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 - 165W against 185W into 8 ohms is under 1dB, which is not an audible difference in loudness. |
| Speaker load rating | A | Devialet Expert 220 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 220 Pro is the quieter design on paper - 130dB against 105dB. Audible mainly with sensitive speakers in a quiet room. |
| Built-in DAC | A | Devialet Expert 220 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 220 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-i190 offers 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-i190 has a headphone output. Worth something if you listen late, nothing if you never do. |
| Amplifier type | depends | Devialet Expert 220 Pro is Solid State and Advance Paris NOVA A-i190 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. |
| Shelf space | depends | Devialet Expert 220 Pro takes up about 30% less shelf area (1521cm² against 2165cm²), and it is 106mm shallower, which is the measurement that decides whether a rack door shuts. |
| Price | B | Advance Paris NOVA A-i190 costs less - $7,999 against $10,000 at list. |
| Watts per dollar | B | Advance Paris NOVA A-i190 is the cheaper watt - about $43 per watt against $61. A blunt measure, and it says nothing about how either sounds, but it is the honest one for raw output. |
A Devialet Expert 220 Pro B Advance Paris NOVA A-i190
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?
The usual trade-off: Devialet Expert 220 Pro measures better, Advance Paris NOVA A-i190 costs about 20% less. With most speakers in most rooms that gap is smaller in practice than it looks here. 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-i190 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.