AudioCircle
Industry Circles => Omega Speaker Systems => Topic started by: trusturears on 24 Jan 2017, 02:56 am
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Anyone out there who has actually heard them? I'm very curious to hear your impressions and about the associated equipment being used and type of music played.
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Here's some info :wink:
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=141009.0
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thanks. I especially noted the comment that they sound great at low volume. that is one of the things that appealed to me. late night jazz listening particularly. if there's anything else you can pass along having had them for a while, please feel free. I'm also considering a monitor version of the multi super 3 series if one comes out. i've seen pics of a one-off creation I guess. curious how they'd compare. when I get closer to purchase I guess I'll call Omega for more insight.
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Louis makes custom speakers based on things he has experimented with and knows works well. It really depends on what you're looking for. Yes, definitely call him for a consultation before deciding on anything. The CAMs were also custom, before he added them to the line last year. I own the pair shown on the Omega site in Zebrawood. Though I love them, I often think about getting another pair of Omegas with the RS5 drivers (from the 3 series). They just have a different set of qualities that I sometimes miss from when I had the 3xrs. They're so lightning quick and super resolving. Like I said, talk to Louis. Let him know your system and listening habits / priorities and he'll steer you where you need to be. Hope this helps.
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Considerations include how you intend to position the speakers and what characteristics are important to you.
If you wish to position the speakers on a bookshelf or very close to a wall, the wide-baffle CAM may be more suitable. The boundary reinforcement will improve the midbass, as will the wide baffle. Note that this would apply to a RS5-based speaker as well. If you wish to stand-mount the speaker further into the room, you will lose some bass reinforcement but gain additional spatial cues. In this case, the form factor of the Super 3 1.5 Monitor may be more appropriate. The 12" depth of the 1.5 Monitor would not be as conducive to shelf placement.
As RDavidson implied, there is a certain amount of custom work even in Louis' "stock" speakers. He has said in the past that he could mount drivers on the wide face of a monitor and front-mount the port if you prefer. You would then be able to choose shelf positioning if you like.
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Something to note is that I've found my CAMs to need much less boundary reinforcement than the 3xrs. The CAMs have more midbass and bass, which is of course due mostly to the larger driver. This is just my personal experience. I've read where others were satisfied with the midbass / bass of the 3xrs when used with amps like the Decware Zen. I'm a Pass Labs / First Watt owner, though I'm keen to try the Decware some day. Point is, there are many things to consider with amp / speaker pairing. Overall, I think the CAMs are probably the most versatile stand-alone speaker Omega offers, based on size, midbass/bass production, ease of placement, simplicity, and tonal balance. Note I haven't heard the dual RS5 based speakers, but their lower impedance could MAYBE present a little bit of trouble for amps like the Decware. It depends. So, this is something that adds to my assessment that the CAMs are probably the most versatile overall. Again, Louis is the man. He won't steer you wrong and enjoys talking to his customers.
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RD,
Your opinion aligns with my own. The Alnico driver has better upper bass than the RS5. This is borne out by the 1.5 way configurations bringing in the helper drivers at 200hz for the Alnico and 500hz for the RS5. I own a pair of Super Alnico Monitors, and in my smallish dedicated room they get just enough room reinforcement in the mid to upper bass for me. If i had them in a larger room with less room reinforcement I may find I want the helper driver.
The output transformers in the Decware amps are optimized for 6 ohms and actually perform a bit better into lower impedances. I own a couple of Dennis Had Inspire amps that are also would to accommodate wide impedance loads (one amp is rated at 12 wpc into 8 ohms and 10 wpc into 2 ohms).
