Back in the late 70's somehow I came up with $250 plus tax and went to some store (not known for hifi; Sears or Alexanders) and bought my first stereo..... two boxes..... included the TT, cassette, tuner and a pair of speakers.... it looked like something out of Star Wars - real Darth Vader like..... when anyone came into my room..... it was a conversation piece.... until they asked me to turn it on...... in truth, there were some tracks which made it sound good..... but most of the time it was relegated to background music or just plain 'off'.
I kept that system through grad school......
My second job (after selling Futons for a couple of months) was at Tech HiFi in Harvard Square...... Although most of the stuff we sold was less than mid-fi, Tech HiFi is where I got the bug..... over the next 40 years, I went from Onkyo, to Yamaha (remember the first Surround Sound processor) to Adcom (loved Adcom.... it was a big step up and every piece was around $1000) and beyond.
Klipsch Heresy 2 ended up in my system at some point, thanks to Tweeter etc...... I thought I was ballin' at that point...... and at that stage I guess I was....
I have been through many speakers in over 40 plus years.... and even more electronics..... I remember falling in love with quite a few pair of speakers along the way..... but I ended up in a speaker slump..... nothing made me happy..... I used to own speakers which cost 4x the DeVille and they were absolutely boring..... and weighed almost 200 pounds (Fleetwood weighs 36 pounds).... not mentioning names.... I also had a MAJOR speaker manufacturer remove their speakers and blamed my room for the poor sound..... was it me? I don't think so...... after that removal, I went through a few other famous brands.......
One night while surfing the web, I came across a short video, where an audiophile was describing his speaker journey, which was similar to my history..... he spoke of meeting Jonathan in Brooklyn, and falling for these speakers which were not EXPENSIVE and didn't take up his entire space..... it had a great back story...... horns.... designed like the good old days, etc......
I think it was a Sunday late afternoon, early evening....
I hopped on the Fleetwood sight to get a contact.....
I wrote an email explained to Jonathan I was a dealer and very interested..... I don't think he realized just how interested I was...... I was ready to drop the plastic and purchase a pair........ and so I did..... I think they arrived two days later..... by that time I was so enthused, I remember meeting my UPS driver at one of his other stops...... I tracked his truck down.....
I remember unpacking them and just like that new car smell, upon opening the box, the smell of the PA Ash brought a smile...
I think I was using Gryphon Audio at the time..... not 100% sure.... but since using various brands/types of electronics, I realize it didn't really matter as long as the upstream gear was good.....
Out of the box, I did not get punched in the face with this obviously great sound ( nothing was harsh or too far forward and stood out and made my eyes/ears pop).... it took a few tracks or perhaps the next day before the stunning quality of this speaker sunk in.... there is no long break in. period.....
And over the course of a week, I remember falling deeper and deeper..... also I started really listening to music which I previously only listened to as I was driving..... ie, pop songs/artists....
With my DeVille, I now listen to EVERY genre....... yes, even hard rock, which I am not a fan of (try Tool, Fear Inoculum) ..... but the DeVille has me listening.....
The speakers throw a wall of resolving sound.... height, width and depth...... nothing offensive... nothing dull..... pure.... rich..... and low level details for days....... piano sounds like piano.... singer songwriter, has you hitting repeat on you're streamer...... voices are open and life like.... no honky horn sound...... not to worry..... I am told it is because of the conical design.... late night, low volume listening is just crazy good....
I even bought a third speaker to use as a center channel for my HT.
I have a YouTube channel.... most of my later videos use the DeVille.... if you have headphones, look up Delve Audio on YouTube......
I use good mics, so its worth using good headphones.... yes, I know it's not like the real thing.... you can't hear the depth or imaging, etc.... but you get a great idea of what they are.
Jonathan is very passionate about these and so am I. If you can get an in-person demo, don't miss out..... a sub is NOT needed, but if you add a pair of subs at low volume; xover at around 40hz, it increases the width even further.....
Yes, I am a dealer..... but these are the words of a fan.....
Best
Oliver at DelveAudio
