Having made its name with a range of very shiny, technologically advanced amplifier/streamers for the high end, Devialet is seeking to expand its market with a very unusual loudspeaker. Phantom is an active, wireless, two channel design that’s said to offer big speaker bandwidth in a compact, 12 litre cabinet. Incorporating the company’s ADH processing and SAM speaker matching tech the Phantom is a sealed box with a pair of large dome drivers on either side and a tweeter at the top. It’s claimed to be able to deliver bass down to 16Hz (+/- 2dB) and 105dB maximum volume thanks to very long throw drivers. Devialet co-founder Pierre-Emmanuel Calmel (below) explained that the Silver Phantom speakers each have eight mono amplifiers that are bridged to create four mono amplifiers, so the "peak" power of 3000 Watts may not be as fanciful as it sounds.
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The aim for Phantom appears to be to offer a high end alternative to Sonos by incorporating multi-room, wi-fi operation albeit not apparently with Bluetooth. Up to 24 Phantoms can be synchronised with a dedicated Dialog wireless network and they are compatible with Windows, Mac, Android and iOS operating systems, for which the Spark control app has been created. The enclosure is made of composite of glass fibre filled polycarbonate with an ABS external skin, aluminium core and aluminium drivers. It weighs 11kg and is 343mm long (13.5 inches). Two versions are being produced, the “750 Watt peak” Phantom at £1,390 and the Silver Phantom (“3000 Watt peak”) for £1,690, the latter offering the higher SPLs as you might imagine.
Jason Kennedy