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Devore or Harbeths to replace my ESL63s?

I'm on the last stages of a speaker quest that has been quite difficult. For the last year I've had ESL 63s in a smallish room (14'8 x 11'10). I've got them to work extremely well for small scale ensembles, particularly jazz, and they also sound great with electronic music. But I can't give them enough space to image an orchestra, and they don't really rock (at least without Gradient sub-woofers, but that's another story...)

So after a long search, it's come down to either Harbeth or Devore for replacements. These have been my favourite contemporary speakers for years, so basically I've just spent a long time finding out what I already knew.

I previously owned Compact 7ES3 and enjoyed them, but found them unrefined in the soprano regio, and slightly muddy around the port output. The Monitor 30.1 is considerably smoother in the high frequencies and I find it a beautifully balanced speaker. It is the perfect size for my room, with one failing. It lacks the half octave of bass needed to give kick drums any force. I tried the new SHL5+ in my room but they are just too big for my room, sadly.

A friend of mine owns some Devore Nines. Very few people have Devores in the UK, but he has a fantastic system with VTL 2.5/150. It used to be that when I heard his system I would find the Compact 7s unlistenable for a couple of days. That changed with the ESL63s, but the Quads have an uneven combination of great strengths and severe limits in a small room.

So it's come down to either Harbeth M30.1, Devore Super 8, or Devore 88.

I have a second hand pair of the Super 8s at home at the moment. They are beautifully organic and draw you in to their world gradually. Other speakers I have at home have more immediate and crisp micro-detail (Harbeth P3ESR for example), but the Super 8s seem to put a root into the ground and claim the room as the proper place for their music making. Relax, they say, don't worry about the details, we will sort out your musical life.

I have only two reservations; first, they are quite lean in the mid-bass, especially in comparison to my friend's Nines, and this presents some limits with rock and electronic. Second, my system is optimised for Harbeths (and then for ESLs), and Devores would probably work better with lower powered, very refined valve amps. I don't get the same clarity that I get with Harbeths in my system.

I also have an option on some second hand 88s, but I have never heard them and I would have to buy blind. That is generally against my religion.

I guess the key question is; do I go with what I know (Monitor 30.1) or look to optimise my system gradually for the newcomers (Devore Super 8 or 88).

I'd be grateful for any thoughts from anyone who has compared the M30.1 with Devores in the same room, since that is what I can't do at the moment.

(My system details: the amps are Unison Research Unico Pre/DM. The sources are a Fletcher Omega Point 5/Audio Note Arm/Nagaoka MP500, Trichord Diablo/NCPSU). Audio Synthesis DAX Discrete with AS modded CD Transport.)
andreweast
dodgealum's avatar
dodgealum
1,404 posts
 
You have obviously thought this through carefully and have narrowed the field to two VERY good speakers that nearly hit the mark in every area important to you. I owned the Compact 7's for many years and enjoyed them greatly. I've heard just about every other Harbeth as well and they are all fantastic speakers, particularly through the midrange which is where the Quads shine and probably why you dig them so much. I've heard several of the Devore speakers as well--I wouldn't rate them as high as the Harbeth's but they are also a very solid, balanced design. Not to try to send you off the rails but I would suggest you consider Daedalus. I spent two years listening to a wide range of floorstanding speakers to replace my C7's, which were too small for the room when we moved to a bigger house. The Daedalus were the only speakers that were as convincing through the midrange as the Harbeth's AND could rock the house like no Harbeth could ever imagine. Lou has a number of smaller models (Athena, Pan and Muse) which might work well in your room. I heard the Muse recently at the Capital Audiofest and they are OUTSTANDING--certainly better than my experience with any DeVore's and way better than the Monitor 30.1's which were also at the show that day. If you like the Harbeth's you will LOVE Lou's designs. There is a guy in the UK who has a pair of Darma's (older standmount) who may be willing to do a demo for you--he posts here from time to time. If you do a search you can find him I'm sure. Best of luck with your search!
dodgealum's avatar
dodgealum
1,404 posts
 
The bloke I mentioned goes by "David12".
fjn04
1,561 posts
 
It's certainly personal preference, but just one point on the DeVores. It seems to me the gibbon/Silverback are often bunched in the same conversation as Orangutan's. IMHO, you have to approach the two series as a different thing.
I have heard the Harbeths on a few occasions, and I liked them very much.
In comparison to the Orangutan's, they may be more forgiving of upstream components. The O's however, will allow you to delve in to low power tube amps, including SET.
stereo5's avatar
stereo5
6,404 posts
 
I too had a pair of DeVore speakers, in my case the Gibbon 8. I too found the midbass to be quite lean. If I were spending the money, I would get the Harbeths. I think they are a better overall speaker. DeVore speakers are not that great on rock which is the reason I sold them, and they never put out a big sound. I believe they are more suited to small Jazz Combos. When I retire in another year or two, I plan on Auditioning the Harbeth 40.1, as that is what I have my sights on for my last set of speakers.
salectric
755 posts
 
Different people have different tastes in speakers, no question about that. I have to take exception to Dodgealum's comment about the Harbeth 30.1 and the Daedalus heard at last year's Capital Audio Fest. I was at the CAF as well for both Fri and Sat and heard the same rooms Dodgealum visited. For what it's worth, in my opinion, the Harbeth 30.1 is a superb speaker and is indeed a worthy option for someone coming from Quads. Neither the Daedalus nor the DeVore speakers have ever sounded as musical, as real, as the 30.1 in the half a dozen times I have heard each one. So clearly we all have different tastes.
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