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This article first appeared in the April 2010 issue of the Turkish online magazine Stereomecmuasi. You can read the Turkish version here. We publish its English translation in a mutual syndication arrangement with publisher Hakan Cezayirli. As is customary for our own reviews, the writer's signature at review's end shows an e-mail address should you have questions or wish to send feedback. All images contained in this review are the property of Stereomecmuasi or Devialet - Ed.
Contributor: Mike Valentine Component retail: €11.900
Back to the future: I’ve seen the future. Actually, it came to visit me a few weeks ago in the form of the Devialet D-Premier integrated amplifier. What is so special about this 32mm high and 400mm square set of bathroom scales? Well, it contains brand new technology to make it an analogue/digital hybrid. It uses a low-power Class A amplifier along with a high-powered Class D amplifier. Actually, it reminded me of Quad’s 405 power amplifier which employed two different amplifiers in what Quad called their current-dumping technique.
In practice, Devialet’s approach not only is bang up to date, it really does seem from the future. All inputs can be named and configured; you decide whether you want the amplifier to be 160 or 240 watts; or even whether you want the phono input to be moving coil or moving magnet. All of this utilizes an SD card, which is then placed into the card reader on the back of the amplifier.
On top of the amplifier is an optical display showing what input is selected along with the gain. You do not like the amplifier on a shelf? You can hang it on the wall and the display turns upside
down so you can see it the right way from across the room. The remote control uses a radio frequency system so you do not have to constantly behave like a Star Trek extra pointing your phazer directly at the unit. The remote control takes care of volume, input selection and phase inversion.
