Hi all!
I was in the market for sensitive speakers last fall and, thanks to my neighbor DaveC113, I was introduced to Omega. As I was doing my research, I came across this thread announcing the upcoming Super 8 speaker from Louis:
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=130573.0. It was exactly what I was looking for! After a couple phone calls with Louis, I was ready take a leap of faith and I ordered the first pair (serial #1) of the Super 8 in walnut.
My audio journey has been bumpy and full of incompetent dealers, commission-focused salesmen and a serious lack of technical understanding from said agents. Last Fall my setup consisted of a 13WPC push-pull integrated amp along with 4-ohm (!!!) 88dB sensitive speakers sold to me by someone who is known nationally as a tube and tube amp expert. Pfft! Needless to say, the system was running out of gas at around 90dB and lacked bass and simply just wasn't performing as I wanted. Thats when DaveC113 suggested I look into more sensitive speakers and even x-over free full-range drivers (i.e. Omega). Long>short, I ended up with Omegas and I dumped that push-pull for a nice point-to-point wired 15WPC single-ended amp and tube phono pre with a tube external power supply. Back to basics!
I first received the Super 8s late Feb/early March and had them hooked up to a little solid-state temporary system as I awaited delivery of the 15WPC tube setup mentioned above. Out-of-the-box the speakers sounded a little congested, as expected. But after less than an hour, things began to open up as the materials began to break-in. A handful of more hours in and they were completely different speakers and sounding amazing! I was shocked a single driver could manage so much at once! People say it here all the time: 3D imagery, soundstage, detail, build quality. These things had speed and weren't afraid to go deep! These Super 8s had it all!
Now, fast-forward two months. I took delivery of my all-tube setup a couple weeks ago and spent a good 3 days with my friend dialing it in. After some room changes and two days of tweaking, we changed the loading for my cartridge and - BOOM! - the Omegas took center stage! The Super 8s just started dropping bombs and beating chests! Like nothing I had ever experienced! I was already very impressed with these speakers, but once we got all the components speaking the same language, the 8s started singing beautifully soft high-end while simultaneously throwing out insane low-end frequencies. I mean, I was shocked! I've had B&W towers, Sonus Faber and Dynaudio monitors and have never had bottom-end like that. And for the Super 8s to do that without any noticeable sacrifice is absolutely stunning! My friend and I kept saying, "Man, too bad Louis can't come over to hear this!" You can close your eyes during "Kind Of Blue" and place the musicians in different places in the room at differing depths. You can put on electronic music and get all that twitchy detailed computer-esque high end while wonderfully shaking the windows with the bass. You can put on the great AP issue of Grateful Dead "Reckoning" and literally feel like you are in the first few rows of Radio City Music Hall or the Warfield. Again, these speakers have it all!
The Omega Super 8s keep getting better and I have yet to hit 100+ hrs, so the sweet spot still awaits me! Easily the best speakers I've ever owned. Bravo Louis!
Rob
