Speaker criteria:
I don't like bright sound or anything with "hi-fi fireworks" that unnaturally presents detail as a red herring. Metal tweeters and ceramic drivers have usually bothered me in prior speaker hunts. I require excellent dynamics and hence have always had an interest in horns - but concerned their negatives may outweigh this area. I don't crave "ultimate transparency" or detail. Basically I'm looking for a big soundstage with excellent dynamics and good tone. I also need adequate bass as I listen to electronica/trip hop/down tempo for a third of my listening. The other two thirds of my listening includes rock/Americana and classical - I don't really listen to jazz at all. Tone, immediacy, and presence are somewhat related and one thing Devore does really well. One last thing, as a former Zu owner - coherency is more apparent to me than others. It bothers me when I can hear different instruments out of different drivers or can point to the bass, etc.
First of all what is ""trip hop"? I assume that is a typo.
I am going to go out on a limb here. My last exposure to a wide variety of speakers is at the 2018 CAF. I am going to describe the speaker before I name it. Despite what members may have assumed, I was not critical of the speaker. I was underwhelmed by the exhibit. I was especially confused because it appeared no effort or expense was spared. My only serious complaint was imaging. The room was so large don't think any speaker could cast a realistic image.
This may be the first and only time I say a speaker may have benefited from a smaller room.
A dream speaker should be inter alia:
Exotic
Big
Expensive(100k+)
Able to handle large and small ensembles(orchestra and solo}
Be capable of wide range dynamics and low level resolution
Transparency
Frequency extension
Do all the above with ease and lack of strain.
If your attention is called to the bass, it is probably wrong!
Imaging should be three dimensional but not etch-a -sketch
Remember this is a dream system.Nor it is apology for earlier comments. It is not the only choice. This comes combined with VAC elctronics. Your choice of source should be vinyl.
Von Schwiekert Ultra 11.View attachment 48291