[hopihopi]

First of all, thanks Louis for the great speakers. I'm writing for the first time here on this forum, been lurking so far and got a lot of valuble information. Thanks also to the participants of this forum.

If you may I'd like to share with you how I became an owner and fan of Omega speakers.

About three years ago I got to know this forum member Eadron/Jouni who was very interested in Omega speakers and eventaly bought the Omegas 8" Super Monitors with Skylan stands. He got to be a big fan of the Omega speakers and and brought the awarenes of Omega speakers to Finland and the finnish audiophiles. He is the big pioneer, expert and friend of the Omega speakers in Finland. I have visited him several times and can state the sound is fabulous and it is hard to imagen it could be betterd on.

Then Jouni wanted to get the Omega's best speakers, the Alnico 8" XRS speakers. And so I was able to buy Jouni's old speakers - the 8" Super Monitors mentioned above which I have been very impressed with for two years now.

First I paired the speakers with my Leben 300X amplifier which were wonderfull but also kept wondering could I get even better. Eventuly I upgraded the amp to Shindo Aurieges and Montille and it was clear that in spite of my hesitation (the Leben was already great) the sound was even better, really spektacular I dare say.

Noting my experience with the Omega 8" Super Monitors, I have to wonder though why isn't there more discussion of Omega's 8 inch speakers on this forum. This because I have had the chance to listen to a number of Omega speakers (6" and others) and although they also are very capable, I am under the spell of the 8" speakers. Or am I just wanting more talk about the 8" speakers? 

And still, Louis if you may, I am wishing, hoping and dreaming of an 10" inch speaker to come! 

Yours sincierly,
Lasse

[JLM]

Welcome to AC.

I'm a fan of Omega and Louis too, but wish he could post more (especially about the 4 inch AlNiCo based Sticks).  Why the interest in a 10 inch driver?

I think often of my 5 weeks in Finland after high school (in 1974) that I stayed with a family near Lohja, sort of as a cultural exchange.

[Eadron]

Lasse, thanks  ..actually that's really an impressive entry! I'm surprised - to say the least. I'm very glad you shared your story here.

Pioneer..hmm...sounds majestic  ..ok, I know one pioneer and that's the man himself - Louis! All credits should go for him, really  .

You have absolutely wonderful setup there, one of the best, Lasse.

Welcome!

jouni

[smk]

The lack of reviews puzzles me too. I'm a big fan of Louis as well.

The lack of reviews puzzles me too.Think what you're seeing is prejudice against SDL. At least, that is what I think.

[AudioAddiction]

Hi Lasse,

Thanks for your story.  I will disclose from the start that I am the Australian distributor for Omega so you can take my comments for what they are.  I have to agree that the Omega's are an outstanding speaker and for the money are very, very difficult to beat. 

From my end I have an Australian reviewer with a pair of the Omega Super 6XRS and he will get the opportunity to review a pair of the Super 8XRS in the future.  He has already reviewed the Sticks.  I also wish there were more reviews around but I guess Louis is a small manufacturer and there is a limit to what he can make at a set time and what he is willing to market.

I am a very big fan of my Super 8XRS coupled with a Red Wine Audio Isabella / 70.2 combo.  I also have a Trafomatic Experience 2 (300B) on the way which I am really looking forward to evaluating.

I would love to see more people discuss the Super 8's on this forum. 

I'd like to share one event that has happened recently in my demo room when showing a customer the Omega's.  I had a gentleman who was looking at purchasing an Olive music server off of me and he listened to it through the Super 8XRS.  I can tell you when he heard the sound you could just see his ears and mind turn on.  He then asked where the other drivers are located.  Where was the tweeter?  Where was the mid-range driver?  Isn't there supposed to be at least two maybe three drivers? 

