I listened to the Orangutans at Montreal this weekend. The Montreal show, for those who are unaware, tends to be dealer-driven, which means that it's not so much a "DeVore" room, as a Devore/Leben room with a Brinkmann turntable. For several years now, the local dealer Coup de Foudre has been host to this room, and every year it has been one of the best in the show.
IMHO, a big part of the reason is that they play real music, from a stack of records of all types. So many rooms play audiophile show-off music (I never heard so much flamenco in my life as this past weekend!), but the Devore/Leben room can always be counted on for some good, interesting music that just happens to be well-recorded.
The system this year was a Brinkmann turntable that I don't know that well, a Graham Phantom tonearm and an EMT cartridge as the source, the Leben phono stage and CS300 integrated amp (12 watts). The sound was much like in past years - warm, detailed, and highly listenable. That was both the good news and the bad news though...to me, the Orangutans sounded pretty much the same as the 9's did last year (and when I auditioned them at Coup de Foudre a few months ago).
It could be that the ~$3K Leben integrated was already at the edge of its performance capabilities with the 9's and was insufficient to show what the $12K Orangutan can do. The presenter in that room (Danny from Coup de Foudre) mentioned that the Shindo integrated that his shop carries does a better job with the Orangutans.
Or...it could be that the Orangutans' biggest advantage over the 9's is simply their efficiency rating...which would only make them a good choice in very particular circumstances.
One thing about these speakers...they looked exactly like a "finished" version of the Audio Note speakers. The driver is a bit bigger on the Orangutans, but man do those speakers look the same!
IMHO, a big part of the reason is that they play real music, from a stack of records of all types. So many rooms play audiophile show-off music (I never heard so much flamenco in my life as this past weekend!), but the Devore/Leben room can always be counted on for some good, interesting music that just happens to be well-recorded.
The system this year was a Brinkmann turntable that I don't know that well, a Graham Phantom tonearm and an EMT cartridge as the source, the Leben phono stage and CS300 integrated amp (12 watts). The sound was much like in past years - warm, detailed, and highly listenable. That was both the good news and the bad news though...to me, the Orangutans sounded pretty much the same as the 9's did last year (and when I auditioned them at Coup de Foudre a few months ago).
It could be that the ~$3K Leben integrated was already at the edge of its performance capabilities with the 9's and was insufficient to show what the $12K Orangutan can do. The presenter in that room (Danny from Coup de Foudre) mentioned that the Shindo integrated that his shop carries does a better job with the Orangutans.
Or...it could be that the Orangutans' biggest advantage over the 9's is simply their efficiency rating...which would only make them a good choice in very particular circumstances.
One thing about these speakers...they looked exactly like a "finished" version of the Audio Note speakers. The driver is a bit bigger on the Orangutans, but man do those speakers look the same!