My off the cuff guess about the impedance of the 1.5 way speakers are that that are not really 4 ohm speakers but closer to a nominal 6 ohms. Coincidentally, Steve Deckert opines that most "* ohm" speakers are really more like 6 ohm speakers in reality. When I look at drivers that are electrically similar to RS5's (specifically Fostex Fe127e) we see an impedance trough at around 500 - 1,000 hz, with rising impedance both below and above this band. In the case of the RS5 drivers we are paralleling them in the region (<500hz) of rising impedance, so the aggregate impedance in the bass region will likely stay above 8 ohms. This works particularly well with the Deware amps that actually like lower impedance. You have the compound effect of an extra 3dB of output from the paired drivers and being able to draw more power from the amp. You may actually see an increased bass response of 4-6dB.
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Agree with all your comments, roscoe. All things considered, the electrical behavior is just one element of the whole. With dual drivers, the impedance may be lower than a single driver, but the difference is likely (for the most part) negated by the increased sensitivity of the system (as you've alluded). Keep in perspective too that we're talking about SUPER light drivers, with strong motors. They will respond to fractions of a watt. Which brings me to another point...
I listen nearfield, both out of necessity (relatively small space) and also to avoid room reflections from dominating the presentation. My ears are 8 feet (usually more like 6.5 - 7 feet) from the drivers. I need VERY little power to get the CAMs singing at my listening chair. Most of the time I don't enjoy listening loud anyway. I prefer comfortable volumes (likely 75db - 85db)....similar to Srajan at 6 Moons (who is also a Pass Labs / First Watt fan). So, an aspect that is SUPER important to me is system quietness. I sit close enough to the drivers that hiss / hum can be bothersome. This can be tricky because Omegas let everything through, for better (music signal) or worse (system noise). It isn't so much a problem as much as it is something worth noting as another variable.
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A SET (like the Zen) with no negative feedback will have a very low damping factor. In the case of Omega speakers where the drivers are very light and need very little damping, a SET with it's low damping factor can produce a very nice bottom end without the need of a sub. An amp with a high damping factor can lessen the bass output, but not to the point where the speakers will sound lean. In listening to a variety of Omega speakers on anything from SETs to SS and almost everywhere in between, this has been my experience.
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Agree with all your comments, roscoe. All things considered, the electrical behavior is just one element of the whole. With dual drivers, the impedance may be lower than a single driver, but the difference is likely (for the most part) negated by the increased sensitivity of the system (as you've alluded). Keep in perspective too that we're talking about SUPER light drivers, with strong motors. They will respond to fractions of a watt. Which brings me to another point...
I listen nearfield, both out of necessity (relatively small space) and also to avoid room reflections from dominating the presentation. My ears are 8 feet (usually more like 6.5 - 7 feet) from the drivers. I need VERY little power to get the CAMs singing at my listening chair. Most of the time I don't enjoy listening loud anyway. I prefer comfortable volumes (likely 75db - 85db)....similar to Srajan at 6 Moons (who is also a Pass Labs / First Watt fan). So, an aspect that is SUPER important to me is system quietness. I sit close enough to the drivers that hiss / hum can be bothersome. This can be tricky because Omegas let everything through, for better (music signal) or worse (system noise). It isn't so much a problem as much as it is something worth noting as another variable.
The need to quiet amplifiers with sensitive speakers cannot be overstated. My two-channel speakers run from 94 - 99dB. Fortunately I have very quiet tube amps: Dennis Had Inspire amps with regulated power supplies and a SET 421a amp with an indirectly heated output tube.
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thanks to everyone for responding and chiming in. interestingly enough, a few weeks ago i took steps to build the second system i've always wanted to try by ordering a decware se34I.5 amp . i'm now deciding on the right omega speaker. they're made not too far from where i live and i am willing to travel up there, but unfortunately from what i've heard there's really no way to hear anything first. i took the plunge on the decware w/out hearing it so i guess i'll be doing the same w/the omegas.
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thanks to everyone for responding and chiming in. interestingly enough, a few weeks ago i took steps to build the second system i've always wanted to try by ordering a decware se34I.5 amp . i'm now deciding on the right omega speaker. they're made not too far from where i live and i am willing to travel up there, but unfortunately from what i've heard there's really no way to hear anything first. i took the plunge on the decware w/out hearing it so i guess i'll be doing the same w/the omegas.
