Devialet Phantom I 108dB wireless active loudspeaker system

One of Devialet’s clever innovations from the Expert Pro line that easily crosses over to the Phantom is SAM, or ‘Speaker Active Matching’. In the traditional audio world, this meant Devialet had to assess the performance of a range of different loudspeakers from hundreds of manufacturers to create an optimum amplifier profile (in the digital domain). This number crunching is baked into the Phantom models, allowing a very high degree of interaction and control between amplifier and loudspeaker. This has three direct benefits: the amplifier is running at its most optimal for any steady-state or musical signal; the amp has better drive-unit control even in deep bass, and the Phantom is pretty much ‘unburstable’ unless you consciously try to destroy it. It’s not fully ‘party proof’ as those pulsating side drivers are something of a drunk-magnet and the rated 108dB peak SPL is a bit of a limit, but in real-world terms unless you are using the Phantom as a weekend-long PA system pumping out square waves at full throttle, the Phantom remains unfazed when you are in the mood to party hard.

We’re almost done with three capital letters. The new and regularly upgraded Devialet app and operating system platform is called ‘EVO’ and I’m fairly sure were some heavy backronym-invention sessions in Devialet’s Paris office to try and make ‘EVO’ have some deeper meaning, but – as someone who had to wrangle Devialet’s software of a decade ago – ‘evolution’ is fine, as it speaks of a software package that has evolved from something that barely worked to something that takes almost all of the brainwork out of the installation and operation process. Also, if you are using the Phantom’s Roon Ready, UPnP-equipped Ethernet connection, EVO now makes that more of a practical solution instead and less of a kludge, although it’s still not ‘there’ with UPnP streaming. I also found the Devialet Phantom I 108dB was comfier as a mono speaker and setting up for stereo occasionally ended up with dual mono. However, for those still needing the odd hard button here and there, Devialet revised its remote in the process making one of the nicest hockey pucks you’ll ever use at home.

Traditional audiophile speaker systems tend to start from the midband out, but the Phantoms start from the bass on up. And there’s lots of impressive bass; my go-to Anders Trentemøller track [‘Chameleon’ from his The Last Resort album on Poker Flat records] showed just how deep the Phantom I can go; bass in all its teeth-rattling, brain-liquifying, scary window-shaking glory. This is always an impressive track, but here the depth of bass was almost atavistic and visceral. Whatever it is that lurks in the shadows of this track, it was clearly set on eating me this time! As you move further up the bass frequencies, the Devialet Phantom I 108dB is good on rhythms; it’s perhaps less about a fanatical devotion to the beat and more about conveying the sense of emotion and the authority of the bass lines.

Mid and treble are extremely coherent sounding, and the Phantom has an excellent ability to act as an effective point-source, but with all the bass that a point-source tends to only have ‘notionally’. This means the Devialet Phantom I 108dB has excellent imaging properties. The overall balance of the loudspeaker and accurate, but its tonality is somewhat different from what one might expect from conventional loudspeakers; not better, not worse… just different. It’s more about the glitz and polish of recordings rather than absolute neutrality. This is very impressive and projects well into the room, but I found myself wanting a little more ‘the piano has been drinking’ and less ‘lounge lizard’ from my Tom Waits [Nighthawks at the Diner, Asylum]. The staging was excellent, the solidity and depth of the bass outstanding, and the sense of musicians riffing in a room was first rate, but the sound was almost too slick and lacked some overall transparency. This is not without its upside – it makes the Phantom more at home with less-than-perfect recordings and the loudspeaker is great at sidestepping the impact of signal compression and peak loudness.