Pored povećane snage u odnosu na početni model 140 Pro, Expert 220 Pro donosi povećan broj analognih i digitalnih ulaza. Prisustvo ekskluzivnih tehnologija, kao što su ADHV2, DAC Magic Wire i SAM se podrazumeva. TEHNIČKE KARAKTERISTIKE: Broj kanala: 2 Snaga po kanalu (6 oma): 220 W Ukupna izobličenja: 0,0005 % Audio ulazi: 2x RCA, coax i opt, 1x AES/EBU i USB-B Dodatno: Ethernet, Wi-Fi, AirPlay Daljinski upravljač: Da Dimenzije: 383 x 40 x 383 mm Masa: 5,9 kg Raspoložive boje: Silver Utter connectivity for the most demanding audiophiles. The Expert 220 Pro embeds the full set of Devialet technologies, as well as an ultra-configurable phono stage, designed for vinyl enthusiasts. Devialet is one of those companies that you just go “wow” whenever you look at their products and, having heard such great things about them over the years, I really wanted to get the opportunity to find out for myself what the excitement is all about. Devialet began in 2007, set up by three friends; engineer Pierre-Emmanuel Calmel, entrepreneur Quentin Sannié, and designer Emmanuel Nardin. Later it was added to by Franck Lebouchard as CEO. They all had a vision of making a revolution in audio, and with one goal; to make it possible for large numbers of people to be able to listen to perfectly produced music using everyday sound devices. In order to meet their objective this Paris based company has registered over 160 patents covering many different areas of sound construction. Their Expert 220 Pro is just one of a series of very clever fully integrated amplifiers using Devialet’s own operating system based a Linux kernel. It is rated at 220WRMS (at under 6Ω) or can be bridged with a second machine to give 440WRMS. Their top Expert 250 Pro can be bridged to go from 250W to 1000W. CONSTRUCTION The laptop-sized/shaped Devialet is pure chromed heaven and includes a circular OLED display screen on its shiny top panel, the whole looking not too dissimilar to my bathroom scales, though significantly more expensive and more useful. The rear includes a plethora of connections and facilities including Wi-Fi and Ethernet via the AIR app for Mac and Windows (see later), asynchronous USB, S/PDIF and Toslink, RCA, which can be configured as line-level or phono inputs, and a further pair of RCAs that can be either L/R analogue or a pair of digital inputs. Access to the sockets is by sliding off the rear of the top panel and then replacing it after your pluggery to hide the unsightly plugs and cables; a clever idea. The digital inputs support PCM signals up to 24-bit/192kHz (AIR® universal streamer, UPnP, AES/EBU, Coaxial), Toslink 24-bit/96kHz, USB input handling up to PCM 32/192, and DSD64 from USB and coax inputs. All operation is through a Devialet designed operating system built on a Linux kernel with an ARM 1GHz Quadcore Processor (Freescale iMX6), 1GB of DDR3-RAM and 4GB of Flash memory. The fact that all analogue sources go through an ADC before being processed and then returned as with the digital sources to analogue before working their way to your speakers impressed me, as the sound from my analogue sources during my evaluation showed no sign of lacking musicality or depth of reality as can be the case from digital processing. This is quite a monster of an integrated in shiny chromed aluminium clothing. It even comes with a pair of white gloves so that you don’t get your fingerprints on the lovely chrome. The only control is the tear-drop shaped on/off button at the front with visuals from a circular display panel on the top. The rear is festooned with the programmable analogue and digital sockets. Only omitted are balanced analogue XLR inputs, though there wasn’t much space for them! It also comes with the most original and beautiful remote there is out there, which is as unique to Devialet as the design of the Pro itself. Carved out of a single aluminium block, the Expert Pro Remote is both very responsive and precise, using as it does zero latency radio transmission technology, and being fully omnidirectional means you don’t need to pick it up and point it at the amplifier. I only wish that it had a LCD display – as the idea of a remote is to sit and be lazy on your chair but should you actually wish to change source and need to see if you have selected correctly you will need to get up and view the display on the top of the main unit, which defeats the object of a remote. However, of course this might be a ploy to persuade you to actually get up and view and adore the beautiful shape and shiny chromed aluminium top; this unit is simply too gorgeous for you to be sitting away on your armchair, nor should the unit be hidden away in a shelf. Certain functions can be altered via the LCD display, such as treble, bass and balance, but can only be done with the remote in hand. If one 220 isn’t enough for you, you can join two together in dual mono to create effectively an Expert 440 Pro, achieving no less than 2 x 440 Watts of power, should you need it, as well as an improved performance (You can actually daisy-chain up to 8 amplifiers, should you own a stadium). Streaming services also permit UPnP, Airplay®, Roon and Spotify Connect, though for my review I used sources I was familiar with; notably laptop and DAP, SACD/CD and phono.