A Rumble in the Jungle

[Tom Tom Audio]

Devore Fidelity Orangutan 0/96 Review in The Ear -

 http://the-ear.net/review-hardware/devore-fidelity-orangutan-096-tw...

New Devore Gibbon X @ CES 2013

In the past Devore has used valve electronics from Shindo Labs among others in this demonstrations but this year he decided to mix things up with some solid state power. Selecting a Naim Nait XS with FlatCap XS power supply, a choice that worked remarkably well, so well in fact that this relatively affordable system (Gibbon X are $11,000) by CES standards, had the best timing that I encountered at the event. He played vinyl which helps but there was plenty of that in action, so clearly there is a synergy between the Naim and Devore that helps things along rather well. He played me some Pantha du Prince, fashionably obscure German electronica, that sounded rather good but when I put in a request for some ZZ Top the superiority of the system became clear. He selected Hot, Blues and Righteous from Tres Hombres and I was sold, not only does this system do justice to Billy Gibbons’ beautiful guitar tone but it lets you know in no uncertain terms just how effortlessly the band could play. The sound defined the overused term tight but loose, this is a slow blues track but the pace was rock solid without any overemphasis. I was transported and could have whiled away the rest of the day if there weren’t another fifty plus rooms to visit and never enough time.