Frank Harvey
Well-known member
Looking forward to having a play with one of these tomorrow - I've been intrigued by the Devialet for quite some time...
I've been listening to quite a bit of opera lately, both live and at home. One of the odd features of live opera is that the music (generally) comes out of a pit, so it's somewhat compromised sonically. The top end, which as we know is more directional than low frequencies, gets somewhat obscured or masked. And in general, you don't get a particularly good sense of the placement of instruments. In practice that's actually not such a bad thing: the music turns into a textural wash and becomes a backdrop for the voices, which are of course very precisely located on the stage.
On the other hand, the voices lose nothing of their top end. In fact, on a visit to the ROH on Monday I was struck by the amount of spittiness in the singing -- not in a bad way, it was just that I was paying special attention to the sonics. And frankly it helps to have something to focus on during five hours of Wagner. In fact, being reminded of how much spittiness there is in live singing has removed one of my mild anxieties about recorded music. Sometimes my system does sound a bit spitty, but I guess it's just doing its job.
But the real point of this comparison of live and recorded opera is just how wonderfully solid the voices are in good opera recordings. By solid I mean the voices are tangibly real and present. They have the proper timbre of human voices, built of flesh and air (and not remotely strangled, as I found with the Marshall Choongs). And the voices don't float or waver ambiguously in space: they stand firm and still.
The Devialet is doing a wonderful job. This amp and speaker combo really can sound like live opera -- well, with the exception of a smidge of missing bottom end. But otherwise the system doesn't give much away sonically to the real thing. I honestly never thought I'd say that.
:cheers:
Matt
On the other hand, the voices lose nothing of their top end. In fact, on a visit to the ROH on Monday I was struck by the amount of spittiness in the singing -- not in a bad way, it was just that I was paying special attention to the sonics. And frankly it helps to have something to focus on during five hours of Wagner. In fact, being reminded of how much spittiness there is in live singing has removed one of my mild anxieties about recorded music. Sometimes my system does sound a bit spitty, but I guess it's just doing its job.
But the real point of this comparison of live and recorded opera is just how wonderfully solid the voices are in good opera recordings. By solid I mean the voices are tangibly real and present. They have the proper timbre of human voices, built of flesh and air (and not remotely strangled, as I found with the Marshall Choongs). And the voices don't float or waver ambiguously in space: they stand firm and still.
The Devialet is doing a wonderful job. This amp and speaker combo really can sound like live opera -- well, with the exception of a smidge of missing bottom end. But otherwise the system doesn't give much away sonically to the real thing. I honestly never thought I'd say that.
:cheers:
Matt
Interestingly ine of the finest sounds I have ever heard was in the (late) Alastair Robertson-Aikman's listening room.
ARA was a devoted opera lover and his listening room had a faux proscenium arch with the speakers and amplifiers hidden behind an extremely light and acoustically transparent curtains. They were virtually see through too, but the lighting could be switched to be off 'on stage' and on in the main listening area as you can see in the picture.
The room was around 40 x 30 ft with the various players and pre-amp in low consoles in front of the sitting area. The pre-amp, usually an ARC Reference drove balanced line level cables to a pair of huge Krell stereo amplifiers, each one driving two modified ELS63s. I saw this systems in a number of different configurations though different in detail only, the phono stage and pre-amp invariablty ARC, the power amps Krell and Quad speakers.
ARA hac a selection of superb (commercial) recordings and some of them were so lifelike that it really did sound real, just that someone had forgotten to open the curtains. The voices were not just pinpoint but in the case of live recordings, it was quite easy to hear the singers moving about the stage.
Surprisingly, and much to ARA's distaste, the system was pretty good on some classic rock recordings too.
ARA was a devoted opera lover and his listening room had a faux proscenium arch with the speakers and amplifiers hidden behind an extremely light and acoustically transparent curtains. They were virtually see through too, but the lighting could be switched to be off 'on stage' and on in the main listening area as you can see in the picture.
The room was around 40 x 30 ft with the various players and pre-amp in low consoles in front of the sitting area. The pre-amp, usually an ARC Reference drove balanced line level cables to a pair of huge Krell stereo amplifiers, each one driving two modified ELS63s. I saw this systems in a number of different configurations though different in detail only, the phono stage and pre-amp invariablty ARC, the power amps Krell and Quad speakers.
