Looking for advice on these speakers


I'm going to trade my 180 watts tube amps for yet unknown SET amps, and will need a new pair of speakers to go with them. I'm considering speakers from DeVore Fidelity, Coincident, and Deadalus Audio. My budget is up to about $15,000. Unfortunately, I'm not able to audition any of them so I was hoping that I could get some meaningful advice from my fellow Audiogoners. Here are my potential choices:

1. DeVore Orangutan 0/96; Coincident Super Victory II; Daedalus Athena

2. DeVore Silverback Reference; Coincident Total Victory V; Daedalus Argos or Ulysses

The analog front is a VPI Classic with a Lyra Delos (soon Kleos or possibly Etna). My musical preferences are roughly 50% classic jazz and 50% classic rock.

Thank you for any advice or input.
actusreus
You have good taste and these three brands are highly respected and
admired. I'll offer this opinion, SET amplifiers will potentially sound best
with simpler- minimalist speaker crossovers and higher(and flat) ohm
loads. All three of these speakers are high sensitivity, but the Orangutan
and the
Coincident have higher ohm load and I believe simpler xovers than
Daedalus ( relatively speaking). Of course the amplifier matters, are you
seeking 300b, 845, 211, 2A3 tubes? The Daedalus "may" require
a bit more drive than the other two choices. I'm not sure Daedalus
recommends SET amplifiers with the same unbridled enthusiasm as the
other two models(specifically built with SET in mind) you list. The
Orangutan is a simple two way with one xover. Coincident is a 3 way but
strives for minimal capacitor use. Daedalus models have 3 or 4 xover
boards per the web site description. In reality I don't know how much it
comes into play, but it's a more complex xover network in comparison. At
the very least it's a factor to keep in mind. Good luck to you.
Stereo Mojo were very enthusiastic in their review of the Coincident Super Victory. Speaker of the Year 2008

"The Coincident Super Victory’s are extraordinary in some areas such as their ability to play at significant levels with very low output amplifiers such as SET’s and their uncanny ability to sound very good with many types of amplification without being “forgiving” or compromising the sound quality."

http://www.stereomojo.com/CoincidentSuperVictorySpeakerReview/CoincidentSuperVictorySpeakerReview.htm

A few months later they reviewed the Total Victory but were more reserved in their review, and James Darby actually thought that the cheaper speakers ($5k cheaper) had more magic.

You can't hear them as I understand, so you may as well listen to what Darby says. Unless you have a huge room, the Supers would be better.

Some have said that Coincident efficiency ratings may be slightly overstated. I own Super Eclipses and got quite an appreciable improvement changing from 8w SETs to 18w SETs.

The Daedalus line have their supporters, and they are very nicely made. They received plaudits at the RMAF last year, and were rated by some as one of the best rooms at the show. But I tend to agree with Charles1dad that they may be slightly more demanding and suited to amps of more than 8w (300B).

I don't know the DeVore range at all, but 96dB/w/m is impressive. The DeVore Orangutan 0/96 could be the one if you are going with a SET with lower power than the 300B.

Back to Stereo Mojo - Darby wrote "I’d buy the Super Vic’s, the Frankenstein monoblocks and the new Coincident Statement Linestage we just reviewed. For about $20k, you’d have a system that takes a back seat to nothing in terms of pure musically and supreme satisfaction."

Regards,
Room size will determine the appropriate speaker choice as Metralla points
out. The Super Victory is said to work well in small to moderately large
rooms. The Total Victory V better for substantial sized spaces. Devore has
an Orangutan 0/93 for smaller rooms. In the mentioned price range is the
Austrian made Trenner-Friedl Pharoah which is considered SET friendly. A
lot depends on which type of SET will be used and room size. There are
very respected folks on this site who love their Zu Definitions IV speakers,
though they may need some space to sound their best.Many fine choices/
combinations are possible.
Charles,