Hi Fi Art: Devialet

Devialet D-Premier Amplifier

Take one look inside the Devialet D-Premier integrated amplifier, and you will see what is meant by Hi Fi Art. The circuit board resembles not a consumer electronics product, but a technical piece of engineering art. Handle the remote, listening to speakers like the Focal Scala Utopia and you will feel you are an a SLK on summer's day: driving through the pristine country on a quaint, but well maintained farm road (autobahn, if you will), and feeling all the pleasure and relaxation that entails.

The country image in front of you, the turn of the road, the responsiveness of your car the, sun, wind, and gentle rush, the quaint tranquility of your Sunday drive - uncharted territory: such are the pleasures of listening to a Devialet.

Listening to music, you will encounter a level of pleasure and refinement well worth the price of admission: roughly the price a SLK Roadster for your entry system ($32,000 speakers, $16,000 D-Premier, $4000 connection vs $52,500 for a Mercedes SLK 250 R). It is the car enthusiast and music lover then, that would most appreciate the lines of the D-Premier: the pleasures of the road, well-driven. Visually, perhaps any astute collector of jewelry might with to purchase the Devialet: it sparkles, and shines for pure unadulterated fineness of function, form, and yet paradoxically - integration! :)

Encounter any "hi-fi" enthusiast, and you will likely encounter a worshiper of arcane ritual, tweaks, circumspect reasoning, and perpetual investment. Somehow, the more complex the system:
the more pieces, the more cost of each, the more obscure the creator, the more powerful or delicate, the more weighty, the more elusive, obtuse, aghast (at the bill of sale), or agonizing, the choices are, the more rewarding. Such is the nature of hi fi. You'll find stalwart companies like Mark Levinson, NAIM, and Burnmester dominating the hi-fi landscape, with lifestyle companies like B&O taking up the slack, with products that fit both the ear, and the eye. Now, with the advent of Devialet, you'll find true hi-fi performance in elegant packaging, for the sartorially (and musically) inclined.

Coupled with speakers like the Focal Scala Utopia in white, Bahaus aesthetic - alluded to earlier with the SLK roadster analogy, or the completely gorgeous Sonus Faber Armati Futura in graphite grey ($36K), you'll find a system capable of gorgeous aesthetics at both ends of the scale and spectrum.

Should you take the plunge, you'll find a system that lasts for a generation, and integrates tidily with the computer-music trend. Wireless streaming, courtesy of iTunes is included, and multiple Devialets can be daisy "chained" for full home audio, or more extreme listening systems, with multiple amplifiers per system - just imagine the sound.


The Devialet D-Premier is available at better retailers everywhere. We listened to it with the Focal Scala Utopia's at Commercial Electronics in Vancouver, Canada - spectacular, and with the Totem Element Earth ($8K) speakers at Hi Fi Centre.

www.devialet.com
www.commercialelectronics.ca
www.hificentre.com

2012/01/11 JP
www.hifiart.ca

Rating: 80/100
Value: 20/100
Total Points: 100/200

Price: $16,000.00 USD, varies by region.
Power: 240 W / channel.

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