Audio Note AN/E vs. DeVore O/96

I wanted to like the AN/E so bad. The place I heard them in was pretty awful. Apparently the room won't matter... so I'm to take that the speaker inherently is not to my liking.

Full disclosure: heard them in different rooms with different equipment.  The Audio Note still has--after listening to many speakers over many years--the purest, most natural, timbral presentation of anything I've heard.  Clearest window to the sound.  The Devore's to me had a less welcoming sound; very good, no doubt, but somehow less "right".  YMMV.  What held me back with the AN's was the positioning, bass, and depth of soundstage.

Thanks Guys.  I am trying to decide if listening to the O/96 is worth a 3hr drive both directions.

@tinear123,

You may want to look at my (long) thread comparing various speakers I auditioned.  It's heavy on the Devore 0/96 and 0/93 audition notes, but I also mention my reaction to auditioning the Audio Note speakers.

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/contemplating-devore-speakers-and-others-long-audition-report...

In the end I definitely preferred the Devores, but that's definitely a subjective conclusion, obviously.   As I mentioned in my thread, I found myself a bit too aware of the corner-loading nature of the Audio Note speakers (in their typical set up), and I have some issues with speakers that use the room that way.

The Devores gave to me a similar type of presentation, though richer and since they didn't require close to wall placement for rich base, they could be pulled out in to the room for closer listening/less room reaction and to me a more pure sound.

Thanks all and specifically @prof  for the interesting link / review

Largely it depends on your room and the equipment you will run.  You can't really go by the advice you have to listen and compare - reviewer Rafe Arnott reviewed and had the Devore O/96 and replaced them with the Audio Note E - Art Dudley had the AN E for years and went with the 0/96 (but seeing his room that does make some sense).  Reviewer Jack Roberts had both and chooses the Teresonic Ingenium which I also like (and again - seeing his room it makes a lot of sense - he has a wall behind his stereo but then a dining room that sits above and behind the wall that is hollow - so the the AN E will just fire back into that "essentially large empty box" and rattle his house.  A front port or sealed cabinet speaker is a must.

Strictly speaking though the AN E absolutely does NOT need to be positioned against or near a wall - precisely because the AN E is designed to be placed against a "solid" wall which does not mean hotel room particle board or plaster or IMO wooden walls.  In such cases - you are "likely" better off having them free standing.
The AN E is very easy to make sound "pleasant" and "nice" but to get them to sound positively astounding - like most speakers - requires a lot of effort.  It took me 6 months to get the AN J to work properly in my room back in Canada.  And as good as they were - moving to Hong Kong with all concrete walls - is vastly superior.
My dealer in Canada carries both and personally I prefer the AN E or the AN J to the DeVores.  I find the tonality and timbre better and the driver integration to be superior - not to mention that at prices starting at 1/3 the price I see better value in  the AN E and AN J.  You also get far more options in terms of finishes.

And the AN E with the Alnico tweeters and woofers are a major step up over the lower iterations.  Still - going to listen is always a good idea - but it would be more helpful to listen in the same  room with gear you intend to own.  The AN E is designed entirely with their  own gear in mind.  It plays better together.  Other speakers may be more friendly to non AN gear.  For example - I heard the AN E/L - a copper wired speaker - sounded nice with SS gear - the higher end silver wired AN E was utterly horrendous.  Then went on the AN amplifier and source and the silver wired E was considerably better than the copper E.  BUT had you just demoed the AN E Silver speaker in an otherwise high end rig you might be  highly HIGHLY unimpressed.  Indeed, even within their own company they don't recommend having an amplifier or source more than 1-2 levels off the others.  Further the Hemp woofers and the Paper woofer versions do sound a little bit different - most agree that the HEMP is better but some folks still the warmer (slower) paper woofer presentation.
If you plan to go with AN front end equipment - and you have solid walls (brick concrete) then the AN E is about as good as home audio gets.  If not and you plan to run PP tubes or SS - then the AN E will be good, pleasant and nice - but probably not astounding.  Thus enters the )/96, Teresonics, Pure Audio Projects, Spacial Audios, Volti speakers and dozens of other excellent speakers.