I would look seriously at those Omegas that Decware now sells. Steve Deckart says they are even faster than his Acoustat Monitors, and that is very fast. :o
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I have a pair of CAM's and love them. Listen mostly in the evening to jazz and they are incredible. I selected them because I had no choice on placement and had to keep them close to the back wall. These speakers shine in these conditions. I drive them with a Fi 421A 4wpc.
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=157410)
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I have a version of that amp circuit - not by Don Garber but by Oliver Sayes. I have the universal Hashimoto outputs instead of the nice potted ones. Mine also looks more conventional. Not as cool and not a real Fi amp, but easier to modify if I want.
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thanks, I think I'm leaning toward the CAMs. Love that Fi amp and I wanted one. I contacted Garber about getting one a while back, but didn't get very far. It is a beautiful piece.
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thanks, I think I'm leaning toward the CAMs. Love that Fi amp and I wanted one. I contacted Garber about getting one a while back, but didn't get very far. It is a beautiful piece.
If you wanted one that is similar (same circuit, different look, maybe different parts), Oliver Sayes would probably build you one. He's on USAudiomart as SonicOli.
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If you wanted one that is similar (same circuit, different look, maybe different parts), Oliver Sayes would probably build you one. He's on USAudiomart as SonicOli.
I had one of Oliver's 2A3 amps. It sounded wonderful, but was very unreliable.
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I had one of Oliver's 2A3 amps. It sounded wonderful, but was very unreliable.
That hasn't been my experience. But then this circuit doesn't have that many parts to go wrong. If his amps have some unreliability they wouldn't be the first from small builders who do point-to-point construction. One variable with Oliver is that he often uses old iron, which may or may not present a problem in the long term.
Then again, everything that moves or produces power has the chance of breaking sometime.
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thanks for the info. I'll stick w/what I've got for now and see where it goes.
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Oliver's work has always seemed great to me. I live 4 blocks from him. I really only use vintage power iron. Output iron that has aged gets me.
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A SET (like the Zen) with no negative feedback will have a very low damping factor. In the case of Omega speakers where the drivers are very light and need very little damping, a SET with it's low damping factor can produce a very nice bottom end without the need of a sub. An amp with a high damping factor can lessen the bass output, but not to the point where the speakers will sound lean. In listening to a variety of Omega speakers on anything from SETs to SS and almost everywhere in between, this has been my experience.
RE: damping factor. So, I've ordered the CAMs and my "amp" has a damping factor of 55 milli ohms (0.055 ohms) , and assuming I have low impedance cables, what should I expect out of the CAM?
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Oliver's work has always seemed great to me. I live 4 blocks from him. I really only use vintage power iron. Output iron that has aged gets me.
anyone have a link to Oliver's website or contact info?
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I have his contact info, but don't feel comfortable giving it out. He sells occasionally on USAudiomart as sonic_oli. He has an add for an Altec 755 up there right now.
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RE: damping factor. So, I've ordered the CAMs and my "amp" has a damping factor of 55 milli ohms (0.055 ohms) , and assuming I have low impedance cables, what should I expect out of the CAM?
A difficult question, huh? Generalities will suffice. :D
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Something to note is that I've found my CAMs to need much less boundary reinforcement than the 3xrs. The CAMs have more midbass and bass, which is of course due mostly to the larger driver. This is just my personal experience. I've read where others were satisfied with the midbass / bass of the 3xrs when used with amps like the Decware Zen. I'm a Pass Labs / First Watt owner, though I'm keen to try the Decware some day. Point is, there are many things to consider with amp / speaker pairing. Overall, I think the CAMs are probably the most versatile stand-alone speaker Omega offers, based on size, midbass/bass production, ease of placement, simplicity, and tonal balance. Note I haven't heard the dual RS5 based speakers, but their lower impedance could MAYBE present a little bit of trouble for amps like the Decware. It depends. So, this is something that adds to my assessment that the CAMs are probably the most versatile overall. Again, Louis is the man. He won't steer you wrong and enjoys talking to his customers.
