DeVore Orangutan O/96

I heard The 0/96 with Haut Brion and they didnt sound like the Nines to me. The O's seemed to have more body/richness and weight.

Jet

I should add that when listening to the Nines, they where being driven by a Massetto/Montrachet during one listening session and a Massetto/Cortese in an other listening session and a Pathos TT in yet another session.

Jet

Countingbackwards makes in important point in that for SSI, the manufacturers are guests in the Coup de Foudre room. That said, I like the Leben amps very much, and think they make a nice system with my speakers.

I'd also like to comment on the similarity between this year's sound and last year's sound. Both years we were in the same room and the only difference in the two systems was the O/96 speakers this year and a pair of gibbon 3XLs last year. I showed the Nines two years ago at SSI, but that was in a different hotel. Both models are rear-ported, paper-coned two-way speakers, one using a 5.5 inch woofer, one using a 10 inch woofer. Doclamb rightly expects a house sound between my designs--keep in mind that I am responsible for everything in a DeVore Fidelity speaker, from the drive units and crossovers to the cabinets and packaging. It's a good example of how much of a speaker's sound is influenced by the designer, rather than the individual components.

That said, the speakers are quite different, and a side-by-side listen would make that clear. The gibbon series designs are better at disappearing into a room, and throw a deep soundstage with well-defined and realistic images. The Orangutan series designs are more punchy, and put a great deal more energy into a room. They have more projection and "snap."

Most importantly, the room was set-up both years by Jonathan Halpern and me, and the system differed only in the speaker model. It's no surprise to me that they had a similar sound. The room and set-up is a very important element of any good system, and both years it reflected our preferences.

For those in the Montreal area, Coup de Foudre has the O/96 speaker on loan for a couple of weeks, so comparisons can be made between models quite easily.

Cheers,
John DeVore

That's right, last year was the 3XL's, the previous year at the old location (the Sheraton) was the Nines. Both were with a Leben integrated though.

I have to say that Devore speakers sound fantastic every time I hear them. I would presume that my finding them to sound similar to others of your speakers that I've heard (both at SSI and in audition at Coup de Foudre) is largely due to the fact that there is a clear family similarity between the models. When hearing loads of different types of systems at SSI, and then walking into the room with Devore and Leben...my emotional response is identical each time. I don't really recall which was punchier, which had better soundstaging...tonally, they're similar enough that I know exactly what I'm listening to. I don't doubt for a second that there are differences when listening to the different models side by side, and that I'd certainly have a preference for one over the other.

That said, one day, I hope to have a Leben/Devore setup, and don't doubt that one day I'll wind up going into Coup de Foudre and doing just that. And I plan to head over to Coup de Foudre to compare the different Devore speakers - will they still be there on April 18th?

@Countingbackwards--

The O/96s are currently scheduled to be at Coup de Foudre through Sunday the 17th, and ship back to the factory on the 18th.

And I'm glad to hear that your emotional respinse to the speakers is getting in the way of analyzing their component sonic bits. In my opinion, that's the way it should be.

Happy listening,
John DeVore