Devore or Audio Note or other sensitive speakers: wanting to listen in Denver

@jjss49 Agree. That's a different path and I need to go down this one, first. But I can keep a list with a second heading that says, "Good Options, Act II."

@hilde45

I believe that you’ve chosen a good path to explore and don’t think you can go wrong with Devore, Audio Note or Fyne  Audio speakers. Another option that fits this  category is a Canadian speaker from Coherent Audio. Straightforward two way design with about 94-95 db sensitivity and easy to drive 8 ohm impedance load.

Another high quality option is Tonian Labs speakers located in California. They have 95-97 db sensitivity and very easy to drive 16 ohm impedance load with some of their models. There are many very good choices available to suit your objectives.

Charles

this is a great thread, so far.

@hilde45

Really depends on your priorities. Zu is basically a single driver speaker, and as such has the pros and cons of such a design. they are big sounding, toneful, and coherent. I do feel they are a little "raw" sounding and gruff with male vocals - think Johnny Cash more of a bass than a baritone. But if coherency is your top criteria than I’d hear them or the Cube Audio Nenuphar. I also don’t think classical is their strong suit. But I think Sean is a brilliant designer and would happily own Druid VIs again.

Devores are a more refined sounding Zu in many respects. They have an exceptional tweeter that is extended but doesn’t draw attention. Very dynamic as well, although not quite full bore as Zu. Both are have vibrant midranges that catch the essence of vocals. The Devore weakness (particularly the Os) is in the bass - he tunes his cabinets depending on frequency. You either love it or not. I loved the Gibbon Xs which had the best bass of the bunch, but were more modern sounding (soundstage, imaging, etc.) than Zu.

I leapt to Fyne really as an upgrade to Devore and joke they are Devore on steroids. the F1s are more coherent, bigger sounding (well my F1s at least) and have very very articulate, deep bass for a ported design. they may lose a bit of treble clarity to Devore but not by much. More coherent design than Devore being a 2-way as well. The Fyne is considerably more modern sounding than a Tannoy with far better bass - I actually like modern point source soundstaging and imaging which they do very well. But they do so with tremendous presence and life. The Fyne weakness is they aren’t SET friendly, despite the efficiency. Or at least not compared with Zu or Devore O. I’ve been down the SET path before, tried 16 different amps/topologies on Zu and don’t feel the need for the second harmonic explosion and unacceptable bass. Others feel the opposite which is cool. 20 watts push pull or 50 watts class A SS to me is the best of both worlds.

@keithr Excellent post. Thanks.

@keithr 
Thanks for your suggestions. Nothing I've heard about Zu makes me think they'd be better than some of the others, here. Classical is a *must* for me. My brother in law loves rock and so he's really headed for Zu. I would love to hear Zu but local options are limited.

I don't think I'm headed all the way down to SET. I am trying to land in the middle, with tube amps running either KT66 up to KT 150 and/or a Pass XA 25 (25 to 50w on peaks).

@charles1dad 

There are many very good choices available to suit your objectives.

Thank you for those recommendations. This thread is becoming *everything* I hope for in a forum. Not just recommendations of the usual brands — though hearing personal experiences is very valuable and of course I might actually be able to hear them — but other "under the radar" options. That's how I initially found Salk and Fritz's bookshelves. 

One thing I'm learning is that certain makers just aren't *oriented* toward one kind of amplification or another. Not just that their speakers' sensitivities are mostly under 90db, but that even if they have one or two speakers with greater sensitivity, they don't really design with tube amps in mind. That's ok, but it's not exactly easy to glean from the way they describe themselves.