Please note: the Devialet Astra is still be testing in our lab, so check back for the measurements.
The late Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor, famously declared, “You can never be too rich or too thin.” French manufacturer Devialet appears to have taken the latter half of this maxim to heart in the design of their amplifiers. Their first product, the D‑Premier integrated amp (2010), stood just 1.7″ high and marked a striking departure from conventional amplifier design. It caused a sensation at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where it was shown with its innards exposed, underscoring its unconventional engineering approach.
Pierre-Emmanuel Calmel first developed Analog Digital Hybrid (ADH) amplification technology, which underpins all Devialet products, in 2004. ADH combines the linearity of class-A amplification with the power, efficiency, and compactness of class-D switching stages. In this architecture, analog circuitry generates a voltage signal, while the switching stage amplifies the current required to drive the loudspeakers, maintaining extremely low output impedance. The first ADH prototype appeared in 2007, the same year Devialet was founded by Calmel, Quentin Sannié, and Emmanuel Nardin.
Doug Schneider reviewed the D‑Premier amp in 2011, calling it a “French Revolution.” Measuring 1.7″H × 15.6″W × 15.6″D and weighing 25 pounds, it was milled from a solid block of aluminum. You could mount it on a wall if you wished. When Doug reviewed it, some of the connectivity options were still in development, but it already contained a DAC section and a phono section, while the preamp section, including the volume control and tone controls, was executed in the digital domain. This meant that all analog inputs were first converted to 32‑bit/192kHz PCM. Because of the very high efficiency of the class-D section, the amp needed a relatively small power supply. It used a very high-quality switch-mode power supply (SMPS) instead of the traditional linear power supplies employed in most amplifiers. This led to a far more compact design, increased efficiency, and much lower heat production.
At that time, the use of SMPSs was quite rare in high-end audio, but things are different now. For example, the EMM Labs DV2i DAC and the Soulution 511 stereo amplifier, both reference-quality components, use SMPSs exclusively.
Devialet has not stood still. In 2013 three new amplifier models (the Devialet 110, 170, and 240) came to market, followed in 2015 by their first speaker, the Phantom. In 2016 the Gold Phantom active speaker, capable of sound levels up to 108dB, and the Expert 1000 Pro amplifier were released. The year 2020 saw the release of the Gemini noise-cancelling Bluetooth earphones, followed by the Dione Dolby Atmos soundbar and their first portable speaker, the Mania, in 2022. Last year Devialet updated the Phantom series, introducing the Phantom Ultimate 98 dB and Phantom Ultimate 108 dB.
The Expert line of amplifiers proliferated. Before the Astra was introduced there were six models listed, ranging from the Expert 130 Pro to the Expert 1000 Pro Dual. In 2025 Devialet introduced a new amplifier, the Astra, available as a single stereo unit or as a dual mono pair (user configurable). With the launch of the Astra, the Expert line has now been discontinued.
The Astra
This new amp represents a fresh direction for Devialet. Many aspects have been improved, the feature set has been expanded, and the design of both the amplifier and its remote have been simplified. The light-bronze version that I tested lists for US$21,000, CA$26,500, £14,000, or €16,000. If you buy a pair, they can work together as dual mono amplifiers. You can also splurge for the bespoke Astra Opéra de Paris, finished in 23-carat gold leaf, at US$27,000, CA$33,000, £18,000, or €20,000. Like the D‑Premier, the Astra is remarkably compact, measuring 1.85″H × 15.2″W × 15.2″D and weighing 15.9 pounds.
Rather than take you through the differences between the Astra and each of the Expert Pro amplifiers, I will simply tell you what this new model can do, how to control it, and how it sounded, and I’ll offer some comments on its slim design.
The Astra is rated at 150Wpc into 8 ohms and twice that into 4 ohms, with a signal-to-noise ratio of 117dB, output impedance of 0.004 ohms at 1kHz, and a damping factor of 2000 at 1kHz. Peak power is 1000W (1msec), and bandwidth is DC–56.9kHz (±1dB). These are formidable specifications for any integrated amp, apart from the limited power output (buy the pair!). The Astra is specified as stable into 2 ohms.
