Mirage OMD 28 listening impressions:
Very nice suprise from a company that you do not hear much about in the 5-8K speaker market.
I walked in casually to the local Salon to see any new gear and was exposed to the OMD 28's.
http://www.miragespeakers.com/v2/product_page.php?open=lines&subid=666&id=667#First impression was one of nice fit and finish. I thought they were a new Von Schweikert design at first glance. I looked around the front to see nice Carbon Woven drivers and a unique dispersion angled Dome tweeter perched on top. The High Gloss burgungy finish looked very nice. I looked around the back to see a Bi Wired set of Nordost cables attached with another set of unused terminals for a triple setup?
The Shop came owner then came into the room and asked if I wanted to hear them;-) Nice set up:
Big Legacy Model Mark Levinson Amp, not sure of the model# rated at 300 watts per ch. Ayre SS PreAmp,
Denon 50S SACD/DVD player, Nordost Thor Conditioning w/Valhalla PC, Nordost Frey Speaker Cables, Nordost IC's. Room treatment in the corners with nice large listening sofa.
Speakers had approx 80-100 hrs on them. I thought that they were a little shallow or Hollow sounding in the midrange at first. Nice pace and rhythm, balanced top end mated with a nice solid bottom end. I looked again for the ports as it sounded like a port design and was informed it is vented thru the floor...
The tracks he played I was not familiar with so I had him play a couple of the tracks twice and we switched back and forth between a Ayre Universal CDP in balanced mode.
After few songs I could recognize the overall sound of the system I was able to critique the speakers. My overall impression is one of a very relaxed and dynamic sound with a smooth extended bass and nicely imaged top end. The speakers seem to really thrive on the big power of the Levinson as the transients were very fast and the low end dynamics has a kick that is neither boomy or bloated. It does communicate with the port sound. I'm used to hearing the sealed sound of my Gallo Ref 3's 2nd voicecoil down low. I could not put my finger on which component was making the speaker standout but the overall presentation was very dynamic clear and yet relaxed at the same time. ( I have not heard the Thor in any other system) The Big Levinson certainly has some power and current to help with the low level details and quiet passages.
I'm not sure how the speaker will do in the market, but from my impressions it is not the Mirage name that I associated with high end gear. At the 6-7K retail pricepoint there are some big player's to contend with but this one deserves a genuine listen.