ARA hac a selection of superb (commercial) recordings and some of them were so lifelike that it really did sound real, just that someone had forgotten to open the curtains. The voices were not just pinpoint but in the case of live recordings, it was quite easy to hear the singers moving about the stage.
Surprisingly, and much to ARA's distaste, the system was pretty good on some classic rock recordings too.
Frank Harvey
Well-known member
DocG
Well-known member
Last Thursday, I could finally pick up my amp in Antwerp. I took it straight to another dealer nearby, for some more demoing. On the menu were the Guru QM10two and the Diapason Adamantes III 25th Anniversary.
The Gurus are known for their exceptionally deep bass, and that is what struck me first indeed. The bass is deep, and well textured too. The total sound balance was not right though. To my ears the bass was overdone, thus dominating the mids: not natural. I think that could well have been due to the listening room, which was rather narrow, and wasn't acoustically treated yet. But as was: not very convincing...
What was convincing though is their ability to unravel a difficult, dense recording, providing an immaculate window into the music.
Interesting speakers, for sure. And IMO excellent VFM. I guess I could well live with them, but then, they didn't touch me emotionally. I can't put my finger on what was missing (tonal balance? speed? dynamics?), or why/how (intrinsic? amp match? spoilt by the room?) but my imagination was not able to carry me away and really connect me with the music. I'm still pondering wether to keep them on the shortlist for a home demo (whenever our home will be ready... if ever). Will depend on the competition, I guess!
Next up were the Adamantes. Beautifully crafted, full-wood sculptures, they make for some serious eye candy! These speakers really shouldn't blend in with the decor. They deserve to stand out!
The tonal balance was certainly more equilibrated than the Gurus', in this room at least. Their midrange is to die for (voices! saxophone!). Dynamics are excellent, probably courtesy of the crossoverless mid-bass driver. Very convincing.
Then again, though they were placed on their dedicated stands, and clearly further away from the frontwall than I could ever house them, the bass was not as taut as I thought was possible. We moved them further into the room, and things improved markedly. As my speakers will end up either on a cupboard, or wall-mounted, I realized I could never do these beauties justice. Which is a shame.
So: not for me! But if you have the room to position them 4-5 ft from the walls, they do deserve a serious audition! Doctor's advice!
The Gurus are known for their exceptionally deep bass, and that is what struck me first indeed. The bass is deep, and well textured too. The total sound balance was not right though. To my ears the bass was overdone, thus dominating the mids: not natural. I think that could well have been due to the listening room, which was rather narrow, and wasn't acoustically treated yet. But as was: not very convincing...
What was convincing though is their ability to unravel a difficult, dense recording, providing an immaculate window into the music.
Interesting speakers, for sure. And IMO excellent VFM. I guess I could well live with them, but then, they didn't touch me emotionally. I can't put my finger on what was missing (tonal balance? speed? dynamics?), or why/how (intrinsic? amp match? spoilt by the room?) but my imagination was not able to carry me away and really connect me with the music. I'm still pondering wether to keep them on the shortlist for a home demo (whenever our home will be ready... if ever). Will depend on the competition, I guess!
Next up were the Adamantes. Beautifully crafted, full-wood sculptures, they make for some serious eye candy! These speakers really shouldn't blend in with the decor. They deserve to stand out!
The tonal balance was certainly more equilibrated than the Gurus', in this room at least. Their midrange is to die for (voices! saxophone!). Dynamics are excellent, probably courtesy of the crossoverless mid-bass driver. Very convincing.
Then again, though they were placed on their dedicated stands, and clearly further away from the frontwall than I could ever house them, the bass was not as taut as I thought was possible. We moved them further into the room, and things improved markedly. As my speakers will end up either on a cupboard, or wall-mounted, I realized I could never do these beauties justice. Which is a shame.
So: not for me! But if you have the room to position them 4-5 ft from the walls, they do deserve a serious audition! Doctor's advice!
Thanks for the report, Doc.
The Adamantes are certainly lovely to look at: a bigger and more sculpted version of the SF Electa Amator? They sound promising and they're not outrageously expensive, though as you say not suitable for your space.