I had an extensive discussion with Louis on the issue of impedance before buying the Omega HO 3-1.5 speakers, which are rated around 6 ohms. My JWN 6V6 amp only has taps for 8. Louis said it would not be a problem. I agree. Not really a problem at all.
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I had an extensive discussion with Louis on the issue of impedance before buying the Omega HO 3-1.5 speakers, which are rated around 6 ohms. My JWN 6V6 amp only has taps for 8. Louis said it would not be a problem. I agree. Not really a problem at all.
Impedance matching of output transformers to speakers is not really that much of a big deal. Typically, any tap will be compatible with any impedance speaker, but it may not be optimal. Usually, all things being equal, using an 8 ohm tap with speaker of 8 ohms or more will allow for better bass reproduction.
However, some designers feel that using the whole transformer secondary is superior to using tapped transformers. Steve Deckert uses a single 6 ohm secondary, feeling that that impedance is typical of the real world impedance of most "8 ohm" speakers. Dennis Had doesn't state the output impedance of his Inspire Firebottle amps, but an amp rated at 12wpc will produce 10wpc into 2ohms. It would appear that there is a lot of wiggle room in matching speakers to a well-designed tube amp.
Of particular note are amps such as the Firebottle that can use a variety of output tubes. These different tube types have a typical design primary impedance, but that differs from tube to tube (e.g., an EL34 might be 3,400 ohms while a EL84 might be 8,000 phms). Being able to swap tube types strongly indicates a great flexibility of operating points for the output tubes. At the same time, if we mismatch speakers to the output transformer tap, we will change the reflected impedance at the transformer's primary.
In short, I don't think that there is much to worry about with any of Louis' speakers used on the 8 ohm tap of any quality tube amp, but some of the HO models (specifically the RS7 models) may be happier with a 4 ohm tap.
As fare as Damping Factor with a SS amp, virtually all solid state amps will have a very high damping factor when used with Omega speakers. It doesn't occur to me to be something I would concern myself with.
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Do you guys think with the CAMs, or any other Omega speaker, that you'll really get 20kHz at the top as specified?
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You'll get 20khz, but it may be down a few dB. That is not necessarily a bad thing. Normal adult hearing rarely exceeds 16khz, nor is there a great deal of musical information up that high. Additionally, the Fletcher-Munson effect means that rolled off highs and lows actually give a greater impression of soundstage depth. If you actually need that top half octave you can alway add on a supertweeter, possibly placed off axis for greater dispersion.
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You'll get 20khz, but it may be down a few dB. That is not necessarily a bad thing. Normal adult hearing rarely exceeds 16khz, nor is there a great deal of musical information up that high. Additionally, the Fletcher-Munson effect means that rolled off highs and lows actually give a greater impression of soundstage depth. If you actually need that top half octave you can alway add on a supertweeter, possibly placed off axis for greater dispersion.
Thank you. Yeah, I mean, I'm lucky if I can hear 16kHz, in a home test, but really, at age 43 (not sure how much age has to do with it), but my hearing is more comfortable right at 14-15kHz. So, really the question is more academic than anything.
If anything I could see myself adding a sub, but that's more speculation at this point because I don't have my CAMs yet. I'm only going by what CAM owners have said.
Really, I'm curious about what some of the floorstanding alnicos, either single driver or 1.5 would have over the CAMs, if anything at all, if I add a sub to the mix.
I certainly want the best that I can get for everything from metal to classical. Am I asking too much from the Omegas?
