Devores and Omegas - input please

@prof, 
Really astute insight and perspective.  You're right of course,  there are no perfect speakers and listeners determine what combination of  strengths and flaws they find to be the most tolerable compromise.  After many  years of attending live jazz venues (Many small and intimate environments, often without stage  microphones  ) speakers that "thin"  the sound of instruments and sound lean  are out for me.  Razor sharp pin point imaging does not make up for this (In my view) glaring error. 
Charles 

IMO This thread serves as a fine example of what is best about this forum. Superb observations. Thanks guys.

Both brand are excellent, I heard Devore speakers at Axpona maybe 3yrs ago.i don’t remember the model,  What I remember they are indeed very refine good live sounding speakers, For my taste they are not for me.I do own Omega speakers the rs8 in Baltic birch cabinet.This speakers for my taste ,I like them , it’s the musicality of omega speakers that grabs me, the alnico are even better and palpable, Lois makes good musical speakers.Cant underestimates this brand for Lois know what he is doing.

A couple of years ago I heard O/93’s in a showroom. They were in a decent-sized room and driven by quality tube equipment. I wasn’t overly impressed; what was lacking was image-specificity and, particularly, soundstaging. Given the many very positive reports about them I was disconcerted; I wanted to blame the set-up, but couldn’t see anything amiss, and the owners of the store had obviously positioned them carefully. I wonder if this correlates with the "wall of sound" comments.

The same day I heard elsewhere Audio Note AN-E speakers, and although they were, naturally enough, close to walls, they were much more to my liking.

twoleftears

Understandable.   The O series is very finicky to set up in particular for soundstaging.  I've heard them sound shallow, but also quite spacious and deep (the 96s, never got tons of depth from the 93s).

As for Audio Note:  I auditioned their speakers in the usual corner-loaded configuration.  They also had wonderful tone, sort of like the Devores.  My only issue is that I found myself a bit too aware of the "trick," that is the corner-loaded bass.  It sounded to me like I was hearing a sort of bass augmentation via room effects rather than "the real thing."

Also, I've found the purest timbre to come when being able to control some room reflections, and the audio notes tend to use the room for their sound.


That said, I HAVE heard the smaller audio notes at a show, pulled out from the room corners more in a normal set up and they blew me awaywith some vocal and jazz tracks.