sounds, but clearly it is extremely innovative, cutting edge technology. But you're already decided it isn't good enough, without actually knowing anything about it or having heard it.

firedog

That's for one, but $4000 - $4800 for a pair of speakers with amplification is not a bad price at all if they come near their performance objectives.

Steve

And a DAC, and wireless.

firedog

So after reading the links and white paper, I honestly see no revolution here.  It appears to be nothing more than a long stroke, very low sensitivity driver with a TON of EQ applied to let it go low in a small enclosure.

Well, no. First, their amp technology is different and innovative. And it sounds good, if you've ever heard one of their amps. For this device they reduced the entire amp technology in their bigger amps to fit on a chip.

If you read the white paper,you might have noticed the part where they talked about how every conventional driver they tried literally broke up under the strain. They had to bring in engineers from non-audio disciplines like automotive engineering, and apply unconventional materials (for audio) to make a driver that could work under the long extension, high pressure conditions in the speaker (about 20X more pressure than in a conventional box). It's not using EQ, but DSP to precisely control the driver movements to prevent distortion and breakup. It's an "internal" DSP for the speaker driver, not EQ or room correction type stuff.

Some of the comments in this thread amaze me. I have no idea if this device is good or not. But I applaud the forward thinking and the innovation - thinking out of the box, and not making something just like a thousand other products on the market. But on audiophile forums even when something is "new" it  always has the negativists reducing it to, "ho-hum, nothing new here".

mr_bill

This product looks freakin' amazing to me and would love to hear it.  The look is a little funky with the branch stands.  Could replace a whole system of separates with this.

kingdeezie

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It's totally not intended for the desktop. It's intended for rooms, even pretty big ones (with the more powerful Silver model). The 105 db is for one.

I love how you "haven't read the whitepaper" but are already suggesting they "improve the design...etc". I don't know how good this thing sounds, but clearly it is extremely innovative, cutting edge technology. But you're already decided it isn't good enough, without actually knowing anything about it or having heard it.

Sorry to offend your sensibilities Mr Devialet,

However, I don't need to read the "white paper," also known as BS marketing jargon (we brought in automotive engineers and rocket scientists from NASA to make our product!), to understand simple physics.

105DBS is for one, which might mean you have a theoretical maximum of 108 DBS, with two playing. Does the company written propaganda, err I mean white paper, state how much distortion there is at the 105DB limit?

So, assuming that the speaker plays a totally clean 105DBs (108 with 2), at 12 feet away, you have a maximum functional peak output of a whopping 96DBs.

How is that not a limitation like I stated? Measurements, at non amplified classical performances, have pegged tympani hits at over 100 DBs from mid row, some at almost 105DBs. That's almost twice as loud as this thing can produce RED LINED at normal listening distances in "pretty big" rooms.

All of this limitation for 5K.

Which, to rephrase, brings me back to my initial point.

This is a cool concept, but IMO, is currently limited. If they came out with something similar hitting 120DB peaks (read as improved the design), then we are talking.





 

mr_bill

I'm with firedog.
I'm blocking out the haters too

kingdeezie

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I'm with firedog.
I'm blocking out the haters too

No one on this post has heard these right?

So its perfectly sensible to be blindly optimistic, but you're a hater if you have valid skepticism?

Sounds logical.  :roll:

Ultralight

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Waiting to hear from people at CES who should hear it this week.  I have my doubts but at the same time really hoping they achieved what they claim.  Granted their claims seem excessively extravagant.

Here's a short video of one actually working on the CES floor.  You can see the sub moving.

http://www.ubergizmo.com/2015/01/devialet-phantom-review/

http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/cool_stuff_found/post/ces-2015-devialets-phantom-implosive-sound-center-powered-speakers

UL
« Last Edit: 7 Jan 2015, 02:19 am by Ultralight »

firedog

Sorry to offend your sensibilities Mr Devialet,

However, I don't need to read the "white paper," also known as BS marketing jargon (we brought in automotive engineers and rocket scientists from NASA to make our product!), to understand simple physics.

105DBS is for one, which might mean you have a theoretical maximum of 108 DBS, with two playing. Does the company written propaganda, err I mean white paper, state how much distortion there is at the 105DB limit?

So, assuming that the speaker plays a totally clean 105DBs (108 with 2), at 12 feet away, you have a maximum functional peak output of a whopping 96DBs.

How is that not a limitation like I stated? Measurements, at non amplified classical performances, have pegged tympani hits at over 100 DBs from mid row, some at almost 105DBs. That's almost twice as loud as this thing can produce RED LINED at normal listening distances in "pretty big" rooms.

All of this limitation for 5K.

Which, to rephrase, brings me back to my initial point.