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You may be asking too much from the CAM's if you want Metal to Classical at satisfying levels in a larger space. Near field with some boundary reinforcement may be a different story. There are also the SAM's, which I own. They are significantly bigger than the CAM's and have the potential for better bass performance. Alternatively, you may find your musical tastes better served by the Super 3 HO Monitor, which has the same driver surface area of the CAM but IMO a better top end.
Back to our perception of high frequencies: I'm 52 and my HF hearing is not as great as it once was. But our ears are not our only sense organs - the skin also contributes to our perception of sound, which is one reason why supertweeters and very low frequency subwoofers contribute to musical enjoyment.
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You may be asking too much from the CAM's if you want Metal to Classical at satisfying levels in a larger space. Near field with some boundary reinforcement may be a different story. There are also the SAM's, which I own. They are significantly bigger than the CAM's and have the potential for better bass performance. Alternatively, you may find your musical tastes better served by the Super 3 HO Monitor, which has the same driver surface area of the CAM but IMO a better top end.
Yeah, hmmmm... I hope I didn't make a bad choice by choosing the CAMs. On the other hand, my listening will be in a pretty small room. I'm thinking I'm going to be no more than 6ft away from them.
Well, I guess it's all pretty moot until I try them out. I hope they're coming soon. Tomorrow will start the 4th weeks since I've ordered them. It should be fun, I think. (I hope)
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I highly doubt you made a bad choice. Like anything else in life, there's really no way to know what your preferences are without giving different things a try. Unfortunately, this hobby can be expensive and difficult to try a lot of different things in order to dial-in the "nuances" of your preferences. Maybe you like chocolate. Is there a certain brand? What type of chocolate? Dark? How dark? From what country or region? And so it goes. Know what I mean? I've been in this hobby for around 20 years, maybe longer. I've tried LOTS of gear. CAMs are in my music system and will remain there for the foreseeable future. However, I'm very fond of the RS5 based speakers and will probably buy a pair of HO 3's at some point too. It boils down to those nuances, which can entirely depend on your mood (or type of music you want to listen to and how you want it presented to you at any given moment). Just because 70% dark chocolate from Sweden is your favorite, doesn't mean that you don't find 60% dark chocolate from Mexico also good or maybe even preferable on occasion. I think you'll be happy with the CAMs especially nearfield. They're very flexible, refined, resolving, and really don't misstep.
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I highly doubt you made a bad choice. Like anything else in life, there's really no way to know what your preferences are without giving different things a try. Unfortunately, this hobby can be expensive and difficult to try a lot of different things in order to dial-in the "nuances" of your preferences. Maybe you like chocolate. Is there a certain brand? What type of chocolate? Dark? How dark? From what country or region? And so it goes. Know what I mean? I've been in this hobby for around 20 years, maybe longer. I've tried LOTS of gear. CAMs are in my music system and will remain there for the foreseeable future. However, I'm very fond of the RS5 based speakers and will probably buy a pair of HO 3's at some point too. It boils down to those nuances, which can entirely depend on your mood (or type of music you want to listen to and how you want it presented to you at any given moment). Just because 70% dark chocolate from Sweden is your favorite, doesn't mean that you don't find 60% dark chocolate from Mexico also good or maybe even preferable on occasion. I think you'll be happy with the CAMs especially nearfield. They're very flexible, refined, resolving, and really don't misstep.
Yeah, I can dig it. I'm still itching for my CAMs. I sure hope they do the trick. I posted that my listening ranges from Metal to Classical, which is true, but probably the most prevalent music I listen to is somewhere in the middle, e. g. Beatles, Prince, Stevie Wonder, Tom Petty, Springsteen, Neil Young, Jimi Hendrix, The Kinks, Yes and various other prog rock. Oh, and Elvis and Sinatra.
Actually, as far as classical goes, I'm more into chamber music sonatas, wind ensembles, as opposed to huge Mahler type pieces. Light Debbusy, too. I love the blues and small jazz groups, as well.
