DeVore Orangutan O/96

Kharl- I'm not sure what offended you by my post and I'm sure they sound great (I actually looked into them before purchasing Zus a year ago). I just think they are pricy for a 2 way. Sorry.

The wide front baffle invites the comparision to audio note ANe and yes they are not about pin point imaging as the ANe are not about that either. That is where the comparison ends. Since I only heard the Orangutans once I cant really draw conclusions. Plus the folks that had them told me they had not settled on this set up or placement.

They seemed to have a bit more body and weight to the sound than either the Nines which I spent considerable time with or my Ane's.

Since the Haut Brion is a robost push-pull, I would be curious what a SET would be like

They are a bit smaller than I thought they would be, and would be nice in a living room~wife approved. When I heard them they were about 3 feet from the back wall and I dont know how close one could put them to a wall. They have 3 large ports on the back of the cabinet.

Putting a price on a specific speaker design type does not make sense and is simply silly. In my years of being an audiophile (since 1955) there have been many designs through the years, that despite being a two way, single driver, or what have you, have cost much more. Audio Note makes speakers that are $100K. Two way designs, mind you. The proof is in the listening. If it floats someones boat, musically, then who is to say they are 'pricey' or not.

K

Kharl1955,

Who on this thread made a judgment with regards to how the Orangutans sound? John Devore insinuated that the original Orangutan prototypes would be around 8K. This year's prototype, the 0/96, are now expected to be around 12K. According to the on-line Stereophile 2011 CES review, John has found a new supplier for the SEAS drivers. Why that should increase the price substantially is what some of us are pondering. It's a perfectly legitimate point.

I'm a huge fan of the SEAS midrange and bass drivers. I certainly plan on listening to the Orangutan once they make it to my local DeVore dealer or if John ever shows up at RMAF again.

Besides the price, the only issue for me is the cabinet legs.

I don't want to weigh in here on value or comparisons, but I'd like to address the price of the O/96 Orangutans vs. the price of last year's O/93 prototypes. When I switched manufacturers for the Orangutan woofers, we nearly had to start from scratch as much of the development with the previous company was not directly transferable. That said, the combination of my long relationship with SEAS and their exceptional work helped things moved along very quickly.

The O/93 model is still in progress and will still come out near $8k/pair, it's just that the drivers for the O/96 model came together first, and the deadline of CES isn't flexible. The difference between the O/93 and O/96 is sensitivity (93dB vs 96dB, as implied by the names) and size, with the O/93 being somewhat smaller than the higher-sensitivity model. The two models do use different drivers, and the less-expensive model will not have the elaborate cabinet of the O/96. The Orangutan has always been conceived as a series of speakers, not a single model.

Cheers,
John DeVore