This is a cool concept, but IMO, is currently limited. If they came out with something similar hitting 120DB peaks (read as improved the design), then we are talking.

Quote
No one on this post has heard these right?

So its perfectly sensible to be blindly optimistic, but you're a hater if you have valid skepticism?

Sounds logical.  :roll:

No, I'm not Mr. Devialet. Didn't say I was blindly optimistic. Said I don't know how good they'll sound. Just that on audio forums there are lots of people who consistently belittle new products without knowing much about them, and always putting down whatever innovations are being introduced.

And yes, I realize the white paper is a marketing attempt, but it also has a lot of good information. Like the distortion specs you don't know the answer to (approaches 0).

As far as loudness, "typical" discussion is generally from 10ft, not 12. And as far as symphony volumes, I'm well aware of them. But I don't know anyone who actually wants those kind of volumes in their home. Listening at home is not the same experience as listening in a symphony hall. I have a db meter at home and I've been at lots of classical performances of loud symphonic works. But I never think the sound at the symphony is ear splittingly loud, and I can't listen at any where near the 100-105 db peak levels you are referring to at home. And my system can do it.

What you supposedly "need" on paper to sound realistic is much too loud for most people at home. Most people think MUCH lower volumes  in the 70 - 90db range are loud for classical music, which has lots of volume dynamics. We won't even get into rock or other popular music, which often is consistently loud, and very few people would listen continuously at anything near full volume, unless they want to destroy their ears. So something on the order of 98 db at 10 ft with two of these? I'm willing to bet you that will be plenty loud for about 99% of users.

mr_bill

No one on this post has heard these right?

So its perfectly sensible to be blindly optimistic, but you're a hater if you have valid skepticism?

Sounds logical.  :roll:

About as logical as people that haven't heard it and are skeptical and blindly pessimistic!

JLM

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firedog,

I agree that 105 dB is damn loud, and rarely experienced at home, but having capacity to handle instantaneous peaks (that really sneak up) is critical to avoid frying voice coils. 

Wonder how peaks that exceed rated output are handled by the Phatom.  My guess is with their extensive use of DSP they've got it addressed, but I think I'd rather still see 110 dB rating with F3 of say 25 Hz.  Choosing 105 dB may also reflect European tastes enforced from the realities of close neighbors and 16 Hz would eliminate the need for subwoofers (again smaller homes in Europe and eastern Asia).

rollo

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    Sounds like an interesting product to audition. Maybe finally a speaker that goes down below 20HZ in one package at an affordable rice. For me any speaker that does not go down to 25HZ at a minimum is not for me.
    As John Lennon said "give peace a chance" Ya never know until you hear it period. Measure this , just listen to it for goodness sake.


charles

kingdeezie

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No, I'm not Mr. Devialet. Didn't say I was blindly optimistic. Said I don't know how good they'll sound. Just that on audio forums there are lots of people who consistently belittle new products without knowing much about them, and always putting down whatever innovations are being introduced.

And yes, I realize the white paper is a marketing attempt, but it also has a lot of good information. Like the distortion specs you don't know the answer to (approaches 0).

As far as loudness, "typical" discussion is generally from 10ft, not 12. And as far as symphony volumes, I'm well aware of them. But I don't know anyone who actually wants those kind of volumes in their home. Listening at home is not the same experience as listening in a symphony hall. I have a db meter at home and I've been at lots of classical performances of loud symphonic works. But I never think the sound at the symphony is ear splittingly loud, and I can't listen at any where near the 100-105 db peak levels you are referring to at home. And my system can do it.

What you supposedly "need" on paper to sound realistic is much too loud for most people at home. Most people think MUCH lower volumes  in the 70 - 90db range are loud for classical music, which has lots of volume dynamics. We won't even get into rock or other popular music, which often is consistently loud, and very few people would listen continuously at anything near full volume, unless they want to destroy their ears. So something on the order of 98 db at 10 ft with two of these? I'm willing to bet you that will be plenty loud for about 99% of users.

We can do this back and forth all day.

My initial point, was that in my opinion (gasp), the absolute volume limitation was an issue. Say what you will, but if I am listening to a recording at 80-85 DBS continous, which is not that loud, and there is a 15-20DB peak (a snare hit, cymbal crash, crescendo, whatever) at 10 feet out, these speakers are gassed, and at best you are getting compressed transients, at worst, your drivers will eventually be damaged.

Notice in my initial post I never made mention of the sound being bad or good, just critiqued the output limitation. I don't need to hear them to do a simple calculation.


Russell Dawkins

Devialet doesn't specify whether the 105 dB figure is RMS or peak. If it is RMS, then I guess you can expect peak values substantially higher.

This is an area, though, where mere figures can be very misleading and dynamic range, I believe, is a very important performance parameter.