Just picked up a used pair of Devore O/96 and am awaiting delivery. Still have a pair of McIntosh MC501s (500W) and a pair of Quicksilver V4s (170W) that I used with my previous speakers.
Before I sell the amplifiers for something with less power, I plan to at least try them with the O/96s.
What can I expect to hear? What issues might I encounter?
I have powered my Devore O/93's with an ARC Ref 150 SE and it sounds better than with my ARC Ref 80S. They simply come alive to a greater degree with the higher power. High powered amps with high efficiency speakers are fine so long as hum is not a problem. Having a well matched amp and preamp certainly helps so the you don't have too much gain.
Through experience have found more powerful amps can really bring efficient speakers alive, especially ones like the Devore’s. What you will have to pay more attention to is the gain across everything in your set up. If you use XLR’s natural has a higher gain. Higher powered SS amps can be more sensitive to gain and if fed higher gain can really highlight the hum and or any type of noise finding its way into your system. That said, attenuation can solve the issue. They sell high quality attenuators that you can place between your pre and amp that would solve any issues if you can’t solve them using the gain settings on your pre or on other devices in the chain. I found the attenuators to be more effective than gain adjustment for some reason. My speakers are efficient but definitely sound better with more powerful amps.
Low power Jazz and small scale, keep the power for large scale. I had the O/93 with a little Leben and a bigger Coda. I liked things about both.
The low power tubes will just sound incredible through the speaker. You will hear the magic of the amp. The power will grip the speaker and fill the room with a different sound. Some amps can grip the speaker the wrong way, or at least with a signature that might not agree with you.
It seems clear that there is little risk in pairing with a high powered amplifier, provided that I don't overdrive the speakers. At the same time, I may be surprised by the sound quality, especially the low end impact.
Has anyone else tried a Quicksilver amp with the Devore O/96?
To me....you may be on the cusp of having the Best of all worlds , keep a high powered SS amp and also purchase a low watt Tube amp, perhaps a pair of mono 300B's. Both will have different sound signatures and give you more options! My suggestion would be to sell the powerful Quicksilver's for a lower wattage option.
I have a pair of O96s and originally paired them with Pass labs XA 60.8 mono blocks but sold those and got an Audio Note OTO Silver signature. I will say the sound was much better with the tube amp. The pass lab amps seemed a little constrained, not as deep or full in the bass and the sound stage wasn’t as big. Others might be able to give more insight into this, but I think some of it could be damping factor? Maybe it’s just the way tubes sound with these Speakers as opposed to transistor amps. However, I recently replaced the OTO with the Leben CS 300xs and for my system, it definitely sounds better than the OTO despite the almost 3x price difference. The Leben will be here for a long time.
I appreciate the detailed description and experience with various amps. I'm surprised to hear that Pass XA60.8 didn't impress. Leben seems an interesting choice too.
The Devore O/96 arrived and are now set up exactly where the previous speakers were. First impressions indicate there is work to do with placement. I was expecting strong bass, especially with the high powered amps; however, this is not the case. I appreciate the detail, midrange, and liveliness, but improvements are needed.
I was expecting strong bass, especially with the high powered amps; however, this is not the case.
Looking at your virtual system it is curious that you went from Wilsons to the Orangutan 96 if strong bass was your priority. There are always trade-offs regardless of price. With that in mind you went to a smaller, simpler loudspeaker that does not push as much air as the Wilsons. The O/96's are not bass monsters. They are mostly about touch and tone, with a very distinct sense of refinement and propulsive-ness. This can go two ways imho. You may be the wrong customer for the O/96's or you may with time grow to love them for their good qualities. That single 10" SEAS driver can go fairly low with moderately taut bass but it will not thump you in the chest no matter how many watts your throw at it.
Sorry to keep droning on but look at it this way-compared to a pair of Falcon Gold Badges the O/96's have extended bass and good low-end grunt but compared to refrigerator sized Wilsons they do not.
I mentioned touch and tone. I believe that a good 30 watt tubed amp like the Leben is pretty much the sweet spot for drawing out the best qualities of the O/96 that MAY, if you are the matching type of customer/owner, get drawn in over time.
And last, for reasons unknown Auditorium 23 speaker cables are a magical match for the Orangutans.
All good points. Part of my speaker choice was to go an entirely different direction and try some designs I’ve only read about. Switching one component at a time results in some mismatches along the way. Bass isn’t the priority, I just noticed a real change that I didn’t expect; too much to be explained by the size of the box. I’ve got the O/96 up on sliders now and moving them around. It's improving the initial bass shy balance, and likely I’m adjusting to the new sound too.
Not an O/96 owner, but I did watch Ken Micallef's interview of John Devore where they discuss John's system. In it John, mentions that some high-powered amps do not like the O/96's high impedance. His example was the change from a long-time Parasound A21 reference to a JC5. The JC5 did not mesh well with the O/96.
The DeVore can do bass nicely but its important to keep in mind the speaker is not designed for a tube amp with a higher damping factor. At shows DeVore is often seen using an SET with no feedback which has a lower damping factor. He is relying on this for the speaker to make bass properly.
This is why some higher powered amps might not be ideal on this speaker. Its not the power that's the issue- its the fact that the speaker is not meant to be heavily damped by the amp.
The DeVore can do bass nicely but its important to keep in mind the speaker is not designed for a tube amp with a higher damping factor. At shows DeVore is often seen using an SET with no feedback which has a lower damping factor. He is relying on this for the speaker to make bass properly.
This is why some higher powered amps might not be ideal on this speaker. Its not the power that's the issue- its the fact that the speaker is not meant to be heavily damped by the amp.
I knew that they sound better with lower power tube amps of about 30 watts but did not know why. And yet between my eight watt Ampandsound Nautilus and my two ARC amps (150 and 80 watts) I prefer the higher powered amps. I am rather sure both ARC amps have high damping factor-I believe around 14. Bass is tighter and more satisfying with my higher powered amps. When I say that the Orangutans sound better with lowered powered amps like a 30 watt Leben I am referring to the overall presentation.
The above video about John’s foray with amps was fun but it sounded to me like like even he was uncertain why some of the higher power amps worked better than other with the O/96.
I’ve veered away from the low powered gear for a while but seem to listen more when I’m in that camp. Nice to have multiple amps if you can swing it, multiple speakers ,dacs and tonearms too lol.
There's also the fact that maybe you like the way some amps control speakers more than others. It's a very different presentation and to each his own. I had a Coda driving a pair of Cornwall 4's and it smoked the Leben. However with other speakers I liked the Leben better.
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