Devore O vs Audionote

Just trying to see if anyone can comment on the vibe between these two brands popular models. I'll leave it to others to comment on which ones they heard and their impressions. thanks

I auditioned the Devore O96s a few months ago and was very impressed. Very musical and wouldn’t hesitate to purchase them except for the WAF. While I like the way they look, they are just too big for my wife’s taste. She doesn’t want our living room focused on the stereo.

Have never heard a pair of Audio Note speakers.

FWIW...I included my impression of my audio note speaker audition in my big "contemplating Devore speakers" thread.

In a nutshell I find both have a similar "organic" tone and texture. The way the bow and a string is texturally present and you get the tone of the wooden body.

So I think they are in the same family of sound in that sense. The O-series Devore are a bit more richly voiced, a bit more overt body and warmth.

Ultimately I preferred what I heard from the Devores. One reason is that, to get comparable bass to the Devores you have to use the AudioNote method of placing them near the corners, as they were for my audition. This works in terms of increasing the sense of scale and bass reach of the Audionote speakers, but frankly I couldn’t help "hearing the trick." That is hearing the room lift in the bass to help things. With the Devores, so long as they could be pulled well out from the back wall, the bass felt a bit more integrated and naturally produced.

Also, placing the Audionote speakers near the corners will tend to induce more interaction with the room, including sidewall reflections. While this can help with a lively, spacious tonal character, I prefer to keep room interaction to a minimum as I find it can obscure some of the subtle timbre in the actual recordings. The Devore speakers have a semi-wave guide for the tweeter which narrows dispersion somewhat. So, pulled out away from the back wall, and with the slight wave-guide, speakers angled toward me, I got less room interaction more recorded timbre on the Devores.

Those were my takeaways. I’m not an expert on Audio Note speakers or anything...

(Caveat: I find the Devore O/96 and 93 need 8 feet listening distance at least to cohere.  In my room that would mean a bit more room interaction/reflection than my current Joseph speakers, which I can pull closer without losing coherence).

@prof thanks very much for the info! I was especially curious about the tone of the mid driver.. but im also sensitive to coherency and thats a good point about the corners with AN.

Does anybody around here think Devore speakers are somewhat overpriced? Cabinets made next door to his shop (plywood?), couple of bespoke drivers...the Baby costs $7,000 or so...093 $8400...a handmade guitar in that price range has more craft than any speaker I can think of so I have to wonder. Maybe hype and cost relative to market perception, still...