Devialet Phantom Gold: The Ultimate Review
Combining the elements of an advanced digital-analog converter, wireless technology, and multiple connection capability in one mean speaker machine, the Devialet Phantom Gold takes a fresh approach to cutting edge design and producing effortless sound in your space.
Following the success of the Devialet Phantom, its French maker released the gold variant in 2017. At first glance, you will be surprised to learn that this product hails from France, which is not exactly known in the high-end sound speaker department. But, they are out there and seems very much equipped to knock down their German, Austrian, British and Japanese competition.
The quirkiness and pulsating bass of its predecessor has extended to the Phantom Gold, and with more features of course. Devialet has definitely created a product that intends to overwhelm your senses, which will always find its way in many audiophile conversations.
But can the Devialet Phantom Gold really measure up to the demands of discriminating sound listeners? It is considered in the top tier after all (you’ll know the price later). Let’s find out as we discuss its salient points in this review. I’ll let you in on what verified purchasers are saying about it, give you my verdict and finally, help you get the best price on this awesome wireless speaker.
Pros
- Tremendously loud and high-quality sound
- Impeccable bass from a Bluetooth speaker
- Incredible build and great use of modern technology
- Offers a 45-day trial
Cons
- The high price, which requires extra charges on accessories
- Soundstage could use an improvement
How did I test the unit?
Typically I would have the product for several days, weeks, months even for review purposes to get to know the item more than just be impressed by it. However, in the case of the Devialet Phantom, I called their marketing and PR, and unfortunately, they didn’t have an available loaner. Instead, they invited me to visit their flagship store in New York City, where we can play out the Phantom.
Since I was in town for another function, off I went to Soho for the demo. As I stepped inside, I was amazed by the minimalist design and size of the boutique, which I was told to be their biggest one yet. It occupies two spacious floors. On the ground level, they have their isolated immersive room where you can truly relish the pure sound of their speakers.
Standout Product Features
Made as a single wireless speaker, the Phantom Gold allows ethernet connection for audiophiles who would prefer a stable signal over sleekness. But if you’re not happy with just one speaker, you can configure multiple phantoms to deliver cinematic surround quality.
You should use the Spark App, which is available in IOS, Windows, and Android setups to control the operation of your Devialet Phantom Gold. While it may look like a complicated piece of equipment along with its astounding technical features, this Phantom is a user-friendly product which will not require a special location to operate at a high level.
Thanks to its omnidirectional sphere, you can enjoy the multiple layers and frequencies without a hitch. Perhaps you can place it at an angle if you like to have those smoother highs.
Sound quality
While I wasn’t keen on the idea that I will test the speaker right at that moment compared to using it as a regular item, I did not regret the opportunity nonetheless. For the sake of you as a reader of this article, I made sure to cover all bases under the circumstances. And with its price tag, I shouldn’t be easily in awe and be more critical instead.
One of the essentials of having a solid and punchy sound is a lush bass. The low end is almost always tricky, but the Phantom gold gave some of the most intense basses you’ll ever hear. And boy, it was the loudest pure sound coming from a single speaker I’ve listened to in years. When you look at its specs and see that it has an amplification that peaks at 4,500 watts, that explains its pure power.
The volume coming from the robotic-looking device is enough to rupture anyone’s ears. Given its quality and digital-analog hybrid technology, the sound does not break even at extremely ear-shattering levels. It truly feels like your in the front row of a rock concert.
You might think that this speaker only becomes outstanding when you play beefed up music such as rap, rock, and the like. But what about folk acoustics or something similar? So I switched my playlist to the band The Weather Station.
As I listened from the Devialet Phantom, the guitar sounds are very clear, yet they do not overpower the singer’s voice. But I noticed that in one part where the whole band is in full force, it seemed that the speaker compressed the sound such that there is no gap between the instruments being played. In such an instance, you will expect the guitar, drums, and cymbals to heighten but instead, their sounds were moving around each other.
Bass power
Meanwhile, when we’re talking fast and loud rap music plus heavy metal, of course, the Devialet Phantom Gold is surely in its element. Don’t get me wrong – I think that it will sound great nonetheless regardless of music genre. But it’s the bass-driven music that is its shall I say favorite child among its flock.
The Phantom Gold handles deep and fast moving bass line with the coolness of a cucumber yet with undeniable control. It starts by hitting hard and then offers variations on the tone and texture, all these while maintaining both its poise and impact. The bass packs a punch yet has that natural sound decay which can be good with instruments that are low on acoustics.
Mids and High-end
I’ve got to say that while these aspects do not equal the superiority of the Phantom’s bass, they are still good nonetheless. The mid range does not get muddy and can maintain the warmth of the bass that makes it rich in sound. It holds its own despite the attack of the low end, capable of revealing the very nuances of the singer’s singing in between lyrics. Moreover, the treble of the Phantom gold is crisp without the harshness.
