Devore Fidelity Orangutan O/96


My neighbor had to move some heavy furniture from one room to another so he asked me for help earlier today. Although, we've been neighbors for almost two years I had never been inside his house up until this afternoon. As I walked through the foyer and into his family room, I saw the speakers hooked up to some McIntosh separates. I have to admit that these were one of the most beautiful speakers I had ever seen. He offered to play some music and of course I was not going to say no. They sounded quite decent, although the sound was not as hefty or lush as I was expecting. Don't know if it was his equipment or room (wood floor, no rug, lots of windows), or maybe the Devore's are not quite going after those big, lush, and slightly warmer sound characteristics.

I'm actually saving up money to buy Harbeth SHL5+, or used 40.1, sometime next year. But boy did the Devore Orangutans caught my attention. And yes I know I shouldn't be basing my decision on looks alone, but if they're comparable to Harbeth in terms of sound quality, I'm definitely interested in exploring.

Just wondering if someone has had a chance to compare them directly to the Harbeth speakers I'm considering. Anyone moved from Harbeth to Devore O/6 or vice versa? This will be a system that I'll be building from scratch so I do have the luxury of building the system around my speakers -- total budget is around $15000. I usually buy used equipment whenever I can.

Please note that I'm not soliciting advice for other speakers at this time. Mostly interested in hearing about real world comparisons between the Devore Fidelity Orangutans and Harbeth SHL5+ or 40.1/2.
arafiq
I'm a former Gibbon X owner, have heard the O96s several times. To me, all comes down to their bass characteristics - either you love it or don't. I personally wasn't enamored by the fleshy bass of the Os especially on electronica. Now, if jazz is your thing maybe its a better fit.


@arafiq   Out of curiosity what amp were the O/96's paired with?  It seems that most people who have shared their impressions of the O/96's aren't specifying the amp that was used which makes a huge difference with these speakers.

FWIW...I heard the Devore O series speakers on about 4 different amps.2 that I can remember are the Leben  (CS300 I believe) commonly paired with the O series.   And Nagra (classic integrated...I think).  I believe one of the other tube amps was a WAVAC.
@arafiq 

Wow.  Right on point with me. That's rare. Anyway, glad you liked the Olympica. Now that we clearly have the same musical ear and listening preference, see if you can demo the Harbeth 40.3 XD.  Prepare for happy tears! 
@prof 

FWIW...I heard the Devore O series speakers on about 4 different amps.2 that I can remember are the Leben (CS300 I believe) commonly paired with the O series.   And Nagra (classic integrated...I think). I believe one of the other tube amps was a WAVAC.

Those are all good amps to demo DeVore's although the Leben CS6000 sounds much better than the 3000.