A shame about the Gurus.
It may be, as you say, that the room acoustics weren't right. But it may be that the problem is the relatively small LF drivers (especially in the Gurus). If you ask a 4" driver to cover such a wide range, you're bound to get break-up. Maybe worth considering some three-way speakers? Or perhaps the Vivids will work for you.
:santa:
Matt
The Adamantes are certainly lovely to look at: a bigger and more sculpted version of the SF Electa Amator? They sound promising and they're not outrageously expensive, though as you say not suitable for your space.
A shame about the Gurus.
It may be, as you say, that the room acoustics weren't right. But it may be that the problem is the relatively small LF drivers (especially in the Gurus). If you ask a 4" driver to cover such a wide range, you're bound to get break-up. Maybe worth considering some three-way speakers? Or perhaps the Vivids will work for you.
:santa:
Matt
DocG
Well-known member
DocG
Well-known member
Last Friday, I made a trip to the Netherlands (well, just across the border), where I would finally hear the Vivid V1.5, driven by my own Dev. Expectations were high, so you might understand my disappointment, when the dealer told me he had sold his demo pair, and the buyer had just come to collect them the evening before. He would have a new pair in next week. For a split second, I considered wrecking his shop. But then again, why not have a listen with what he had on demo, and come back later for the Vivids? And so we did.
As I'm looking for speakers to be used close to the front wall, he first set up the Klangwerk Muro VOL on-wall speakers. These stylish boxes are adored by many an interior architect, I'm sure, with their elegant dimensions (H x W x D = 72 x 21 x 10 cm). The baffle is made of Creanit, an inert, artificial stone composite, while the rest of the box consists of MDF, in a Nextel paint, with a nearly invisible bass slot in the top of the cabinet. The Muros are two-ways, with a a titanium tweeter sporting an acoustic lens and a waveguide for even dispersion.
As soon as the music started, I was surprised by the width of the soundstage -- well, make that flabbergasted or staggered: it was huge, larger than life, actually just too big, unnatural. As if the musicians were spread across a 10 m wide podium, with the drummer running from one kettle to the other cymbal. Probably excellent for background music in a very large room, but weird for 'serious listening'. The music was somewhat anemic too, mostly due to thin bass, and lacked dynamics. As you've guessed already: no involvement, no goosebumps. Next.
We changed the Klangwerks for the Audiovector Vi1 Avantgardes. These are two-way speakers, whose mid-bass driver and Heil-tweeter (or Air Motion Transformer, if you like) are both vented to the back of the cabinet, thus preventing dynamic congestion, and refining the stereo image. A simple design, but superbly finished in piano white and natural metal (aluminum?). Very neat on their dedicated stands. They were put just 20 cm off the front wall, to mimic the situation in our will-be library.
As soon as I started listening, I realised: these speakers are different. Fast. Dynamic. Transparent. The bass is very solid for the size, punchy too. The midrange is delicate, detailed and nuanced and completed by the crispest of trebbles.
After two tracks, I left the test disks behind, and played one CD after the other (just like I did when I first heard the Quad ESLs!), until I had to hurry back home, and was late to get the kids from school after all...
In conclusion: the least boxy of box-speakers I ever heard, a standmounted ESL.
I hope the Vivids will astound me even more (or maybe the Rosso Fiorentinos, which are also still on the menu), but if this is as good as it gets, I'll be a happy man! Number one on my short list, for sure. Just waiting for the chance to demo them home...
As I'm looking for speakers to be used close to the front wall, he first set up the Klangwerk Muro VOL on-wall speakers. These stylish boxes are adored by many an interior architect, I'm sure, with their elegant dimensions (H x W x D = 72 x 21 x 10 cm). The baffle is made of Creanit, an inert, artificial stone composite, while the rest of the box consists of MDF, in a Nextel paint, with a nearly invisible bass slot in the top of the cabinet. The Muros are two-ways, with a a titanium tweeter sporting an acoustic lens and a waveguide for even dispersion.
