Devialet Astra

The Devialet Astra is a high-end integrated amplifier from the French company best known for its Phantom speakers and for its unusual amplifier engineering.

Devialet’s ADH technology combines a Class A stage with Class D amplification in the same signal path, aiming for the sound of the first and the efficiency and power of the second. The Astra is the current expression of that idea, with streaming, conversion and amplification in one machined case.

What Apple Home actually does with it

This is an AirPlay 2 device rather than a HomeKit accessory.

• It appears in the Home app as a speaker you can play to, and as an AirPlay target in Control Centre.
• You can put it in a room and group it with HomePods for synchronised multi-room audio.
• Siri can send music to it by room name.
• It can be the audio output in a scene or an automation.

Power, input selection and volume stay with the unit, its remote and its own app. The Home app does not control those.

Before you buy

Devialet products are as much industrial design as audio equipment, and they are priced accordingly. That is not a criticism: for a room where the equipment has to look like it belongs, few rivals compete.

The company’s SAM technology tailors the amplifier’s behaviour to specific loudspeaker models from a profile library. Check that your speakers are supported if that is part of the appeal.

Specifications