Devore / Bay Area

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Tone of Music in SF sells them. I have no connection and have never brought anything from him, and wouldn't, just FYI. 

@deadhead1000 care to expand on why you wouldn't buy from Tone of Music?  Curious minds would like to know.

Tone of music -> you come to audition you buy. If not, don't waste my time. 

Well , it appears @eric5kim is the owner of Tone of Music and his response shows why I didn’t buy. I have tried twice to buy equipment from him and both times he was rude and opinionated to the point of insulting. I have spent well over $20,000 in the past two years upgrading my equipment. He had not received a dime of my money. And I always buy local unless it’s impossible. 

@deadhead1000. I was writing my experience with Tim at Tone of Music. I guess I got my point across.

I implore any A'gon gear purchasers to give eric5kim his wish and never buy anything from him. Ever. There are far too many other gear sellers who are nice people deserving your biz (Moon audio recently made that list, along with Pass Labs who I talked to for an hour). As a personal note, I owned a multi million dollar successful small broker/banker business for decades, and talked to people with zero pressure all the time...the referrals allowed me to retire in my early 50s. Let's hope ol' eric5kim works 'till he's 106.

I think you guys misunderstood. @eric5kim is not the bad guy here. He is just trying to alert forum members to his experience with the dealer in question.

Back to my original question - Any Orangutan owners out here in the Bay Area that would let me demo their system for a few minutes? I'm sad this turned into such a different kind of chat.

What's the worst that can happed? Make an appointment and go. Afterwards take a short walk up Castro to the Anchor Oyster Bar for a little nosh.Larger appetite? Make a reservation and a little drive over to 30th at http://www.laciccia.com/to-go-wines.

You can't lose.

+1 m-db. As Fleetwood Mac put it, "ooh, you make shopping fun..."

Agree. If you are a serious buyer which it sounds like you are, make an appointment. You'll get access to his knowledge of Devore speakers, which is unmatched in the area. Get the mussels at the oyster bar. Outstanding!

I've bought from Tim at Tone of Music several times and would gladly do so again. 

@avgonzalez77 

What is your low powered tube amp? The reason I ask is I have a pair of OBaby's (no I dont live in the bay area, sorry), own/have owned O93's and O96's. While the traits are similar up and down the line, the OBaby's are 90db/8ohm speakers and the O93/O96 are 10 ohm with their efficiency number embedded in the model name.

Please do not think the OBaby is just a smaller O96...the Obaby is a darn nice speaker but I wouldn't consider a "low powered tube amp" and the OBaby's. I run my pair in my office with a 15wpc tube integrated for background music while I work. They benefit from some power and my office system would never cut it as my main system if that makes any sense.

@ghasley thanks for your thoughts. I have a Leben 300xs, so also 15 watts in a 18x14 ft room. From what I’ve heard from dealers, it should be a fine pairing with the o/baby’s, but you think otherwise?

John Devore will also weigh in on amp pairings. Just email him.

@ghasley I also have my Leben currently powering a pair of Harbeth m30.1’s. 86db at 6ohms, which I have a feeling isn’t the perfect match. 

@voodoochillin I actually did write to Devore and this was his response: “The 15 Watt Leben should be a great match with the O/babys, they are quite an easy load for an amp. The sensitivity rating is 90dB/W/m, so if you like to listen really loud, or have a large listening room it’s possible you’d run out of power, but in most normal situations I think it would be an excellent match.“

When I got that reply I decided I may want to reserve a pair since they are quite back ordered. I demoed a pair of Zu Soul VI with The Leben which was a nice match, really full and slammin. But they’re both in my price range and I’ve read so many good things about Devore speakers I started wondering if I prefer their sound which I expect is quite different..

@eric5kim - ahh, sorry about that, you were right on target though, that’s exactly how Tone of Music treats people. You can barely even walk in the door before he says something just like that. He also said he’d charge me $100 an hour for his expertise if I didn’t buy since selling audio is like having the expertise of a medical doctor. I am serious. He said it right to my face. 

Any Docs out there care to disagree with him? 

@larsman - I really tried to buy from him. As I said I like to shop locally and I do. I’m glad it worked out for you. 
 

@m-db Great suggestions! You buying? 😁

I can think of another bay area dealer that told me "We carefully source our gear from the best in the industry. If we don't stock it then you're not buying quality gear". We need better dealers here in the Bay, I haven't been to one that I've appreciated. 

@j-wall -> Sounds like Music lovers in Berkeley. Lol 

deadhead1000, was that you who bought me a glass of wine at Phil And Friends at Frost this month? 

@eric5kim was I too on the nose? Lol.

I've heard Leben and Devore quite few times at Whetstone in Austin and it has wonderful synergy!

Would anyone be interested in an informal Bay Area HiFi chat group? If yes, please message me and I'll add you.