Soundstage
I did mention that if there were a bit of a downside on the Devialet Phantom, it would have to be the soundstage. It’s alright, but it could be better. This speaker has a difficult time placing the instruments in their precise spots in a song. I raised this point with one of their sales representatives, and he suggested buying two units, which is not the greatest solution from a practical standpoint, but yes, it really does address the problem.
Construction
The design game has become competitively innovative among sound speakers, with each trying its best to set itself apart from the rest. In the case of this Devialet Phantom, it has a striking facade with its well-placed golden accent. It has the same casing as its lower variants, which doesn’t look bad either, but this one takes the cake.
Its aesthetic though may not be for everyone, but I like that it looks “alien-y” which makes it pop in the background. At about 20 inches both in length and width, it is pretty much similar to the size of your backpack. However, at 28 pounds, it is not lightweight.
Ease of Use
The hassle-free operation is great- you just turn it on and wait for it to show up in your Bluetooth menu and connect afterward. Remember, it has to be plugged in the main power. However, it can be confusing without a power light because you sometimes just want to know it’s actually powered on.
As far as connectivity goes, it was stable even at a distance. I also find myself enjoying the visual of pulsating woofers the speaker does when it lets out its bass for you to feel the rumble. After all, the thrust force from this motion is said to equal to 60 kilograms on both lateral woofers.
Devialet Phantom Price
The Devialet Phantom gold may be expensive at around 3000 dollars, but it’s easily justifiable. It just has a tremendous amount of high tech components in a luxurious piece that can easily compete with the much larger speakers in the market. And with its proprietary Analog-Digital hybrid along with its hundreds of registered patents, you may be shook with the cost, but as they say, quality comes at a price, albeit a high one.
However, when you think about it, its price may be geared more towards purist audiophiles who are not exactly fans of wireless connectivity in speakers. This probably puts its pricing at a disadvantage. But it’s possible that with the sonic performance of the Phantom Gold, it can still appeal to different sound enthusiasts.
My Thoughts
The Devialet Phantom gold is a brilliant audio piece that is capable of clear dense mixes but does not overwhelm the music presentation and congest the sound. And the fact that it can play so loud without a strain is pretty amazing for a compact and wireless device.
With looks that will almost always be a conversation starter wherever it is located, this stunning sound equipment offers high value despite its price. Get yours on Amazon.com now!
Left Brain Rundown
For the analytical people out there including any standout features and give you our verdict. If your a right brain (like me) and you just want the quick feature list – jump on down to How Do They Do It?
Features:
Size –
This 4500 Watt Phantom weighs in at a respectable 28 lbs pounds and measures just 13.8 x 16.9 x 22.9 inches (just about 3 cu ft). Now, 28 pounds may seem like a lot for a portable speaker but compare it to other small wireless speakers and it finds it’s in line with its measurements. Speakers have a lot more components than they used to back in the day and quality components also carry some weight to them.
Sound Quality –
Devialet set out with a specific goal in mind – to manufacture a sound system that not only competes with but also beats sound systems that cost in the $10K-$20K range – at a price point of under $5k. They absolutely did that!
Amplification Power:
4500 W peak
Sound Pressure Level:
108 dB SPL at 1 meter
Acoustical Performance:
Bandwidth : 14Hz to 27kHz (@-6dB) Accuracy in frequency response : ± 2dB from 20Hz to 20kHz
Amplification Performances:
THD+N* : 0.0005% | Saturation : 0 | Background Noise 0 dB SPL at 50 cm (-15,5 dB SPL at 3m)
Digital To Analog Converter:
Devialet DAC embedded in ADH2 intelligence 24bits/192kHz THD: -112dB
Processor:
ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore 800MHz dual-core processor | hard IP | FPGA in a unique System-On-Chip (SoC) Cyclone V 512MB DDR3 memory
Loudspeakers:
Grade 1 Titanium Tweeter driver Aluminum Medium driver Aluminum Bass drivers
Have you heard that the Gold Phantom pushes out 108 Db of sound? It does, all with zero saturation, distortion or background noise. You may be thinking – Really? Can it be that good? And the answer is – Yes.
How do they do it?
Devialet decided that they wanted to make speakers priced under $5K both wired and wireless that would compete and win against speakers in the $10k- $20k price range and that meant 2 things.
First, the speakers were going to have to have a superior sound quality and hit the lower price point. Then Devialet set to work, in order to project perfect sound in a small size, they had to invent the technology.
That’s where all the new patents come in – 103+ at the time of this writing.
See, Devialet knew that they were going to have to invent the technology in order to meet their lofty goals.
So they started by marrying 2 key technologies in the audio world – Analog and Digital. They came up with ADH – Analog/Digital Hybrid Technology. Here’s how they describe it:
“Analog Digital Hybrid delivers all the sophistication of analog amplification together with all the power and compactness of digital amplification. The best of both worlds. For amplification of unparalleled clarity and transparency. At every turn. Revolutionary, in a word.”
