I have had the O96's for around 10 months, in two different homes and they are far and away my favorite speakers in this price range.
The review probably relates just as much to my Shindo amps or cables or any other part of my system as I am trying to get more of the things I love. With different amp preferences things may be different.
The runner up speakers out of the ones I auditioned were the T&F Pharaoh's and the Brodmann Vienna Classic VC7. The next group down from that were the Sonus Faber Stradivari, Proac D40's and Big Quad ESL's (I also owned). The Harbeth's (using LFD amps) didn't really do anything for me, I thought they were boring but similar designed modified Spender SP 1's (using Leak 20 amp) sounded quite good, so go figure. Listening in unfamiliar rooms with associated gear I am also unfamiliar with, isn't ideal. I only had five different pairs of speakers for home audition but usually took my Shindo preamp with me on auditions to swap in and out. I really didn't like any of the usual Hifi speakers like Focal, B&W 800's, Usher, Dyn's etc Even though I had K2P and 13" sub Focal's in my car for the last 7 years and will continue too, as I can't be bothered changing them.
The first thing I liked about the O96's was the tweeter and 10 inch driver being coherent enough for me, which I never thought possible. The sound feels together, which I noticed in the Gibbon 88's as well. Coming from Quad esl's many of the speakers I auditioned weren't coherent enough for me, which spoilt the listening event. I'm not saying the O96's are as coherent as some others, but it is coherent enough that I never have to worry about it.
The second thing I loved is it changes the way I listen to music. Auditioning SRV's Tin Pin Alley on other speakers had me analyzing the sound, for example thinking about the Bass and marveling at how I could tell in was a Fender precision for example. I was stuck in my head making judgements on the details of sounds. With the O96's I would listen to Tin Pin Alley and marvel at how the three musicians were in the groove with each other. I would feel the synergy of the band and get lost in the performance. I would be listening with my heart having an emotional response rather than comparing which albums were recorded better. There was less comparing and more enjoying. I was listening to music on my O96's like I listen to music at a concert, rather than in a recording studio pulling it apart and analyzing it. This allows me to go back to listening to music I want to hear rather than chase quality recordings. Even bad recordings that I could never stand listening on my hifi super detailed system, now sounded great as it was about the flow and timing of the music more than the sounds. Another example is Hotel California acoustic version, I can't stand listening to this song as I have heard it to many times and analyzed it to death on different systems. I have a million things running through my head during the track - is the bass bloated is the sound stage wide and deep etc I was listening to this by accident through the Devore O96's when I first got my Shindo Haut Brion and and the start of the performance when the audience starts to clap as it realizes for the first time the song is a rearranged Hotel California, I get this huge emotional reaction like I am in the audience witnessing history, like I am about to hear something really big and momentous. The feelings of the audience, in the occasion, where flowing through me. This is a song I can't stand ha ha. I was lost in the musical event during the previous song and wasn't able to judge the song analytically as it came on. I was listening to some old audiophile reference track CD I had recently found (not knowing what songs were on it) and stayed lost listening to it. Listening with my heart rather than with my head is the best way to put it.
The third thing I liked about the Devores was the tone. My background is a guitarist that is obsessed with tone. I collect vintage amps like vox, marshalls and fenders because there is something I hear in them that I can't hear in many modern designs. Its like a brand new pair of stiff jeans vs an old pair than fits like a glove. There is an artificial tightness to the sound that is hard to put a finger on. Most Hifi speakers with modern materials in the cones just don't have the same naturalness about the tone, when I hear an audience clapping it doesn't sound anything like clapping to me, there is a sharpness that is artificial, its missing a warmness its like the clapping is done with metal hands rather that soft skin and flesh. In the act of cleaning up the sound in the name of hyper detail the texture has been bleached out.
Fourth is the rich Harmonic's. I have an old Lowden guitar that has so much character its woody, harmonic, rich, interesting. It gives me goose bumps playing in alternative tunings. In a similar way I get excited hearing the O96's, they are rich and alive sounding and interesting. To me they have more detail in this way than many of the other speakers I tried.
Fifth I really love the tweeter on the O96. It does treble how I like to hear it. The T&F Pharaoh is more hyper detailed and sharp and ruthless toward bad recordings. The O96's let cymbals disappear slowly into the abyss in a way that is emotionally exciting delicate and beautiful. Changing to Shindo cables did help perfect this in my system. It feels tantalizing to hear the cymbals texture but also hear it disappear like the flavor of good champagne slowly disappearing from the mouth. The anticipation of it leaving adds another layer of enjoyment to the event.
Sixth The bass is more like the bass I felt playing in bands...
I don't have time to go on but I will come back with more on why I love these speakers and add the things they don't do so well, when I get time.
any more Devore O96 owners in here ?