This amp has a very comprehensive phono section, with coverage for MM and MC cartridges, 13 equalization curves, and extensive cartridge-loading options. That analog signal, like all analog inputs, is first converted to 32/192 PCM before it passes into the digital preamp section, where equalization takes place in the digital domain. I did not have a chance to test the phono section. I gave up analog when I downsized.
The DAC section, which Devialet calls Magic Wire, is complex, with the various inputs having different characteristics. The USB‑C 2.0 input can accept up to 24/384 PCM and DSD64 via DoP (DSD over PCM). However, inputs higher than 24/96 are downsampled to 24/96. The network inputs (RJ45 ethernet and Wi‑Fi 6) operate in the same way, but do not accept DoP. The S/PDIF inputs (two optical and up to four coaxial) will accept PCM up to 24/192 and DSD64 via DoP.
The Astra supports Apple AirPlay 2, Google Cast, Qobuz Connect, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, and UPnP; it has Roon Ready and Plāys with Audirvāna certification. Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity is also offered, with support for the SBC and AAC codecs.
The user interface(s)
Do you remember the Citroën CX? The turn indicators did not self-cancel, by design. Citroën felt the user should be in full control of whether the indicators were on or off. That was one of several idiosyncrasies of the CX. The car’s hydraulic suspension could be raised or lowered, and when you put your foot on the pressure-sensitive brake pedal, there was no travel, just immediate stopping power. They argued that, in an emergency, the time spent depressing the pedal meant extra distance travelled. It was a safety measure, and they were right.
In true Gallic fashion, Devialet also marches to the beat of a different drummer. This is the first integrated amp I’ve seen with no volume control on the chassis. There are two tiny buttons on the side: one for power on/off, the other to join a network. That’s it. There is a small circular volume and input indicator on the top panel, but it just shows the status.
So how do you control it? One method is to use the heavy, rechargeable remote control, which has a very large rotary dial for volume and looks a bit like the amp itself. It is excellent for changing volume, and the level actually shows up on a screen set inside the dial. There are also symbols for stop, pause, play, and so on at the north, south, east, and west points of the dial. Some of these have multiple functions according to whether you press or press and hold. The remote control connects through Bluetooth. I was not a big fan, and I often found myself holding it the wrong way around. I preferred to use the Devialet app (iOS or Android). The downside to that approach is that every time you open the app, it reverts to the home page, where you first have to select which Devialet component you wish to operate. This is especially annoying if, like me during the review period, you only have one. The app is otherwise quite comprehensive and easy to use.
There is quite a learning curve here, partly because of the unusual user interface, and partly because this machine has so many options, including setting up which inputs will be selectable on the remote control and which physical inputs will be analog or digital. Some of the configuration options are available in the app, with helpful graphics, but others can be accessed only from the Devialet website.
The Astra features a dual-band equalizer in the app, offering separate control over bass and treble. It also offers two proprietary adjustment technologies: Record Active Matching (RAM) allows dynamic, customizable phono-stage adjustments, while Speaker Active Matching (SAM) adapts the amplifier’s output to the measured mechanical behavior of supported loudspeakers (with over 1000 models now listed). SAM compensates for driver timing differences, particularly between woofers and tweeters, and offers additional protection to the drivers. Implementation is unusually flexible. Users can load a speaker profile and then adjust the effect from 0 to 100% via an onscreen slider.
Setup and system
My biggest gripe involved connecting the amp to the rest of my system. The problem was caused by the very low height and the chassis overhang at the rear, which hides the cables from view but impedes access. There was no room for balanced analog inputs, so to play music from my EMM Labs DV2i DAC, I had to use unbalanced cables. More importantly, there was insufficient room to use my Nordost Valhalla 2 speaker cables; they are spade-terminated, and the cables ended up pointing down and hitting the rack. A solution might be to use banana-terminated cables, but I do not have any of comparable quality. Devialet gave me an awkward workaround. Following their advice, I positioned the Astra so that it protruded beyond the rear of my rack. I then inserted the spade prongs through the narrow holes at the base of the (non-removable) protective covers, allowing the cables to hang down off the end of the rack. It worked, but it looked weird.
