[balanceofpower]

First of all, I've been hearing great things about Omega for over a year now after an online buddy mentioned the name and the great 'single driver sound'. From the posts on this board that I've read, Louis seems to be a gentleman and a great person to do business with and for the record I've never owned an Omega product or even demo'd one.

Current gear and room:

Room size is 16' x 12'. Speakers reside on the longer 16 foot portion.
There are two openings, one to the kitchen and another to the dining room. In between them is a small side wall of about four feet. The other side wall is complete of 16 feet.

Setup-
Polk Audio RTi100 speakers (90dB)
Sonic Impact T-amp (6 watts)
Pioneer Elite CLD-97 for CD and movies
Technics SLB35 for LP (1970s -- not the current DJ gear stuff)

Experiences and such

As you can see, my current speakers aren't the best. The sound is pretty neutral but a bit veiled and 'unemotional'. The $30 t-amp is fantastic and helped to a degree although I still feel that the speakers aren't quite what I'm going for here.

Rewind back to mid 2004, I heard a pair of Martin Logan electrostat speakers paired with a Jolida 202 (el-34) tube amp and Jolida JD100 tube cd player. I still remember quite well what the pair produced - a gorgeous, open sound with silky highs, huge (creamy?) midrange, and an airiness to vocals. Very non-fatiguing sound -- I went a few times to hear this setup and could sit for hours in enjoyment. My system sounds absolutely nothing like this.

Back to the A8s - I believe I've read that they exhibit electrostatic sonic characteristics, with a much larger imaging area to throw sound. (IE, the Martin Logans I heard were incredible if in the sweet spot only). The same stats were also quite good in another home theater room playing movies. Are the A8s as good with HT as with 2-channel audio?

And finally, as mentioned I'm currently using the 6 watt t-amp which betters the receivers and mid-fi amps I've owned in the past. After hearing that wonderful stat/tube setup I'm curious how much of the sound  I was hearing was from the speakers and if the tubes were coloring the sound to my liking. Whatever the case, I could live with a very similar one. I'm going to keep the t-amp and plan to add a tube amp to the stack such as as the SET amps -- Bottlehead Paramour (3.5 watt 2a3 tubes) w/ foreplay pre, a Wright 3.5 and pre (also 3.5 watt 2a3). Even the Jolida 202 I heard was very good with the combo I wrote about earlier, that burns about 30 watts and el-34 tubes.

Music styles:

Progressive Rock (Rush, Dream Theater, Yes)
Classic Rock (Zeppelin, Doors, Pink Floyd)
Heavy Metal (Iron Maiden, Suffocation)
Electronica/Ambient/Trance (Astral Projection, Amethystium)
Jazz/Classical (orchestral, Miles Davis)
 
Can the A8s produce Heavy Rock and Electronica well? I'm going to add a  good sub eventually so heavy thump isn't a big deal from the mains. Would a SET amp be out the picture? BTW, the t-amp does most music fairly well in loudness - not sure if it's squashing dynamics or not. Movies, however, do not play very loud unless I max out to about 2 or 3 o'clock).

Summary points:

1) looking for a non-fatiguing smooth, open, velvety (romantic?) sound
2) will use for both music -and- movies
3) music choices can include heavy rock, metal, and electronica
4) may add a low-power SET amp into the fold

Opinions, please?

[Sarchi]

I've built the Paramours and Foreplay, they're great. You're on a good path, though getting the velvet romantics that can still do heavy rock is a tall order. A few thoughts on your situation:

You need more sensitive speakers (duh). Don't know anything about the A8's, but I know the Super 3's are great, at least in a small room.

Full-range driver speakers do have the same transparent qualities you hear in electrostatics. Plus they can usually be used with the best (low-power) amps.

Get a sub. Just make sure it's compatible with the T-amp.

If you like to rock out, 2a3 SET might not be for you. Well, maybe with some vintage Altec horns, but that's a whole 'nother story. Or with a good sub..I never tried that.

A tube preamp in front of the T-amp should really improve things. That's my next step. Hopefully end up with a good compromise that can "do" most kinds of music. I loved SET and would love to have it again, but it tends to be limited (unconvincing) on music with a lot of dynamic LF...i.e. rock, hip-hop, some classical.

[bsuhy]

I have roughly the same tastes in music as you do.

I listen to a lot of guitar players, acoustic, electric, from classical like Eliot Fisk and Sharon Isbin to guys like Vai and Satriani, new age ( Michael Hedges ), and they all sound great on the A8's. I listen to some jazz, stuff like Patricia Barber, Diana Krall, Miles Davis, and whatever else my wife has around and they sound great as well. I don't think they are the last word for large orchestral music, and I don't really like large orchestral music anyway, so take that for what its worth. I do listen to smaller works, various pieces of chamber music, and they sound fantastic to me.

I had the Super 3s and an Acoustic Visions MRS-10 sub and when the A8's came out, I ordered a pair. They didnt sacrifice any detail compared to the 3's, and gave me fuller bass. I was using the sub for a while with the A8's, but just for grins I took it out one day, and I haven't had it back in for a couple of weeks. I have them on the 12" Skylan stands.

The rest of my system consists of an AH! Njoe Tjoeb CD player, a Rotel tuner, an ASL AQ2004-DT tube preamp ( currently out of commission, I might not even get it fixed ), a Luminous Audio Axiom passive pre, and a pair of Quicksilver Mini Mite Monos at 25W each.  I just got an Onix A60 MK II integrated solid state amp, and have had that in the system for a couple of days and its not bad, but I cant get the volume past 9 o'clock and stay in the room, so I think it will most likely be up for sale soon.

As and aside, I have the G3 in Tokyo CD with John Petrucci on the first 2 tracks doing "Glasgow Kiss" and "Damage Control" and it sounds pretty good. Actually, for a live show, I think that recording is awesome. The DVD is great as well, I highly recommend it. Your jaw will drop. Not only do those three ( Satriani, Vai, Petrucci ) doing amazing things physically, but sonically some of the stuff they do is unreal, especially Vai. He takes his songs places that are so unexpected and cool it just makes me laugh sometimes. Compared to the recorded versions, I prefer what he does live, as he has added some really cool parts to the last 2 of the 3 tracks he does.

Let us know

[Louis O]

Hi balanceofpower,

Many thanks for your post regarding the A8s and I must be the luckiest man as everyone here makes it so much easier for me with their fantastic posts. Many thanks Sarchi, and bushy. They are both right on the money and I agree 100%. The one thing I would like to stress is the use of a tube pre in front of Tripath. It’s amazing and I have got my T99 vinniemodded and I couldn’t be happier. It has everything that I was looking for and a ton of gain. Very quiet too. I will have it at the VTV in N.J.
I have a bunch of them if anyone is interested in the mod.

Thanks again,
Louis

[Sarchi]

Having lived with mcgsxr's Visaton B200's (in open baffles) for the last few days, I can add something more.  These are flat-out incredible drivers.  They reproduce instruments and voices with astonishing clarity and presence.  They can rock almost as well as they can do ballads. This is with my T amp.  Acoustic music is incredibly well served. In short they have few flaws, especially taking price into consideration.

I haven't heard the A8's, but they use the B200 full range driver, and if they sound anything like this, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them.