As soon as the music started, I was surprised by the width of the soundstage -- well, make that flabbergasted or staggered: it was huge, larger than life, actually just too big, unnatural. As if the musicians were spread across a 10 m wide podium, with the drummer running from one kettle to the other cymbal. Probably excellent for background music in a very large room, but weird for 'serious listening'. The music was somewhat anemic too, mostly due to thin bass, and lacked dynamics. As you've guessed already: no involvement, no goosebumps. Next.
We changed the Klangwerks for the Audiovector Vi1 Avantgardes. These are two-way speakers, whose mid-bass driver and Heil-tweeter (or Air Motion Transformer, if you like) are both vented to the back of the cabinet, thus preventing dynamic congestion, and refining the stereo image. A simple design, but superbly finished in piano white and natural metal (aluminum?). Very neat on their dedicated stands. They were put just 20 cm off the front wall, to mimic the situation in our will-be library.
As soon as I started listening, I realised: these speakers are different. Fast. Dynamic. Transparent. The bass is very solid for the size, punchy too. The midrange is delicate, detailed and nuanced and completed by the crispest of trebbles.
After two tracks, I left the test disks behind, and played one CD after the other (just like I did when I first heard the Quad ESLs!), until I had to hurry back home, and was late to get the kids from school after all...
In conclusion: the least boxy of box-speakers I ever heard, a standmounted ESL.
I hope the Vivids will astound me even more (or maybe the Rosso Fiorentinos, which are also still on the menu), but if this is as good as it gets, I'll be a happy man! Number one on my short list, for sure. Just waiting for the chance to demo them home...
Macspur
Well-known member
Thanks for the latest installment Doc... I tried some floor standing AV's a couple of years ago, sorry model escapes me. They were quite good, but nothing outstanding.
Mac
www.macsmusic.blogbubble.net
Mac
www.macsmusic.blogbubble.net
Cheers, Doc.
I've heard good things about the Audiovectors, and your report is a very strong recommendation. I just hope I'm going to get to hear the Avantgarde models with the ribbon (?) tweeters. I like the idea of the separate HF and LF ports and the fact that the boxes have curved sides. How did the bass feel? Do you think they'd work in your (if you'll forgive me) somewhat compromised space?
:santa:
Matt
I've heard good things about the Audiovectors, and your report is a very strong recommendation. I just hope I'm going to get to hear the Avantgarde models with the ribbon (?) tweeters. I like the idea of the separate HF and LF ports and the fact that the boxes have curved sides. How did the bass feel? Do you think they'd work in your (if you'll forgive me) somewhat compromised space?
:santa:
Matt
DocG
Well-known member
Macspur said:
Hi Mac,
Well, there is quite some variation in the Audiovector range, with a K and a V series, and the different models within each range (Super, Signature, Avantgarde, Arrete), with upgrades in drivers, cross-overs and what have you; everything but the cabinet actually. Though some of these upgrades are debatable (cryogenic treatment anyone?), I think the ribbon tweeter in the Avantgarde model does a marvelous job.
If you can't be bothered with testing anymore, and just want to listen to as much music as possible, something is very right! It could all be a synergy thing with the Devialet too, of course!
Macspur
Well-known member
DocG said:
You're absolutely right!
To be fare, like all my home demoes with speakers when I had the Sugden, base was always an issue in my listening room... it would be interesting to try them all again with the Accuphase!
Mac
www.macsmusic.blogbubble.net
DocG
Well-known member
matt49 said:
Hi Matt,
As I just stated in my reply to Mac's comment, I do think the tweeter plays a pivotal role in this model, as does the double port.
After the Klangwerk demo, the AV's bass was rich and punchy. I have a demo track with two slapped bass guitars (Victor Wooten vs. Marcus Miller), that often gives a muddy result with lesser equipment, but here it was very taut and punchy, with the two basslines well separated.
While listening, I moved the speakers around a bit, and getting them further into the room surely payed dividends. It was not so much of a bass issue, more of a 'hardening' of the sound, with less 'air' when closer to the wall. Moving them from 20 to 30 cm away from the wall (which would probably still be feasible for me) lead to a marked improvement. Obviously, I'm gonna try them at home if/when we ever move house.
I have a hunch that a diffusor behind the speakers would help too. I'll check that with an expert tomorrow.
DocG said:
That sounds excellent all round.
