Can anyone give comparisons of the Coincident Eclipse Line of speakers vs Devore super 8's or 9's. I have Coincident PE II's, no Devore dealers in sight and I am curious. Thanks Mike
Two big thumbs up for my Super Eclipse III's - outstanding in every respect and one of the few conventional, dynamic driver speakers that could compete with the sound of horns for me (fast as all get-out). I've used them with 9 watt SET amps and now with a 150w SS amp and they excelled in both applications, though the SET recommendation would be limited to relatively nearfield listening. I've only heard Devore 9's at CES - they sounded great there. Obviously I cannot compare since they weren't in the same system and the same room, but they certainly sounded like fine speakers as well.
I own a pair of Coincidents, and am familiar with many of the other models. In addition to that, I have a local DeVore dealer, and have spent a fair amount of time listening to them.
For one, the Coincidents are far easier to drive. No question about it. The DeVores may look good on paper in that regard, but I've seen a lot of tube amplifiers just never bring them to life, so if you are interested in pairing the speakers with a moderately powered tube amplifier, that might be a bit of a consideration. Other than that, the DeVores are a bit richer and fuller, while still offering a commendable amount of detail, clarity, and information. The knock on the Coincidents is that they can be a bit too forward in the wrong system.
For what it's worth, my own opinion is that if I were interested in low - moderately powered transformer coupled tube amplification, I'd go with the Coincidents. If I were interested in a tube amplifier with some power than I'd encourage you to find a pair of DeVores to audition, as things are going to come down to personal preference. For a solid state amplifier, a system that is already a bit on the hot side, or a small room, then I would probably give the more serious consideration to DeVore.
I will soon be listening to the Devores, likely the Nines because this dealer did not have the Silverbacks." The Devores may look good paper in that regard, but I've seen alot of tube amplifiers just never bring them to life." Just curious. What would be your guess for tube power that would get the most out of the Super 8's, Nines... This is obviously based alot on opinions, and personal preferences, as well as room size. I would tend to believe that dealers may exaggerate their opinions on this subject in general for many of their speaker lines. That said, the Devores are often paired with 40-80 watt range tube amps. Sometimes even lower powered ones from what I understand.
Sorry it has taken so long for me to respond back. If Devore's are hard to drive why then do they match them with low powered amps like Leben and Shindo, that only put out about 10-12 watts. Reading your comments, I would not think that would work well at all. I have a Cary sli80, but have always wanted a SET amp, so I would not want to make a mistake and buy speakers that would not work well. As you pointed out the Coincident are very versital when it comes to amplification. My room is 14x18 with a cathedral ceiling, so its not that big. The "Lush" you speak of in regards to the Devore's, is something I like. I do like my Coincident speakers, but I like the driver arrangement on the Devore's. I had the Coincident a SEIII's and sold them (bad move), but have always like the De'oppolitto arrangement that they had, but not the amount of drivers in those speakers, too many! Your thoughts are always appreciated. Thanks Mike
I auditioned the DeVores with Shindo Corton-Charlemagne (25 watts) and they were a wonderful combination. I would agree that the DeVore sound is just slightly to the polite side of neutral while the Coincident house sound is just slightly forward of neutral. Both are excellent speakers.
Mike, that was just my opinion. With a pair of 16 wpc 211 based monoblocks and push-pull integrateds using EL34 (35 wpc Class A/B), KT88 (30 wpc pure Class A), and 2A3 (12 wpc pure Class A) output tubes, we could never get them to come alive for me in the way some of the other amplifiers in the shop did.
For what it's worth, the salesperson felt the same as I did about those combinations, but also that the best combination he had with the DeVores were a pair of DeHavilland 845 monoblocks. So, there is likely some validity to that theory. Unfortunately, I never got to hear them together.
The ultimate arbiter is how YOU find the combination.
I heard the Devore nines with Shindo Monbrison pre and Montrachet Amp and the sound was very transparent and true, virtualy no color in the sound but the bass was just a tad on the light side for my taste and so netrual as to be a bit uninvolving. (at least for me)
15 mins later went to another hi fi store and heard the Pathos Twin Towers with the Devore Nines and WOW! what a beautiful sound! Very transparent and a real kick in the bass. The Pathos TT is probably not as transparent an amplifier as the Shindo gear, but for my tastes the Pathos won out. Also the Pathos is around $7000 less than the shindo combo. Bear in mind that I listen to mostly classical and Jazz.
