A valve amplifier against a solid-state one. They are not really rivals: they differ in character, in what they will drive and in what owning them involves, so start there rather than with the watts.
| Area | Better | Why |
|---|
| Power | evenly matched | Effectively the same output - 105W against 125W into 8 ohms is under 1dB, which is not an audible difference in loudness. |
| Speaker load rating | A | Devialet Expert 140 Pro is rated down to 2 ohms against 4, so it is the safer partner for a low-impedance speaker. |
| Noise floor | A | Devialet Expert 140 Pro is the quieter design on paper - 130dB against 112dB. Audible mainly with sensitive speakers in a quiet room. |
| Built-in DAC | A | Devialet Expert 140 Pro has a DAC on board; the other needs an external one, which is another box, another power lead and another purchase. |
| Streaming | evenly matched | Only Devialet Expert 140 Pro has Roon. Neither list is longer in a way that matters - check the one service you actually pay for. |
| Room to grow | B | Only Advance Paris NOVA A-i130 offers preamp outputs and a pre-out/main-in loop - which decides whether you can add a subwoofer or a power amplifier later without replacing the box. |
| Headphones | depends | Only Advance Paris NOVA A-i130 has a headphone output. Worth something if you listen late, nothing if you never do. |
| Amplifier type | depends | Devialet Expert 140 Pro is Solid State and Advance Paris NOVA A-i130 is Hybrid. Valve designs are usually warmer and softer at the limits and need their tubes replaced eventually; solid state is the lower-maintenance choice. This is a taste and ownership decision, not a quality one. |
| Price | evenly matched | Priced within a few per cent of each other. |
A Devialet Expert 140 Pro B Advance Paris NOVA A-i130
depends neither is better in the abstract - it turns on your room, your system or how you will use them. Only specs published for both amplifiers are judged; anything missing on either side is left out rather than guessed.
Which should you choose?
Devialet Expert 140 Pro has the edge on paper, though not by much. The rows marked "depends" are more likely to decide this than the score is. If you already own a DAC or a streamer, the built-in one is money you are paying twice for, and Advance Paris NOVA A-i130 becomes the more rational buy.
What a spec sheet cannot show: how either sounds with your speakers, how the controls feel day to day, and what the app is like to live with - which is where most all-in-one amplifiers are actually won or lost. Power figures are the manufacturers' own and are not measured to a common standard, so treat small differences as noise. If you can hear both, that will tell you more than any row above.