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Devore or Harbeths to replace my ESL63s?

I'm on the last stages of a speaker quest that has been quite difficult. For the last year I've had ESL 63s in a smallish room (14'8 x 11'10). I've got them to work extremely well for small scale ensembles, particularly jazz, and they also sound great with electronic music. But I can't give them enough space to image an orchestra, and they don't really rock (at least without Gradient sub-woofers, but that's another story...)

So after a long search, it's come down to either Harbeth or Devore for replacements. These have been my favourite contemporary speakers for years, so basically I've just spent a long time finding out what I already knew.

I previously owned Compact 7ES3 and enjoyed them, but found them unrefined in the soprano regio, and slightly muddy around the port output. The Monitor 30.1 is considerably smoother in the high frequencies and I find it a beautifully balanced speaker. It is the perfect size for my room, with one failing. It lacks the half octave of bass needed to give kick drums any force. I tried the new SHL5+ in my room but they are just too big for my room, sadly.

A friend of mine owns some Devore Nines. Very few people have Devores in the UK, but he has a fantastic system with VTL 2.5/150. It used to be that when I heard his system I would find the Compact 7s unlistenable for a couple of days. That changed with the ESL63s, but the Quads have an uneven combination of great strengths and severe limits in a small room.

So it's come down to either Harbeth M30.1, Devore Super 8, or Devore 88.

I have a second hand pair of the Super 8s at home at the moment. They are beautifully organic and draw you in to their world gradually. Other speakers I have at home have more immediate and crisp micro-detail (Harbeth P3ESR for example), but the Super 8s seem to put a root into the ground and claim the room as the proper place for their music making. Relax, they say, don't worry about the details, we will sort out your musical life.

I have only two reservations; first, they are quite lean in the mid-bass, especially in comparison to my friend's Nines, and this presents some limits with rock and electronic. Second, my system is optimised for Harbeths (and then for ESLs), and Devores would probably work better with lower powered, very refined valve amps. I don't get the same clarity that I get with Harbeths in my system.

I also have an option on some second hand 88s, but I have never heard them and I would have to buy blind. That is generally against my religion.

I guess the key question is; do I go with what I know (Monitor 30.1) or look to optimise my system gradually for the newcomers (Devore Super 8 or 88).

I'd be grateful for any thoughts from anyone who has compared the M30.1 with Devores in the same room, since that is what I can't do at the moment.

(My system details: the amps are Unison Research Unico Pre/DM. The sources are a Fletcher Omega Point 5/Audio Note Arm/Nagaoka MP500, Trichord Diablo/NCPSU). Audio Synthesis DAX Discrete with AS modded CD Transport.)
andreweast
pcoombs's avatar
pcoombs
80 posts
 
Andrew, They are actually quite small. Smaller for example than my Harbeth M30 ( or M30.1s ) on Skylan stands.
But the active version go down to near 20Hz.
Due to the way they work ( trying to remove the room) they have the best chance to performing well in small spaces plus they can be placed against the back wall.

Although not necessary I use them with the DSPeaker dual core 2.0 which helps gives me a very flat fequency range.
andreweast OP
30 posts
 
Ok so how are they for sweet spot? The directionality and head-clamp narrow sweetspot of the ESLs is something I'm trying to get away from so that would be one concern. Otherwise they sound hugely promising, and yes, looking at the M30s on stands in my room at the moment I keep thinking that most floor standers will occupy less space than this.
pcoombs's avatar
pcoombs
80 posts
 
Andrew one of the Revolutions best features is its wide sweet spot. In my easily as as good asthe Harbeths. As mentioned in an old Sterophile review of a now improved 'passive' version. (try to get the active version)
'
Salmi's goal was to design a loudspeaker that was less room-dependent than ordinary speakers are. Careful attention was paid to the origin of standing waves in small rooms, with the idea of minimizing the generation of standing waves. He also sought a wide listening sweet spot that was void of early reflections.'

do try to hear them before committing yourself they really are brilliant (although as I've said before you cannot go to wrong with the Harbeths.)
erikminer
433 posts
 
@Andreweast.. The D30R is VERY different from the D25/D28. I had the D25 and there was a persistent lower treble upper midrange brightness that I could never get rid of.. The D30R with the ribbon and carbon fibre woofer is a totally different animal.. I think you should at least take a good long listen..
ctsooner
2,104 posts
 
Andrew, I was talking about Bob at Amherst Audio.

I have heard the Proac 30 and 40R's and they are the best Proac's I've ever heard. I still went with the Vandy Treo's as they do everything a bit better. Even the bass on the Vandy's when driven properly is astounding. It's the carbon fiber midrange that he makes that makes them so coherent and fast. They catch every little detail. From the list you are showing I personally like the 30 or 40R best. You have two totally different sounds in Proac vs Harbeth. Most Proac dealers in the states that I've been to have both lines so I've heard them side by side many times. I agree with Erik 100%...
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