Adrian Low
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Senior Editor Jeff Fritz reviews the 400 monoblocks:
SoundStage! Ultra | SoundStageUltra.com (UltraAudio.com) | Devialet 400 Mono Integrated Amplifier-DACs
“Would you believe that the best match I’ve heard for the $185,000/pair Magico Q7 [speakers] is the $6495 Devialet 120? I know -- hard to fathom.” That statement was a problem for a lot of people. Was I crazy? Could I not hear? What the heck was going on?! So it’s important that I make my comments about the Devialet 400 as clear as possible. But first, a bit about my amplification biases
I’ve always gravitated toward large, powerful, solid-state amplifiers, and I’ve had a lot of them in my system over the years: Ayre, Boulder, Gryphon, Halcro, Krell, Levinson, Musical Fidelity, Simaudio, Vitus, and ten other brands I can’t recall right now. The areas of amplifier performance that most matter to me are a low noise floor, tonal neutrality, and absolute control of the loudspeakers. If those qualities are present, it has been my experience that most of the rest of the audiophile hot buttons naturally follow: precise imaging, resolution of detail throughout the audioband, and overall clarity, to name a few. Having laid that groundwork, I’ll tell you what I heard with the Devialet 400s -- starting with what I didn’t hear.
The Devialet 400s were the quietest amplifiers ever. They just didn’t make any noise. While it’s true that I heard virtually nothing from the tweeters of my speakers when I fired up these amps -- and man, was that cool the first time I tested it -- it was what I didn’t hear at the listening seat that most impressed me. That quietness led to the most complete retrieval of detail I’ve ever heard from my system. I could simply hear deeper into the music -- more information, both spatial and musical, reached my brain than did from other amplifiers
... the Devialet 400s were more quiet than any of them, which made them the most resolving I’ve heard. There was more tangible space around notes, more depth in recordings -- simply more information.
In terms of tonal neutrality, most expensive solid-state electronics don’t veer too far from dead center. Still, in a highly resolving system, it’s easy to hear that the Simaudio and older Gryphon Audio Designs amplifiers sound slightly warmer than the models from Boulder Amplifiers and Vitus Audio, which strike me as more flat-line neutral. The Devialet was as tonally neutral as the best, though this is an area that I’m just not convinced needed improving when considering the best solid-state on offer. Still, you should consider that the Devialet 400 did not in any respect sound like a tube amplifier. It altered the signal as little as anything I’ve heard in this regard -- you can’t “fix” a problem in your system’s sound by adding a Devialet, as you can by adding a tube amp to a system that has a threadbare sound, or Transparent Audio cables to one that sounds bright and/or bass shy.
Control. Although the quietness of the Devialets may be what first wowed me -- it was just hard to believe that I could hear so far into my music -- it was the 400s’ control of the speakers’ drive-units that provided the most long-term satisfaction. Here, there was just no comparison with anything else I’ve heard. The 400s controlled the woofers in my speakers to a degree that improved those speakers’ bass response beyond what I’d thought them capable of. This meant that, from the highest highs through the lowest lows, the character of the sound remained more consistent. Here’s what I believe was happening: We’re used to hearing a gradual loss of control the lower in frequency the music goes, something that can be especially evident when listening through large, full-range speakers to music with heavy low-bass content. Down low with such recordings, most amps’ grip on the woofers loosens ever so slightly. But the Devialet 400s seemed to control my speakers’ woofers as easily as they did the tweeters.
Such total control meant one thing: I hadn’t known how much bass texture and articulation my speakers were capable of -- or exactly what a given recording’s bass actually sounded like -- until I heard them with the Devialet 400s. Paired with the Magico Q7 speakers, the 400s were revelatory in this respect. Electric bassist Jonas Hellborg’s solo album The Silent Life (16/44.1 ALAC, Day Eight Music) goes beyond visceral and deep, and the Devialets reproduced it marvelously. It was really about bass detail. Imagine how articulate bass might sound if your amp(s) were wired directly to your brain. That’s what I was hearing -- there seemed to be no physical barriers between the music and my ears. The Hellborg album was amazing.
Lastly, the Devialet 400s’ sound quality didn’t change -- at all -- the louder I played my music. In this respect, it’s a perfect match for a speaker like the Magico Q7, which also just gets louder and louder, without compression or distortion. The pairing sounded as at ease at 95dB as it did at 80dB. When I cranked it up past 100dB, nothing happened . . . except that the music got loud. You know the point where you sense that you shouldn’t play your system any louder because you don’t want to break something? With the Magico-Devialet combo, I never reached that point. If loud and clean is your thing, or if favorite recordings in your collection have impressively wide dynamic range, you can’t do better than the Devialet 400s.
I’m as surprised as you that I’m saying this, but the Devialet 400s produced the best sound I’ve ever heard."
Winner of Soundstage Magazine's Pioneering Design Achievement 2014
2014 Product of the Year Award Winners
Well Done!
