Snell Type E iii vs Audio Note or Orangutan


Picked up a great pair of Snell Type E speakers a few days ago. Damn it if they don't sound really good! They have good detail, great tonality, dynamic within their range and very easy to listen to for long extended sessions. I would say just an outstanding deal on the used market. 
Has anyone compared these to the Audio Notes and or Devore Orangutans? These Snells have me really interested in hearing these more "upscale"  Snell like speakers. Anyone in West Mi willing to let me have a listen I'll bring your favorite drink and mask up. They intrigue me because like the Snells they seem to be much more than the sum of their parts as they should for 5 figures. 
mofojo
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One of the big pluses of the Audio Note (no idea on Snell) is they sound great in bad rooms, placed in the corner.
Moved them upstairs in the lounge but needed to be right up against the wall. Boomy as hell. Stuffed a few socks in the ports and wallah tight (ish) bass. Still would love to get my ears on some of the newer designs. Really am surprised at how good these sound. 
I believe that Audio Note bought a license from Snell; they did not pirate the design. 

The surrounds on these types of speakers can be quite easily replaced; there are kits for that as well as videos on how to do it.  A local DC Audio Note dealer sends drivers away to a company that does the work for not that much money, so that is another alternative to buying a new driver.  The problem with buying a new driver is that you are never quite sure that the new model is compatible with the tuning of the older speaker, whereas replacing the surround usually does not change the sound of the driver that much.  I've heard refurbished Audio Note AN-Es and they sound great.
I bought my pair of E's from Goodwill for $18! Because of foam rot I replaced the 8" woofers with the same SEAS woofers. I agree that the E is quite an excellent speaker! In fact so good that Peter Quovtrup of Audio Note UK pirated the design - and quadrupled the price of the original ($1200). John Devore's speakers (all two-ways) use SEAS drivers in the same configuration.