Devore Fidelity Silverback Reference.


I'm now in the final iteration for my system - and thank the pundits in this forum to help me out - i run a 30wpc Class A SS amp which doubles as a 140 Watt per channel class a/b amp - i found this amp after a long and tiring search going through the likes of Naim,Pass Labs,Ayre,Rogue Audio etc.

I am not in the vicinity to try out the devores, and it has to be pretty much a blind buy.

I am very worried, as online reviews can be very misleading - some say, these speakers are tremendously revealing (i listen to a lot of not so cleverly mastered music) plus a lot of modern stuff, and my source is almost always a Mac mini played through Antelope Zodiac DAC, with occasional vinyl here and there, other say that it's 'an open window' to music - since i have no way of going back? can you guys advice or share with me your opinion if you are a silverback owner? my amp has a single tube manifest with geranium and bipolar transistor (more of a solid state amp).

My Current speakers were a pair of Monitor Audio Platinum (which i got rid of last week) i found them bright, a bit unrefined and a bit musically showy, with a lot of listening fatigue, on of the worst speaker i have owned, i also owned Harbeth SLH5 (which was ok, but not great)

I loved my amp with Kharma DB9 (which it drove fantastically well) unfortunately i can't afford this or the DB7 though now i hear Magico's will be releasing their S3, which is more in by budget, but prefer to have the Silverbacks and pocket the extra cash.

The thing is i do not know what kind of technology devore employs, compared to more larger, technologically superior manufacturers, though
the design might stand the test of time, i do not want the trouble of reselling the devotes, and going through the hassle of buying something else.

Please Help! I play everything form Dizzy Gillespie to Michael Jackson to Scottish Chamber Orchestra.
thegoodarcher

Showing 3 responses by truemaineiac

I have had Devore SBR speakers for a few years. At audition, I heard them with a Boulder SS which sounded amazing. I have run them with a VAC 80W integrated, a Shindo 15W integrated, an LM218iA 25W integrated, and now a 25W shindo montrachet. These are just fantastic speakers on so many levels. I find them very open and detailed with tubes, and even though revealing, not so overly harsh on the crappy compressed recordings. I will deviate from what Oldgrey said above in that although they will sound good, I believe you need at least 25W to really make them sing. When I used the 15W apetite, I definitely felt it was a bit underpowered.

Although they will sound very good with SS, it really is a shame to not run these speakers with some good tubes.
dchang, the lm218ia worked fine with the silverbacks, plenty of drive, a very good sound. I ran across a used shindo montrachet and auriges and couldn't pass it up, would have been happy with LM and the silverbacks.
Charles1dad, I agree, tube amps have their moments but I too have never been subjected to hiss, pops, ticks, etc. My current tube set-up for both pre and amp is very quiet.