Company & Product Overview

Devialet is a company founded in 2007 based in France. The way they blend cutting-edge technology with luxury has quickly made them famous around the world. High-performance audio systems for the most part have never been welcomed by interior designers, but Devialet is out to change this. They want to redefine the place of sound systems in modern homes to deliver an involving audio experience that is also part of the design of a home. Their partnerships with the likes of Louis Vuitton and the Paris Opera are evidence of how they plan to change the way we think about home audio.

You might have seen one of their Phantom loudspeakers, an all-in-one uniquely shaped speaker that can put out sound that rivals normal speakers 20 times its size. Devialet even partnered with the Ariane Group to design a room using 8 Phantoms that could recreate the impact of one of their rockets taking off!

To learn more about Devialet’s Phantom Loudspeakers, check out our full review & learn how to choose the right Devialet Phantom for your setup.

This overview is on their Expert 220 Pro, which at first glance seems like just a very cool-looking integrated amplifier, but when you look at everything it is capable of under its beautiful skin, you’ll see why it makes a lot of sense for the modern music lover. Like most Devialet products, the cost of luxury is not cheap, but when you see everything the Expert 220 Pro can do, we think you will be as impressed as we were.

Design & Build Quality

You’ve probably never seen an integrated amp that looks like the Expert 220 Pro. It is carved from a single aluminum block, then finished in dark chrome. It's not as wide as a standard audio component and only about 1 ½” tall with a small round window on the top at the front.

Devialet did something really clever with the connection panel we wish other companies would take on. There are two wings on the rear sides that protrude back almost 3”. Once you get all of your connections made, you can pop on an aluminum cover that attaches to the wings and completely hides all of the cables. This comes in especially handy if you wall-mount the Expert, which is another very cool option.

Your Expert 220 Pro will come with a remote that will be nothing like you have seen before. It's a heavy square block of aluminum with a large round knob in the center surrounded by a few buttons. We have to say, there is just something about having the feel of turning a solid volume control instead of pushing a plastic button on a remote, that makes changing the volume level a better experience. Plus, using the configurator, you can assign all kinds of different functions to the small buttons on the remote.

Build quality of the entire unit is about as good as you can get. The chassis is just beautiful and every single connection on the rear is of super high quality. A pair of speakers is all you need to add to the Expert 220 Pro for most music systems. Most people will not even think it is a piece of audio equipment when they first look at it since it looks just so cool.

Features & Technology

We have never seen an integrated amplifier with more patented technology than the Expert series from Devialet. The current count is 160! Rather than going into great detail on how each unique piece of tech works, we decided to just do a brief synopsis then talk about the benefits of their distinctive internal systems.

At first look, the back panel looks like it might not have an abundance of inputs, but the magic lies in the way you can configure them. First, there is a left and right audio input that can be set up to be either a normal line-level input or a very flexible phono input (more on this later). Next to this are 4 RCA jacks that can be configured to be 4 Coax digital inputs or a stereo line input, and 2 Coax digital inputs. You can even assign one of them to be an analog subwoofer out and another to be a digital out! We wish other companies would take on this great idea. 90% of us never use more than a few input connections, yet many components have all of this wasted space for every option. With the Devialet configurator, you set them up to just what you need with no wasted materials.

There is also a Toslink digital in, AES/EBU digital in, and a USB digital in for computer audio. On the other side of the very solid speaker binding posts are two mini jacks that can be configured to be another Toslink in or RS232 control, and the button one can be either a trigger in or out.

The phono input can be a moving coil or moving magnet with fully adjustable loading and even different RIAA curves for older recordings. The sub out allows you to tailor crossovers for both the sub and main speakers should you wish with just about any slope or setting you could dream of.

We have never seen something that at first looks very simple give you so many possibilities that will allow it to match up to just about any system.

The heart of the Expert series is their ADH®, Analog Digital Hybrid circuit which gives you the best of Class A amplifier performance coupled with the efficiency of Class D.

SAM®, Speaker Active Matching, is something you can turn on which is another Devialet unique feature. Devialet has used laser analysis to measure how the drivers of a speaker react and they also used electrical analysis of the speaker's crossovers. Their goal is to try and allow the speaker to recreate a more phase-accurate signal. Another side benefit is they know where the speaker will overload. They have made these measurements on over 900 of the world's most popular speakers, so it is likely you will find a SAM setting for your speakers.

RAM™ is what Devialet calls Record Active Matching. You get 13 different RIAA curves to choose from, with multiple gain and loading settings for both MC and MM phono cartridges. Many of the most popular cartridges are already in the configurator so all you have to do is pick yours. And you can change all of these on the fly using the handheld remote.

Speaking of the ability to change things with the remote, other options to play with are balance, treble, bass, stereo/mono, phase, and a subsonic filter. And, in a really unique feature, you can preset where the tone controls kick in using the configurator.

The Expert models also have what is called Intelligent Cinema Mode which monitors the incoming signal to even out the loud and soft passages. This can be turned on and off with the remote. You can also turn on SAM and even change it from 100% to 0 effects with the remote. Worth noting here, and with great benefit, 0% SAM implements no phase adjustment, yet still provides overload protection. So, you have the option to fully maintain the normal characteristics of your speaker while reaping the benefit of the overload protection. A great option for those with very nice speakers (that they presumably purchased for a reason, they like the natural sound of the speaker).

Devialet also invented DAC - MAGIC WIRE™ which is a circuit design that puts the DAC right at the power amp with a signal path of only 5 cm in length. They claim this short path to the amp is far better than separate components. And as you would expect, the DACs in the Expert 220 Pro are very high resolution, handling 24bits/192kHz quality and DSD64.

