Напольная акустика — Devore Fidelity O/BABY

The O/baby belongs to the Orangutan series of DeVore Fidelity in Brooklyn, New York, and DeVore presents it as the O/96 scaled down in size. Although it is often pictured on its matching base, the speaker itself is a compact two-way box meant for a stand, and the solid oak stand is sold as an option. In the Orangutan range it is smaller than both the O/96 and the O/93. The US price was around USD 5,600 to 5,700 per pair, with the stands adding USD 995, while in the UK the speakers cost GBP 6,298 and the stands GBP 1,398. White oak is the listed finish, and the warranty covers parts and labour for five years.

Key specs that matter

A 0.75 inch textile dome tweeter sits in a horn, and a 7 inch woofer made from uncoated German paper handles everything below it - the same cone material that DeVore uses in the O/96 and the O/Reference. The maker quotes 38 Hz to 45 kHz. Placed on the optional stands the system measures about 375 mm wide, 248 mm deep and 889 mm tall.

Engineering and use context

Rather than bolting on a separate waveguide, DeVore carves the horn directly into the front fascia, a recess in 20 mm thick marine plywood built up from six layers, and the tweeter is set at the back of this shallow flare. Both drive units come from the same German supplier as those in the larger Orangutan models, and the brand has worked with SEAS on the Orangutan drivers for about a decade. The crossover is described as minimal, with the handover between woofer and tweeter at around 2 kHz. The cabinet is wide but fairly shallow, with veneered ply on the front and a black sheen on the other surfaces, and a small offset bass port vents it at the rear. A single pair of terminals near the bottom of the back panel takes the speaker cable, so bi-wiring is not provided. The optional stand is built from solid oak and marine plywood.

Pairing

For choosing an amplifier, DeVore gives two figures. The O/baby is rated at 8 ohms nominal and at 90 dB per watt at one metre, the same sensitivity as the larger gibbon towers of the brand. The maker does not publish a minimum impedance or a recommended amplifier power range for this model.

Alternatives

The DeVore Fidelity Orangutan micr/O is the smaller two-way bookshelf model developed alongside the O/baby, a compact sealed cube with a horn-loaded tweeter and a 6.5 inch SEAS paper woofer.