Super 3's A Good Option For Me? Need Your Expertise Please

Slapshot · « **on:** 26 Oct 2007, 05:12 am »

Hello,

This is my first time here, and my first post. Several people whose opinions I respect have highly recommended Omega speakers for my needs and it seemed only logical to come to this community and ask the key questions that I have. According to them, these speakers excel at nearfield listening. I also read the Six Moons review which stated that they were outstanding in extreme nearfield use.

Due to a number of circumstances, virtually all of my opportunity for listening to music occurs while either surfing or working on my pc in a small den. Based on this, I have been assembling a high quality audio system specifically for that area, as music, and its reproduction, are a major part of my life.
My primary need is now for some speakers not only a wonderful reproducers of sound, but that are also great in a nearfield listening application.

The way things are set up, the only area that the speakers can be placed is about three feet from my seated position, and about four feet apart. The speakers will be at, or slightly above ear level. They will also be placed only inches from the walls behind them.

The associated equipment will be Audio Mirror 45wpc set monoblocks, an Audio Mirror T-61 pre-amp, and a Meredian GO8, and Slim Devices Transporter as sources.

In terms of size, the Super 3's are the right fit. Will they work well in my circumstances? Will my 45wpc monoblocs present too much power for them to handle?

My musical listening includes acoustic, folk, new age, lots of female vocals, and of course, rock. Thanks for your help, expertise, thoughts or recommendations.

John

JLM · « **Reply #1 on:** 26 Oct 2007, 10:27 am »

I'm a single driver fan, especially in nearfield applications. Louis is a great guy, does super quality work, and can work with you to customize if needed. But you may want to check out the recent Stereo Mojo small speaker shootout that can be found here at AC. (I'm not saying how the Omega Super 3 compares to the Unity Audio reviewed there, just food for thought.)

ZLS · « **Reply #2 on:** 26 Oct 2007, 11:38 am »

I can answer two of your questions.
The first is that Louis's speakers thrive on power, so 45 watts presents no problem at all; in fact it is a plus.
The second is by definition single driver speakers are coherent. There is no problem with driver int ergration . Single Driver speakers have a very immediate sound that is ideal for near field listening.

DaveC113 · « **Reply #3 on:** 26 Oct 2007, 04:32 pm »

Quote from: JLM on 26 Oct 2007, 10:27 am

I'm a single driver fan, especially in nearfield applications. Louis is a great guy, does super quality work, and can work with you to customize if needed. But you may want to check out the recent Stereo Mojo small speaker shootout that can be found here at AC. (I'm not saying how the Omega Super 3 compares to the Unity Audio reviewed there, just food for thought.)

As far as that "small speaker shootout", this was obviously done by a group of people who are NOT fans of sd speakers. I don't know why they even included the Unity speaker in their test. A sd speaker requires special consideration as far as amplification and break-in. My Omega XRS didn't sound that great with a big SS amp ($1500), but are driven VERY well by my little Trends amp ($150) with a tube preamp. Also, they do not sound anywhere close to good while they are breaking in. My XRS speakers needed quite a bit of abuse before they started to sound good, now I can say that I don't think there's a 2-way small speaker w/ x-overs that can come close at any price, at least in small spaces / nearfield. There's no doubt a 2-way can be engineered to do well in a bigger space where a little 4" cone just can't produce the spl needed for farfield listening in these conditions, but thats not what we're talking about here.

Dave

Alwayswantmore · « **Reply #4 on:** 26 Oct 2007, 11:36 pm »

I have not heard Super 3s, but they are on the top of my list for when I pick up a 50" plasma early next year. My interest in the Super 3s is fostered by my love of Compact Hemps which I currently own. I use my Hemps primarily in near-field mode. I have owned and heard many speakers in my life, but there is something about the speed, dynamics, coherency and immediacy of Louis's single drivers that's amazing. They are very lifelike.

Louis is a great guy. I recommend that you give him a call and have him tell you what to expect given your listening set up. Based on my experience with Omega, I believe they can go toe to toe with speakers costing MANY times their price.

Good luck.

Slapshot · « **Reply #5 on:** 27 Oct 2007, 03:58 am »

Quote from: Alwayswantmore on 26 Oct 2007, 11:36 pm

I have not heard Super 3s, but they are on the top of my list for when I pick up a 50" plasma early next year. My interest in the Super 3s is fostered by my love of Compact Hemps which I currently own. I use my Hemps primarily in near-field mode. I have owned and heard many speakers in my life, but there is something about the speed, dynamics, coherency and immediacy of Louis's single drivers that's amazing. They are very lifelike.

Louis is a great guy. I recommend that you give him a call and have him tell you what to expect given your listening set up. Based on my experience with Omega, I believe they can go toe to toe with speakers costing MANY times their price.

Good luck.

