Since this is not a note about Audio Note, I apologize. This is for @prof
I put my O/93's back in, in place of my Spendor D7.2's.
I played two albums that I had just listened to last night.
Car Seat Headrest's "Making a Door Less Open" was more enjoyable through the Devores. I heard voices more clearly. The percussion sounded both more realistic and more propulsive. There was imaging but it is a different, more subtle form of imaging. Less hi-fi, less contrived in a studio gimmick manner. The Devores sere more tactile and Will Toledo's voice conveyed more emotion. I was ready to declare the
Devores clearly superior to the D7.2's.
But then I put my reissue of Stevie Wonder's Innervisions on. The Devores were good, but not as revelatory as the D7.2's. The snarl in Stevie's voice, the spine tingling nature of the back up singers in "Living for the City" were MIA. The overall sound throughout the album lacked the textural clarity and sounded just a bit distorted/fuzzy compared to the Spendors.
Certain traits remained consistent throughout. The Devores put out a wall of sound and the Spendors were more polite and restrained. I am convinced that John Devore modeled his Orangutans for the type of music he loves-synth/industrial/percussion heavy techno. The Devores are more fun. They are more alive. But they can be a bit course. The Soendors are a bit too polite but always manage to behave without fault. They just lean a bit toward the hi-fil artificial side of sound reproduction.
I can not choose one over the other. It simply depends on the choice of music and which trade-offs are dispensable at any given moment.
I put my O/93's back in, in place of my Spendor D7.2's.
I played two albums that I had just listened to last night.
Car Seat Headrest's "Making a Door Less Open" was more enjoyable through the Devores. I heard voices more clearly. The percussion sounded both more realistic and more propulsive. There was imaging but it is a different, more subtle form of imaging. Less hi-fi, less contrived in a studio gimmick manner. The Devores sere more tactile and Will Toledo's voice conveyed more emotion. I was ready to declare the
Devores clearly superior to the D7.2's.
But then I put my reissue of Stevie Wonder's Innervisions on. The Devores were good, but not as revelatory as the D7.2's. The snarl in Stevie's voice, the spine tingling nature of the back up singers in "Living for the City" were MIA. The overall sound throughout the album lacked the textural clarity and sounded just a bit distorted/fuzzy compared to the Spendors.
Certain traits remained consistent throughout. The Devores put out a wall of sound and the Spendors were more polite and restrained. I am convinced that John Devore modeled his Orangutans for the type of music he loves-synth/industrial/percussion heavy techno. The Devores are more fun. They are more alive. But they can be a bit course. The Soendors are a bit too polite but always manage to behave without fault. They just lean a bit toward the hi-fil artificial side of sound reproduction.
I can not choose one over the other. It simply depends on the choice of music and which trade-offs are dispensable at any given moment.