[jorgen]

I am considering to sell my original pair of floorstanders, these have the 7" Alnico and are a great speaker. A friend is looking for a new pair of speakers and we wonder if his Cayin 252B should be a good match. I don't know too much about SS amps and what makes a good match with Omega speakers. Is there anybody who wants to give their opinions if it should be good. This a rather powerful amp I believe, not that it is the most important issue, but what is recommended as max input? How much power can the Omegas handle without taking any damage?

[FullRangeMan]

I am considering to sell my original pair of floorstanders, these have the 7" Alnico and are a great speaker. A friend is looking for a new pair of speakers and we wonder if his Cayin 252B should be a good match. I don't know to much about SS amps and what makes a good match with Omega speakers. Is there anybody who wants to give their opinions if it should be good. This a rather powerful amp I believe, not that it is the most important issue, but what is recommended as max input? How much power can the Omegas handle without taking any damage?

Omega 7Alnico drivers use the best cone matetial and best magnet, Hemp Cone and Alnico, do you already see Lowther and AER prices? Omega are in this level.

You will sell your Alnico speaker and buy what? Ferrite, Neo with paper cone or worse with plastics cone.

The more powerful the amp the less quality it has, with the Omega speaker you would use a decent 300B if you can afford expensive tubes or an SE from Decware or Inspire.

Avoid SS and powelfull amps w/Omega.

[jorgen]

You're reading my post like I shall no longer use Omega, that is not the case here. I have a pair of HIgh Output Alnico floorstanders, no plans of selling them!!! So don't worry. It is more a question if my friend will be happy with the Cayin amp he has. ( I even have a pair of monitors with, not standard but still Omega, 8" drivers, though with some glue issues, and was blessed with really good Omega warranty

[FullRangeMan]

You're reading my post like I shall no longer use Omega, that is not the case here. I have a pair of HIgh Output Alnico floorstanders, no plans of selling them!!! So don't worry. It is more a question if my friend will be happy with the Cayin amp he has. ( I even have a pair of monitors with, not standard but still Omega, 8" drivers, though with some glue issues, and was blessed with really good Omega warranty

Well after we listen an Omega speaker our listening standard or pretensions go up, you know where your friend's assumptions are now, anyway avoid SS amps, unless its a hi quality as FirstWatt, Acuphase, Etalon(Supraampli) or Pathos.

[jorgen]

Don't wanna be rude or anything but these responses aren't really helpful Fullrangeman

[beowulf]

I don't see any specifications on the maximum power input on the website. There is the notation that they will work with both low and high powered amplifiers, but how high? The highest wattage I've driven them with was a 50 watt Rega Brio-R, but the Cayin is 3 times that ... I would Check with Louis to make sure.

[FullRangeMan]

I don't see any specifications on the maximum power input on the website. There is the notation that they will work with both low and high powered amplifiers, but how high? The highest wattage I've driven them with was a 50 watt Rega Brio-R, but the Cayin is 3 times that ... I would Check with Louis to make sure.

I dont remember well what was the power handling my old model 7A was  quoted, or maybe it was not specified on the site at the time, but the defuct Ferrite Hemp Acoustic was quoted 45W, what dont say much as what really is important is the electrical efficiency value, my old model 7A have No 1.186%.

[FullRangeMan]

Don't wanna be rude or anything but these responses aren't really helpful Fullrangeman

I mean say the Cayin is not au pair w/the Omega finesse, its too powerful 150W+150W is a lot of power. Sorry if it seem a bit blunt.

[JLM]

In general solid state amps excel in sound quality at higher outputs and tubes the opposite (the range we listen to 99% of the time).  Solid state typically clips "hard" when overloaded (but with lots of headroom rarely should) while tubes "soft" clip (way easier on drivers if clipping occurs).  And in general solid state amps have high damping factors while classic tubes have low damping factors.  High damping means tighter bass (towards being constipated) versus tubes that can produce flabby (exaggerated/boomy/loose) bass.  Before solid state tube amps purposely had low damping factors to (improperly) compensate for lack of deep bass from high efficiency speakers that were bass weak.  Nowadays we're used to tight bass due to popularity of solid state and tastes moving away from deep and flabby forms of bass response.  With single driver speakers this is rarely a factor due to their typical lack of deep bass.

Its hard to get a straight answer regarding Omega due to lack of specifications (power handling/maximum output being a long time peeve of mine), and the per ponderous of fanboys here.  I own 8 inch Alnico floorstanders (not Omega) that use a single Fostex F200A driver (F3=30 Hz, 89 dB/w/m, 8 ohm, rated to handle 27 watts continuous/80 watts peak, $575 each before being discontinued).  I've heard that Omega uses Fostex derived drivers (another well kept secret), so recommend using that information as a guide. 

[roscoe65]

In general solid state amps excel in sound quality at higher outputs and tubes the opposite (the range we listen to 99% of the time).  Solid state typically clips "hard" when overloaded (but with lots of headroom rarely should) while tubes "soft" clip (way easier on drivers if clipping occurs).  And in general solid state amps have high damping factors while classic tubes have low damping factors.  High damping means tighter bass (towards being constipated) versus tubes that can produce flabby (exaggerated/boomy/loose) bass.  Before solid state tube amps purposely had low damping factors to (improperly) compensate for lack of deep bass from high efficiency speakers that were bass weak.  Nowadays we're used to tight bass due to popularity of solid state and tastes moving away from deep and flabby forms of bass response.  With single driver speakers this is rarely a factor due to their typical lack of deep bass.

Its hard to get a straight answer regarding Omega due to lack of specifications (power handling/maximum output being a long time peeve of mine), and the per ponderous of fanboys here.  I own 8 inch Alnico floorstanders (not Omega) that use a single Fostex F200A driver (F3=30 Hz, 89 dB/w/m, 8 ohm, rated to handle 27 watts continuous/80 watts peak, $575 each before being discontinued).  I've heard that Omega uses Fostex derived drivers (another well kept secret), so recommend using that information as a guide.

I often use Fostex drivers as an electrical proxy when discussing Omega speakers.  They may not be identical, but do follow the same laws of physics and deal with the same limitations.  A Fostex Fe167e (6.5 inch driver) is rated at 94dB, 22 watts continuous, 65 watts "music power".  For what it is worth, that power rating is higher than my 12" Altec drivers.  Playing at the full rated music power of 65 watts, each of the Omega 7's would be putting out about 112 dB/m.  No reasonable user will exceed these levels in a normal-sized room.

Played at normal levels, you're not likely to exceed a few watts with these speakers.  The "extra" power you have will give you great instantaneous headroom.  The only question is the quality of that power when used at levels of <5 watts.  If he loves the amp at low power, he will likely love it even more with the Omega's.