Devialet - Phantom Ultimate 98 dB - Deep Forest - Zero Distortion - High-Resolution Audio Processing - Multiroom

I had first heard of Devialet as a college kid about a decade ago when Unbox Therapy did a video on the original Phantom (a while before the Phantom II came around). That’s when the journey started. Over the years, I had managed to set my ears on several demo units: - at my local Apple Store (2015-2016) - at a hifi store in downtown Houston (2017) - at a flagship store while on vacation in London (2018) - at my local Best Buy (2019-present) Each time I saw it, I marveled at the striking design, the ingenious engineering, the simplicity of the setup. Each time I heard it, I was floored by the deepness of the bass, the clarity of the vocals, the crispness of the high hats. With each encounter, my resolve to buy these speakers deepened. Over those 10 years, the biggest pieces fell into place. I went from dorm to apartment to another apartment to my first house. I went from a gig to a job to a career. I went from struggling to surviving to thriving. And this year, the last two pieces fell into place: 1. I had finally figured out in which room they would go and where. 2. The Phantom II had finally been succeeded by the Phantom Ultimate 98dB. On December 10th, 2025, I placed my largest Amazon order to date: - (2) Phantom Ultimate 98dB in Deep Forest - (2) matching Trees The assembly was seamless. The setup via app was simple. And the first track was easy to play. When the sound finally washed over me and my spouse for the first time, it was surreal. We couldn’t believe what we heard. It sounded even better than the demos. And I’ve found that I can relive that first experience: - Through each of my house guests when I witness them hear it for the first time. - With every one of my favorite songs that feel like I’m hearing them for the first time. - With every track on each of my vinyl records This system nailed it for us: - the physical size was ideal; any larger and it would not have fit in between our couches as easily if at all - the volume output is incredible: we’ve only cranked it up to 60% so far, any further would probably require earplugs - the connectivity is so straightforward: we stream lossless audio over WiFi via Spotify Connect and play records on a pre-amped turntable that is hooked up via L/R Analog to an ADC which outputs optical to the Devialet It was worth every penny of the $4,760.84 I spent and every second of the decade I waited. Hiccups: - I went off of intuition for setup, neglected to read the part of the instructions that mentioned that there’s a power button on the back. So after unplugging the units several without proper shutdown, it finally glitched out. This forced me to a) find the button and b) do a factory reset (press and hold). No issues since then. - had thought at first that the speakers had defective optical inputs, turned out that it was actually the first ADC we tried that was defective. Read more

An Outstanding Audio Experience! The Phantom Ultimate 98 dB speaker is a beautifully crafted speaker that delivers a listening experience that far exceeds it small size. It has a nicely designed exterior with sleek lines and an artistic elegance to it. Finishes are subtle, yet still show the quality and premium look and feel you would expect from a luxury brand. It's design showcases the components in plain view, but in a way that they all seamlessly blend into each other for a smooth and refined look. The main user interface is the Devialet phone application that lets you control every aspect of the speaker. It is an easy to use and clean designed app that has everything you want on the listening screen for a great user experience. It lets you easily choose your source, and fine tune your sound with the built in equalizer. Connectivity is pretty good with Bluetooth 5.2, Wifi 5 and ethernet, although I would have liked to have seen a TOSlink or optical input, but it isn't a deal breaker. On the sound side, as a single speaker this plays a stereo source but it is summed to mono due to it being a single speaker, and only is considered stereo when two of these speakers are paired together, requiring you to buy two if you want a stereo sound. As a single speaker it does a good job at trying to create an immersive sound field that sounds like it has physical separation quite well. A very wide frequency response range allow this speaker to deliver a very impressive sound, that makes it feel like a much larger speaker than what it is, rivaling some floor standing speakers in output. The design of the woofers allows them to play as low as 18Hz, which is technically subsonic, but helps to deliver an amazing feeling of deep bass that feels like there was a dedicated and large subwoofer from this small package! The midrange and highs are well detailed and clear thought the range, again going all the way up to 25 kHz to make full use of the Hi Res signal processing that drives these speakers. With this speaker using on one midrage/high driver it does a far better job than I expected, sounding as good as or better than what traditionally would require two separate drivers to achieve a sound like this. At 400 watts of ADH a cross of analog an ddigital amplification this speaker packs a lot of power for its size and uses extremely well, with powerful bass and vocals that are very lifelike making it feel like you are listening to the artist perform for you, rather than a recording. All around this speaker delivers an amazing listening experience that will have most people surprised that the sound is coming from such a small speaker. Read more