Devore Fidelity Orangutan O/96

Dr. Floyd Toole has also argued that, while room effects are an important part of the equation, especially from a certain frequency downward (I'm forgetting the exact numbers),  the influence of the room has been overblown by many people.   He has pointed out that our hearing/braiin evolved to identify similarities in sound despite different acoustic situations, so our brain sort of "filters out" enough of the acoustics (which is why you can identify someone's familiar voice in a wide variety of acoustic scenarios).

So, basically, if you get the on axis and off axis pretty even and smooth, that will dominate in our perception vs the room. 

FWIW...I heard the Devore O series speakers on about 4 different amps.2 that I can remember are the Leben  (CS300 I believe) commonly paired with the O series.   And Nagra (classic integrated...I think).  I believe one of the other tube amps was a WAVAC.

mquery,

I was never able to get a lot of depth from the soundstage of the O/93 in auditions (even though they were well away from the back wall).  The "wall of sound" seems to be a fairly consistent take on that speaker (though I did find that the imaging was quite good - specific enough to satisfy me).

I've heard the O/96s do nice depth, they they too tend to draw things closer to the listener vs many other more sound-stagey speakers.

I owned the Harbeth Super HL5+ speakers and I had a number of serious auditions of the Devore O speakers to decide if I would buy them.


I absolutely loved the Devore O/96 speakers!   I also love Harbeth speakers because both give more richness and body and organic tone to music than most other brands I've listened to.


The difference to my ear is that the Devore O speakers are sort of like Harbeth on steroids, or Harbeths on "speed."   They are more lively, up front and dynamic sounding, and to my ear even somewhat more rich and full. 



I've rarely heard a drum set sound so real as I did through the Devore O/96.


One way they are different is in the bass, though.  The Super HL5+ is very even and linear sounding from top to bottom, which is wonderful.The Devore O/96 bass performance is more of a "like it or you tire of it" kind of thing.   It's bigger, bolder, rounder, roll-across-the-floor-and-feel-it bass, where the bass of the Harbeth sits back evenly behind the speakers with all the other frequencies.   The result is, for me, that Devores have more impact, and I feel the rhythms of the bass and drummer more than the Harbeth.   They party a bit more, and feel a bit more exciting, and of course they go obviously lower in the bass than the Harbeth's as well.


Set up I think is more tricky for the Devore.   They need good room to breath, especially from the back wall, so they don't overwhelm a room with their bass.  And even at it's best, there are times when the Devore's bass can feel a bit overdone.  But for most material: wow!


Both Harbeth and Defore have a clear, open, organic "wood sounds like wood" tone,  yet both remain relaxed and unfatiguing, so they share that quality.


You say the Devores didn't sound as hefty or lush as you were expecting.   I'm not sure what you were expecting, but yes their squat look suggests a beefy old-school sound, and they are actually more linear and controlled than you'd expect, so I can see what you mean on one hand.   On the other, if they actually didn't sound rich and substantial, something was wrong, because one of the O/96's defining tonal characteristics is a richer sound with bigger image sizes and more body than the average speaker.  That's what attracted me to them in the first place, and was consistent when I heard them in different rooms.


I ended up buying Joseph Audio Perspective speakers because they are great too, and fit my room situation better.  



If you want to go down a rabbit hole, I did a long thread on my auditions of the Devore speakers among many others, here:



https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/contemplating-devore-speakers-and-others-long-audition-report...

My one regret was never getting to hear the O/96 in my own home (whereas I did get a home audition of the Joseph speakers).  The O/96 were a wild card for me as to whether their bass would overwhelm (probably not - no other speaker has) but more important if I could get enough listener distance from them.  They really need at least 8 feet away from the listener to come together, which was tough in my room.

From my written notes on that day - O’96s throw a wide soundstage, very dynamic. You can feel the instruments, the drums, the bass thumping. These speakers put out a ton of energy but unfortunately this wall of sound is VERY fatiguing and very forward in your face without finesse. Also imaging is a bit vague and smeared.

I can understand your feelings about the O/96s there. They do that wall of sound thing. I spent long hours auditioning them and never got fatigued. But there were always moments when the bass was too much, or I wondered if I’d tire over time of their presentation.


Then again, there were times auditioning the Joseph Speakers that their bass got too much as well (to rich, plummy). But I have a very good room, and pull the speakers well out from the back wall, and I never really get too-thick bass. The Josephs ended up very well behaved in my room, so I’d bet the O/96s would have done ok too.


I just widened my Joseph Perspectives again today, pretty far apart, with about a 7 foot listening difference and it’s just a mammoth, deep, wall-melting soundstage and imaging show! That is one thing I could miss if I ended up with a speaker that didn’t do that as well. And it’s not just a wispy sound. The Joseph bass quality has that roll-along-the-floor feel it quality that is engaging and doesn’t let the music just sit behind the speakers like you are viewing musicians in a different room (my main gripe with the Quad ESL 63s I owned, and most other stats).


