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Marry Christmas to everyone!!!I've been a bit busy professionally, personally & ofcause with holiday preparation but here is a copy of on email regarding Omen modifications: "Happy to help when I can. And before we get into the nitty gritty, let me say that all the parts in Omen are collectively a pretty balanced assembly. In addition to matching the tone-prints of the drivers, we also match those PulseX caps to 0.1%, same with the ERSE resistor, and there location on the back of the tweeter, while uncommon does result in better sound than sticking them on a plinth or worse on the side of the cabinet or bulkhead. Just laying the groundwork for conversation, you an find things to change, but you may or may not like the resulting sound. A few things I can tell you will make a nice difference.Yes, apply a mechanical damping compound to the inside of the cabinet, focusing the material thickness on the nodes of the plates, which on Omen is the the center of each plate. No need to run the damping material right to the edges, I would recommend an inch or two away from the joints. Another is adding a 1" oak dowel between the tweeter/woofer bridge and the back. Glue it in place with PU glue like shoe goo, and make it a snug fit.I wouldn't recommend playing with the acoustic damping of the cabinet, the fiberglass inside is fine, and more will only change the sound this way or that, it is tuned for all music, you can get a bit better for ambient by increasing the acoustic damping, but will hinder others.I don't know that I would mess with cap upgrades to much, the tweeter's filter is very high, measures attached for your reference. However, the Mundorf Silver/Oil is better, 1.0uF is all you need. I would leave the resistor."BestMariusz
Thanks for sharing this. However, that bothered me since Zu could have done the upgrade prior to shipping the units. Maybe I am missing something here but that's just me.
Then they would need to raise the price. Every product is built to a pricepoint, and any product can be improved.
How much do you think is the price difference for the upgrade above?
My guess would be $200. Considering labor, cost of parts, floor space for a workstation to add the parts (if not a separate workstation then simply because the product would be on the production floor longer), training people how to do it properly, etc. etc. I'm sure others more familiar with manufacturing in general and perhaps how Zu does their manufacturing could give a better answer. But suffice to say that anything added costs money.
How much sound difference will you be able to get for those upgrades?
My Omen Defs in natural maple finish have arrived and now starting burn-in. Zu's nicely done packaging survived FedEx - just a couple pokes in one of the boxes. The Mrs. huffed a bit helping me bring each of the boxes to the basement, probably not a one person job, yet a job that two men can easily handle. Packaging inside the boxes was well executed: drivers covered tightly with sturdy plastic black "frisbees", top-to-bottom plastic wrap around each speaker, and each speaker supported on top, bottom, and twice in between by plastic foam. Speaker wood finish, in the basement light, seems / feels extremely well done - someone at Zu is doing a nice job / paying close attention. Also looks like Zu is using close router tolerances for the driver openings, too. Nice speaker connector posts, too. I note the speakers ship with rounded feet fastened and spikes in a bag; they are serviceable but as neither are much to write home about, maybe I'll start looking for moderately priced after-market spikes if I decide to keep the speakers - suggestions welcome.Glad I chose the natural finish, the Mrs. and I agree that finish will go great in our dedicated listening room once the Defs get burned-in (kudos for the high WAF, Zu!) And I feel the Omen Defs definitely sound like they need some serious run-in time.
note the speakers ship with rounded feet fastened and spikes in a bag; they are serviceable but as neither are much to write home about, maybe I'll start looking for moderately priced after-market spikes if I decide to keep the speakers - suggestions welcome....
Sean Casey at Zu ...says the Defs have more dynamics, more resolution, and more detail than the Omens. He also prefers for the Omens and the Defs solid state amps such as Pass Labs XA30.5, First Watt J2, First Watt F3.....Morgan
No affilliation... a good place to check out some options....I have purchased several different models and used them on a couple of projects before... http://www.oregondv.com/spikes.htm
And good luck to you as well. I have Odyssey Extreme Monos, so I hope post-burn in that there will be synergy between the amps and Omen Defs. Thanks for the info. PS - wonder how bass reproduction would be with the Yamamoto?Will check them out, many thanks.
So Mariusz ,whats the deal on the Omens. Do they sound any better?
