Anyone Heard the DeVore Silverbacks?

I've heard them on 3 occasions. A brief listen at sound by singer driven by BAT tubes(I think). Not that impressed the first time around, but these may have been prototypes that were later revised. 2nd time round was at the Stereophile show was much more promising. This time around driven by Sim audio gear, which wouldn't be my first choice as John Devore tends to voice more with tubes in mind. 3rd time was at In Living Stereo driven by Shindo Electronics, Reimyo CD player. Very, very, very good, and with Vinyl, exquisite, so the devores definitely show you what's up front and like all speakers the amp/speaker interface is key. I would recommend INLS for a demo things tend to sound better in their demos to my ears than at Singer.

I wouldn't be afraid to match your gear with the Devores as I run Gibbon 8's(so I'm obviously a fan) with a Lavardin intergrated (SS) and get superb results. I think that low power SETs of 8-16 watts are marginal for these speakers in your size room. I have an almost identical room and recently moved away from my 8 watt SETS on the gibbons.

Very much worth a listen, but as you know lots of great speakers in that price range.

IPeter

Prfont. Thanks for the thoughtful comments. I have set up a demo at Living Stereo and am looking forward to hearing the Silverbacks. I'd like to probe one of your comments a little more deeply--that there are a number of "great" speakers in that price range. Actually, I have found quite the opposite. I've been on a quest for over a year to find an attractive, floorstanding speaker that actually sounds good to no avail. What do you like out there in the sub $15 K range that I might not have heard? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I had the opportunity to hear them at In Living Stereo when I was visiting in NYC. They had just changed the placement over the weekend when I went in on a Friday. It was the same equipment set up that was mentioned by Prfont. Jonathan was great to deal with and as I waiting to pick something up a gentleman went by and went into the same room. I went back in with Jonathan to do some more listening. Turns out it was Dr. Jules Coleman. Had a great talk with them and the speakers were wonderful sounding. The only thing I had to get used to was the rumble when the subway went by.

Dodge,

I had posted a response and am not sure what happened to it. I had the fortune to hear quite a lot over the past few years and hear are a few standouts in my mind - these are mostly below your budget. Merlin MMX: have always loved the sound of these and am always eyeing them on Agon. Quad 988 really open my eyes to the legendary quad sound - they come with some caveats as to what type of material you listen to, but in my mind one of the most musical speakers out there. Avalon Arcus, and Dali M4s are 2 others that in some systems, may float your boat - I think all of these can be heard in the NYC area.

good luck