Louis? I know you monitor this forum. I would greatly appreciate your thoughts and direction.

John

DaveC113 · « **Reply #6 on:** 27 Oct 2007, 04:56 am »

Quote from: Slapshot on 27 Oct 2007, 03:58 am

Louis? I know you monitor this forum. I would greatly appreciate your thoughts and direction.

John

He will answer.... in time

If you want a quicker answer, his phone # is on the website.

Dave

JLM · « **Reply #7 on:** 27 Oct 2007, 10:18 am »

I only questioned the Super 3 in light of the apparent very high quality of the rest of the system. Frankly desktop listening makes any attempt to have audiophile sound an excerise in futility IMO. And single driver design is not the first thing that pops in my mind when someone says, "and, of course, rock," (or HT applications either). And in case you didn't read it in probably a 1000 of my previous posts, I am a big fan of single driver designs.

OTOH I'm not aware of a better speaker for desktop use.

Regarding the Stereo Mojo small speaker shoutout:

I mentioned it because I thought it was well done and has measurements of each;

It shouldn't "hurt" to keep any single driver design bias in perspective;

If vendors sent speakers that weren't broken in and in good working order, shame on them;

Knowing Omega stuff, it provided a hint of what "magic" Louis provides vs. other similar designs.

Quiet Earth · « **Reply #8 on:** 27 Oct 2007, 06:18 pm »

I have to agree that "desktop" listening can be a tremendous challenge. Especially since it will be your main listening space. I had trouble with it too.

I use (acutally I used) the Omega Super 3 (Fostex drivers) for exactly the same purpose. Desktop listening, three feet away from my face. However, in my case it was for desktop "monitoring" of music that I was trying to record for myself. I grew tired of the aggressive "in your face" sound from the self powered pro-audio speakers that I was using before I owned the Super 3s. I wanted a speaker that was honest and easy to listen to for long periods of time. The Super 3s were a welcome change for me (after the long break in period). I used the Super 3s for quite some time on the desk until I realized that I could not do without the low frequencies. I learned that this had much to do with the 3s being on the desk, and my chair being in the center of the room. If you really want to hear any bass from the Super3s (or other small desktop speakers) then you will have to put your chair right up against the wall, and preferably in the corner. That is where the bass will be. This placement sort of excludes the desk, because now your desk will be in the middle of the small room. Not too many people would like the looks of that. Myself included.

The other option is to get the speakers off of the desk and against the wall behind you or to the sides of you. That's what I ended up doing. I also upgraded to the Max Hemps because I would rather have a larger main speaker than mess with a subwoofer. I can always hear a subwoofer as a separate "thing" going on. I just don't have the talent to integrate one properly.

If I could say anything about your situation at all I would say this. The time and effort you make trying to re-arrange your room to get the speakers off of the desk and your chair closer to a wall will pay off tremendously. It will be important no matter which speaker you decide to buy.

Slapshot · « **Reply #9 on:** 27 Oct 2007, 10:19 pm »

Quote from: Quiet Earth on 27 Oct 2007, 06:18 pm

I have to agree that "desktop" listening can be a tremendous challenge. Especially since it will be your main listening space. I had trouble with it too.

If I could say anything about your situation at all I would say this. The time and effort you make trying to re-arrange your room to get the speakers off of the desk and your chair closer to a wall will pay off tremendously. It will be important no matter which speaker you decide to buy.

A good point, unfortunately, the desk, and the shelf units in the room are customs built-ins and cannot move.

John

Vinnie R. · « **Reply #10 on:** 28 Oct 2007, 12:25 am »

Quote

The other option is to get the speakers off of the desk and against the wall behind you or to the sides of you. That's what I ended up doing. I also upgraded to the Max Hemps because I would rather have a larger main speaker than mess with a subwoofer. I can always hear a subwoofer as a separate "thing" going on. I just don't have the talent to integrate one properly.

The new Omega DeepHemp sub integrates very nicely... sealed, tight, fast, adjustable gain.

Quiet Earth · « **Reply #11 on:** 28 Oct 2007, 12:30 am »

Well, that eliminates moving the chair and the desk . . . . .

How about moving the speakers off of the desk? Can you situate the speakers behind your working chair, so that they are up against the wall behind you and firing toward your back? What about on the sides of your desk area, and slightly behind you? You may have to stretch your imagination a little and think outside of the box, especially since you are not in the box anymore. By that, I mean that you are not going to end up with the stereotypical stereo image anyway. Maybe it's best to let the ideal left and right placement thing go in favor of a better overall tonal balance and coherency. Even if you end up right back where you are, it wouldn't hurt to experiment with what you have before you make another purchase. It will only make your next decision a better one.

BTW, if you have already done all of this, just chalk me up as that guy that should have kept his mouth shut. I had good intentions . . . . honest! (I actually enjoy moving stuff around, trying to find the best location, etc. It's fun!)