The power socket was even more problematic, located so close to the overhang that hardly any audiophile power cable could be plugged in. Only three of my cables would fit: the one that came in the box, a Wyrewizard Magus power cable (better), and a Soundstring Tricormaxial cable (best) that I reviewed favorably over 20 years ago. I used the Soundstring for all my testing. Without that overhanging top panel, I could have used Nordost Valhalla 2 throughout, and the results might have been better still.
I tested the Astra using a Roon Labs Nucleus One server (US$539.99, not including storage), streaming music from Qobuz and controlling playback using the Roon app on my iPhone. I also played silver discs on my EMM Labs XDS1 CD/SACD player (US$25,000). The Astra was driving YG Acoustics Hailey 2.2 speakers (discontinued, US$55,800/pair when available), which are not an easy load, requiring a lot of current into a low impedance. All cabling was Nordost Valhalla 2, apart from the Soundstring power cable for the Astra.
Listening
After many hours of running a burn-in track, I set out to determine whether using SAM was advisable. Unfortunately, the Hailey 2.2 was not on the list of SAM profiles. On advice from Devialet, I tried the adjustment for the previous model, Hailey 1.2. Here is the problem: YG’s Hailey speakers are phase-accurate by design, and therefore the SAM adjustments are likely small. I tried, but I could not detect any difference in sound with SAM in place or absent. Your mileage may vary.
For my listening tests, I used a carefully curated playlist I’d originally developed for my review of the EMM Labs DV2i. That playlist, now expanded, covers a wide variety of music from different decades, from the smallest scale to the largest and everything in between. There is an emphasis on high-quality and high-resolution recordings, tracks that readily reveal deficiencies in lesser equipment, and lots of piano, which is very difficult to reproduce accurately. Most importantly, it includes recordings of artists I have heard live recently, often playing the very same music. Let me start with those.
Koerner Hall, at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, is a superb venue whose acoustic splendor matches its elegance and fine wood finishing. Every seat is well served sonically. The musicians can hear themselves and their colleagues equally well, and that makes it a favorite of artists of all genres. I have spoken to some of them about this, including Taj Mahal and Pinchas Zukerman, while many others have announced their satisfaction from the stage. It is a small venue for a full symphony orchestra, with just 1135 seats.
On February 12, 2026, over 100 musicians of the Budapest Festival Orchestra (BFO) managed to squeeze onto the stage, supported by both the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and the Toronto Children’s Chorus from the first balcony, for a performance of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 under the BFO’s founder and music director, Iván Fischer, with soprano Gerhild Romberger. Mahler had specified an offstage post-horn soloist, a role admirably filled by Bence Horváth. Those present experienced almost two hours of magic: music ranging from the most delicate of solos to massive crescendos, with a multitude of styles along the way. This was among the most overwhelming orchestral experiences of my life.
In evaluating the Astra, I played a recording of the same work, with the same orchestra, conductor, and soloist (24‑bit/192kHz FLAC, Channel Classics / Qobuz). No system could fully live up to that live experience. But I found the Devialet–YG Hailey 2.2 combination glorious and richly colorful, with strong definition from the lowest to the highest notes and from the softest to the loudest passages. I didn’t expect this from an integrated amplifier. The imaging was wonderful, and the dynamic range was huge (as it needs to be), although well short of what I heard in the hall. It held together well at the massive musical climaxes, and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. There was no added warmth, but it was also far from sterile or analytical. In my reviewing career, I have heard only two integrated amps that could approach it: the Burmester 232 and the Soulution 330. Neither has a DAC section of the quality the Astra demonstrated, and the 330 did not offer a streaming option.
