Few days ago a friend of mine called and asked if I'm interested in trying his Devialet 200 with my Nimbus. Are you kidding me? Of course I would love to try it! We are all quite familiar with this beautiful piece of equipment, and after reading so many opinions on the net, I was intrigued to have one in my listening room.
The packaging was fantastic. The attention to detail, the foam inserts, everything screamed 'high-end'. The piece looks really fragile...maybe it is the size...maybe the mirror finish (fingerprint magnet!)...not too heavy and not too light, the Devialet 200 feels about right. We placed it in my system in the same spot where my Aaron Millenium 3 amp was sitting. Connected the power cord, long interconnects from Densen cd player to the Devialet, and then we hooked up the Nimbus. Well, the speaker binding posts are very close to each other and I had a little bit of trouble connecting the Siltech spades. Why not having those binding posts a little further apart?
I was aware that many Devialet owners experienced some sort of harshness and shrill with the unit fresh out of the box. The unit that just arrived was well broken in being used for about 2 months before it arrived at my house. I was still anxious to hear it...We pressed 'play'...Dean Peer..'Thin...It's All Good'...wow...the detail, the instrument separation, the nice background...the dynamics!!! I've never heard my Nimbus sound so good! This little amp was controlling the big woofers keeping a punchy bass while delivering a fantastic level of detail in the upper frequencies...it wasn't harsh at all, but really detailed!!! Next Infected Mushroom...not everyone's taste, but most of their CD's (I own all of them
) are well recorded and have great dynamics with deep, punch-in-the-gut bass. And the Devialet delivered! Then it was Vienna Teng's turn with 'Aims'...her voice turned out to be so soothing and natural...again I was impressed by the lack of 'background noise'...bravo Devialet!!!!
How does the Devialet compare with my Jolida pre/Aaron amp? Well, it sounded more detailed and it seemed to have more control over the Nimbus. Is it worth $9000? Nope...Is it worth $6500 used? Nope...
. This is just my opinion! I'm happy with my system the way it sounds, but the Devialet definitely brought it up at least one level higher!
There are few things that at this price, Devialet could have done better: the binding posts; the fact that there is no display on the front of the unit and that you have to get close to read the small round display; the remote won't work from the listening position and I had to get up and move closer to the unit to change the volume; and I found myself listening to fairly high levels in order to feel the impact of the drums and the big changes in dynamics on Infected Mushroom CD (the volume of the Devialet goes from -40 to 0, and all my listening was done between -15 and -8 which is pretty much at the limit of the unit).
I hope that Devialet will make a more 'affordable' unit in the near future. A unit that won't sacrifice the beautiful sound and capability of the 200 model. Something more in the $3500 range. Then I might consider buying one...
Adrian