Best of luck and have fun experimenting

Quiet Earth · « **Reply #12 on:** 28 Oct 2007, 12:52 am »

Quote from: Vinnie R. on 28 Oct 2007, 12:25 am

The new Omega DeepHemp sub integrates very nicely... sealed, tight, fast, adjustable gain.

Thanks Vinnie. I will keep my eye open for it when it becomes a standard product on the website. I'm always willing to give it another go, even with a subwoofer.

I should take this oportunity to say that I am not discouraging Slapshot from buying any of the Omega Speakers. In fact, I think that most of them would be great in his room. I just think that he should do a little more homework before he pulls the trigger, that's all. What if he buys the Super3 when he could have bought the XRS, or the compact instead of the Max hemp?

My apologies if I've messed anything up.

Vinnie R. · « **Reply #13 on:** 28 Oct 2007, 12:56 am »

Quote

I should take this oportunity to say that I am not discouraging Slapshot from buying any of the Omega Speakers. In fact, I think that most of them would be great in his room. I just think that he should do a little more homework before he pulls the trigger, that's all. What if he buys the Super3 when he could have bought the XRS, or the compact instead of the Max hemp?

My apologies if I've messed anything up.

Hi Quiet Earth,

No need to apologize at all. I'm sure Slapshot (as well as others) appreciate your experiences and will find them to be valuable.

Yes, it is a very good idea to do your homework before pulling the trigger... especially when building a little computer desktop system. I never tried this, but I'm sure it is hard to get nailed down

Best regards,

Vinnie

Slapshot · « **Reply #14 on:** 28 Oct 2007, 03:30 am »

Quiet Earth,

Your suggestions and thoughts are greatly appreciated. Thinking out of the box can never hurt. Thanks for taking the time and making the effort!

John

Slapshot · « **Reply #15 on:** 28 Oct 2007, 03:38 am »

And in the spirit of Quiet Earth's recommendations, after much pondering, I have come up with one possible option that would allow more flexibility. And please believe me, this is a tricky situation I have to remedy. The built in desk, and shelves for computer equipment, audio equipment, cd's etc. are really nice, and took a lot of time and effort to design and build. There are also windows and space limitations in the mix.

Here is the one other option, and it would allow somewhat larger speakers. There is the possibility, with a bit of imagination and work, of possibly using even a bit larger speakers, as well as allowing for more space (5-6 feet)between them and my ears. This would require that one would be aimed directly at my right ear, and the other directly at my left ear. I had always heard, in the past, that this situation was to be avoided, as one would certainly lose the central, stereo imaging most desired.

Your thoughts?

John

Jampot · « **Reply #16 on:** 28 Oct 2007, 05:53 am »

Quote

one would be aimed directly at my right ear, and the other directly at my left ear

Ear speakers

It's a quandary - I have the Super 3s and XRS with the fostex drivers, but never tried to use them in the way you need.

They aren't listed on Louis' website these days but he used to have the even smaller 'Mini Me', which would certainly be easier to locate close to the desk. Perhaps a used pair (though I confess I don't recall a pair offered for sale in a while).

I look forward to learning how things work out.

Jim

Slapshot · « **Reply #17 on:** 25 Nov 2007, 06:13 pm »

Quote from: Slapshot on 28 Oct 2007, 03:38 am

And in the spirit of Quiet Earth's recommendations, after much pondering, I have come up with one possible option that would allow more flexibility. And please believe me, this is a tricky situation I have to remedy. The built in desk, and shelves for computer equipment, audio equipment, cd's etc. are really nice, and took a lot of time and effort to design and build. There are also windows and space limitations in the mix.

Here is the one other option, and it would allow somewhat larger speakers. There is the possibility, with a bit of imagination and work, of possibly using even a bit larger speakers, as well as allowing for more space (4-5 feet)between them and my ears. This would require that one would be aimed directly at my right ear, and the other directly at my left ear. I had always heard, in the past, that this situation was to be avoided, as one would certainly lose the central, stereo imaging most desired.

Your thoughts?

Would a pair of Superhemps work in this kind of config? I have managed to find space to accomodate them!

John

Slapshot · « **Reply #18 on:** 25 Nov 2007, 06:29 pm »

I can't believe it, the beautiful pair of Superhemps on Audiogon that I e-mailed the owner about purchasing last night are now "pending sale". They had been for sale for 23 days, and someone apparently just beat me to the punch within a matter of an hour or two after all that time!

New Superhemps would be beyond my budget too, so, very unfortunately, it looks like this won't work out. What a disappointment.

DaveC113 · « **Reply #19 on:** 25 Nov 2007, 06:56 pm »

I think the 8" driver would have been better suited to a larger space anyway. The 4" driver is VERY good too aa