Tonepub's Devialet Review

Childish....

 

Yes, there seems to be a lot of this going around.

 

LOL. Well, I'm real curious what a non-musical amp sounds like when one attempts to play music through it! I'm told we aren't being snobs about this.. right?

 

Actually the Red Wine Audio amps are very good. The best class D I've heard, but they are relatively low power...

 

Why is your system profile blank?

Do you believe that all audio gear is equally "musical". We must rely on subjective terminology in order to have a meaningful discussion.

 

With all due respect Tonepub.
To me measurements go hand in hand with the technical aspect and that is the reason why I buy the magazines ..

Back to the D-Devialet.
What do you think the D stands for and how comes it accepts digital inputs ?

AS I tried to explain before and you can phone the manufactory about this issue.
The D-Devialet is the very first Class A/D amp.
THe power amp section is made up from 8 sets of digital power amps, phase inverted so that they can work with the Class A Pre amp section.
My english is not specific enough to explain why they needed to use these 8 D amps in this way, but it has something to do with the switch mode , that attracts an electrical shortcut when the switch is open (so to say) and you connect the Class A pre with a regular Class D power amp.
By altering the phase of each of the 8 amps they lowered the gap and shorted the time that switch is open by factor 8.
If you take a look under the hood you can see those 8 amps in a metal box to the right hand side
This amp needs only 30 watts in operation mode, if itwas a Class A design this was impossible. Plus there is no transformers and no heatsinks . it is a switchmode amp very clever build with the characteristics of a Class A due to it's pre amp section.
Hope this message is easier to understand.
By any means this is a real novumou in amp engineering...

 

fascinating stuff Baron

first time i read anywhere that this what they did with switch mode. thanks.

 

My Cary integrated has a pure class A preamp section driving class D output stages. Is there something about the Devialet that distinguishes itself from the Cary in this regard?

If I understand this correctly, there is a difference between the Cary and Devialet in the topology of their class D output sections, but is that the major distinction in their operation?

 

Yes, there is a difference. The Devialet works the other way around - first class D, then class A.

 

You should perhaps read the Hifi+ review to understand how the Devialet works.

 

Here's a link which describes it:

http://www.avguide.com/review/the-devialet-d-premier-integrated-ampdac-hifi-75?page=1

 

Actually, you should just read the tech info on the Devialet website, which I believe we referenced in the review.

http://www.devialet.com/technology.php

This is a new patented technology. And it sounds much better than any pure class D amplifier I've heard.

What you should be reading between the lines, that you are failing to grasp is that for someone who has never enjoyed the sound of class D, a review this positive is saying something. It is definitely an amplifier worth auditioning, if you are in the market for something like this.

Your analysis isn't fascinating, it's somewhat confused. Read the white paper. This is not a class a stage driving a class d stage or vice versa, they work together. I did speak with the designer of the amplifier before I wrote the article... It does NOT use a class A preamplifier driving a class D amplifier.

 

Apparently it's class A and class D in tandem... right?

*affecting my best German accent* Very interesting!

 

Exactly, that what makes it different and that's what makes it sound different.

 

Here's hoping this technology trickles down into products that are more affordable.

 

I am listening one Devialet since two months ago

and like every moment of it.

It is not examplary because of the ADH technology only but for lots of other technical innovations too.

It has a high power DSP as a kind of engine, it can be used soon as a crossover for example. You will ba capable to link few of them and having them to drive only one way to the speaker in tandem after locking the volumes on each, the different amps will follow each others in sync volume wise controlled with the remote controller. They can convert for example two of the inputs to phono input and apply the RIAA curve in DSP, but set up the impedance and capacity of the input using real capacitors and resistors. To add some 60 + dB gain to a cartridge with an amp with 130 dB signal to noise ratio is a very enjoyable thing.

Read their white paper it is quite educational. It has so low output impedance on the speaker output that none of the speakers could mean any problem to drive. It has a control of the bass speaker like very few other speaker. It is one of the most lively and honest ADC/Preamp/DAC/amp combination I have ever heard. Extremely musical, PRAT like Naim, not tubeish, not like other solid state, it is like the real thing.

It goes against all rules, digitizes the analog inputs through a very high quality ADC, using digital volume control, using switching power supply: usually these are considered as bad things against the high quality audio reproduction, but it is not. It is probably as good amp for very low volume listening as the low power single ended triode or solid state amps, keeps everything dynamic, balanced and coherent using for late night listening.

All in all: really one of the most innovative nad one of the most enjoyable audio gear in the last few decades.

Sorry for my excitement

 

So, you did audition one then. Glad you liked it.

I was highly skeptical of the DSP based phono stage, but I tried it with about six different cartridges, all with good result.

 

Audition? I think he is saying he has owned it for two months.

 

Missed that! Oops!

 

Tone, I've never downloaded your magazine before, but I downloaded the new issue to check out your review of this product, and I was highly impressed with your magazine. I'm sorry I've missed it for so long.

 

Glad you enjoyed it, thank you...

 

Well thanks for checkin this up. I am not an engineer and only tried to explain what I read in german - they managed to bridge Class A and D, so to me that sounds like it is a new Class A/D unit, but if they call it something else I am fine with that, too. I was really amazed and kind of confused by the high level of innovation, that went over my capability to really follow at times. The technician who works for STEREO for 30 years was impressed and said "This unit is a sensation" and then the list went on and on over more than 6 technical details... some of it went over my head but the thing I did get was the problem of leading a STEADY signal in Class A into a Class D amp module, a switch mode amp switches on and off at high rates and when off there is an electrical shortcut. Usually in order to fill the gaps there are those metal spindles who store the signal before they reach the speaker binding posts. The idea behind the switches is getting a clean signal, a bit like symmetrical inputs crossing out distortions. These spindles are not to be found in the D-Premier - no more gaps but a clean steady signal with wonderful musical virtue !
Maybe this is not 100% technical correct, but that's the rub in it's most basic form-e on a simple man term.
So D amps are not a bad thing , but to make them work with varying impedances as found in speakers is the problem. That is why subwoofers often use D amps. small high power very efficient, no heat..
As you can hear it can be done
Try auditioning PRIMARE / DVDi10, i32 or the new big AV amps , the single Ayre D integrated or the big LINN amps -
BTW
Devialet just got the EISA High End Award for 2010/111 for that D-Premier amp and if I get a chance I will listen to it...

 

Meaningful subjective terminology, sure. "Musical" makes no sense.

 

Exactly.

 

I hope to record LPs through one if its digital inputs configured as output, then the digitalized stream could be recorded as SPDIF digital stream with a PC/Mac and an external audio interface or with a dedicated pro recorder like Korg MR2000 or Tascam DR680 or quite a few not too expensive others. I probably can share short (less than 3 minutes) samples of the recordings, if there is an interest here.