Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

When I review audio gear, I've found that it's always wise to finish by returning to where I started.

I put the GoldenEar Triton Fives and Simaudio Moon Neo 340i integrated amplifier aside, and returned to my reference Line Magnetic LM-518IA and trusty DeVore Fidelity Orangutan O/93s ($8400/pair). Playing Cou$ins Presents . . . A Tribute 2 Studio One & Treasure Isle Records (LP, Cou$ins COUDLP037), I felt I was listening via Studio One's paper-coned monitor speakers. I was immediately struck by how much raw Jamaicanness appeared in my room. Wooden drumsticks slapping snare rims sounded distinctly more real and tangible. Electric-bass harmonics were more fully developed and corporeal. Offbeat rhythms and staccato chords volleyed for my attention. Percussion harmonics became suddenly visible.

That switch to the four-times-as-expensive DeVores ($8400/pair) put the Triton Fives ($1999.98/pair) in broader perspective. The Orangutan O/93s delivered a martial prowess and an extra-drunk dancing quality that the GoldenEars didn't. With the DeVores, there was more flesh and blood. I played King Arthur, by Henry Purcell, that prodigy of London's Old Pye Street and Devil's Acre, as recorded in 1979 by Alfred Deller and the Deller Consort (LP Harmonia Mundi HMC E200). This work, based on the poem by John Dryden, is neither opera nor play but one of those charming hybrids (semi-operas?) that Purcell and Deller seemed to specialize in, and features kicking horses and ritual sacrifices by the Saxon army. The Purcell was 100% enjoyable via both pairs of speakers, but the DeVores brought something extra—something more corporeal—to the presentation. The GoldenEars generated a big, open, fully constituted London-theatre space, filled with nicely articulated musicians and singers. But compared to the DeVores, the Triton Fives made Deller and his performers seem ghostly, and (strangely) more generalized.

Inarguably, the GoldenEar Triton Fives imaged better than the DeVore Orangutans, but they lacked a measure of the O/93s' punch, texture, and raw drive. Compared to the DeVores, the Tritons sounded a bit dark. The GoldenEars did audiophile-checklist stuff with unquestionable aplomb; the DeVores did dirt, dreads, colored lights on wires, and Red Stripe Jamaican Lager with greater realism. But again, the DeVores cost more than four times as much as the GoldenEars.— Herb Reichert

Herb Reichert compared the DeVore O/93 with the Zu Soul Supreme in June 2016 (Vol.39 No.6):

I hate comparisons, but Stereophile readers seem to love them. I hate comparisons because I loathe left-brain listening. I prefer to feel the music and dream along with it. Comparison means I have to think—maybe even quantify my experiences—and you all know I can't think and make love at the same time. (Can you?)

Actually, I'm not completely right-brain; I do measure the final value of all audio equipment by the quantity of musical connectedness it can provide.

DeVore Fidelity's Orangutan O/93s ($8400/pair) always deliver copious amounts of savory musical connectedness. So did Zu Audio's Soul Supremes. Both are very direct, exciting-sounding loudspeakers. Both are unusually expressive and very non–hi-fi. Both capture musical heartbeats well. Both love high-quality, low-power, class-A amplifiers.

But how, other than in price, do they differ? I suspect the answers lie in their crossover philosophies, their woofer loading, and, especially, the sound character and implementation of their paper cones.

To my ears, every speaker driver sounds like the materials of which its cone or dome is made. Other elements of the driver and the materials they're made of—iron, neodymium, beryllium, alnico, Kevlar, rubber, ceramic, plastic, etc.—also come into play. Each colors the music with its resonant nature—or at least I imagine they do.

As I listened to "Lullaby" from Scott Walker's and Sunn O)))'s Soused (LP, 4AD 73428) through the Line Magnetic LM-518 integrated and DeVore Orangutans, singer Scott Walker sounded less present, fearsome, and tactile than through the Soul Supremes. His voice also sounded much finer grained and relaxed. The DeVores are noticeably smoother through the midrange than the Zus. The Soul Supremes made music sound louder and more direct, with amazingly lifelike macrodynamics. The distance between soft and loud seemed greater through the Zus than through the DeVores. Compared to the Soul Supremes, the Orangutan O/93s capture more microdetail and dynamic nuance, but seem to compress larger dynamic contrasts. Music seemed to flow faster and more forcefully through the Zus—they had an inescapable "wild woman" boogie factor that swept me up and took me for a Cadillac ride to the Promised Land. The DeVores are a different kind of abductor: They seduce me with their saucy smile, barefoot dancing, and sequined Gypsy clothes. Both induce submission to their charms.

To my ears, the biggest difference between these two excellent—but non-mainstream!—speakers was in the voices of their very different magnet and (paper) cone structures. The Zu woofer's voice reminded me just a little of my ancient and beloved Altec 604s: lightning fast, mostly neutral, wide open, and breathy, while the DeVore O/93s deliver a less open but more refined, colorful, and modern sound. What I mean is: the 10" DeVore woofer delivers less dynamic slam, but more nuance and tonal shading.

Sean Casey and John DeVore are both extremely talented designers. I suspect that each made difficult decisions in order to preserve what he believed to be important. Consider me a fan of both aesthetics.— Herb Reichert