Devialet Ultimate Phantom 98dB

Devialet has for a very long time been known to make beautifully shaped wireless speakers with an impressive bass response, and were some of the first to implement high-res sound into a wireless format. Over the years they have realised that there is a mature market for smaller speakers, and not least more affordable ones like their Mania Bluetooth speaker.

However, more affordable "real" speakers have been limited, with the Phantom being one of the main products, now in its Ultimate rendition.

The speaker comes in a 98dB and 108dB version, with the 98dB version being what we have tested, and it also being more affordable as the two speakers may look identical despite the 108dB model being twice the size in real life, and having very different configurations and hardware, which is why the 108dB version is more than twice the 1500 Euro that the Devialet Phantom Ultimate 98dB costs. Unless you go for the Liberace look and choose the Gold Leaf version, that is another 300 Euro - but it does look tempting...

I do find it infuriating at this price that it only has Wi-Fi 5, it's a new product that should have Wi-Fi 7, and the Bluetooth version is 5.2 - and no AptX HD, LDAC or other high-res formats directly by Bluetooth. This indicates to me that audiophiles are not the real customers, but people who like design products.

When you want to buy one, you are easily offered a stereo pair, a remote - which we did play around with as well, but for some reason not the stand, which isn't exactly a design award winning piece of furniture, but its fits and is nice to look at - and yes, its attached to the speaker via a screw system as to easier keep it from hitting the floor from a small push. Do note that the foot its born with has a slight angle to go with the speaker stand, meaning that whatever furniture its placed on shouldn't be too tall, especially if you want two and use them as a real stereo-system, which they are designed to.

The remote and the speaker itself are really nice and modern with a clearly French inspired design. They will suit any modern home, and look so stylish that I almost understand the massive asking price. Because in the world of design objects, this is cheap.

Besides the Gold, it comes in off-white known as "light pearl" and a black-ish colour called "Deep Forest". However, the main point is, it's small. 16x22x17cm, and this small lump goes down to 18Hz according to their own website. I strongly doubt that last part because of, well, physics.

The inputs are few but crucial, power, mini-toslink and Ethernet. controls can be done on the unit, they are integrated in the outer shell, aka being capacitive buttons, which is also an excuse to feel the surface, it's surprisingly cool and nice to touch, and its almost wasted as most people will just look at it.

A 400 Watt amplifier feeds 2 woofers and a full-range driver working as both midrange and treble, all in aluminium. I personally would have preferred beryllium as it has superior handling of surface breakup for audio use, but is also rather expensive and apparently more difficult to manufacture. I know that Devialet uses some nice abbreviations for their amplifier and who they do it, but I would have liked for them to better describe what they are doing with just slightly more technical terms, they do not even tell you the size of the woofers, something I would consider very basic. Its too bad, because Devialet uses a hybrid system known as ADH where a class A circuit drives the pre-amplifier part, and a class D stage for the hard work - its slightly more complicated from a technical viewpoint, but this is the stripped down version, with the point being tha Devialet as far as I can tell, use their own design instead of using standard modules, some of those do however hold a reputation for impressive sound and performance.

The internet is full of cut-up images of the previous versions, and we can therefore make a very qualified guess that the woofers have enormous motor systems and reminds me of old-time servo-subwoofers, which is a part of why they can produce so much bass, and why they need so much power, they need to move a lot, get hot and get a lot of real time correction, all of it eats amplifier power for breakfast as heat east speaker efficiency for breakfast.

While Devialet are pushing the boundaries with clever engineering, they still need the massive heat sink at the back of the speaker to do its job very well, and its integration in to the design is one of the best I have ever seen, However, there are limitations, and it doesn't feel like +90 dB at sub-20Hz. However, previous versions of the Phantom has had verified measurements that came close, so it would be interesting to get it tested at an independent lab.

It connects to your phone or tablet via an app and Wi-Fi, or cable if you like, and while Bluetooth is supported with A2DP, it is meant for high res audio over network, and optical, with it doing not only Airplay and Tidal Connect, but also UPnP and the audiophile platform Roon - which is funny as speakers this cheap normally don't get to be covered by the Roon highend platform. Roon is not a streaming service, but an organiser- and playback platform that allows you to fully utilize the 32bit DSP and the 24bit/192kHz playback.

Devialet's interface is neat, well designed, and very easy to use - and as it offers full integration, you don't even need to actually use it as most streaming services have built-in volume control as well. It gives you three modes, different EQ options, or you can just set it to flat.

And the sound. While using aluminum drivers, these are not the screeching harsh-sounding version that you heard 20 years ago. These are modern, DSP compensated, and while I do not recommend turning the volume to max, it will deliver a pleasant but precise sound, although the bass does tend to be over-accentuated when the SPL rises. It seems to be that this has been intended to act like a source of sound in smaller rooms as it easily triples as Bluetooth speaker, TV soundbar and stereo (mono system) all at once. While the sound is coherent, it is also slightly dry, and, well, not cold, but with a tight a precise reproduction that makes it, for a lack of a better term, lacking in the department of life and soul. It may partially come down to the bass, it limits itself at higher SPL levels, most likely to the DSP, but it also tries too hard to be correctly frequency flat, but without the same level of detail and lack of self-sound as a high quality studio monitor. It makes it very different from the many competing products that often suffer from over-enthusiastic bass response that drowns all the finer details.

The sound is impressive from such a small unit, but turn up the volume, and the compression kicks in. Physics has it limitations, if you expect the same dynamics and sheer impact as 2x18" long stoke units, you will be disappointed, but the focus point is that most will not even consider a subwoofer, and for the size, the bass is adequate and the impulse response and driver control matches the price. Heck, the bass may even be slightly over what it should be at normal listening level, but it provides some body and fullness that is otherwise lacking.

We mostly tested it in mono, however, we were lucky enough to be able to loan a complete stereo-set, which to no surprise enables an actual sound stage and a lot higher bass output.

The midrange is clear and crisp, and being a fulltone, fluidly flows into the treble. It is also somewhat dull, missing the last attack and impact. It is, to be a bit cliche, clean and polished, but lacking its own expression, and not in the ultra-linear meaning of the phrase.

So the question is - is it for you? Well, do you have the money, and a Bang & Olufsen TV to match your living room? Yes? Then it's definitely for you. You need to be clear that it is impressive engineering, but it's also compensating for a very small size, aimed at designer homes, and you are paying a premium tax for a luxury brand. If you are not willing to do that, you may have to consider your options.