SoundStage! Ultra | SoundStageUltra.com (UltraAudio.com) | Devialet 400 Mono Integrated Amplifier-DACs
“Would you believe that the best match I’ve heard for the $185,000/pair Magico Q7 [speakers] is the $6495 Devialet 120? I know -- hard to fathom.” That statement was a problem for a lot of people. Was I crazy? Could I not hear? What the heck was going on?! So it’s important that I make my comments about the Devialet 400 as clear as possible. But first, a bit about my amplification biases
I’ve always gravitated toward large, powerful, solid-state amplifiers, and I’ve had a lot of them in my system over the years: Ayre, Boulder, Gryphon, Halcro, Krell, Levinson, Musical Fidelity, Simaudio, Vitus, and ten other brands I can’t recall right now. The areas of amplifier performance that most matter to me are a low noise floor, tonal neutrality, and absolute control of the loudspeakers. If those qualities are present, it has been my experience that most of the rest of the audiophile hot buttons naturally follow: precise imaging, resolution of detail throughout the audioband, and overall clarity, to name a few. Having laid that groundwork, I’ll tell you what I heard with the Devialet 400s -- starting with what I didn’t hear.
The Devialet 400s were the quietest amplifiers ever. They just didn’t make any noise. While it’s true that I heard virtually nothing from the tweeters of my speakers when I fired up these amps -- and man, was that cool the first time I tested it -- it was what I didn’t hear at the listening seat that most impressed me. That quietness led to the most complete retrieval of detail I’ve ever heard from my system. I could simply hear deeper into the music -- more information, both spatial and musical, reached my brain than did from other amplifiers
... the Devialet 400s were more quiet than any of them, which made them the most resolving I’ve heard. There was more tangible space around notes, more depth in recordings -- simply more information.
In terms of tonal neutrality, most expensive solid-state electronics don’t veer too far from dead center. Still, in a highly resolving system, it’s easy to hear that the Simaudio and older Gryphon Audio Designs amplifiers sound slightly warmer than the models from Boulder Amplifiers and Vitus Audio, which strike me as more flat-line neutral. The Devialet was as tonally neutral as the best, though this is an area that I’m just not convinced needed improving when considering the best solid-state on offer. Still, you should consider that the Devialet 400 did not in any respect sound like a tube amplifier. It altered the signal as little as anything I’ve heard in this regard -- you can’t “fix” a problem in your system’s sound by adding a Devialet, as you can by adding a tube amp to a system that has a threadbare sound, or Transparent Audio cables to one that sounds bright and/or bass shy.
Control. Although the quietness of the Devialets may be what first wowed me -- it was just hard to believe that I could hear so far into my music -- it was the 400s’ control of the speakers’ drive-units that provided the most long-term satisfaction. Here, there was just no comparison with anything else I’ve heard. The 400s controlled the woofers in my speakers to a degree that improved those speakers’ bass response beyond what I’d thought them capable of. This meant that, from the highest highs through the lowest lows, the character of the sound remained more consistent. Here’s what I believe was happening: We’re used to hearing a gradual loss of control the lower in frequency the music goes, something that can be especially evident when listening through large, full-range speakers to music with heavy low-bass content. Down low with such recordings, most amps’ grip on the woofers loosens ever so slightly. But the Devialet 400s seemed to control my speakers’ woofers as easily as they did the tweeters.
Such total control meant one thing: I hadn’t known how much bass texture and articulation my speakers were capable of -- or exactly what a given recording’s bass actually sounded like -- until I heard them with the Devialet 400s. Paired with the Magico Q7 speakers, the 400s were revelatory in this respect. Electric bassist Jonas Hellborg’s solo album The Silent Life (16/44.1 ALAC, Day Eight Music) goes beyond visceral and deep, and the Devialets reproduced it marvelously. It was really about bass detail. Imagine how articulate bass might sound if your amp(s) were wired directly to your brain. That’s what I was hearing -- there seemed to be no physical barriers between the music and my ears. The Hellborg album was amazing.
Lastly, the Devialet 400s’ sound quality didn’t change -- at all -- the louder I played my music. In this respect, it’s a perfect match for a speaker like the Magico Q7, which also just gets louder and louder, without compression or distortion. The pairing sounded as at ease at 95dB as it did at 80dB. When I cranked it up past 100dB, nothing happened . . . except that the music got loud. You know the point where you sense that you shouldn’t play your system any louder because you don’t want to break something? With the Magico-Devialet combo, I never reached that point. If loud and clean is your thing, or if favorite recordings in your collection have impressively wide dynamic range, you can’t do better than the Devialet 400s.
I’m as surprised as you that I’m saying this, but the Devialet 400s produced the best sound I’ve ever heard."
Winner of Soundstage Magazine's Pioneering Design Achievement 2014
2014 Product of the Year Award Winners
Well Done!
err, telling me to send it to him. I can only imagine how great it will sound on your speakers. 