Then they moved on to the way the audio files are processed with a process they dubbed Speaker Active Matching or SAM for short. They best describe the resulting audio as:
“Whether you’re dealing with transients or steady-state signals, the degree of information processed by SAM is radically superior to anything previously deemed possible. This enables the Phantom to reproduce the exact rhythm and tempo of your music. All of it. With absolute precision. So that you can experience every last emotion. Just as the artist intended.”
Then, to get the level of sound and clarity they had to totally redesign how each speaker is structured, placed and how they work together synchronously in the spherical design. The amount of innovation is truly amazing and lets us all enjoy the Heart Bass Implosion or HBI they have come up with. Their words sum it all up beautifully:
Engineered to perform under extreme compactness and pressure, Phantom’s hermetically sealed architecture consists of two lateral woofers powering together. The sheer thrust force behind their combined movement generates ultra-dense sound with physical impact. Right down to infrasound. 14Hz. Welcome to the deep end.
On top of all that, they make it so easy to upgrade your Phantoms technology with their Evo Platform that allows you to:
“Receive performance and compatibility updates direct to your Phantom. Wirelessly and hassle-free. Simply connect to the Devialet Spark app and let EVO cybernetics do the rest. RIP, planned obsolescence.”
In fact, through their Evo Platform, clients have been able to upgrade wirelessly and gain even more versatility for their Phantom Wireless Speakers in the last year alone integrations and features were added to use apps like DEEZER, Spotify Connect, Pandora, Sound Cloud as well as Bluetooth 5.0 all thru the Spark App ( find it here FREE)
Get $20K sound for under $3K today.
How Can You Use the Gold Phantom Wireless Speaker?
Pretty Much anyway you can think of. Seriously. You can use it as a computer speaker, a TV speaker, pair it with your smartphone and play music and other audio files, connect to Spotify, Deezer, Tidal and other streaming services.
Connect via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, ethernet cable, optical cable. Really, the possibilities are nearly endless. This is the MOST versatile wireless/Bluetooth speaker on the market today.
Who is the Devialet Gold Phantom 4500 Watt Wireless Speaker For?
People that want the sound quality and clarity of a $20K sound system for their home theater, multi-room audio system, stereo system or just plain love music and audio but lack the need or desire to spend $20K and have the technical expertise to put it all together. In other words, you just desire the awesome sound and not all the bother, fuss and expense of high tech equipment. If you have hung in with me this far, you’re probably not a tech snob, so this system is definitely up your alley, and totally worth throwing in your Amazon Shopping Cart.
There have been some comments around the web that the Devialet Gold Phantoms, as well as the Classic and Silver, are too hard to set up for a non-techie. Devialet actually took all those comments as constructive criticism to improve the ease of setting up your wireless speakers and created the Expert Pro Configurator App. It makes setting it all up a breeze with an interactive interface that you can use to set up your speaker initially or reset them or create a completely new configuration on demand.
Thanks for reading my review, Get Your Gold Phantom now and enjoy it this weekend!
Customer Opinion:
As you read through the reviews on Amazon.com it becomes abundantly clear that there are many pretty nasty comments and reviews left by unverified sources, so please be sure to filter reviews by Verified Purchasers to get honest reviews both good and bad.
The average rating for the Gold Phantom is 3.6 out of 5, even with the unverified reviews.
There are currently over 95 reviews on Amazon.com for the Devialet Phantom and of those reviews, 64% are 4 or 5 Star reviews.
Verified purchasers have compared the Phantom Wireless Speakers to some other brands such as Sounds Faber, Martin Logan, McIntosh, Rotel, and the Bang and Olufsen BeoPlay A9. Stating that they prefer their Phantoms over the other brands.
Most leave just a few words of praise for the Phantoms as everything has already been said at some point about them and they have nothing to add.
On the flip side, there are 7 – 1 Star reviews on Amazon.com for the Gold Phantom by verified purchasers. Of those 7 reviews – the Manufacturer reached out to each customer and helped them either get new speakers or helped with their technical issues.
Some of the things that people have been saying that have purchased this product are:
- #1 Purest Sound Ever
- #2 Better Than Higher Priced brands
- #3 Better than More recognizable brand name sound systems
I also had a look at some of the reviews that give 3 stars and a couple of things to keep an eye out for were:
- #1 It’s hard to get reliable Bluetooth playback (Even Devialet says Bluetooth is not the best way to play audio files)
- #2 It can be somewhat painful to get these speakers set up initially
- #3 Bluetooth tends to disconnect randomly
Or you can get 2 Gold Phantoms with Dialog Hub to use in stereo click here for this bundle.
Devialet Reviews Verdict: 9.9 out of 10
The one thing we think could be better about the Gold Phantom is the Bluetooth Connectivity Issues.
Other than that, we think the Gold Phantom is pound for pound, inch per inch the best wireless HI-FI sound you will get for the price, anywhere.
I think you will be Obnoxiously Happy with the Gold Phantom 4500 Watt Wireless Bluetooth Speaker.
Oh, and Hey, check out their warranty. I know it’s hard to drop nearly $3K without knowing that you are backed by a solid company and a solid warranty.