Metal? Oh, a little Metallica and Slayer now and again. Maybe some older school hip hop like the Beastie Boys and A Tribe Called Quest.
So, I don't know. Canada Rob posted some blurbs on the sound of the various models, which is a good guide, but you can tell it's not the whole picture.
I think I had posted before that I plan on buying a JL F110 sub for this rig. I simply wonder if I should have ordered the SAMs, or would SAMs matter at 3 to 6ft away? I've only got about 5 WPC to play with, so from what I understand that should be fine.
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The nice thing about adding a sub is that you can dial-in the bass to suit your needs. The CAMs certainly reach low enough that blending with a sub should be no problem. A JL Fathom would be an excellent compliment.
The SAMs, I'm sure, reach lower than the CAMs and likely fill a larger space a better (both physically and in terms of sound). However, as you stated, listening nearfield would likely negate a fair amount of the bass advantage the SAMs have over the CAMs. As you know, to make more bass you also have to get the cones moving more. To get the cones moving more might mean turning the volume up higher than is comfortable nearfield. Long story short...that is what lead me to sell my KEF LS50's (and others before them) and I've been enjoying the single driver / high efficiency route ever since. :thumb:
Note, I listen to a bit of everything too (but mostly ambient, small ensemble jazz, and indie hip-hop) and the CAMs don't disappoint. I don't enjoy listening too loud. When I listen, I like to listen, not be thrashed by the music. The nice thing about Omegas is that they give up the goods without the need to play loud. I LOVE that.
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Nice. Yeah, I don't need a whole lot of volume either. I mean, sometimes you certainly want to jam, but feeling the music doesn't always equate to loudness. But what is "loud?" 95db at 6ft might be too damn loud, anyway, even at the most jammin' of times.
But yeah, anyway, I'm dealing in the realm of hypotheticals at the moment. Yay for the sub. I'm Impatient. Monday will be a month since ordering. :)
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Nice. Yeah, I don't need a whole lot of volume either. I mean, sometimes you certainly want to jam, but feeling the music doesn't always equate to loudness. But what is "loud?" 95db at 6ft might be too damn loud, anyway, even at the most jammin' of times.
But yeah, anyway, I'm dealing in the realm of hypotheticals at the moment. Yay for the sub. I'm Impatient. Monday will be a month since ordering. :)
I so agree. My high volume days are over too. You don't need ear-bleeding levels to experience the viscerality of good music. Omegas excell at this.
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I am consistently surprised at how much louder many other people listen.
I had a guy over to the house this weekend. He had it up around 95dB for a while. And then started to try to yell over it.
I am usually in the 75-80dB range and sometimes way less. Even in my isolated and soundproofed listening room.
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I am consistently surprised at how much louder many other people listen.
I had a guy over to the house this weekend. He had it up around 95dB for a while. And then started to try to yell over it.
I am usually in the 75-80dB range and sometimes way less. Even in my isolated and soundproofed listening room.
I agree completely. It's insane to me how loud some folks like to listen.
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I agree completely. It's insane to me how loud some folks like to listen.
"What?"
80-85 for me.
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Well, I only have 5.6 WPC @8ohms to play with, max, so whatever that works out to in dbs would be the loudest I could go. I don't imagine that would drive the CAMs to their maximum, or maybe it would; I don't know. At any rate, I'm more concerned with being able to drive the CAMs to the point where I get their full dynamic benefits, SPL be damned. I hope I'm on the right track.
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Nearfield, you'd be surprised how far 5 wpc will get you with Omegas. Not only are they easy to drive electrically, but also physically (because they have such strong motors and light comes). They will react to fractions of a watt.
At 94dbs at 1 watt at 1 meter, that's LOUD. That can cause ear damage. If you sit around 2 meters away, I can't remember all the math, but I believe 2 watts is all you need to still get 94dbs at 2 meters. If you mainly listen at 70-80 dbs (as it seems most of us do the majority of the time), you might use less than a watt except during peaks.
