Devore Gibbon 88 v. PMC Twenty-23

Todd - how did you make the decision to buy the Vapors? Were you able to listen to them somewhere first? I did send an email off to them, gave them all of the above info I posted here, and asked what they thought might be the best fit for me, so I'm very interested to hear their response. Are you familiar at all with any of the speakers I listed and, if so, how would you compare the Breeze with them? I'll admit the Stiff Breeze looks very intriguing, especially with some of the available upgrades. Can you tell me why you opted or didn't opt for the different upgrades available? BTW, many thanks for taking the time to chat with me here; I really appreciate it.

As an aside, I notice they seem to have just recently had an issue with the Raal tweeter.

I haven't heard the Gibbon 88 but I own the Gibbon 9 (no longer made), and I can't say enough good things about them. They are fantastic with tubes or solid state. In one room, I had them only about 18 inches from the back wall and there was no problem, and I am usually very sensitive to room boundary interactions. My understanding is the 88s are designed to work well in smaller rooms. Based on reviews, I would suspect the PMCs might be more of the "fast and detailed" speakers, but I went from the very fast and detailed Verity Parsifals to the Devores and don't miss a thing.

Ladok - thanks for the input. I was really impressed with the Gibbon 88s, and listened to them close to the back wall and with partitions in place to sort of mirror the size of my listening room. I actually started out that listening session with the KEF LS50s because they've been so highly reviewed, but found them a little slow for my tastes. Switched to the Gibbon 3XLs (standmounts), also very highly reviewed, and found them just a little bright really. Then moved to the 88s, which have the identical tweeter but a larger woofer, and I think that combined with the cabinet size really made things fall into place. They are certainly fast and revealing enough for me, although I could tell they don't go really low. If I end up going with them I could always add a sub, which I already own (one of the smaller RELs). Still intrigued by the PMCs because I think they might have that additional bit of low end but I've never actually listened to a transmission line speaker and haven't found anyone whose heard them. They're really well-reviewed overseas (What Hi-Fi's Best in its price range two years in a row). Thanks again for the input, I really appreciate it.

That's why I went with the 9s, I felt the 8 (which I think was replaced by the 88) would have been a touch lean for my tastes. My understanding is the bass has been extended from the 8 to the 88s. You might want to actually look into finding a pair of used 9s, they would still work well in your room and I doubt if you'd want a subwoofer.

That's not a bad idea, looking for a pair of used 9s. The frequency range for the 88s is improved over the 8s, down to 33Hz, compared with 32Hz for the 9s, but it looks like the bass in the 9s is probably a higher quality due to the additional woofer. May still make the long trek to audition the PMCs; still hoping someone might be able to give me some feedback on those one way or the other, as they're definitely not as sensitive as the 88s.