Just a week before this concert, in the same hall, I was present at a solo recital by the Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson. For his first encore he played “The Arts and the Hours,” a mesmerizing adaptation by Ólafsson of an interlude from an obscure 18th-century opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau. The richness of color, the simplicity of the arrangement, the weighting of each note, the spacing between the notes, and the sheer beauty of the tune combined to enthrall all present. I found his recording of the piece on the album Debussy – Rameau (24/96 FLAC, Deutsche Grammophon / Qobuz) only a fraction less captivating through the Astra, lacking some fullness in the bass.
Mozart’s Requiem, under the direction of Jordi Savall with Le Concert des Nations (24/88.2 FLAC, Alia Vox / Qobuz), “Mali Cuba” from AfroCubism (16/44.1 FLAC, Nonesuch / Qobuz), “Good Vibrations” from Smile by Brian Wilson (16/44.1 FLAC, Nonesuch / Qobuz), and Shostakovich’s Piano Quintet, op. 57, performed by the Borodin Quartet with pianist Alexei Volodin (16/44.1 FLAC, Decca Music / Qobuz), all served to confirm what I heard with the Mahler, notwithstanding their widely different genres and forces. I experienced a natural, clear, and detailed perspective on the music, where no instrument or voice obscured other lower-level contributions.
“Fables of Faubus,” a favorite of Jason Thorpe’s and mine from the Charlie Mingus album Mingus Ah Um (24/192 FLAC, Columbia / Qobuz), was enjoyable as always, but it lacked a little bite. The Astra didn’t give the sense of scale that I’ve heard elsewhere. I felt the same about the title track from Holly Cole’s album Don’t Smoke in Bed (SACD, Analog Productions CAPP 049).
I was impressed by the total silence when I pressed my ear to a loudspeaker at full volume with the music on pause. This background silence was also in evidence during musical pauses in many of the tracks I played. This helped the Astra reveal low-level musical detail throughout my listening.
Comparisons
For comparison purposes, I played the same tracks, at the same measured sound levels, through my reference components: the EMM Labs DV2i streaming preamplifier (US$35,000) and the Soulution 511 stereo power amp (US$41,975). The original D‑Premier was perhaps a state-of-the-art performer in 2011; it aspired to be as good as it gets. Today’s Astra is a great performer, but the competition has not stood still. It’s so much easier now to find high-resolution digital audio files, while DACs have improved continuously and significantly. Digital volume controls, like the VControl technology in the DV2i DAC, now challenge the very best analog volume controls. Transistor amplifiers have come a long way too; however, high-end prices have gone through the roof. The Astra is priced modestly compared to the best separates, and certainly to the DV2i and 511 I set against it.
Did it hold up in this company? Frankly, no. Even in the Mahler, where the Astra sounded its best, the DV2i-511 combo dug deeper into the music. The dynamic range was enlarged, closer to the live performance. Attack was no faster and detail little greater, but the image was larger, the color of each instrument was more vivid, and the bass in particular was more defined, while percussion had more body. Individually small, these changes combined to allow the DV2i and 511 to present music more vividly. When single instruments were soloing, especially that offstage post horn, it was so easy to hear and locate the individual musicians. When the full orchestra raised its voice, each section still held its tonality and location in the image, seemingly without effort. A win for the reference components, repeated on almost every track. Not surprising, I suppose, given that the combined cost of these reference components is more than three times that of the Astra.
I also connected the DV2i to one of the Astra’s analog inputs and played several of the tracks on my playlist. In no case did I prefer the sound of these tracks when played on the DV2i, and in some cases the Astra’s streaming was preferable. Streamed to the DV2i, “The Arts and the Hours” showed less attack in the bass and lower overall definition, while Mozart’s Requiem simply lost its magic.
It’s important to be clear about this test, because this was not a straight-up comparison of the DV2i’s and Astra’s DAC sections. Recall that the Astra digitizes all analog signals before the preamp stage, converting them back to analog before the power-amp stage. So when I was playing these tracks on the DV2i, I was hearing the combined effects of EMM Labs’ D‑to‑A conversion, the A‑to‑D conversion being performed by the Astra, and the Astra’s digital processing and Magic Wire DAC section. Given the DV2i’s superlative measured and subjective performance, documented in my original review, this raises some concern about how the Astra’s A‑to‑D conversion is affecting analog signals.
