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BBC sound advice

Kt77 said:

before I came across the DeVore Fidelity Gibbon 3's and had a chance to audition them.

It took at of 3 minutes for me to know that I had found something that had enough bass to move me - it has weight in its mids and doesn't sound like a lunch box sized speaker - the highs are accurate with a delicate touch that's like butter - it's more then nimble or agile enough to offer lighting quick response timing as they stop and start on a dime without smearing ( which reminds me why I've always been so taken with fast Mini's like Linn Kan 2's and various versions of the ProAc Tablettes and Response One ' SC's ' along the ways ) but better resolution - more responsive to lower volume settings and more importantly - at least to my ears, they come across as ' Balanced '.


Be well,
o_O scar
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That's interesting Oscar, I heard the early floorstanding Devore's at In Living Stereo no too long after they opened, and they were a great sounding speaker.

To me they seemed to be voiced very similar to the Audio Physic line, but with a much easier load for tube amps.

I had Audio Physic mini monitors, the Steps, and they were great, much like the Devore's, but man did they make my McIntosh MC40's struggle and they were an absolute PITA to get the positioning and vertical angle right. Whe you did though, the pulled a disappearing act like no other. I still regret selling them.

I must go back to that shop and listen to the 3's plus the Harbeth's. The Neat Mystique 2's and ancient KLH 23's I have are far too thumpy for my current apartments neighbors.
 
markb65 said:
That's interesting Oscar, I heard the early floorstanding Devore's at In Living Stereo no too long after they opened, and they were a great sounding speaker.

To me they seemed to be voiced very similar to the Audio Physic line, but with a much easier load for tube amps.

I had Audio Physic mini monitors, the Steps, and they were great, much like the Devore's, but man did they make my McIntosh MC40's struggle and they were an absolute PITA to get the positioning and vertical angle right. Whe you did though, the pulled a disappearing act like no other. I still regret selling them.

I must go back to that shop and listen to the 3's plus the Harbeth's. The Neat Mystique 2's and ancient KLH 23's I have are far too thumpy for my current apartments neighbors.
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Hi markb65,

I've a friend whom is doing an internship in NYC, whom has been by Steve's joint " In Living Stereo " and loves it. He owns a pair of Harbeth Compact 7-ES-3's driven with 8w/pc 300B Mono's into a room that's about 23' wide x 16' deep as he has them set up along the long wall.

As I used to own a pair of Audio Physic Step SLE's from 2002/07, I never had a problem driving them with a 30 w/pc Cayin TA-30 I was using at the time. I remember first hearing these at a shop in Cleveland called Progessive Audio, and merely knew at that point I'd have to own a pair of them in that lovely Madagassar Ebony. Talk about fond memories on my end as well.

These were in fact the first pair of Mini-Monitors that allowed me to learn how to prefect the Audio Physic method of speaker placement to a " T ", as I had them set up along the long wall at 11 1/2' apart and 18" from the rear wall to the front of the baffle and crossed over at a point 3' in front of my listening area and talk about disappearing and a soundstage as wide as the room itself - I don't care where you set at on the sofa as the sweet spot was a broad as I've ever heard in this space. But much like you, I sold them in 2009 short after getting the DeVore Gibbon 3's which were in fact the last pair to be found at Don Better Audio, as John decided to stop making them due to change of hands with the drivers manufacturer at said point. Yet the only other speakers that I've heard that I'd rather have are the more upscale version called the Gibbon 3XL's.

I've heard these on the end of a Shindo Lab system with a Well Temoered Labs Amadeus and Dynavector XXmk2 used with a Acoustic Plan PhonoMaster and was taken to a place few others might be willing to venture.

This was proof enough for me to know that I've outgrown my fondness of British speakers that I had been using since 1982, this was my first venture to a domestic made speaker that has me realizing there's no going back.

Paul Messenger gave the Gibbon 3XL's a rather lukewarm review, but I think it's because he didn't take time enough to understand system matching or ready didn't care to hear them in there best light to begin with. As these are voiced to be used with tube amps as opposed to Naim which I know he's fond of, but to hear something as intended by its designer - one has to understand said voicing - wouldn't you think.

And trust me I understand where you're going on the neighbor tip - even at low volume settings I'm still concerned about mine. As I believe in keeping the peace if possible!, but there are moments where I do wish to crank it up sometimes - but being thoughtful of others, I simply resist the temptation and besides it fills my space enough that if I'm in the en suite in the rear with the fan going, it's still loud enough to hear over the fan in the restroom. And to me that's plenty.

Do me a favor when you get over to Steve's place - could you find out which brand of EL84/6BQ5's he's using in his Leben CX-300?., as I'm asking about them here, as I'm trying to invest in 3-5 quads over the next few months, I need to know what's what.

Be well - markb65, and thanks for chiming in, it's always nice to know that I'm not the only American here. It gets lonely sometimes.

Best wishes to you and yours,
o_O scar
 
Hi markb65,

Here's the information on the DeVore Fidelity Gibbon 3's

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/devore4/gibbon3.html

True be told I couldn't be happier, well maybe if I had heard the Gibbon 3XL's first they would've been the ones in place now. But as for me, I don't think I'd have chosen wiser then these, they do some things the LS 3/5A's and Harbeth HL-P3's never did for me at the lower end. And as mentioned I've owned my share of Mini-Monitors along the way.

Regards,
o_O scar
 
Just saw this 'old' thread.

I heard the LS3/6 at Doug Stirlings house, as I am a friend of his.

They do sound very good indeed, and there is a copy of the TAS review by reg on the web here:

http://www.playstereo.com/pub/review_StirlingLS36.pdf

I have also heard the AB-2's and am waiting for a pair and some V2 cabinets with matching cherry veneers to come in before taking delivery of a set.

The AB-2 is very different from the AB-1, of which I have two pairs.

Whereas the AB-1 has a one-note bass, the AB-2 has a much more wideband and extended bass to it, which seems to 'breath' more.

There is a lot more bass, and for small rooms or difficult positions it may need some control as the V2/AB-2 combination is now a full-range speaker.

I am going to have to use some room control with mine - but the LS3/6 would be too large for my room I think (I had some SP1s and they didn't quite work in my room because of positioning/size).

Doug says that there is a fairly even split between preferences for the LS3/6 and for the V2/AB-2 combination amongst customers he has demoed to.

The LS3/6 has that 'ease' of sound that some of the larger speakers have, but the V2 combination has a little more 'immediacy', in the way a fan of the LS3/5a would recognise.

Also - looking at a previous comment - I think the V2, and maybe the LS3/6, would have been voiced using some original Audiolab 8000M monoblocks, as these were the amps that Derek Hughes had in his system when I went down to visit to pick up some Cicable crossovers.
 
MTBBiker said:
Just saw this 'old' thread.o.

The LS3/6 has that 'ease' of sound that some of the larger speakers have, but the V2 combination has a little more 'immediacy', in the way a fan of the LS3/5a would recognise.
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I too feel larger speakers, in my case Harbeth HLs, have that ease. My little P3s give that lovely small box imaging. Whether its an immediacy I don't know. I love the way music sounds with either model.
 
The op really needs to get rid of the Quad 33 to get the best out of his system. A definite weak link! ESL's or SP1's very good!
 
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