The Expert 220 Pro and all Expert models are fully integrated with Roon for a wonderful streaming experience. You also get Airplay2 and Spotify Connect.

Finally, should you later buy larger speakers that require more power than the 220 watts per channel available in the Expert 220 Pro you can configure it to be in mono and pair a second one with it.

Now, we do have to say all of these great configuration options come at a slight inconvenience. The initial programming must be done on a computer where you will load everything onto an SD card you then insert into the back of the unit. Many people will need to get a USB to SD adapter to do this but it is just once.

We also wish they would have made all of the on-the-fly changes you can make available in the Devialet app. Probably worth a mention here the reason why this is. Expert works on a completely different operating system than Phantom, so integration into the Devialet app (“DOS2”) isn’t possible. I don’t necessarily want readers to arrive at the conclusion that we simply chose to not have everything in a single ecosystem. To see what you are doing, you have to be standing right in front of the unit and peering into the small lighted circle on the top. Devialet tells us they will be updating the app soon which will be really great for the music lover who likes to fiddle around or someone with many old LPs that have different RIAA curves. As you can tell, the Expert 220 Pro is one heck of a configurable integrated amp that should meet the needs of any music lover and look fantastic either on their table or mounted to the wall!

Performance

So how does all this high-tech sound? If we had to sum it up, we would say, fast, tight, and very detailed.

We did most of our testing using either the phono preamp or Roon via WiFi. The room we tested the unit in has spotty WiFi reception and we have noticed dropouts with other streamers in the past. The Expert 220 Pro never skipped a beat through several hours of listening tests.

We found the phono preamp to be very quiet and totally hum free, even when we cranked up the volume with nothing playing. Our particular phono cartridge is unshielded which has caused hum to be present in many phono preamps we have tested, but it was silent with the Devialet and our reference McIntosh preamp. There is some hiss in the phono preamp as you turn it up, but that is normal.

The SAM setting for our speakers worked really well. With it turned on fully, you could hear better imaging and tighter, and even deeper bass. This was pretty impressive to us.

The variable tone controls could also be a great feature for some rooms. If you have a bass peak and know where it is, you can actually dial in the exact frequency and reduce it with the bass tone control. Pretty cool. Better yet…If you’ve done room measurements, you can implement up to 9 bands of EQ with “Sweet Room.”

As we went through a variety of our reference tracks from classic rock, to jazz, to classical, we noticed the Expert 220 Pro never sounded like it was straining. The musical dynamics always came out with the ease you expect to hear from a very powerful amplifier, not what you would expect from a 1 ½” tall small box!

One of our favorite cuts is Somewhere Down the Crazy River, from Robbie Robertson's self-titled 1987 release. We heard great imaging and the haunting sound of his voice revealed on the Expert 220 Pro.

Another one we used was Tecumseh Valley, from Nanci Griffiths “Other Voices Other Rooms”. Arlo Guthrie sings background vocals on this one and on a great system, his voice is very clear and separated, which the Expert 220 Pro accomplished with ease. There is another great cut on this same album, a John Prine song, Speed of the Sound of Loneliness, that Prine sings background vocals on as well. Once again, this amp let us clearly hear the sound of Prine’s unmistakable voice.

Lay Me Down, from Crosby and Nash is one of our favorite cuts to see if a system can image outside the speakers. When the overdubbed harmonies come in, on a great system, you hear this huge soundstage in front of you with everything sitting perfectly in space. The Devialet did this extremely well. It really has pinpoint accuracy and speed!

A concern we had going in was how vinyl would be portrayed using the Devialet. We have to say, pretty good, but by converting everything back to digital to allow all of the Devialet features to work is not going to be for the hardcore vinyl purest. However, we did try some of the other RIAA curves on some very old jazz albums and liked the results. And it is super cool to be able to change these on the fly!

Overall, the Expert 220 Pro does a whole lot for a small and beautiful box. It does lean more towards analytical than warm sound, but for many listeners, this will be a sense of clarity they have never experienced before. And if you are a Roon user, you will just love the sound. The Expert 220 Pro does digital extremely well.

We also wish they would have made all of the on-the-fly changes you can make available in the Devialet app. Probably worth a mention here the reason why this is. Expert works on a completely different operating system than Phantom, so integration into the Devialet app (“DOS2”) isn’t possible. I don’t necessarily want readers to arrive at the conclusion that we simply chose to not have everything in a single ecosystem. To see what you are doing, you have to be standing right in front of the unit and peering into the small lighted circle on the top. Devialet tells us they will be updating the app soon which will be really great for the music lover who likes to fiddle around or someone with many old LPs that have different RIAA curves. As you can tell, the Expert 220 Pro is one heck of a configurable integrated amp that should meet the needs of any music lover and look fantastic either on their table or mounted to the wall!

Overall Recommendation

The Expert Pro 220 sits at a price point where there is a lot of competition from separate components. We can think of many combinations of power amps, preamps, and streamers you could combine to give you something similar. However, when we started thinking about a power amp with this much power, a preamp with this many features (and none have some it has), a phono stage with its flexibility, and a streamer as good as the one in the Expert 220 Pro, those combinations all added up to more than the cost of the Expert Pro 220. Is it inexpensive, heck no, but if you are looking at separate components in this price class, you should give the Expert 220 Pro a hard look.

And by the way, when you look at it physically, you will have to be smiling when you see the beautiful chassis and one-of-a-kind elegant remote. Now if they would only put all of the adjustments you can do into the app, we would be really happy, and thankfully that will be a future upgrade!