Heya Frantz,
I have been lucky to own one of the first production (since May) D-Premier integrateds and yeah IMO it is a bit special.
By default it is actually 190w into 8ohms for the production units, with the option to enable 240w with the software (it is meant to be available soon for us), enabling 240w switches on some dynamic thermal solution, but honestly I am happy to leave it at 190w (I do have experience with high powered amps and this is one of the few that comes close to matching them in terms of dynamics when sounds such as synth violins/strings).
What is very surprising is that it sounds far more powerful than 190w, probably due to its ability to really double watts into 4 and nearly into 2 and 1, and where a lot of amps need to be turned up to bring a difficult speaker to life these can do it with ease.
Its benefits is that unlike normal AB and especially digital is that it is not lean and cool, and also without the subtly overly lushness some Class A and tubes can present, while the digital aspect seems as good as the best.
So those who are fans of tubes I think could appreciate the Devialet but find it is not necessarily for them, for everyone else I am pretty confident they would not find anything to fault.
It may seem a huge statement but what Alan says is so true and I know that those auditioning do tend to purchase it, even to replace much more expensive equipment.
His last comment says it all;
There are many who have found their musical happy place within the digital domain and the better that domain sounds, the happier they get.
The D-Premier will leave them ecstactic.
In fact, for those people the search is now over. This is as good as it gets.
It really is the real deal
I do not currently use mine with hires music and Alan's review with standard CDs pretty much matches my own experience.
The downside, well those with a lot of vinyl I am really not sure if this product is the answer for them, and also it is a freaking nightmare to keep clean lol.
Will be interesting to see when it makes another appearance at a North American show, but for now they are selling fast from what my dealer says in Europe.
Cheers
Orb