Fleetwood Sound Company DeVille
Fleetwood’s DeVille pairs explosive dynamics with a full-bodied, natural midrange and remarkably transparent soundstage. Dick Olsher found its horn-loaded design exceptionally revealing yet free of brightness, with deep, well-defined bass and easy amplifier matching. Hand-finished torrefied-ash cabinetry completes a rare stand-mount that delivers real scale, texture, and musical ease.
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Deliciously Crispy
Sound Quality
94/100
Build Quality
94/100
Value for Money
90/100
Pros
Exceptional transient speed, soundstage transparency, and complex-mix detail resolution.
Clean, high-impact dynamics with broad amplifier compatibility, including low-power tube designs.
Deep, controlled bass with excellent pitch definition for a two-way stand-mount.
Beautiful solid torrefied-ash construction and hand-finished horn cabinetry.
Cons
Accurate tonal balance depends on careful listening height; the upper midrange can recede when ears sit below the horn axis.
Downward-firing ports require proper stand or spacer clearance and must not be blocked.
Upper octaves are slightly relaxed, favoring a mid-hall perspective over an overtly forward presentation.
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What Reviewers Are Saying
SOUND QUALITY PERFORMANCE 94/100
Reviewers hear an unusually complete, large-scale presentation from this horn-loaded stand-mount, combining warmth and tonal body with exceptional clarity, transient speed, and high output capability. Careful listening height and port clearance matter, while the tonal balance is described as slightly relaxed in the upper octaves rather than bright.
Bass
94/100
For its large 8-inch, downward-ported stand-mount format, the DeVille delivers notably deep and controlled bass: Olsher measured extension to 39Hz and praised its excellent upright-bass pitch definition. HiFi Huff found the low end tight and substantial enough to forgo a subwoofer, though correct stand or spacer use is important to keep the ports clear.
Mid
92/100
The midrange is repeatedly described as full-bodied, warm, and convincingly human, with particularly felicitous cello tone. Reviewers also hear a slightly laid-back upper-midrange balance that creates a mid-hall perspective rather than an aggressively forward presentation.
Treble
93/100
The horn-loaded compression driver is praised for an extended, refined top end that remains smooth and free of glare or grit. Measurements reported essentially flat on-axis response to 20kHz, while listening comments emphasize silkiness and air rather than overt brightness.
Soundstage Imaging
95/100
Transparency, image scale, and detail retrieval are major strengths, with The Absolute Sound calling its transient clarity and soundstage transparency breathtaking. One reviewer describes the DeVille as a sonic microscope in complex mixes, while HiFi Huff heard a room-filling stage that seemed to emerge from the space itself.
Dynamics
96/100
Dynamic expression is a defining quality, led by a compression driver that Olsher rated above the many dome, ribbon, and AMT tweeters he has heard for sheer dynamic power. The DeVille stays clean at high levels, works with low-powered amplifiers, and is said to handle very high power with exceptional headroom; one listener found it less explosively dynamic than a Klipsch La Scala but warmer and more present.
Assessments of Build Quality, Usability, and Overall Propositions.
Build Quality
94/100
Reviewers describe unusually crafted cabinetry, using torrefied Pennsylvania ash for most of the enclosure and hand-finished top, bottom, and horn sections. The speakers are praised as elegant and beautifully made, with solid wood construction rather than inexpensive sheet materials.
Value for Money
90/100
The DeVille is a costly proposition, listed from $15,600, although an earlier review quoted $9,600 for the basic finish plus stand options. Even so, The Absolute Sound says very few speakers accomplish what it does at its asking price and names it a current favorite among two-way stand-mounts; HiFi Huff expresses no regrets and retains it as a reference speaker.
Reviews & Sources
Professional reviews and sources for this product's Watt'n Potatoes analysis.
Online Reviews & Mentions
YouTube Reviews
Forum Mentions
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Specifications
- Dimensions
- 24″H x 10″D x 18″W (enclosure only), with stands 48″H
- Weight
- 36lbs each enclosure, without stand
- Efficiency
- 94db/1w/1m
- Impedance
- nominal 8ohms
- Design
- Downward dual ported reflex, conical horn loaded two way design
- Drivers
- 8″ paper cone high efficiency neodymium woofer, 1″ neodymium compression driver horn loaded
- Bi amp/bi wire
- no
- Recommended amplifier power
- 10 watts or more
Manufacturer's Description — Fleetwood Sound Company
The DeVille loudspeaker is an extremely high quality, compact, two way design made from sustainably harvested, solid Pennsylvania ash hardwood that has been torrefied (thermally treated for tone and stability.) It is the most powerful and efficient design possible for its size, using real professional drivers capable of much lower distortion and higher power handling.
SQ
The DeVille SQ (Superior Quality) is the ultimate DeVille. The entire enclosure is made out of solid Pennsylvania ash, either natural (light color) or torrefied (roasted) in either light, medium or dark. The phase plug is cast from a 3D printed sand mold in solid bronze, then patinated, polished and lacquered. Internal wiring is solid silver, and the crossover components are the finest quality.
The Standard and SQ differences explained
Torrefaction
Torrefaction is a relatively new process that roasts wood in an oxygen free environment (so it does not catch fire.) Torrefaction removes water and changes organic chemicals inside the wood’s cell structure, resulting in an aged, darkened wood that is more stable and tonally improved. This process is now used by most of the world’s finest guitar makers (Martin, Gibson, Bourgeois for example). Fleetwood Sound uses torrefied ash to produce speakers with superior sound quality that are also more stable in a variety of environments.
Grilles
Grilles for the Fleetwood DeVille loudspeaker attach magnetically in a few seconds and require no tools. We make them from the same phenolic material as the speaker’s rear panel, and they are incredibly strong, while being light weight and having no impact on the sound. You can change the look of your DeVille’s in an instant, and we’ll be introducing many more designs in the future. The DeVille is the Fashionista in a loudspeaker world of plain uniforms.
We designed a new, six inch thick, solid wood conical horn with a proprietary phase plug, which disperses the high frequencies and prevents internal reflections and cancellations of the sound waves. And like, the wooden horn and other components are treated by hand with an heirloom finish.
The DeVille is bottom ported and comes with a base for placement on a stable surface such as a cabinet, table or shelf. The rear panel of the speaker is fashioned from a solid sheet of phenolic, a composite material chosen for its anti resonant characteristics.