I guess the improvement in sharpness when the speakers are moved out from the wall is to be expected. Having 'normal' speakers close to a rear (or side) wall is always going to confuse the sound, and with rear-ported speakers the effect will presumably be more noticeable. I now have GIK bass trap panels behind my speakers, which helps with both the bass and overall crispness. These may be a bit big for your situation, and diffusors may be the way to go.
You're sounding a bit doubtful about the new house. I hope that sorts itself out.
:santa:
Matt
DocG
Well-known member
matt49 said:
Yeah, we'll see after the court session on Thursday...
You had plans on moving house too, recently. So what happened? Found something? Or did you call it off?
DocG said:
We were all set to go, and we put in an opening offer on the house. Then the estate agents who'd given us an initial valuation of our house (the same agents who were selling the house we wanted to buy) reduced the valuation of our house by a rather large sum, which made it very marginal for us.
Since we would have been moving into central London, where prices are largely determined by Russian money and seem rather inflated to us, we got cold feet.
A shame as it was a beautiful house and would have given me a huge listening room.
Matt
DocG
Well-known member
Sorry to hear that, Matt. But at least all is clear: you quaffed the bitter cup, and life goes on...
As for us: I feel like we are treading water for over two-and-a-half years. One of the contractors keeps refusing to fulfil his promises. Instead of 15 days, it's taken him nearly three years and counting. Last year we saw no other option than suing him, but things look even worse since: he now has a lawyer to help him impede and oppose.
Well, at least I have my happy place, here on the forum! I think my wife should have something similar... :?
As for us: I feel like we are treading water for over two-and-a-half years. One of the contractors keeps refusing to fulfil his promises. Instead of 15 days, it's taken him nearly three years and counting. Last year we saw no other option than suing him, but things look even worse since: he now has a lawyer to help him impede and oppose.
Well, at least I have my happy place, here on the forum!
I think my wife should have something similar... :?Macspur
Well-known member
DocG said:Sorry to hear that, Matt. But at least all is clear: you quaffed the bitter cup, and life goes on...
As for us: I feel like we are treading water for over two-and-a-half years. One of the contractors keeps refusing to fulfil his promises. Instead of 15 days, it's taken him nearly three years and counting. Last year we saw no other option than suing him, but things look even worse since: he now has a lawyer to help him impede and oppose.
Well, at least I have my happy place, here on the forum!
Doc, you could always get her to sign up for Macs Music!
Mac
www.macsmusic.blogbubble.net
DocG
Well-known member
Macspur said:DocG said:Sorry to hear that, Matt. But at least all is clear: you quaffed the bitter cup, and life goes on...
As for us: I feel like we are treading water for over two-and-a-half years. One of the contractors keeps refusing to fulfil his promises. Instead of 15 days, it's taken him nearly three years and counting. Last year we saw no other option than suing him, but things look even worse since: he now has a lawyer to help him impede and oppose.
Well, at least I have my happy place, here on the forum!
Doc, you could always get her to sign up for Macs Music!
Mac
www.macsmusic.blogbubble.net
Haha, excellent! Will do!
DocG said:As for us: I feel like we are treading water for over two-and-a-half years. One of the contractors keeps refusing to fulfil his promises. Instead of 15 days, it's taken him nearly three years and counting. Last year we saw no other option than suing him, but things look even worse since: he now has a lawyer to help him impede and oppose.
Well, at least I have my happy place, here on the forum!
Argh, that sounds like a real trial (apologies for the pun). I shudder to think how frustrating it must be. And lawyers too! :read:
At least in the meantime you have great sounds from your Devialet. Have you thought of getting a nice pair of second-hand speakers which would tide you over and which you could sell on at minimal loss? I've had a lot of fun working on a modest second-hand system for our holiday cottage.
:santa:
Matt
DocG
Well-known member
matt49 said:DocG said:As for us: I feel like we are treading water for over two-and-a-half years. One of the contractors keeps refusing to fulfil his promises. Instead of 15 days, it's taken him nearly three years and counting. Last year we saw no other option than suing him, but things look even worse since: he now has a lawyer to help him impede and oppose.
Well, at least I have my happy place, here on the forum!
