Devialet 170

[KenMoran]

Pulled the trigger this morning on the 170. Should be here in a couple of weeks. Now the sweet pain of waiting for the new toy ....

[Diapason]

Great stuff, Ken. Colour me jealous!

Congratulations!!

[DaveF]

Just out of cloneys a while ago. Very very impressed with what I heard. The hifi bug has bitten back.
Will write up a lot more later.

[block]

The outputs are quoted as "2x110 Watts under 6Ω" whereas usually at 8Ω

Usually you see amps quoted at 8 , 6 and maybe 4 forgive my ignorance but is there any implications?

Congrats KenMoran and did you pick the 170 over the 110 because of the sound difference or the better spec.
Looking forward to your write up DaveF

[KenMoran]

Thanks lads. I've been mulling over this for ages. Now, I won't know what to do with my time.... Bought the 170 because of the additional features and the fact that the Akurate 242s aren't an easy load. If I was starting from scratch, I'd look at the 110 and get easier to drive speakers. I also think that the 170 is the sweet spot in the range, in terms of price vs. features and power.

[DaveF]

So after more than a 6 month sabbaticle from hifi, I ventured all the way down to Blackrock this morning breaking into a cold sweat several times along the way saying to myself over and over 'Dave.....what on earth are you doing! Have you learned nothing!'. Anyway I resassured myself that some time away from it all was the sensible thing to have done and in a way I was quite excited in approaching it all from a relatively fresh perspective armed with the knowledge and lessons learned from before.

To recap, I sold all of my hifi at the start of the year holding onto only my vinyl. So really I was looking to listen to a complete system. The main source of my problems in the last 2 years have been 2 sets of speakers that just destroyed my love of hifi. It would have to take something pretty special or rare to get my attention again.

Now I've heard really good things about Audioplans in the past both from members here and from other fourm members. Descriptions like 'fast, agile and kinda Quad-like with a single-driver voicing similar to what Kharmas and ESLs do very well' are what I've heard time and time again.

Anyway, first set was as follows:
Audioplan Kontrast V, Devialet 170, Wadia 302 as a transport. Cables were stock power chord for the Devialet, VDH digital interconnect and some basic Terillium blue stuff. Not really a cable believer but that was the setup anyway.








I was never that keen on the style of the Audioplans before, not exactly the prettiest looking speaker Ive come across but I have to say that in real life they are far nicer than photos suggest. The wood finish is particulary good and they are a lot deeper than I expected too.

Onto the listening.....

All of my impressions will relate to the combo of the Audioplans and Devialet so I couldnt really evaluate each of them on their own merits. Since I'm considering this combo anyway, that was fine with me.

First up was my dreaded test disc of 'Italian Oboe Concertos, Vol2. Track 4 in particular has a lot of different woodwinds that will take your ears off if your system is anyway on the bright side. The recording itself is bright too so it will really show on certain systems.
No such problems with the Audioplan/Devialet combo. VERY fluid, VERY organic with a sweet top end. The speakers themselves did the so called disappearing act and the plane of the soundstage was just behind the speakers which is just the way I like it. Of particular note, was the coherent voicing of the drivers. Very similar to Kharmas and Quads if not quite having the same speed and attack but the whole presentation from top to bottom was all there and very fluid. I keep mentioning the work fluid but it really is the only word to desribe what I was hearing. Not the slighest hint of dryness or sterility.

I threw on a few more classical discs over the next few hours and all were handled with aplom. I knew I was listening to something special as I never really felt the need to swap out discs often. Highlights were the 2nd and 4th movements of Saint-Saens Organ Symphony which when I heard I immediately decided there and then that this system had the right balance I was looking for for so long.

Towards the end I decided to put on a few non-classical discs: Hope Sandoval, Cassandra Wilson and some good ol Tom Waits. If I thought that the classical sounded great, I was even for a bit of a shock when I heard what the Audioplans/Devialet could do with this sort of stuff. It's clear to say the it excels with non-classical music and I'd somewhat echo what Simon said earlier in the week when he felt that the Devialet had the edge over the Graafs in the non-classical arena. That's not to say that classical sounds just adequate, its bloody fantastic, its just that with the non-classical stuff the Devialet raised the bar another notch.

After quite some time, I swapped out the 170 for the 110. Identical in design except that the power is a little less in the 110 and it doesnt have a phono stage. To my ears both units sounded pretty much the same. In a blind test I dont think I'd be able to tell the difference between the two. Prehaps the 110 had a slightly more rolled off treble than the 170 but I must stress that if its really there its very very miniscule. Probaby I imagined it. The 110 has way more power than the Audioplans need so really unless you have very demanding speakers or in need of a phonostage, the 110 will do the job exactly as the 170 does. That's my feeling anyway.

All in all I had a very enjoyable morning in Cloney's. Normally demos there dont really tell me anything and I never have spent more than 30mins doing this in the past. Not today though, I must have spent close to 2.5 hours listening to music. I had the added benefit of having the listening room to myself. Some Widor belting out ensured that. Always good to have a few room-clearer discs in your collection! :-)

As for the million dollar question: will I pull the trigger? Well yes I will or I mean I want to. I will have to go through the figures to see whats achievable. Probably I'll snap up the speakers and get the Devialet at a later stage. So I may have to borrow a few amps/CDPs to tie me over in the meantime.

[Ivor]

Congrats Dave, sounds like a very productive if costly visit!

[Gerry D]

Congratulation Ken.
Welcome back to the fray Dave.

I really liked the 170 when we ran it into the EIST Dubhs.
Very tempting indeed.
Maybe down the road.

I hope you both have hours and hours of pleasure with your kit.
Gerry

[Diapason]

This is all excellent! I'm chuffed to hear that the 110 sounds the same, and if it's a slight reduction in treble I'd cheerfully accept that. Very very interesting!

[DaveF]

Congrats Dave, sounds like a very productive if costly visit!

Cheers Ivor. Very costly alright and thats before I've even considered a TT and phonostage. One step at a time though. Critical to get the speaker and amp combo right first. The rest is much more manageable!

I swung by Tower/Freebird on the way home. God damn it anyway.....there is at least 20-30 vinyl that I want!