Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

Manufacturer's Comment

Editor: Thanks to both of Stereophile's JAs for a thorough review of our big Gibbons. As Jim Austin explains, the Gibbon X is the successor to our Silverback Reference. Their shared objective is to be a full-range speaker capable of putting a listener right in the recorded space, removing as many colorations, distortions, and distractions as possible.

Jim notes that "The X's dynamics could literally startle" and that "The X also demonstrated startling realism . . . at certain moments with very good recordings, beyond what I'd previously experienced in my home." He even experienced that rare ultimate in hi-fi reproduction, believing a performer was in the room with him: "I looked up, startled by the realism, and finding that [Cécile McLorin Salvant] wasn't actually physically there, smiled, shook my head, and went on with whatever I was doing."

The other JA, John Atkinson, mentions the similarity between the Gibbon X and the Silverback in his Measurements sidebar. While the Gibbon X is the same price the Silverback was when it was reviewed 12 years earlier, the new speaker significantly outperforms the old one in every way—subjectively in-room, as noted by Jim, and in its measurements, as noted by John.

Yes, the X is tuned in a similar way to the Silverback, which again puzzles John. He noted in 2006 that the Silverback included a switch that allowed the measurements to conform to a more textbook definition of perfect. Since then I have heard Silverbacks in dozens of systems around the world, and never once was the Measurement position [of this switch] as good as the Direct position. Designing the Gibbons, it was clear that an evolution of this loading was still the path to the degree of realism I was after. This still shows in the measurements, but, as John notes, "to a much lesser degree."

Lastly, thanks to Stereophile for persevering in these very difficult publishing times. Happy Listening!—John DeVore, DeVore Fidelity