Argh, that sounds like a real trial (apologies for the pun). I shudder to think how frustrating it must be. And lawyers too! :read:
At least in the meantime you have great sounds from your Devialet. Have you thought of getting a nice pair of second-hand speakers which would tide you over and which you could sell on at minimal loss? I've had a lot of fun working on a modest second-hand system for our holiday cottage.
:santa:
Matt
Actually, I bought the Devialet cos I needed some consolation (and because an amp doesn't depend on the room it's used in). It helped me realize my life is mine, and not my bully's. ATM I'm fine with what I have. The speaker quest is more of an escape now, to help me put the building troubles (this emoticon looks very appropriate: :wall: , haha) out of my mind from time to time. And it gives me something to look forward to, when we will finally move house!
DocG
Well-known member
DocG said:
I talked to my expert yesterday. And while a diffusor panel won't affect any bass boom issues (DSP is the elegant way forward here -- come on, Devialet!), diffusion is certainly helpful for anything >150 Hz, so definitely for the rear firing tweeter, where the effect would be similar to moving the speakers away from the front wall. An absorption panel behind the speakers would rather rob the life out of them, and would have to be very thick to handle real bass, so not an option here.
I hope he can suggest me the right solution for my house-proud other half.
DocG
Well-known member
As you might recall, the Anthony Gallo Strada was also on my radar, but very hard to audition here in Belgium. The (Dutch) distributor pointed me to Koen Vaessen (Never heard of him? Nor had I!) in Brasschaat near Antwerp, who had ordered a pair for a customer in Ostend. Unfortunately the timing (speakers going US --> UK --> Holland --> Brasschaat --> Ostend) was too tight, and I didn't make it to Koen's place in time. So the Stradas are installed somewhere in Ostend by now... Meanwhile I had learnt that Koen is a professional speaker builder since 15 years. Two designs of his have been reviewed in 6Moons - very favourably - but are way out of my price league. However, he was about to finish a new speaker type, the Orb, a smaller two-way, costing 5.000 or 7.500 EUR per pair, depending on the tweeter and crossover he employs. The picture on his website is somewhat misleading (they look tiny for some reason), but these are full-fat monitors, with a 8" carbon driver and either a 1" ceramic inverted dome (white speaker, in profile on the picture) or 7 cm Raal tweeter (red cabinet, frontal). The rather wide baffle is covered with a faceted metal plate, which diffuses the reflected soundwaves. The cornerless, sealed cabinets are made of glass fibre (light, mouldable, no parallel surfaces and with a very high resonance frequency). The cabinets can be lacquered in any RAL-colour without additional cost (in a Bentley-certified paintshop!). With their rounded back, they can be used close to a wall, without a real bass-boom risk. The Orb speakers can be used vertically or horizontally (in which case the ribbon-tweeter is rotated), on a pedestal or a wall-bracket.
When I called Koen last Wednesday, he was just about to finish his prototypes; he would start running them in that same day. So Friday I went to meet him and his speakers. When I arrived, the Orbs with ceramic tweeters were driven by a Luxman valve pre-power combo. After some 48 hours of music, the hardest edges had disappeared, so he told me, but it would take some more time before all was working at its best. To my ears it sounded very nice already. But I wanted to hear the speakers, driven by my Devialet, so we switched the amplifiers. Source was a Luxman UDP, connected with a coax SPDIF.
When the music was resumed, the sound was... very mediocre, flat, cardboard, not engaging at all! Indeed, that's what a stone cold Devialet amp sounds like! Two or three songs later, everything quickly came to life again. Punch and depth returned. The speakers are easy to drive, with a 90+ dB sensitivity and 8 Ohm impedance (Koen had been running them in with his valve amp, driving both pairs in parallel without any issues). There are no formal specs at hand yet (proper measurements still have to be done), but based on how a double bass is rendered, the Orb seems to dig well below 40 Hz, though the deepest sub bass in James Blake's version of 'Limit to Your Love' is missing - hey, it's a monitor!
Driven by the Dev, the Orbs were a bit on the bright side, but nonetheless, I really liked what they did. Most impressive were their speed and dynamics, and the complete absence of box-colouration. They preserve a balanced sound and a proper stereo image in a fairly wide sweet spot too. Koen agreed on the brightness of the combo. But this may get better once the tweeter is run in a little longer. And the speakers can still be voiced to taste (or to match the amplifier) if necessary.
