[wushuliu]

Do you know which Omega Model it was?

Omega 5s i believe. They were small hemp cones...

[Capt. Z]

Small Hemp cone sounds like the 5's.

I can see your observation, since they mirror mine.

The Omega 5's were GREAT with Sax and female vocals, and you could hear every minute detail on stage. Especially when you listen to classical music, you hear the musicians move around, turning pages, etc. But than some instruments just didn't sound according to size. For example: I heard several snare drums sound like a tin can, or a piano sound like a toy piano.

Looking back at the Omega 5's I realize that the upper frequencies were tilted up, WAY up. This was mainly responsible for us to hear all that detail and making many recordings sound so 'live' like.

In contrast, the Hornshoppe are a lot more balanced. Good recordings sound very good and great recordings sound outstanding. Though bad recordings and lean recordings will sound kind of small.

I really have no idea how the larger Omegas or newer Omegas sound, but for the Money the Hornshoppe are a No-brainer. I know of a guy who moved his $ 20 or 30,000 speakers in storage, since he enjoys the Hornshoppe so much more.

Sometimes I am tempted to try other speakers, but than I listen to some good recordings over the Hornshoppe speaker and all wanting of other speakers are gone.

Are the Hornshoppe speaker perfect??? Not really, but the sure are super great speaker, especially for the money, with a great buggy and fun factor.

[pardales]

I have enjoyed my Hornshoppe model 1's for a few years now. They are great little speakers. I have just not been able to get them to sing in my new room and may be ready to try something new--but want to stay in the single driver genre.

[roscoeiii]

pardales,

What's not working in the new room?

[pardales]

pardales,

What's not working in the new room?

Thanks for asking.

For one, I can't put both speakers in corners, so the bass is weaker than usual. Its an odd room: a really big, 36x36 perfect square, wood floors, with a high A-frame wood ceiling. Thus far the best position has been along one of the walls, about 10 feet apart -- with one of the speakers near (about 3 ft. away) one of the corners.

[Capt. Z]

I also can not put my horns into the corners and therefore have them less than a foot from the rear wall, but my room is much smaller. Have you tried addiing a little bass wit a sub or Ed's cube?

[pardales]

I also can not put my horns into the corners and therefore have them less than a foot from the rear wall, but my room is much smaller. Have you tried addiing a little bass wit a sub or Ed's cube?

Good point. I had a CUBE in my last room and it was more than enough to augment the bottom end. Unfortunately I sold it to a friend before I ended up in this set-up. But I feel like it is more than a bass issue. Before I make any moves I have a few more placement scenarios to experiment with. Even if I get a new pair of speakers I would probably move the horns to another room. There a pretty beat-up pair that I bought used from a friend two years ago -- even though they work great.

[Capt. Z]

You always can chat with Ed Shilling. He is big on customer service and satisfaction. He may have a trick up his sleves.

[chrisby]

pardales - I may have missed seeing it mentioned, but which drivers in your Horns?

If they're older FE108 or EZ, more than a few owners of Ed's speakers ( and DIYers of other designs) have reported very positively on the upgrade to newest version of FE126En.

If the newer drivers, you definitely want to give Ed a call,  but take your bathroom break first,  it can last a while. 

[pardales]

They are the current version of the Horns with the FE126En driver. Ed's great, i've talked to him on the phone a few times and he has always been very helpful.

[chrisby]

They are the current version of the Horns with the FE126En driver. Ed's great, i've talked to him on the phone a few times and he has always been very helpful.

hmm,  that's interesting indeed - in addition to trying "bass augmenter(s)" ( you might even need 2 for a room that large) have you considered a pair of small false corners such as I remember seeing posted a few years back?

I'd wager that while the woofers would help in the lowest missing octave(s), your present lack of corner or rear wall reflections are probably contributing to reduction of dimensions of sound stage for which these guys are renowned.   

essentially approx 2 ft deep L-shape  slightly taller than the horn cabinet, constructed from a couple of overlapping layers of 3/4" or 1" MDF / particle board - the entire experiment would take less than 1 sheet and a couple of hours of dickin around

even Ed might approve of the suggestion -"hey, it can't hurt" 

[bradmorris1]

I'm also crazy about my Hornshoppes with enAbled drivers and lead shot in the base of the cabinets.  I've had them now for about 10 years.  They are spectacular with small scale combo music but tend to peter out a bit on larger scale music at higher volumes.  IMHO low end augmentation with a subwoofer is essential to round out the sound of these gems. 

They are also definitely not the last word in dynamic range, however.  For this reason I have a pair of Rythm Prisms on order from Audiokinesis.

[genjamon]

Just to clarify, the Fostex 126En is NOT the "ENabled" version of the 126.  Fostex replaced the 126E with the 126En this year.  It's a more refined version of the 126E, and everyone seems to like it better.  Supposedly it has greater bass, power handling, and I find it also gives better instrument separation and soundstage depth.  However, it also shares the long break-in period of the 126E.

[planet10]

It's a more refined version of the 126E, and everyone seems to like it better.  Supposedly it has greater bass, power handling, and I find it also gives better instrument separation and soundstage depth.

Mostly it has removed much of the 7k peak that plagued the FE126e (as did my treatment of the drivers).

Based on the limited set of FE126En i've tested (vrs 200+ FE126E), Fs is a bit higher which also gives a bit higher efficiency. Otherwise T/S are similar, so smoother with less bass (but not a whole lot)

dave

[Capt. Z]

Thanks for the technical info.

I find that the new FE126EN has lower bass than the FE126E.

The surround on the E version was slightlty see-through (light leaking through), like a membrane with fine pores. On the New EN version has no light leaking through the surround.

So it could be that the EN version has more surface to move air, resulting in a deeper bass.

[pardales]

They are the current version of the Horns with the FE126En driver. Ed's great, i've talked to him on the phone a few times and he has always been very helpful.

Turns out I have the FE126E version not the "EN" version. I may have to look into getting the updated drivers.

[Capt. Z]

Those drivers are cheap and if you buy them through Ed he even will match them for you.

[genjamon]

After about 40 hours now with my new Tekton Lores, I think you might want to give them a try, Pardales.  They could definitely fill that space, and have quite an expanded soundstage as well as tonality compared with my Horns.  They're also a bit more efficient by the specs and will go louder.  They're mostly high efficiency single driver still, but that Audax gold tweeter is a welcome addition.  People are reporting very good things, myself included.