AudioCircle
Industry Circles => Omega Speaker Systems => Topic started by: uncola on 1 Mar 2024, 04:23 pm
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I just received my CAMs and love them. the vocals and midrange are really special. I use them in a nice desk setup on 20" speaker stands behind my ultrawide computer monitor. I have a small 10" verafi caldera subwoofer with class ab plate amp inside that integrates very well.
I'm glad I dipped my toe into the single driver waters... using mini gan monoblocks(class d) with them but will experiment with lower power amps soon. I already have the other amps I'm just too lazy to hook them up today. :lol:
Previous to the CAMs I had 22" tall 3 way Selah bookshelves on my desk speaker stands.. not sure my desk setup was using them to their best advantage because I sit close to the speakers and I know 3 ways need distance for all 3 drivers output to sum, so those are back in the living room.
I was afraid of treble and bass rolloff with using a single driver bookshelf, but I hear all the treble in familiar songs.. there's maybe a small bass reduction compared to my old speakers but the midrange and naturalness is well worth it, and now I have this subwoofer to help. I'm really happy with the purchase and the speakers are beautiful in macassar ebony veneer.
pics and impressions of the other amps to come later
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Did you buy new? If so, 100-200 hours for the surrounds to soften and give you much better bass quality. If you bought them used, well.... nevermind!
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Got them used, I got lucky. I rarely see them for sale
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AMP COMPARISON:
In the past I had an ncore nc502mp amp powering my selah voce 3 way bookshelves.. then I got my hands on an Aleph Mini 18W diy amp, it's a Class A amp.. and the soundstage and imaging and just holographic illusion they created was amazing compared to the ncore. But then I got my current Mini Gan Class D Monoblocks and they combined all the high power benefits of my previous Class D ncore nc502mp and the Aleph Mini class A amp together.
So now that I have Omega CAM's I decided to go back and try the Aleph Mini because of how everyone says low watt Class A stuff matches well with sensitive widebander speakers.. and the soundstage and imaging are just as great as I remember.. but seem no better than the mini gan class d monoblocks. and the monoblocks have the advantages of big power and super low noise floor and no heat. So back to the mini gan monoblocks I go and I can put my mind at ease about missing out on anything.
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Your “discovery” (for lack of a better word) doesn’t have much to do with how many watts you feed Omegas (within their limits) as much as how those watts are produced. Indeed, class A amps (tube and SS) have been the go-to recommendation. This recommendation stretches probably close to 2 decades now…which is LONG before good class D amps existed. Things have changed over the years and class D has come a VERY long way, especially with Hypex, Ncore, Gan. In general, what’s common between class A and class D (in my experience) is that their sound characteristics are consistent, starting with the first few fractions of a watt. Other amps, particularly class A/B don’t always have this kind of consistency. What I’ve found is that many such amps have to be pushed a bit to sound their best. Well…Omegas will not stress such an amp at all and this is a big reason why you almost never see anyone recommend a class A/B amp pairing. Anyway, thought you’d appreciate this bit of background info. I probably need to try a Gan amp one of these days…especially with summer coming and I don’t like running my class A amps in summer.
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Very interesting! I love learning the reasons for why audiophile culture and beliefs occur