Devialet Silver Phantom - Review 2022

How much is good audio quality worth to y'all? How does $2,390 sound? That's what Devialet is asking for its Phantom Silver wireless speaker—and that'due south just for one. If you want stereo separation, you're looking at an investment nearing the $v,000 mark. That makes this review purely bookish for about of the world's population. Beyond the exclusivity of the Phantom line, in that location's the question of whether the speaker delivers audio performance in line with its sky-high price. Well, there's certainly no denying the Silvery Phantom sounds absolutely wonderful, and delivers some of the most powerful audio nosotros've heard from a single speaker. But the cost of entry is difficult to get past, no matter how good the sound quality is.

Design

There are three versions of the Devialet's Phantom wireless speakers—Phantom ($1,990), Silver Phantom ($two,390), and Gold Phantom ($2,990), all of which have varying levels of power, just all of which are mono. The Silver Phantom looks a footling like R2D2 toppled over. Measuring 9.nine by 10.0 by thirteen.v inches (HWD), information technology'southward a large, rounded design and easily one of the heavier units nosotros've tested, at a whopping 25.1 pounds. It needs a sturdy flat surface, and volition swallow upwards a decent corporeality of infinite. Devialet makes handsome speaker stands in a few styles, but they start at $329.

Both sides of the white-and-silver-colored Phantom house outward-firing woofers, and the front, rounded face houses a silver-domed front-firing tweeter. The slight upward angle of the system helps this driver line up with your ears, depending on where you place.

This speaker is capable of delivering up to 3,000 watts of audio—it's insanely powerful. Internally, it utilizes a TI PCM1798 24-bit/192kHz digital-to-analog converter to evangelize audio through the tweeter, midrange, and dual bass drivers. The side-firing woofers vibrate and motility dorsum and forth on tracks with stiff bass. The company claims the Phantom will "shake your bones."

The Silver Phantom, as with all other Phantoms, is a mono speaker. Therefore, if you desire truthful stereo audio, you lot demand 2—a Silver Phantom duo will cost you $5109, which includes the Devialet Dialog wireless hub that allows for a more reliable wireless streaming experience. Or you can add as many Phantoms as you like—you lot can sync up to 24.

A cap, attached to the thick yellow power cable, pops off the back panel and covers the actual ability cablevision connexion, as well every bit an Ethernet port and an optical input. Above this area, there's a power button, but beyond that, the Argent Phantom is devoid of controls.

That's where the complimentary Devialet Spark app for Android and iOS comes in. The app walks you through the setup procedure with your Wi-Fi network—once connected, you can stream audio from your telephone over your personal Wi-Fi network, though Bluetooth is besides an option. The app can access your mobile device's music library, or streaming services such as Deezer, Qobuz, and Tidal, if you lot have subscriptions—just you demand the aforementioned Devialet Dialog box for this, which is an extra $329.

The app is also where y'all tin assign rooms/zones and names to multiple Phantoms. Navigating your device'south music menu can be a tad annoying. That said, we've seen far worse apps—overall, Spark is logically organized, just scrolling forever to accomplish a section of the alphabet can exist a tad deadening.

Other than the manual and power cable, the Argent Phantom ships with no accessories—a trivial surprising given the cost. Cables for the Ethernet and optical connections would've been nice.

Performance

On tracks with intense sub-bass content, similar the Pocketknife's "Silent Shout," the Phantom lets its bass fury be known—it can evangelize serious bass depth, and do so at uncommonly loftier volumes. Your frames will fall off your walls, most likely, earlier you lot tin can superlative out the speaker'due south volume. At high-but-not-insane volume levels, it delivers a powerful thump and a crisp high-mid and high frequency presence to friction match.

Bill Callahan's "Drover," a track with far less deep bass in the mix, gives u.s.a. a improve sense of the overall sound signature. The drums on this track can sound overly thunderous on systems that boost the bass too much and like thin borer on systems that don't reproduce much low-end. Through the Silver Phantom, the drums sound natural—in that location'southward definitely a little flake of added bass depth, just zip over the top. Callahan's baritone vocals have a rich low-mid presence here, and as well receive plenty of treble edge, giving them some added profile. This is a crisp, well-defined audio with some realistic bass presence. There's not much that the Silverish Phantom overly boosts.

On Jay-Z and Kanye Due west'south "No Church in the Wild," the high-mid presence of the boot pulsate loop'south attack is ideal, giving it the sharpness information technology needs to slice through the layers of the mix. The sub-bass synth hits that punctuate the shell are delivered with gusto here—a serious subwoofer presence, highlighting again the speaker'due south power to button out thick low-end when the mix calls for it. At even moderate volumes, you get a true sense of the ominous lows this runway packs. Nonetheless, the vocals never sound outmatched, nor does the remainder of the mix seem out of whack—the song performances are delivered with excellent clarity and never sound overly sibilant.

On orchestral tracks, similar the opening scene in John Adams' The Gospel According to the Other Mary, the lower register instrumentation gets some slight added richness in the low-mids, but information technology'due south the higher register brass, strings, and vocals that go most of the spotlight—they're delivered with a crisp, well-defined presence in the highs. When this track does occasionally summon some real bass depth, the Silver Phantom delivers information technology with a natural, total sound. This may not exactly be a flat response organization, only the lows are delivered adequately accurately for the most part, only dialed upwards when the mix actually calls for it.

Conclusions

The Devialet Silver Phantom sounds fantastic, which is what yous'd hope to hear near a $two,400 speaker. Simply considering that many wireless speakers tin operate in either stereo or mono when used as a unmarried unit, it's difficult to see why Devialet didn't opt to become a like road when designing the Phantom. By the fourth dimension you've purchased dual Silverish Phantoms for a stereo feel, forth with speaker stands and then that sound is delivered in an ideal way, and the necessary Dialog box, you'll accept spent over $half dozen,000. Yous can purchase a pair of Martin Logan electrostatic speakers, add in a subwoofer, an excellent integrated amplifier/stereo receiver, and a wireless transmitter, all for less than that.

Sticking with your one-stop wireless options, the Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Wireless, the B&O Play Beolit 17, and the multi-room Sonos Play:5 are all first-class options with stereo aqueduct delivery. The mono Silvery Phantom may exist significantly more powerful, only it doesn't sound so much better that we can recommend information technology for the toll.

Source: https://sea.pcmag.com/speakers/16303/devialet-silver-phantom

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