devialet vs legacy audio

[bobbmd]

Anyone have any opinion on the speakers  cost is approx same I am referring to 2 phantoms vs a pair studio hd monitors

[struts]

Hi bobbmd,

 

Not really a fair comparison imo.  The Phantoms are active and include built in DAC (Toslink or network inputs) and amplification, even an Airplay renderer, while the Legacy monitors are passive so you need to add the cost of those components in for an apples-to-apples.

 

I own a pair of Gold Phantoms for several years and have been very pleased with them.  They are surprisingly uncoloured, image well, have a good extended frequency response (give real deep bass, not a bloated upper bass that many people confuse with deep bass) and have huge dynamic headroom.  The software (Spark) works but is not great imo, however coupled with Roon (which can feed them via AirPlay) this makes a great easy-to-use file- or streaming-based system.  One word of caution though, I have found that you need to have a wired connection between the Dialog and your network switch to get the best experience, both WifI and PLC have proven somewhat unreliable in my apartment.

 

I have only heard the Legacies once, at someone's house, and wasn't too impressed.  To me the system sounded a bit bright, lacked bass extension and was not especially accurate (I didn't like the way it portrayed instrumental timbres), also the imaging was poor with no stage depth whatsoever iirc.  I should stress that this was one listening session in an unfamiliar system and any of these observations could be down to the source, the amp or the room setup (on a bookshelf, far from ideal) and so not necessarily the speakers that were to blame.  The owner loved them though, ymmv.

 

Based on my experience I would say the Phantoms are definitely worth a listen, and as an active proposition with the functionality they offer I think they represent pretty good value.  Imo it would be hard to better them with separates at the price.

 

Good luck!

[struts]

Haha, misread the date in your post, I now see it is over a year old.  Sorry.  Hope things worked out for you.  Regards.

[Kas Ahmad]

On 4/3/2019 at 12:22 AM, struts said:

Hi bobbmd,

 

Not really a fair comparison imo.  The Phantoms are active and include built in DAC (Toslink or network inputs) and amplification, even an Airplay renderer, while the Legacy monitors are passive so you need to add the cost of those components in for an apples-to-apples.

 

I own a pair of Gold Phantoms for several years and have been very pleased with them.  They are surprisingly uncoloured, image well, have a good extended frequency response (give real deep bass, not a bloated upper bass that many people confuse with deep bass) and have huge dynamic headroom.  The software (Spark) works but is not great imo, however coupled with Roon (which can feed them via AirPlay) this makes a great easy-to-use file- or streaming-based system.  One word of caution though, I have found that you need to have a wired connection between the Dialog and your network switch to get the best experience, both WifI and PLC have proven somewhat unreliable in my apartment.

 

I have only heard the Legacies once, at someone's house, and wasn't too impressed.  To me the system sounded a bit bright, lacked bass extension and was not especially accurate (I didn't like the way it portrayed instrumental timbres), also the imaging was poor with no stage depth whatsoever iirc.  I should stress that this was one listening session in an unfamiliar system and any of these observations could be down to the source, the amp or the room setup (on a bookshelf, far from ideal) and so not necessarily the speakers that were to blame.  The owner loved them though, ymmv.

 

Based on my experience I would say the Phantoms are definitely worth a listen, and as an active proposition with the functionality they offer I think they represent pretty good value.  Imo it would be hard to better them with separates at the price.

 

Good luck!

Hi...Wow so you have been using air of Gold's for sometime now - lucky boy!

Well they have only recently started selling the Devialet here in Malaysia and I was looking at a pair of the Phantoms 600 or 900....But I was wondering how would you connect a pair using cables to the speakers from a DAC? From their literature it appears they expect one to stream or directly connect a digital source to the speakers and let the internal DAC take care of that job. Even so how would you connect say a CD player to both speakers physically? Would it mean that a stereo pair would only play if the signal is sent over wifi?

 

! more thing....DO you use your Phantoms set up like in an audiophile setting where the speakers are several feet away from your listing area? Have you tried to listen to them as desktop speakers when they could be as close as 2-4 feet away from you? Is there a significant diff in sound quality? Does it work well as a desktop system?

 

many thanks for you opinion.

 

Cheers

 

[struts]

On 6/29/2019 at 10:34 AM, Kas Ahmad said:

Hi...Wow so you have been using air of Gold's for sometime now - lucky boy!

Well they have only recently started selling the Devialet here in Malaysia and I was looking at a pair of the Phantoms 600 or 900....But I was wondering how would you connect a pair using cables to the speakers from a DAC? From their literature it appears they expect one to stream or directly connect a digital source to the speakers and let the internal DAC take care of that job. Even so how would you connect say a CD player to both speakers physically? Would it mean that a stereo pair would only play if the signal is sent over wifi?

 

! more thing....DO you use your Phantoms set up like in an audiophile setting where the speakers are several feet away from your listing area? Have you tried to listen to them as desktop speakers when they could be as close as 2-4 feet away from you? Is there a significant diff in sound quality? Does it work well as a desktop system?

 

many thanks for you opinion.

 

Cheers

 

Hi Kas,

Let me try to answer your questions (remember, I am not an "expert", just a happy Phantom owner):

- Phantoms only have digital inputs so you wouldn't connect them to a DAC but to whatever it is that feeds your DAC (streaming box, CD transport etc.)

- Used in stereo you don't connect the source to the speakers themselves but to a Dialog box which synchronises the stereo pair (or more if you want).  Dialog has Ethernet, and Toslink "physical" inputs as well as WiFi and PLC "Virtual" inputs.  So for a CD transport Toslink would be your only option.  Dialog supports stereo over all of these inputs.

- I use mine in the dining room where we sit and eat for background music.  I wouldn't describe it as an "audiophile setting", I suspect they would need to be further out into the room to sound their best.  It is quite a large room (open plan with the kitchen) and the phantoms fill it with ease.  Typically I am sat about 2m from the speakers or standing cooking about 5m away.  Haven't tried them for near field listening, the full size Phantoms I have would be way too big to fit on my desk.  I would imagine the Reactors might work well as desktop speakers although that is just speculation on my side.  

 

[Kas Ahmad]

Hi..Thks so much for replying. In other words I gotta spend more money on the Dialog box! Ouch, but I think for the lower end models like the 600 or 900 I think there could be another way to get stereo without having to spend anymore $ on another device.

 

But thanks for taking your time to reply, Wishing you and your family a super summer!

 

Its summer here all year round!

 

Cheers

Kas

[struts]

5 hours ago, Kas Ahmad said:

Hi..Thks so much for replying. In other words I gotta spend more money on the Dialog box! Ouch, but I think for the lower end models like the 600 or 900 I think there could be another way to get stereo without having to spend anymore $ on another device.

 

But thanks for taking your time to reply, Wishing you and your family a super summer!

 

Its summer here all year round!

 

Cheers

Kas

Yes, seems the Reactors can be paired through the app.  Assumed they were the same as the full size Phantoms which require a Dialog.  Seems the Reactors also have a combined analog/optical input (one that accepts a 3.5mm jack and a mini-Toslink) making them more flexible input-wise as well.  Apologies for misleading info, assume makes an 'ass' you of 'u' and 'me¨..

[miksu8]

Phantoms seem to be more about design and lots of sound from small box (or sphere) than finesse. Heard them few times at audio fares. For sound quality at normal volumes I'm sure there are better options.