Sound Visions
From the very first bass notes of Dire Strait’s “You and Your Friend,” I kinda knew this was the system for me. The airy subtlety; the incredible sound stage; the effortless presentation sounded like some ineffable piece of heaven reached through these big-baffled beauties and into my soul. The experience was the same for whatever I threw at them, from Steely Dan to Stevie Ray Vaughn.
I had made the appointment a few days before with Lawson at Sound Image in Roswell, GA. Giles and I needed to go to Trader Joe’s, so decided to include an equipment demo while we were headed to Atlanta anyway. I’ve been wanting to hear some DeVore speakers for a long time, specifically their best-selling model the O/96. At about $16K, it’s quite a bit above my price range, but I figured I needed to hear them. I have also been wanting to hear a single-ended triode, 300B tube amp, too, and Lawson had the Western Electric 91e paired with the O/96es.
The drive up was uneventful, and we were even a bit early. So, after topping of the MY, we arrived at Sound Image for our 11:00 appointment. Lawson is a nice guys and a fellow GenXer. The O/96es were the first things I saw when entering the small shop in the middle of some nondescript retail spaces. They are just stunning speakers: large, wooden baffles set on shiny black boxes and matching stands. After a brief tour and some audiophile chatting, I was ready to hear some music.
Since Lawson had some records set out, and Dire Strait’s On Every Street was on top, I said we should begin with my favorite track from that disc: “You and Your Friend.” Oh my. The 20 watts of 300B power put through the DeVores was just magical, effortless, expansive. We followed it with some other familiar songs, like Donald Fagen’s “Maxine,” Michael McDonald’s cover of “Hallelujah,” and Stevie Ray Vaughn’s “Tin Pan Alley.” All partook of the harmony of the spheres and made these familiar recordings new again. After a time we switched to an amp that more like my Cronus Magnum III, and while there was a noticeable difference, it did not diminish my enjoyment.
If price were no object, I would have ordered some O/96es that day. However, price is important, and I think Autumn would shoot me if I spent $16K on speakers. That said, she is always very supportive of my hobbies, both expensive motorcycles and cameras, but this might be pushing my luck a bit much.
Another route might be to get the O/baby speakers, which are just smaller O/96es. They come in at about $7K with the stands—still less-than-half of the O/96, and that price doesn’t seem so absurd to contemplate.