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Devore Fidelity Orangutan O/96

My neighbor had to move some heavy furniture from one room to another so he asked me for help earlier today. Although, we've been neighbors for almost two years I had never been inside his house up until this afternoon. As I walked through the foyer and into his family room, I saw the speakers hooked up to some McIntosh separates. I have to admit that these were one of the most beautiful speakers I had ever seen. He offered to play some music and of course I was not going to say no. They sounded quite decent, although the sound was not as hefty or lush as I was expecting. Don't know if it was his equipment or room (wood floor, no rug, lots of windows), or maybe the Devore's are not quite going after those big, lush, and slightly warmer sound characteristics.

I'm actually saving up money to buy Harbeth SHL5+, or used 40.1, sometime next year. But boy did the Devore Orangutans caught my attention. And yes I know I shouldn't be basing my decision on looks alone, but if they're comparable to Harbeth in terms of sound quality, I'm definitely interested in exploring.

Just wondering if someone has had a chance to compare them directly to the Harbeth speakers I'm considering. Anyone moved from Harbeth to Devore O/6 or vice versa? This will be a system that I'll be building from scratch so I do have the luxury of building the system around my speakers -- total budget is around $15000. I usually buy used equipment whenever I can.

Please note that I'm not soliciting advice for other speakers at this time. Mostly interested in hearing about real world comparisons between the Devore Fidelity Orangutans and Harbeth SHL5+ or 40.1/2.
128x128arafiq

Showing 3 responses by nquery

nquery
104 posts
 
Recently auditioned a pair of O/93’s in my house alongside my Line Magnetic 805ia 48W SET amp. (Previously using Spendor A7’s). An intoxicating wall of richly textured sound would be my summary. But they were on the long wall with limited space behind them and side walls far away. Soundstage was wide but flat and imaging was meh. Bass flabby unless negative feedback cranked up on the amp, which had other undesirable consequence. As @mrmanisundaram said, I think placement and amp pairing is critical. Lots of space behind them and maybe a class A SS amp. So with my space and amp they didn’t work. Also, the stubby wood feet are a real PITA for leveling on old sloping hardwood floors!

Ended up stumbling upon a pair of mint Spendor D7.2’s for half the price of new O/93’s. They don’t have the rich tonality and texture of the O/93’s - indeed they are known to be *too* neutral - but the bass is deeper/articulate/punchy, they image exceedingly well, and aren’t as forward. Much much easier to place. The LM 805ia SET complements the D7.2’s very well and along with a little bit of PEQ (which I use for the room regardless) brings out the mid bass that is required.

That said, I know that O/96’s are often paired with low wattage SET amps and seem to have better imaging and bass control than the O/93’s, so I am looking forward to hearing them sometime soon.

So yeah, it’s all about complementing your space and electronics ...
nquery
104 posts
 
@prof @fsonicsmith 

Thanks for verifying what I heard re O/93 soundstage depth - I guess it was more than just my placement. Guess I am realizing that soundstage and imaging are pretty important for me. Because the O/93's otherwise sounded great.
nquery
104 posts
 
Yes, I think if someone gets a bigger soundstage and/or better imaging after adding a new DAC, its often more about the DAC than the speaker. Particularly with easy to pair speakers like the O’s.

I have a Lampizator DAC and Line Magnetic SET amp that in their own right are very good at these aspects, and in *my* space the O’s didn’t soundstage/image as well *relative* to some other speakers. It just seem like this is not one of their inherent strengths - which is not to say that they can’t pass through strengths/weaknesses in the electronics (as @fsonicsmith heard!).

It’s a bit of an additive process in my mind. DAC A adds 3 points of soundstage vs DAC B, Amp A adds another 2 points, and the speakers add another X points. I don’t think that the O’s contribute a lot given their inherent design though placement seems to help. I think that it’s maybe easier to pair the O’s with amps than it is to pair them with the room. Not that they aren’t otherwise amazing speakers!
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