Building on what others have said:
1. Your musical choices, room, and listening levels will play a large part in the direction you should go. OP indicated in his original post that he wanted more bass from his Super 3i. The CAM has more bass than the 3i given its larger driver. However, as others have indicated this is a more romantic sounding driver. In my experience, it is easier to add a romantic sound to an “accurate” speaker than it is to gain accuracy with a romantic speaker. The alnico driver can’t really match the snap of the RS5 driver.
2. In general, my experience has been:
Single driver models: much more midrange forward. The balance is tilted up in the midrange, leading to a lean sounding bass. This provides great midrange clarity and voices (especially female) stand out from the mix. Power is limited thermally, and the speaker starts to compress before the power limit is reached. The single RS5 can’t really do much with more than 5 wpc, although a power reserve is good for transients. The alnico driver is fuller in the lower midrange and upper bass, but is still a lean sounding speaker that remains dynamically limited. Neither model is great for a normal room with complex or bass-heavy music. IMO, these speakers work best in the near field and/or in a smaller room where you get some boundary support. I have not heard the RS8 driver, but it is alleged to sound like a larger RS5. An 8” driver can reasonably work well without a subwoofer in the right setting.
Dual driver (HO) models: As noted before, the extra driver adds more midbass energy as well as at least doubling the power handling. It works in a larger room at higher output levels and provides a balance similar to modern small monitors, albeit at higher efficiency. It should be noted that you are not getting more or deeper bass. Two small full range drivers don’t go any deeper than a single driver. The second driver adds 3dB to be mid-upper bass, but deep bass will still be MIA.
Single vs. Dual Driver models: Louis’ line has evolved over the time I’ve been an Omega owner. If I were shopping these days, knowing what is available, I would move up the single driver line before moving to dual drivers. From the single driver perspective, the Super 3 XRS and the CAM are the best value propositions from Omega. As we add the second driver, especially with the alnico driver, the price starts rising and more competition comes into play.
3. Used pricing: I’m a big fan of second hand equipment. Having a healthy secondary market encourages people to upgrade, knowing they can recoup a large portion of their purchase price. In my experience, the lowest price you can expect to see a CAM or Super 3HO is about $800. The market goes up and down but it would be reasonable to expect to pick up a pair of CAMs for about $1,000 if you wait long enough. As Louis raises his prices, expect to see used pricing follow.
4. Thinking out of the box: If you have the space and a small amount of skill, the RS5 driver would drop right into a FrugelHorn Mk3. The flat pack kit (
https://www.bigwoodstudio.net/products/copy-of-frugel-horn-lite-kit) is pretty complete. The rear horn will fill in the bottom end of the driver. I know that Louis has worked with others in backloaded horns (I’ve seen drivers in Cardersound BLH speakers).