[Mass. Wine Guy]

Is anyone familiar with Danny Richie's X-Omni speaker? I've never heard a speaker with a top firing mid/bass driver. How large are these speakers? How do they sound?

Thank you.

[JLM]

Danny has a circle here and here's the link to the kits for these speakers:

http://www.gr-research.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=114

With the kits I'd think you could also do a front firing mid/woofer if you wanted.

Years ago I heard a similar design, Decware Radial 1 speakers (up firing mid/woofer, forward firing tweeter).  They provided a soundstage that floated above the speakers.

[Mass. Wine Guy]

Thanks.

In the specs, it says: Recommended amplification is 8-100 watts RMS

I take it that having an amp with 150 W per channel would be too much.

[JLM]

150 wpc vs. 100 wpc is not a problem.

From a perspective of how much louder 150 watts is than 100 watts, its only 1.8 dB (1 dB is roughly the smallest incremental increase in sould pressure level - loudness - that can be heard, so this isn't much at all).

And its always better to push excessive amounts of clean signal through your speakers (that isn't distorted) than a much smaller signal that is distorted (clipping is the typical example).  Clipped signals forces the driver to suddenly stop/start/stop/start/etc. which generates lots of excess heat that can easily melt voice coils.

I will be picking up a 150 wpc Arte Forma I-150 integrated amp (just like you) for $2,800 speakers that are rated for 27 watts continous/40 watts peak exactly because I believe in this clean/distorted issue and I believe that speakers sound best when under a commanding grip of a beefy amp.

[mojave]

The speakers are 38.5 in high, 8 in wide, and 8 in deep. I have a pair of X-Omni's that I use as my mains. I like the immersive soundstage and detail. I have updated the crossovers and added NoRez to the interior. I am driving mine with a 380 watt/channel (8 ohms) Digital Amp Company Cherry Jr. The speakers do need to be at least 3 ft from boundaries for the best results.

You can read a review by downloading the May 2009 issue of Affordable Audio. The FJ Om is a similar speaker, but it costs $4,000