My wish list for a future Astra Plus
I am not asking for more power. 150Wpc is plenty for most loudspeakers. If you need more power, you can always add a second Astra. But I would like a rethink on the remote control. I have always preferred a clearly labeled button for each function. I would add a front-panel indication on the amplifier for volume, source, and bitrate for digital inputs. I would also appreciate a headphone output or two. None of these suggestions would change the sound, but they would make the Astra more user-friendly.
But now to the things that could improve the sound. Can we get the ability to input a 24/192 or DoP digital stream on network or USB without it being downsampled to 24/96? And can we have DoP support for the network input?
Devialet has indicated that they selected Texas Instruments’ venerable PCM1792A DAC chip because of the way they can employ it in the Magic Wire architecture. I will not suggest changing the chip to a more recent design, but I would suggest going back to the dual-chip topology used in the Expert Pro series.
Next, please remove the protective covers from the speaker cables, or allow the user to do so easily. Then we might be able to accommodate spade-terminated speaker cables without requiring the Astra to hang off the back of the shelf. While we’re at it, move the power socket down, so fatter audiophile plugs and cables will fit.
If the amp were half an inch or so thicker it would allow more room at the back. That would permit larger-diameter plugs for the power input, easier access to spade-terminated speaker cables, and the option of balanced inputs and headphone outputs without overcrowding. I guess you can be too thin after all.
Is this for you?
If you are trying to build the ultimate system, to get as close as possible to the master recording, the Devialet Astra is probably not for you. The dual-mono version (i.e., two Astras) could get you closer, but Devialet did not have an extra one to spare for this review, so I cannot confirm. Besides doubling the maximum power to 300Wpc into 8 ohms or 600Wpc into 4 ohms, that also changes the amp to fully balanced operation, and the DAC section (with one DAC per channel) offers even lower distortion.
If you are trying to simplify your life, or if you don’t have unlimited funds, then an integrated amp makes a lot of sense, especially one with very fine and flexible integrated streaming. Ten years ago, few manufacturers offered such quality in their integrated amps. Now the situation has changed; manufacturers like Acoustic Research, Simaudio, ModWright, Vitus Audio, CH Precision, Soulution, Gryphon Audio, T+A, Pass Labs, Audionet, Mola Mola, and Burmester are among those with competitive offerings. Some of these offer optional DAC and phono modules, or include these as standard, while others also include streaming options.
The principal advantages of an integrated amp include fewer (expensive) cables, a single remote control (or app), a reduced shelf-space requirement, and better value for money. Any sacrifice in sound quality has diminished significantly with the passing years, as Devialet has proved here. The Astra offers advantages over other integrated amps by including the excellent streaming DAC, SAM, and great control over difficult-to-drive speakers—and by being a fraction of the size of most competitors. Its phono section with RAM is a big plus for vinyl lovers.
Even if you do not care about looks and compactness, but you want this level of functionality and performance from separates or an integrated component, I doubt you can do better for the money. If you want to simplify your life and you value the Astra’s superb looks and slender dimensions, but you still aspire to genuine high-end performance, Devialet’s latest amplifier gets my strongest recommendation. It’s a stone-cold bargain.
. . . Phil Gold
philgold@soundstage.com
Associated Equipment:
- Digital sources: Roon Labs Nucleus One server, EMM Labs XDS1 CD/SACD player
- Streaming preamplifier: EMM Labs DV2i
- Power amplifier: Soulution 511 stereo
- Power cable: Soundstring Tricormaxial
- Interconnect and speaker cables: Nordost Valhalla 2
Devialet Astra streaming integrated amplifier
Price: US$21,000, CA$26,500, £14,000, or €16,000 for standard light-bronze finish; US$27,000, CA$33,000, £18,000, or €20,000 for Opéra de Paris gold-leaf finish
Warranty: Five years, parts and labor
Devialet S.A.
10 Place Vendôme
75001 Paris
France
Phone: +33 1 44 88 27 27
Email: customercare@devialet.com
Website: www.devialet.com