That is honestly just the opposite of the sound of the Montrachet and Monbrison. The Montrachet is the most full bodied and rich of all the Shindo amps and all of them are very colorful. Must have been something in the set up. Sorry you had an off demo and got the wrong impression. Hopefully you can get another chance to hear them set up properly.
Jetrexpro, Just curious. I am also considering Nines BTW, but what was the source or sources. There is a big difference between a VDH Colibri, and a Koetsu. If it was CD, between Audio Aero and Esoteric. Jonathan commented "The Montrachet is the most full bodied and rich of all the Shhindo amps." Jonathan, would this also be true of the Corton that also uses El-34's, or is the Montrachet simply the most full bodied IYO. Thanks in advance.
Wing Wong , forward. Moon mon, recessed. Thanks for the interpretation. I am sure others can help you out on this one. When I heard the Nines, I was really impressed with them. However, I would like to hear them with my amp before making any judgement. I found their tonality to accurate without being in your face. My guess would be with associated gear that is your cup of tea, these would bring out the best of those other components.
I've owned the super 8 and have listened to the nines on many occasions. You really have to spend some time deciding what it is about a speaker that draws you in to it. How does the Coincident paint the picture of the band? What is it that you like about it and why do you own it?
I reviewed my notes and It was not the shindo Monbrison pre, it was the Massetto Pre /Montrachet amp combo. The Cd Player was47 labs flatfish CD transport. I would encourage anyone in the NYC area to hear the Pathos TT/Devore Nines combo at Sound by Singer and then walk down to In Living Stereo to hear shindo gear with the devore nines. Very eductional. I Bought the Pathos after my wife who is a a hard working orchestral conductor in NYC exclaimed this was the sound that most closely came to the sound of the real thing for her. Frankly I wanted and expected to like the shindo gear more but this was not the case.
almost forgot this: Before deciding on the Pathos TT, I listened to the Leben cs600 With Devore nines and felt it was not up with either the Shindo combo or Pathos TT. The source was was 47 labs flatfish CD transport. Was glad to hear another intergrated to make a more pertinant comparison. I may not be the most balanced listener, so please take these comments with a grain or two of salt.
It is very possible that my review (Posted above) of the Shindo Massetto/Mantrachet is inaccurate. Although this is honestly how the Shindo gear sounded at the time as compared to the Pathos TT, overwhelming evidence in the form of reviews etc, would suggest that the Shindo gear was at some kind of disadvantage caused by some kind of external circumstance or circumstances when I heard it.
I look forward to comparing the Pathos TT and Shindo gear when both systems can be heard on equal footing.
I heard the Devores w. Shindo gear on In Living Stereo as well. I left highly unimpressed. I preferred the Verity speakers but not by much. Not sure which amp but 90% of me remembers it being the Cortese. It was paired with a few different Shindo preamps during the demo. Yes the same Flatfish and some vinyl of some sort. For me nothing was controlled and I found the sound on the bright side. I have heard the Devorses in shows years ago sound wonderful but I don't remember the setup. I wouldn't judge Shindo or Devore speakers from this. Just the pairing that is all. Unfortunately some people push this as a good match, but I just don't get it. This would break my trust in a dealer.
Dgad, the Devore-Shindo combination is not something that I think would be very impressive in a short listening session. They take a while to appreciate their strengths which lie more in the accurate reproduction of acoustical instruments than bass extension or top end detail IMO
I have heard the Devore with Leben and Shindo amps and also heard the Devores in my Shindo system. I really enjoyed the evenhanded and uncolored presentation of the Devores. They completely managed to disappear - sonically and spatially - and just let the music through. Their presentation does not draw attention to itself at all, which makes it very easy to disregard them in a short listening session.
The Devores do require very careful positioning - in my friends room they really did not work well as placement was restricted and the room has a severe bass roll-off. Combined with the articulate lean bass of the Devore a bad room can be a very disappointing combination. The Devore's really do not have a "PA" style bass at all, but they do capture drums and bass very nicely and naturally. IN the wrong room they could be lean and bright; in the right room the Shindo/Devore combination can be excellent.
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