If only there were a way to insert something into a post that one could click on that would take them directly to the website in question.
If only..................
If only..................
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I'm not impressed by what I can see on their website. Looks like another newbie "designer" who is offering products that they think looks cool and will appeal to hipsters with more money than sense. Bronze horns and (what looks like) artwork pretending to be driver guards - really? IMO, of course. I have not heard these - has anyone? |
You need to remember that "lifetime guarantees" are only good if the company is still in business -- it involves their "lifetime" as much as yours. And, sometimes a company finds they have so many issues on their hands that they intentionally go out of business to get out from under the problems. They do a quick asset-only sale to a new entity, leave all the old customer in the lurch, and continue free and clear in business under the new company's name. The above is not meant to indicate anything one way or the other about this company, but just commenting on the way things sometimes happen. |
I'd much rather own some of these. http://www.jwmacoustics.com/index-1 Reviews are very good and the workmanship is extraordinary. |
I have known Jonathan Weiss, owner of Fleetwood Sound and Oswalds Mill Audio, and Bill Woods, who designs their horns, for maybe eighteen or nineteen years. Bill has an extensive background in both prosound and high-end audio, and his prosound designs are easily among the most highly regarded out there in terms of sound quality. Not sure I'm at liberty to say who he designed for, but there are people who use his prosound designs for home audio. Anyway Jonathan and Bill are definitely not "newbies". Duke |
That soundedsuper fishy, thanks for clarifying, Duke 👍. Those JWM speakers 2leftears mentioned are some of the best looking speakers I’ve seen... wow, really nice with art decco. Anyhow, interesting that we have never heard of fleetwood sound with those kinds of claims. They look pretty ho hum in my oppinion, especially for the $. My goodness thats alot for some stand mounts... |
I heard these at a show in 2019 (I think it was CAF IIRC) and was quite impressed with the sound. Natural, dynamic, surprisingly good LF performance, no etch but nicely detailed. Worth the money? Hard to say. For me the thought of whether I might purchase them, if I was in the market for such a speaker, did cross my mind. So I guess I could say I thought it might be worth the money. |
All I have to say is that these are the finest speakers available in this size range for anything close to $10k. Good luck finding something for $30k that sounds as good. They play with delicacy, but can go deep and play loud - an extremely engaging sound, but one which has not once fatigued my ears (a huge problem for me with Focals and Wilsons I have owned). All of this AND a pretty small cabinet with a cool design with a high WAF. Jonathan (owner of OMA and Fleetwood) is a true genius who makes things that are just better than the rest of the industry. The solid construction is so much nicer than the veneered particleboard bullshit you get elsewhere and the drivers are professional transducers rather than some $30 crap made in China. These will list your lifetime and probably your grandchildren’s lifetime. Are these expensive? Yes. Have I owned much much more expensive speakers that sound hilariously worse? Yes. The value proposition on these is through the roof. Are they really expensive when you consider how much a single solid wood shelf or chest costs? Honestly it’s not crazy - it’s underpriced in terms of both build cost and performance - just the parts and materials in these things are literally several thousand bucks. Then you have a ton of handmade USA labor (I figure 30-50 hours), packaging, and development costs (which have to be recouped over a relatively small run). I think the $9,600 black model I have is almost a loss leader - of course he is making a bit of margin, but it is waaaay less than the margin of a typical high end distributor and dealer (80%). Consider that most $10k speakers literally cost about $1-2k to make... Anyway - rant over - but you should call Jonathan at OMA or Mark at Northern Audio and get yourself a pair. You will not be sorry. |
i heard these speakers at Jonathan’s studio in Brooklyn a week ago. I was speechless. I never heard a sound like that before. I have hegel b&W 805 D3 combination and his setup sounded much broader, with better mids, and offered a more engaging overall experience. I think B&Ws are still better in detail and definition of highs. the design of the speakers is completely different from what other companies are pursuing and worth your listen. |
I am a dealer for Fleetwood Sound’s DeVille speaker..... so, feel free to discount my comment..... until you hear these for yourself.... each of you are welcome to make an appointment (North Jersey)... 973-979-2212... a relaxed, thorough session.... form your own opinion.... I saw many comments (negative) on here, from people who have never heard the speaker.... I wouldn’t invite you to come if I thought I was wasting your time.... Came out as a loss leader.... price is $12,600.... another extremely popular speaker company came out with a speaker that followed a similar price history... but that's all they have in common..... Do not pull the trigger on any speaker until you hear this..... just a suggestion |
I've heard them twice, once at CAF and more recently at a dealer's home. They are really, really good and at some point, I will probably take the plunge. I do find it disappointing that for a newer speaker on the market they have jumped the price more than 30% since I was first aware of them at the end of 2019. I guess the appearance on CBS This Morning was good for them. I do think this is heirloom quality stuff, so maybe they are not for the speaker flavor of the month club but for others, the value might be there. I own a pair of Volti Audio Rival SEs that are never leaving my house. I imagine the same would be true of folks who own the Deville's. |
The Price of Lumber has gone up about 50% since COVID. The Cost to FRAME a house has gone up 25K-30K per house. So WHY are you surprised that a company that uses REAL wood...not compressed MDF crapola....is raising their prices to compensate for the additional cost to make their speaker?? Perhaps you should follow the commodity market so you understand about costs/inflation etc. Lumber is down this week BUT if the trend goes back the other way you should expect EVERY Speaker Manufacturer to jack up their prices if they havent already. |
They are not big speakers so I suspect the lumber theory holds little water. There isn't enough lumber in the speakers to justify $3K, it also looks like the stands have not gone up so that also seems to debunk your theory. And for the record, you have no idea which markets I follow. He's just following the path of so many retailers who would rather sell one of something expensive rather than five of something less expensive. More power to him if he can make that business model work. |
I had a set for a few weeks. They are very good with poor recordings and can play very loud and clear. They weren’t nice enough in my system to keep. Here is a video I made with them: https://youtu.be/hFoneEceqSY |
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delveaudiollc , I’m not sure how posting a video means that I think highly of anything. Your comment doesn’t even make sense. You think I posted the video because I think highly of something, and then you insinuate that I’m bashing them. I’m pretty sure that I said they could be great speakers, but not in my system. I didn’t bash them, only that they weren’t nice enough in my system to keep. How is that fishy? Any opinion that doesn’t agree with yours is fishy. I shared my experience with the Fleetwoods and posted a video to prove that I owned them. If I didn’t prove that I owned them, I thought that kids like you would question me....but you did anyway. |
I don't remember what they were being run with at CAF in 2019 but they were really good there and I also thought they were excellent when I heard them a couple of weeks back. In that case, the amp was the McGary SA-1 with a Backert Labs preamp--so hardly the most expensive gear you could own. I suspect they really like tubes and would guess that's what Chris Sommovigo was using with them at CAF as well (because he usually had tube gear at the shows I've seen him in). |
I heard them, can't think of any reason not to buy them except I don't have the spare cash at this point. They don't have the imaging of my Vandy 3Ce sigs but are otherwise are spectacular. I suspect if someone bought these and had issues with their sound they almost certainly have system issues. Works of art on top of the sound as well. |