In fact, it’s one of the reasons I let my Harbeth SuperHL5+ go (before buying the Josephs). Unlike any other speaker I owned, I was getting a bit too foreshortened soundstage out of them, even though I could get them well out from the back wall. My Thiel speakers at the time did most of what I heard in the Harbeths, but with much greater precision and imaging/soundstaging.


That said, the Harbeth 40s are on my list of speakers I’d love to try.I’ve heard them do simply astonishing things in the showroom. And they work at close distances to the listener too. Their size and aesthetics wouldn’t suit my room, unfortunately.


But I also love the tone of the O/96s. As I wrote in my own thread, I adore the tone of my little Spendor S3/5s and the O/96s sounded to me like my Spendors but on a massive, exciting scale!

Sorry, didn't mean to divert you from Harbeth/Devores :-)


Yes the Joseph Audio Perspectives that I own are around the price of the O/96.   Though you can also get the stand mounted Pulsar which go essentially as low as the SuperHL5+, and the Pulsars are less money.



Note that the Harbeth and Devore have that certain "old school" sound (even if updated), that rich tone top to bottom.   The Joseph speakers are a more "modern" sounding speaker.  Super clean and clear, precise imaging, all that stuff.  However, they are not clinical but have a relaxed sound, with enough richness especially from the lower mids down, to make them very musically satisfying as well as super resolving. 



But, again, the fact you like one school of speakers doesn't mean you'd necessarily like the other.  (That said, it is very rare to find anyone who is not impressed with the Joseph speakers - where opinions on the Devores, and to some degree the Harbeths, are a bit more divided).


Another thing to note about the Devores:  they have a mild wave-guide for the tweeter (to help match them to the big woofer) which means the high frequencies are more directional than either the Harbeth or Joseph speakers.   So, a smaller sweet spot.  (Joseph speakers in particular have wide, even off axis performance and sound great from almost any angle).


But if you are using the Devores from enough distance, or the other listeners aren't super picky,  the smaller sweet spot likely wouldn't be an issue.

atmasphere,

Yes and no...IMO.

I find that speakers have a character that generally carries through associated equipment, at least so long as there isn't some ridiculous miss-matched pairing (e.g. a flea watt amp hooked up to MBLs trying to play loud).

I auditioned the Devore speakers in different rooms, on different types of amplification - 2 different tube amps, and two solid state.   They retained the general character I've described.

Likewise with Harbeth speakers.  I've heard them on all sorts of different associated equipment, in various rooms, and the types of features I've described and which tend to define their house sound remained.

As an amp manufacturer...I'm sure you have a different take :-)

arafiq

That's great that you got an audition of the O96.  They aren't easy to find for auditioning.

That's why asking other opinions only goes so far.

I did note a liveliness/forwardness in the O sound (as mentioned in my own thread) but didn't personally find it fatiguing at all.  In fact that's one of the things that attracted me, that they sounded so open and lively but in a warm-toned way that didn't bite my ears.   Wall of brass sounds that could make my scrunch down a bit in my seat on other speakers (I'm looking at you, Focal!) were easy to listen to on the Os.
Sonus Faber used to have a rep of having a somewhat dark, rich sound.But they've changed over the years toward more neutral, it seems.  Their latest are getting great notices and I'd like to hear them.
The last SF I auditioned was a pretty expensive model, around 4 years ago, and it was one of the worst speaker auditions I've had - just lean and blanched of any compelling tone.   But, as I say, the new ones get lots of good notices and clearly you report they sound good.

Wow, fasonicsmith, now you have it all!  :-)

As to amps and the Devore speakers:

John Devore said his goal in designing speakers was to make them as amplifier agnostic as possible.  Which is why he keeps the impedance an easy load.  He saw this as a competitive advantage in a marketplace where many speakers present difficult loads and might not show their best unless you used just the right amp.   He wanted his speakers to shine with everything from lower powered tubes, to solid state.

This was especially true of the O series.

So the idea that you need just the right amp to make the Devore speaker shine doesn't make too much sense from the very way they are designed.  And anecdotally, as I mentioned, I've heard the O series on a variety of amp topologies and they sounded excellent and similar on each.

I'm sure you can change the flavor to taste re SS vs tubes, but you shouldn't need any heroic search for "just the right amp pairing" to make them sound good.

aj523
Thanks for the info! 

I admit I still think about the Devores and have wondered what an update might sound like.  But if it's using trickle-down from the reference series I'd won't be surprised at a significant price increase.  (Which would put them out of my price range).   We'll see.