Phantom Speakers - 108 DB

I was deciding between this Devialet 108db Phantom 1 or the Cabasse Pearl Akoya. I ultimately decided to go with the Devialet, as I preferred the overall look of the egg shape as opposed to the circular shape of the Pearl Akoya, and frankly there were more reviews on the Phantom 1, so it felt like the safe choice. Upon receiving this $3,300.00 high-end speaker, I found the styrofoam protecting the speaker in the box was completely shredded up into little pieces (shipping box was fine), and the speaker seemed to have been a second hand item, as there were scratches and dents all over it. Needleless to say, this is not something you'd hope to expect upon opening a new piece of high-end equipment. Aside from looks (which is one of the main reasons you would buy this kind of speaker in the first place), the speaker sounded really great, but overall a bit too much bass for my taste and any practical listening experience. Lastly, while it would not have been a deal breaker for me, I didn't realize that the Phantom 1 does not have a line-in for a 3.5mm (headphone input) to connect to to a turntable or other capable device. I'm not sure what Devialet was thinking, but the what a total miss on their part for not including this or another type of RCA input outside of an optical-in port, which has limited connectivity. I know there are work arounds, but none that are simple and easy, that's for sure. To that end, I went ahead and returned these and purchased the Cabasse Pearl Akoya's, which to me, are the best sounding active bookshelf speakers that you can buy in this price range.

I just bought the phantom l and I love the sound. Best compact speaker that doesn't need a subwoofer add on. The highs and high and the lows are amazing at about 65 at the remote that comes with it. Any higher than that you want this outside. I did play it to 100, will blow your mind, no distortion. But way to loud for in the house. Between 35 and 50 is perfect for in the house. I actually bought this speaker for my boat, I can play it and hear the speaker rather the engines. I tried many speakers on the boat and I ended up only hearing the highs, not the lows. So this is perfect if you are competing with boat engines. The bass will rattle anything not glued to your house and your chest on bassy tracks. They did leave out the ability to adjust the EQ, this doesn't matter for newer music for new tech. But your oldies and old 70s and 80s won't have the bass impact as the newer music because how they recorded it back then. Not a huge deal it will just sound the same as you always heard it, but you won't get the added bass response as you would with an added EQ to pump it up. I strongly suggest you get a cocoon case if you want to move this beast around. Very awkward being that's egg shaped and VERY heavy. Also I had no issues with hookup... when it asks you to give it love, you have to put your hand on it, but not from the side but directly in front. Took me a while to realize that because I couldn't finish the setup until I put my hand on it directly from the front to give it love. Funny, nice little added touch. BTW that's the app setup not the speaker. You don't need the app for it to work. The remote paring works like that too,. You have to touch the top. So this version I think they got it right from the last generation. I read a lot of complaints and didn't buy it because of that. Now they got it right. I think anyone who buys the phantom one will love it.

When it works it sounds and looks great. I ordered 2 Phantoms and 1 Dione. First of all Dione and Phantoms don't sync hence cannot be used together Second, When you link 2 Phantoms in stereo mode, there's a significant lag between the master and slave, skips large sections of the music. Third, Firmware is glitchy, at times the app fails to recognize products and you have to reset the HW

This is truly a technological breakthrough. Interesting design, perfect performance and connectivity, but you really need them in stereo. In my opinion, this is the best active speaker available much better than KEF. With this speaker, you hear the songs that you have heard many times like you never heard them before….

I just purchased the phantom l - Base is rich and full while the mids and highs remain clear. Surprisingly, the paring to your iPhone and iMac is seamless – Loving it!! Spotify connects effortlessly. Glad to see Devialet got it right. Is it overpriced, yes? Is it worth the advertised price, no, at a price point of $2495, I would say - yes…