DeVore O/93 or PureAudioProject Duet15 for a First Watt SIT-3?

I have 2 friends which owned both the O/93 and O/96 DeVores. They replaced them both with speakers which conform more to the current standards of design. First order crossovers, narrow baffles, more inert cabinet construction, etc. It didnt take them long after getting the new speakers to discern exactly how much these DeVores actually missed or got completely wrong. 

+1Glennewdick

I own the SiT3 and Caladan open baffle speakers. This is a wonderful pairing with all the sonic attributes you look for, as long as the room is big enough. I bought the Caladan’s for a 14x15x8 listening room. With room treatments, a near field listening position and multiple amp/preamp combos they sound good but not great. I don’t want near field.   In my larger room 28x20x8 at 5-6 feet from the back and side walls the OB’s are magical. I already have Volti Rivals in the big room, which are also magical, so now I have a first world dilemma.

I have 2 friends which owned both the O/93 and O/96 DeVores. They replaced them both with speakers which conform more to the current standards of design. First order crossovers, narrow baffles, more inert cabinet construction, etc. It didnt take them long after getting the new speakers to discern exactly how much these DeVores actually missed or got completely wrong. 

Before I get to the heart of your post, let's get something straight; it is "DeVORE Fidelity" if referring to the company and John Devore if referring to the person, but there is no "DeVore". But that is a minor thing. 

As to the gist of your post, I happen to own both Devore O/93's and narrow baffle speakers with inert cabinets. "Current standards of design"? Who's standard are you referring to? My O/93's in my room and in my system far-outshine my other set of loudspeakers. No contest. They run circles around them. The other set are Spendor D7.2's which admittedly don't have, to my knowledge, first order crossovers. 

What sets the O/93's apart is more than truth to tone and timbre-those large baffles project a certain sense of physicality and body that are completely missing in the narrow baffled speakers. 

It all boils down to the non-debatable truth that all loudspeaker designs, regardless of price, present compromises. No one loudspeaker can do everything. There is a certain "blemished midrange" with the O/93's that can be heard at times and they are not imaging/soundstage champions. But they are imminently satisfying to those of us who listen for certain things. 

When so many widely respected reviewers have Devore O/93's or 96's and when so few appear on the used market, that has to tell you something. 

And last, for now, there are advantages to high sensitivity easy-load loudspeakers and wide baffled loudspeakers are much more suited to those design characteristics. 

Nope, one more thing. Any post that starts with "I have a friend" or "I have two friends" should immediately alert the rest of us that some disinformation/confusion/distortion is about to follow. 

@ulul 18 Watts (or 30 into 4 Ohms) isn't a great deal of power. From the looks of the distortion curve vs power, if you want the most out of this amp it really should be loafing. I think it will sound fine with any of the speakers you mention, but that won't be the same as sounding its best.

It seems this amp flies in the face of most amps by having actually lower distortion into 4 Ohms, while still having a good harmonic spectrum of the distortion.

The trick is that speakers are measured using 2.83 Volts at 1 meter. So if its a 4 Ohm load, to make 2.83V Volts the amp is making 2 Watts. So a speaker that is 95 dB and 8 Ohms is 3dB more efficient than one that is 95dB and 4 Ohms. For that reason you are looking for a speaker that might be 100 to 103dB and also 4 Ohms, which strikes me as a bit unusual.

In an average room I found with speakers of 97dB that I needed a lot more power than I would have guessed, so as to keep things relaxed at normal listening levels. Good luck with the quest!

Fred,

I thought you were dead!  Sorry but not going to bite.