Devore 0/96 and Room Size

I would call DeVore and talk to John, the designer and owner. He is a stand up guy and will not steer you wrong. 

I heard the O/96s at a local dealer's place a few months ago.  He had them in a room that was around 15' square or so, with a 8' or 10' opening in the room to the right of the speakers. He had the speakers around 4' from the wall behind them with around 8' from the speakers to the listening chair.

While I liked the speakers a lot, I spent most of the listening session thinking that "these need a bigger room."

I think you will be just fine my friend @mcslipp had a pair of O/96's in a pretty small room, wider than it was deep and they sounded great.

That should be an easy fix if the bass is a little heavy you can do some of your own custom sound treatments. I like using a 5 X 9 through rug and carpet tack strips to attach it to the rear wall. Still a little heavy put some of a foam mattress behind it. 

The rug can be a very nice decoration to that room and quite down the reflections. 

Have used this for number of speakers

Cheap fix. 

I resisted chiming in. Until now. You need a larger room. Or go with O/93's though they do not sound the same. The O/93's are arguably the better balanced speaker while the '96's are more fun, more lively, more likely to make you start shaking your head or butt or both. If I thought there was some chance I would be moving in the future to a house with a larger listening room I would go with the '96's. 

Thanks everyone! I think the room is marginal. It could be large enough, but maybe not. I think it’s a great idea to talk with John Devore, since it sounds like he wouldn’t mind. If anybody should know…

I don't have the O/96 but auditioned them a lot.  My room is 15' x 13' with a large room opening in to a hallway.  I've had a number of big floor standing speakers in there, but the O/96 is one of the few that had me wondering if they'd work in my room.  They are pretty rich in the bass and definitely need space from the back wall.

What's your overall room size?  You mention 15' deep, but I don't think I see the length or height. 

I am building a new home and did call John regarding the 96s in a room 14 wide x 16 feet long with 10 foot ceilings. He said the 96s would be wonderful in this room. My room is very close to yours it seems   

I love my current Fyne F704 speakers, but not sure they are the best fit for this new room. They are huge! The 96s intrigue me. Finally decided I will try my 704s in the new room first as they may sound great with room treatments.

The room is 15 x 19.5, and the ceiling slopes from 7.5 to 9.5 ft. My intention is to place the speakers along the 19.5 wall at the 7.5 end.

I see. The room is plenty big for sure. Placing the speakers on the shorter 15 foot wall would be best, but it seems the ceiling slope direction is the real issue.

Ok....15x19.5 should be fine for 96s. 

@grannyring,

If I were considering dipoles, such as electrostatics, I would definitely try them along the 15 foot wall, but box speakers have generally sounded best along the 19.5 wall. I think that the sloped ceiling creates an amphitheater effect.

Taking the ceiling issue out for a moment, placing the 96s on the 15 foot wall would allow you to have 3-4 feet from the speakers to the side wall and 7-8 feet between the inside of each speaker. You could place them 5-6 feet (from the speaker back) to the wall behind them allowing proper space for these speakers to really open up. You could then dial in your listening distance and still have proper distance to the wall behind your listening position. This would be best with these speakers based on my set up experience.

I agree with your comment on the slope of your ceiling. The slope direction of your ceiling makes the best use of your room dimensions impossible.

Placing them on the long wall means you will have a wall directly behind your listening position ( 1 foot or less ) You should treat that wall with combo absorption/diffusion panels. This could work nicely. The room still works 🙂

@paullb 

Please let us know if you end up buying the 96s and your impressions.  I am confident your room will work nicely.