After about an hour, we switched to the red speakers, with their ribbon tweeters. The character was very similar, but they had more of nearly everything (well, the bass depth was the same): even faster and sharper, more delicate and more vigourous, more spacious too... And a tad brighter still...
We spent the rest of the afternoon browsing through his collection of CDs and DVD-As. I had a great day!
Returning home, I wondered if my OH could get past their purposeful looks; maybe I should ask if a grille is an option, to 'civilize' them a little... But when I showed her the picture, she only asked if other colours are available too. As for the grille-less fronts, she replied: "They are speakers, darling. No need to hide that!". I love her.
And the Vaessen Orb is put firmly on my shortlist, next to the Audiovectors. Next is the Vivid V1, but that'll be for next year.
Merry Christmas,
Doc
EDIT: what is happening to the forum? I cannot lay-out my text. It is rendered like a stream of consciousness... :?
When I called Koen last Wednesday, he was just about to finish his prototypes; he would start running them in that same day. So Friday I went to meet him and his speakers. When I arrived, the Orbs with ceramic tweeters were driven by a Luxman valve pre-power combo. After some 48 hours of music, the hardest edges had disappeared, so he told me, but it would take some more time before all was working at its best. To my ears it sounded very nice already. But I wanted to hear the speakers, driven by my Devialet, so we switched the amplifiers. Source was a Luxman UDP, connected with a coax SPDIF.
When the music was resumed, the sound was... very mediocre, flat, cardboard, not engaging at all! Indeed, that's what a stone cold Devialet amp sounds like! Two or three songs later, everything quickly came to life again. Punch and depth returned. The speakers are easy to drive, with a 90+ dB sensitivity and 8 Ohm impedance (Koen had been running them in with his valve amp, driving both pairs in parallel without any issues). There are no formal specs at hand yet (proper measurements still have to be done), but based on how a double bass is rendered, the Orb seems to dig well below 40 Hz, though the deepest sub bass in James Blake's version of 'Limit to Your Love' is missing - hey, it's a monitor!
Driven by the Dev, the Orbs were a bit on the bright side, but nonetheless, I really liked what they did. Most impressive were their speed and dynamics, and the complete absence of box-colouration. They preserve a balanced sound and a proper stereo image in a fairly wide sweet spot too. Koen agreed on the brightness of the combo. But this may get better once the tweeter is run in a little longer. And the speakers can still be voiced to taste (or to match the amplifier) if necessary.
After about an hour, we switched to the red speakers, with their ribbon tweeters. The character was very similar, but they had more of nearly everything (well, the bass depth was the same): even faster and sharper, more delicate and more vigourous, more spacious too... And a tad brighter still...
We spent the rest of the afternoon browsing through his collection of CDs and DVD-As. I had a great day!
Returning home, I wondered if my OH could get past their purposeful looks; maybe I should ask if a grille is an option, to 'civilize' them a little... But when I showed her the picture, she only asked if other colours are available too. As for the grille-less fronts, she replied: "They are speakers, darling. No need to hide that!". I love her.
And the Vaessen Orb is put firmly on my shortlist, next to the Audiovectors. Next is the Vivid V1, but that'll be for next year.
Merry Christmas,
Doc
EDIT: what is happening to the forum? I cannot lay-out my text. It is rendered like a stream of consciousness... :?
Cheers, Doc, they sound really interesting. Fast and clean sounds good. I'm definitely with you on the advantages of non-cuboid enclosures.
Any idea when these might go into production?
What were they sitting on?
Also great to hear that Mrs Doc takes a laudably pragmatic view of the whole speaker issue. Mrs 49 is also tolerant, though there's a certain amount of eyebrow-raising.
Have a great Devialet Xmas!
Matt
Any idea when these might go into production?
What were they sitting on?
Also great to hear that Mrs Doc takes a laudably pragmatic view of the whole speaker issue. Mrs 49 is also tolerant, though there's a certain amount of eyebrow-raising.
Have a great Devialet Xmas!
Matt
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