DEVIALET PHANTOM REACTOR 900
Ooh la-la! This French speaker both looks and sounds out of this world
Many will be captivated by the sheer, visceral thrill of its sonic assault
If the Linn looks like an exotic air purifier and the Mu-so a soundbar on steroids, this wireless speaker is almost impossible to describe without reference to sci-fi movies. It’s reminiscent of something from David Lynch’s Dune, or the drones in the Tom Cruise film Oblivion. What, you haven’t seen Oblivion? Well, take our word for it.
Those two disks on either side of the Reactor 900 are actually woofers that throb and pulsate quite violently when Devialet’s speaker starts getting down to business. The tweeter is on the front beneath that ornate grille.
This unique arrangement, coupled with 900(!) watts of amplification, means that the Phantom can put out a quite astounding wall of sound for something so small. You also get a surprising feeling of space to the music considering the relatively tiny footprint of the thing, and that’s true almost regardless of where you stand in relation to it.
Granted, the result also sounds objectively not quite as incredible as the other two speakers on test, but many listeners will be captivated by the sheer, visceral thrill of the Phantom Reactor’s sonic assault, and rightly so. It’s also the easiest of the three to set up, thanks to its small size and simplified approach to connectivity. There’s only AirPlay – nb: not AirPlay 2 at present, which means no Apple multi-room – Spotify Connect, Bluetooth and a 3.5mm line in, and the app does very little beyond toggling between them.
While none of the speakers here is any kind of chore to position or use, this is the one that will suit the most spaces, both because it’s so small and because of its ability to muster up enjoyable listening for almost any angle.
Your placement options range from positioning two on stands paired together, just like a traditional hi-fi system, to placing one (or more) on any spare bit of sideboard, shelf or table – more like your typical Bluetooth speaker.
Because of its blitzkrieg approach to music playback, we’d suggest that the Phantom, while certainly not totally unsubtle, is slightly less suited to acoustic reveries and a capella singing. Lovers of rock, dance, hip-hop – and futuristic design statements, especially in menacing matt black – should definitely consider auditioning this sonic orb, however.