Then he asked about the price.  I think I could have pushed him over with a feather.  He had just bought a pair of speakers at 4x the cost of the Omega's and you could see the regret written over his face.  Even today after doing more research about single drivers he still asks where the tweeter is.  He just doesn't believe that you can get such clean and concise and life like detail out of one driver.  He ended up purchasing a pair just recently and he has already mentioned how much enjoyment he is getting out of them.  It is a great event seeing people's misconceptions about speaker design and about audio products broken down.  When so many reviewers out there keep pushing the "more power is better" mantra with inefficient speakers and massive powered amps it's no wonder the mainstream are so blinded.

I just wish people would listen to different products instead of just reading about the same old speakers made by the same old companies.  I think it's time for a lot of people to re-evaluate what they are really getting from their audio system and for what cost. 

Thanks for your story Lasse.  It's really good to hear about other people loving the Super 8's.

Thanks,

Tony

[JLM]

Sending stuff out for professional review can be a double edged sword.  Although I've read only a couple of harsh equipment reviews, there certainly is a competition in the minds of customers as to just how glowing a given review is.  So a luke warm review can hurt business.  As single driver designs are not main stream fare, it's easy to "earn" such a review.

Then there's the concern for shipping damage, user abuse/misuse, etc. that can cast teh product in a dim light.  And if demand and/or competition for a given product to extremely high, the review can take a long time and in addition remove it from a showroom or from a paying customer hands.

Tony, I agree with you wholeheartedly and sometimes wish we all auditioned equipment with a black vale over all of it.   

[hopihopi]

Thanks everyone to for commenting my story.

JLM, nice to notice that the world is a small place! You are kind of glimsing back to after 35 years.
I do think that since the time you were here the Finnish Hifi seene has developed quite a bit. We're not such backcountry any more. Today we have much more (also high end) equipment avaiable for us - in good and bad. You're asking why the interest in 10" speakers... well, in Finland we have a saying that 'you get hungryer when you eat' meaning you always want more.  A 10" driver with a supertweeter could be nice. - here's free advice for Louis's together with his hundreds of other projects. 

Tony, again the world is small and I have visited your web site. I am happy to note thet you have a well selected epuipment sortiment, stuff you know are good and trust, not just a bundle of everything possible. I have also heard the Omega and the RWA combination and can confirm they go together extreamly well. Nice also to hear your experience's with people awakening to the Omega's sound. My experience can confirm this also. And also you are right in the fact that people should more oppenly listen to non-mainstream stuff - they'd be much happier.
According to my experience the Omega 8 inchies take some what more work to be placed correctly. Could this, and the fact that they are quit a bit more expensive, be the reason why there isn't any more conversasion about them on these forum. But when you get/find the right placement, then - voila!, what a beutifull sound. Looking forward to here from the Omega speaker reviews. Take care and keep the good work going!

Still as a finale here I would like to add that I may have given an over siplyfied picture of how I ended up with the Omegas Super 8's. I did listen to the other Omegas also at the retailer here in Finland. But after listening to the Super Monitor 8's for the first time (Jouni's previously owned speakers), they left me wanting - you could say they were calling out my name!  . I drove on several weekends (250km) to the retailer to listen/confirm that I was hearing untill I had to buy them. With my previous speakers, the Zu Druids, I couldn't quite settled in, some communication was missing. But the Omega Super Monitors to me are very communicative and wonderfull to listen to with the right setup. Now still after listening to the Stick 6's, I consider the Super Monitors 8" to be king of the hill.

I could have also took the 8XSR but my listening room fits better to the Monitors. And also in front of the speakers is our dog's (labrador Sunny ) sleeping place, so I feel it might have interfierd with the bass response of the 8XRS speakers. Sunny is very happy with this arrangment and usually dominates the best listening place. 

Jouni, I do stand behind my words that you have been a huge influence in bringing the Omegas to Finland, you're the man - rest in peace! 
Still troubled with the DeepHemp?

My inspiring setup: Reimyo CDT-777  transport, Reimyo DAP-777, Shindo Aurieges and  Montille, Omega 8" Super Monitor and Sunny the dog (cables: Shindo, Harmonix and Auditorium 23)

Louis, take care and also keep up the good work!


