Ref 3A Veena - Devore Gibbon 8 - Audiophysic Yara

I have the AP Yara and I have heard the Super 8's - the Devore Super 8's were one of the best sounding most musical 2 way loudspeakers I have ever heard in my life. Bass was plenty full but in general the speakers are so well balanced and natural that I cannot imagine a better speaker for pure sound. I love their size, about 5 or 6 inches shorter than the Yara. They are not very large - the two tone wood look great, but all walnut veneer is beautiful as well. Another nice thing is they do not require bi-wiring, not a big deal, but it's just simpler. These will soar with tubes. I demo'd them on a 12wpc EL34 set and they bloomed like crazy!

My Yara's are nice, they are quick and most especially excel with acoustic sounds - they are not really a hard rock speaker- jazz and acoustic guitar sound excellent on them, lots of detail, bit lean on the lower end, but not that they dont have good bass because they do, its just the mids and highs seem to be a bit better than they produce deep bass. I am very satisfied with them.

I have never heard the Veena, but reviews tend to be mixed on them - Hifi Plus just did a review of the Grand Veena and based on what I could gleen from that, they liked them very much.

I think speakers really tend to do well with some music styles and not so well with others - if you are into lighter sounds, acoustic and jazz, you may also want to consider the Tonian's TL-D1 out of LA - hand made and the few people I know who have them, love them. http://www.tonianlabs.com/TL-D1.htm

As far as demos go, you will be hard pressed to find any dealers who carry these types of speakers - best is to look on here and see what is for sale - if you find one, email the seller and ask what they like/ don't like about them. I purchased my Yara's sight unseen and love them, but I did a lot of emailing first. The other speaker I was looking at was the 3A DiCapo - but I wanted to do floor standing. Based on what I hear all of the 3A's have a very distinctive sound - I think again based on what I have been told, they are good, but an acquired taste.

Again as I said before, I absolutely loved the Super 8's that I heard - I have never heard the 8's, but have been told same sound just a tad bit veiled compared to the Super - personally I would not go anything less than Super 8's if I were doing Devore.

That is the other good thing, they are made in the USA. I think the German made Audio Physic has pulled out of the US due to the falling dollar and lack of sales - just too expensive when compared to other domestics and Asian imports. The 3A should really not have gone up that much, Canadian dollars have gone up, but they would shoot themselves in the foot to raise their prices.

You can deal direct with Ref 3A - I forget the gentleman's name, but he is happy to work with you. info@reference3a.com

You should really listen to the Harbeth's SH5's. I owned them for two years and they are the most musical speaker in their price range I have ever heard. Very easy to drive, sounds great with tubes & SS. They don't go real deep but they just sound right. I went from a $10,000 electrostatic to the Harbeth and both were enjoyable. It sounds like you are looking more for a floor standing speaker but I would seek out Harbeth's before you purchase.
PS - the reviews on harbeth's are outstanding.

Ridecycling, thanks for the information and advice. I believe I have this pretty much narrowed down now to the Devore Super 8 and either a Joseph RM22,25 MKII or the new XL models. Just have to save up a little more $$ to get a worthwhile upgrade from my S6e's.
It is kind of hard to find recent reviews info on the Josephs floorstanders

Bobheinatz, Yep I have heard the Harbeth's before. I believe it was the HL5 at dealer in Sarasota FL., and I agree they are great sounding speaker, but stand mounts are not on the Wife approval list....

I don't know much about the Joseph Audio's, but the Super 8's are right up there with the best of anything - let's put it this way, virtually every reviewer who initially reviewed the Supers ended up buying them - the is pretty unprecedented. Plus based on what I have heard, John (Devore) is a pretty damn nice guy! (: