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Does anyone have experience with Devore O/96, Tannoy Legacy Cheviot and JBL 4429?

Hi Music Lovers

Your assistance would be appreciated in my speaker quest.

I'm looking for a large woofer easy to drive Speaker.
So far i've narrowed my options to:
A. Devore O/96
B. Tannoy Legacy Cheviot
C. JBL 4429

My amp is Line Magnetic 805, 48 w class a.

I mainly listen to instrumental Jazz (piano, woodwinds, horns), 70's rock and Classical music.

I have heard the Devore which have some pluses compared to the others, such as higher sensitivity and deaper base. I found the Devores remarkable and even Jaw dropping on most recordings, but a little unforgiving and harsh on old Jazz recordings.

Unfortunately the JBLs and Tannoys are unnavaillable for audition in my country.
The JBLs and Tannoys are fairly sensitive but i havent found any information about their impedance curve, which is why i'm not certain if they would be a good choice for low power tube amps. On the other hand they are half the price of the Devore which is a big plus !!

I'm looking for the following attributes by order of importance:
A. Relaxed, non fatiguing big sound, with natural full bodied immages and timbre of instruments and voices (hard to get that with woodwinds, horns and piano), the sound should fill up the room without any harshness.
B. Shurefooted, solid rhithmically.
C. Detailed (detail should not be on the expense of naturalness of the music, which is why it's not on my highest priority).

I would appreciate any comment on each speakers independently or prefferably a comparison between them.

Thanks for your assistance in my quest.

adam_cr
audition__audio
1,488 posts
 
The Devore all the way! The other 2 speakers on your list are not really much to speak of IMO. The Devore hits a very good balance between fun and detail. Very easy to drive but improves with increases in power. Gives a good glimpse into the music but is never tedious. Best amp I have heard on these was the Atma-sphere 60s. In fact the Atmas put the SETs and P.P.s that I auditioned to shame.  
adam_cr OP
3 posts
 
Thanks again for your replies.

There seams to be a concensus in favor of the Devore, which gets me closer to pull the trigger on them.

To make things a bit more interesting, how would you compare the O/96 to Vandersteen Treo CT ?.

I currently own the Treo CT and was thinking of going the 2 way, wide baffle, large woofer, high sensitivity path, because the Treos seam to open up only at high volumes with reasonably priced and moderately powered ampliffication, making it difficult to have long listenning sessions.
I also think that the large woofer wide baffle with a Class A amp would get me closer to my ideal sound, then again i never fed the Treos with the kind of ampliffication that would make them really sing.
currenly I'm using lm-150ia 100wpc with them, getting the best results yet with this amp, but i can see that it runs out of steam by the positoon of the dials.

Regardless of the ampliffication requirements, which would you say is the best speaker ?, I can't audition them side by side and can only own one of them, so my choices are to keep the Treos and get something like Aesthetix Atlas/Calipso combo, or go for the Devore.
wouldn't want to make the wrong choice here.
johnlcnm
45 posts
 
As an owner of the 4429s'. I think that they are excellent speakers. I have not heard either one of the others. Tannoy used to be owned by Harman also. So probably some cross pollination there between JBL and Tannoy. As far as The Gibbon Circuit is concerned, other people have done similar things like isolating the capacitors and inductors in a sand wax mixture. That would be JBL in the 70s'. They don't do that anymore. They use open circuit boards like most manufacturers today. I can understand that designing crossover/speaker systems that don't look reactive to the amplifier is a good thing, although not practical in a lot of cases. High end amps are usually designed to drive highly reactive loads. That requires a low resistance high current power supply, which usually means, it is an expensive amp. The majority of the cost in building an audio amp is in the power supply. Cheap amps do not have high current capable supplies.

Another thought: The D2girls had a pair of JBL 4367s' that they raved about. But, I would ask the question, have they listened to the speakers that you are referring to here. Bottom line: You have to listen to all three of your choices to make an intelligent decision. Our recommendations may not fit your needs or desires for what you think is the kind of sound you are looking for.

Regards,

John 
prof
3,473 posts
 

Adam,
I love the Devore 0/96 and considered purchasing a pair.
A little bit of information that might, or might not be relevant for you:The design of the Devore speakers entails that they need at least 8 feet o beyond listening distance to really cohere and sound their best.  Also, due to the design (including the slight wave-guide for the tweeter I think) the horizontal dispersion narrower (in terms of maintaining an even tonal balance). In other words, they are something of a narrower sweet spot listening speaker than possibly the other models you are considering.
All that shifts somewhat depending on listener distance of course.  But just thought that might be relevant.
adam_cr OP
3 posts
 
My listening room is 4.5 by 3.5 meters, similar to the Dealers room in which auditioned them, so I believe that I could find a good placement for the O/96.

Since starting this discussion I added 2 new speakers to my list:
  • Audionote AN-E/SPe HE, they seam to have the sound signature that i'm after, based on what i read they are a bit more relaxed than the O/96, may be better with old crappy Jazz recordings, but there's that solid wall corner placement requirement that can't be met in my room and they are unfortunately not availlable for Demo in my country.
  • Trenner and Friedl Pharoa, I will set an audition for those and will bring my amp with me.
I'll post back with my impresions on the Pharoa.
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