Recommended Reference Component: Devialet Expert 1000 Pro Mono

http://www.soundstagehifi.com/index....ted-amplifiers

“As to how the Expert 1000 Pro stacks up against other Devialet models, I can say without hesitation that it’s better -- but not night-and-day better. It’s a refinement of the Devialet sound, not a departure from it or a great leap forward. The last-generation Devialets I’ve heard -- the 120, the 200, and the 400 -- are still super products. The Expert 1000 Pro is just a little bit better in ways that might mean more to some listeners than to others.”

The Devialet 1000 Expert Pro mono, with the right speakers, delivers an amazing sound. I could not believe my ears.
I will stack soon 4 units (a friend has another two units) as to see the result with my Focal Stella. Will post here a brief review.

As a Devialet 1000 Expert Pro user I can testify that when everything works as designed the sound is just amazingly good.

A mix of noiseless and super transparent sound without any harshness and limitless power. A liquid roll of music that is incredibly defined and controlled from treble to deep thunderous bass, especially if there is a SAM profile for your speakers.

I have not heard anything better whatever the price point and I’ve heard many excellent amps.

Convenience is also best in class when using roon. I keep discovering music in my collection that I had forgotten I owned thanks to Roon. Any music lover using digital should really give it a try I think.

Now, that’s when everything works per the plan and it mostly does 99+% of the time.

But not always. Although I have a pretty optimized network I still sometimes face interruptions or hear streaming disturbances. Not often but sometimes. Is that a major issue? Probably not considering the frequency but it’s still annoying.

It seems they are now actively working on these issues. If they can fix them for good they will have what may be the best solution on the high-end market. IMHO.

There are already ways to avoid any streaming issue going the USB or XLR digital route, but I have personally found that the way I tried it it didn’t sound quite as amazing as with Ethernet. Some invest in super duper clock controlled USB converters and it seems to help but complexity increases.

Cheers,
Bernard

An update on this.

I have now moved to using a Mute MC-3 + USB reclocker. It is clocked by a Cybershaft OP21A-D (external LPS). The Mutec is a special version without power unit and I am using the best Paul Hynes LPS (SR7T with special connectors) with a rail specially tuned to deliver the exact voltage needed by the Mutec.

I output USB from my Mojo Audio deja Vu and the Mutec reclocks the signal and outputs as an AES/EBU signal that is fed into he Devialet. AES/EBU being the best input of the Devialet. All cables are Shunyata Omega.

The sound is just insanely great and this has been rock solid, not the slightest issue in several weeks. It's even better than ethernet through a limited edition reclocking Melco S10P (which I believe is the best switch available) and Shunyata Omega ethernet cables which I thought was hard to beat.

The Mutec works well with Roon. The only downside compared to using Air/Raat through ethernet is the lack of amp volume control in Roon. I need to use the Devialet app. Which is admittedly a very small issue.