I think you just need to sit tight till you get your speakers. You're starting to concern yourself with things that are likely of little or no concern. Been there. Done that. I get it. :wink:
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At 94dB/w/m, 1 watt will give you 94dB. 2 watts will give you 97dB. If you double the distance to 2m, 2 watts will give you 91dB. Since doubling the number of speakers doubles the acoustic power, 2 watts into 2 speakers at 2 meters will give you 94dB.
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I think you just need to sit tight till you get your speakers. You're starting to concern yourself with things that are likely of little or no concern. Been there. Done that. I get it. :wink:
Hahaha! Awesome! Because you're so right! :thumb:
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So, I got my CAMs today. They are beautiful! Such build and quality!
Started some tunes up and it sounded pretty good, then quickly went to shit. Haha! Time to break these in for a good 200hrs straight.
One thing that was quickly apparent, though, is that just with a little tinkering the stereo imaged snapped right into place. Pow! Everything was right there. Even after opening my eyes and hearing vocals which sounded right in front of me, the vocals were still right in front of me, even though I was looking at a blank wall now. The illusion is that strong.
This was at 6ft. I'll try next at 3ft in a triangle.
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It's almost spooky how well these CAMs image. It's as if everything is in the center, floating in dead space, while at the same time I can hear activity to the sides of the speakers.
So, here's my question: eventually I will get an amp, but how many Watts would it take to break the CAMs? I see 2Watts to drive them, but is there are rating of how much they'll take? I certainly wouldn't want to do any damage to them with an amp.
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It's almost spooky how well these CAMs image. It's as if everything is in the center, floating in dead space, while at the same time I can hear activity to the sides of the speakers.
So, here's my question: eventually I will get an amp, but how many Watts would it take to break the CAMs? I see 2Watts to drive them, but is there are rating of how much they'll take? I certainly wouldn't want to do any damage to them with an amp.
Good question Evolvist. I'm also looking at using a pair of Omega's in my HT environment in which they will be fed 50wpc when not hooked up to a tube amp. The speaker efficiency means we can only give them so much power before we go deaf. But in the interest of looking at the maximum power they can realistically take, I looked at similar Fostex drivers. The Fostex 6.5" full range drivers are rated from 22-30wpc steady state and 65-90wpc "music power". I think mounted in an enclosure the Fostex (and probably the Omega) would be comfortable with 50wpc.
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Hmmmm... 50wpc is really, really kicking it loud! I'm not doubting you. I wonder if Louis can give us the definitive answer, though. The Max room size I will be in is a 12x12. It's not about me playing so loud; it's about me knowing the boundaries, as well as I have many classical recordings that are at low volume. All of my The Doors and Tom Petty HDTracks are at low volume, as well.
Anyway, I have about 192hrs left of break in - give or take - on these CAMs. I've been feeding them a lot of bass.
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I was merely stating that 50 wpc is probably the most power the speaker could take thermally. 50 wpc into a pair of alnico monitors would give you about 110 dB at the listening position.
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Any chance someone with a pair of CAMs could try them in an extreme-nearfield setup, sitting about 2' from the front baffle, and let me know if they still sound 'right'? I am highly restricted in my next house, and I want to optimize sound in a very tight setting.
The CAMS come highly recommended, but I have no means of knowing in advance if they will work in a compact configuration.
Thank you.
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Ian:
I use my CAMs on my standing desk in my home office. 2-3 feet from driver to ear, each.
They sound fucking fantastic.
Doody
UPDATE: Driven directly via a Chord Hugo 2 - no amplifier.
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Very nearfield, I think the only challenge might be getting the bass to fill-in. The drivers will be moving so little air. This can highly depend on your associated gear. What amp will you be using? If you haven't chosen yet, I'd get something with very little power and low damping factor...like the well-reviewed Decware Zen. I don't think you can go wrong.