DeVore O/93 or PureAudioProject Duet15 for a First Watt SIT-3?

I would be happy to list my system but am not spending hours trying to figure this out on Agon.

Hi Jim. It is apparent from your Agon marketplace feedback that you started out selling only tubes through Feb of 2012 and then disappeared for four years before selling audio gear other than tubes (mostly Analysis Plus cables) in March of 2016 and since 2020 you have been selling the limited lines you carry. But you don't need me to tell you this. 

You do carry Atohm loudspeakers and they are narrow baffle and I bet they have first order crossover networks. I just (I swear!) looked them up and yep, Atohm touts their use of first order crossovers. So you did recommend a rather small segment of loudspeaker design philosophy that you happen to carry. Why cite to friends of yours and audio group get-togethers when you could have just said, "I am an audio dealer and here is my opinion...."?

I also find it contradictory that you criticize Harbeth and Devore for being "colored" when Rega turntables, which you carry and sell, have a rather unique sound of their own and can not be called "neutral" as conventionally understood. Those of us into vinyl know that Rega's generally run 1% fast by design and have a lively, speedy, quick sound to them that is a bit lean and midrange and bass shy. 

And last, your recent comment that Harbeth and Devore feature cheap components and construction is laughable. In the case of Devore, SEAS drivers are hardly cheap. Devores are also bespoke and built in Brooklyn, rather than being mass produced as so many modern loudspeakers are. The same applies to Harbeth. I don't own Harbeth and don't own O/96's so to say that the crux of the problem is my ownership is inherently false, at least in part. The crux of my problem with your comments is that I have heard wide front baffle loudspeakers from the likes of Audio Note, Volti, and Devore provide incredibly pleasing (the most pleasing) sound in difficult show conditions. 

@ulul 

Each speaker (PAP / O/93) needs space around them and are about equal in placement difficulty.  

The PAPs like ~ 4 feet from the wall to front baffle- not that you have to but so that you can hear the spaciousness of the sound stage projected from the rear of the open baffle, which sounds excellent. 

The DeVores need space because they (IMHO) have lots of cabinet resonance warmth that can become overwhelming if located too close to any surface.    

@fsonicsmith 

I have had the Spendor D7.2 for almost three years and the D7 before the.  They are simply not a boring speaker- at all.  They resolutely track lightening fast transient rhythms literally better and with more refinement than horn speakers.  

I suspect you did not allow them the long break in hours they need to open up (200 plus hours) or may have supporting system issues. 

The review of the D7 in Stererophile is accurate.   

@avanti1960 

I appreciate your comment. Mine likely have 50-75 hours. I thought they sounded best with the OEM cheap standard-issue spikes rather than with the Gaia footers I later tried and kept installed but I have beautiful/expensive walnut hardwood floors. The Gaia's allow me to move the Spendors into position so much easier and without worry for the flooring.

I don't think another two hundred hours is going to be transformative. I feel I have a pretty good grasp of their overall sound signature. They resemble a freshly ironed crisp white dress shirt to use a wardrobe metaphor. They lack corporal presence. I like to use the old chestnut The Arc Choir on Mapleshade to test for this quality. A loudspeaker that can recreate the church choir in real space with a sense of real, life sized diorama spread across the room is no easy feat. The D7.2's fail miserably. At least in my room with my gear (listed and shown in my profile) they don't hold a candle to the Devores. 

Brian Walsh (TTsetup.com) has been over five times and has heard both sets of speakers in my  listening room. He once made the unsolicited comment that the Spendors' sound is inferior (far inferior) to the Devores. So for whatever that is worth, I am not alone on this issue. How can one define for others what is boring and what is not? Rhetorical question. 

They resolutely track lightening fast transient rhythms literally better and with more refinement than horn speakers.  

OK. Now I have to take issue. "Literally"? I think you must mean "absolutely". Regardless of how you mean to use the word "literally" combined with "resolutely track", there is no way on God's Green Earth that I will accept that the Spendor D7.2's reproduce transients the way a Volti Rival will. You have added "refinement" into the mix. Some reviewers use "refinement" to mean inner detail and others use that word to mean "sophistication" and others use it to mean overall cohesiveness so I will not respond as to that.