Yours, Lasse

[Louis O]

Hi hopihopi,

Many thanks and welcome to AC.

It was a great pleasure to read your posts and I'm thrilled to hear you're enjoying your speakers.

Your gear is superb and sounds like you put a lot of time and effort setting up your system. This is very important as you well know. I also have a soft spot for the 8" drivers. The dynamics and mid range character of them gets me drawn in too. They may be a little more fussy than the 6's, but when they are all set up I really enjoy listening to them too. Sunny found a great spot and in the old shop the other company there had a cat and she always parked right in front of the playing speakers. Usually on the left side.

Jouni has been a very good friend and I'm very appreciative of all he has done for me. It's great to find out how it all came together.
Kari has also done a great job in Finland for me.

Many thanks for the wonderful posts and having more reviews is important. I'm very happy for the 2 that Tony has worked to get in Australia. Can't wait to read the next one.


Hi Tony,

Thanks for sharing your audition and it's happened to me too. The 8's went though 3 versions and the latest with the large whizzer cone really gets the top end out. When the alnico came out the balance got even better.

With the new Hoyt Bedford line comes out I hope to get some exposure with them.

Thanks again,
Louis

[hopihopi]

Hi there Louis and Omega fans,
Just popped in to say that although I’ve had my Omega speakers now for 2 years and also listened/tested other loudspeakers, my Omegas have not met their winner. Really like them -great! Safely waiting and looking forward to spend the next years with my Omegas also. 
- Lasse

[MagnumPI]

Hi hopihopi

It's been two years since you got your Omega Super 8s! I had mine, Super8XRS, for about 2 1/2 months I'm curious as to how the sound 'evolve' through the years, & sure hope more Super 8 owners would come forward & contribute to this thread; introduce these great speakers to more audiophiles

[Eadron]

Hello MagnumPI (and others as well, especially you, Louis!),

it's been a while since posting here. Well, this hobby seems to keep me very busy..

Anyway, here I am again.. I owned 8"XRS for over two years. I liked 'em a lot and those kinda left me wanting no more from a pair of wideband drivers/speakers..I remember well I got 'em first time, I was floored by the coherence, openess and honesty they were offering..something totally different than any other type of speakers I had owned previously.

How they 'evolved'? Well, I grew up appreciating them, their strenghts and even weaknesses, even more over time. I admit, concentrating their weaknesses (if their ever was one  ) or was it their plain honesty, don't know, took a lot of time and experimental efforts (various types of amps, wires, tubes etc.) to get things going my way. But in the end, it was very rewarding and offered me so called 'sonic bliss' experience with these speakers.

Along with my journey walked also Louis himself - always answering (remember my all, sometimes totally silly questions  ) and gently offering his guidance to get the best out of them. Thanks, buddy !

I could easily live with the Omega speakers for the rest of my life  .

So, MagnumPI, enjoy your great speakers and make 'em rock  !

Cheers,
Jouni

[MagnumPI]

Hi Jouni

Thanks for the advice! Coming to 3 months now, i've been running them in 2-3 hours a day. The sound is opening up & getting smoother & sweeter as compared when they were right out of the box. However i would say they're still nowhere near what i heard at the dealer's! I thought my room constraint (small) played a big part in this discrepancy. Undaunted i moved them around & try to strike a balance. But the sound stage is not getting wider, neither is it getting deeper; worst still it's all quite bunched-up in there, not much separation at all  Finally out of frustration, i disconnected all cables for a thorough cleaning just to make myself feel better! When re-assembling i also push the rack back from inbetween the speakers, leaving the space with just the amp on the floor. the improvement is amazing The depth, the width & most importantly the layering of the sound stage is just awesome! The vocalist, the instruments each have their own little space, & you've a feeling that you're really enjoying a musical performance now I might even hold back my plan of treating the room with some traps now

[DaveC113]

I've had my 4.5" XRS for about 6 years now.

If I won the lotto I could put together a better system, but I've never heard anything even close for the same money, and I've been to a few RMAF shows and plenty of high end stereo shops.