[rajacat]

Good sales job!

[gab]

Good sales job!

+1 

[FullRangeMan]

Canada Rob is a discrete dealer, the Omega Alnico/hemp are superb.

[rebbi]

 Canada Rob,
Thank you very much for chiming in. I am very interested in trying the Omega. The primary reason I am belaboring this is that my cash flow situation is such that I have to sell what I currently have to fund any changes that I would make. It's always been that way, unfortunately, and usually I have made choices that I've been very happy with. For example, I feel that my Audio Note Kit 1 wipes the floor with the Manley Mahi push-pull mono-blocks I previously had, at least in every parameter that really matters to me. That amplifier has brought me closer than ever to the experience of "being carried away by music" rather than "listening analytically to gear." So I am very happy there.
I am, however, tempted by what I might hear given a speaker that really does not in any way hold the amplifier back, but lets it really show what it can do.
If I do make such a move, my two major contenders are the Tekton Lore 2.0 and the Omega 7 XRS. I know that there has already been a thread on this forum discussing the differences between Tekton and Omega, so I'm not asking for a rehash of that discussion here. (That is, unless someone wants to have at it one more time.)   
Decisions, decisions!

[Canada Rob]

Tekton Lore 2.0? If it comes to that, keep your de Capos.  Seriously, likely no contest, even with your SET. 
Also, Tekton and Omega are worlds apart in their presentation and really shouldn't be considered in the same application. 
Trying to choose between those two brands is sort of like; should I buy a motorcycle or a car?  Both work, both have their place, but the experience will be totally different.

Sadly, quite a few prospective buyers look at Tekton and Zu when they look at Omega.  They may have a flea powered SET or are considering one so their first priority is finding a speaker that's rated very efficient in the specs (which can be very misleading due to crossover losses and exaggeration).
If high SPLs are your priority, go for Tekton or Zu, if a lifelike three dimensional presentation along with accurate tonal quality is your priority, go for Omegas.  The Omegas will not go as loud as Tekton or Zu, but they'll go loud enough to get hearing damage.

Personally, if I owned and loved a pair of 3A de Capos I would think twice about parting with them on a gamble.  Maybe you could sell your spouses car to fund some Omegas.  Public transit is better today than it was 100 years ago.

[mresseguie]

Say, rebbi.

I don't recall your saying where you are located, but have you sought out anyone near you who owns Omega speakers (and is willing to have you audition them)?

I'm going to hear them in 11 days!

Michael

[hdrider]

Rebbe- I have a Decware Rachael amp and ZP3 phono stage driving Omega 7XRS speakers (the walnut pair on the webpage actually) and I am beyond happy. We have over 150 hours on the speakers and I will post some comments later this weekend, BUT I have about and hour and a half before my bride comes home so I have so listening to do….enjoy. Chris

[rebbi]

Chris, I am extremely interested in your impressions. Please do post and share!

[hdrider]

Rebbi- The whole single driver speaker (7XRS in my case) presents a seamless transition of the instruments or voices. What I mean is that as a piece of music is playing, the ability to listen to as a whole, or to pick out individual instruments and follow their lines is easy. It is just right there in front of you. I never once in my listening to the 7's think that there is top end missing because there is no tweeter. I am adding an Omega sub (8'') that I should receive early next month. It's not that I feel the bass is missing, in fact it is the most complete sounding bass I have every heard in my home. The Peter Gabriel album ''Plays Live'' that I was listening to last weekend, and the song Humdrum has Tony Levin playing bass there are so many little fill in notes that he is playing as he move between the chords. It is so easy to hear every detail on a recording. I am adding the sub just to flesh out the very lowest notes of bass pedals (I still have my set of Moog Taurus pedals) so things like early Genesis, Yes, Rush have the low end grunt. I can sit and the music just washes over me. Lorenna McKinnet's Nights from the Alhambra album has so many different instruments playing different melodies and rhythm and you can hear everything, nothing is buried. The speed of the driver sounds faster than the electrostatics's I used to listen to. Soundstage is huge, and I have not experimented with placement yet. I just placed them where my old Sequerra's were, measured the distance off the back wall (back of the cabinet is 15'' off the wall) and have a very slight toe in. Side to side, height and depth is fantastic. Of course that is also based on the recording, but I have not played any recording and doubted my purchase of Omega's or Decware. Even Frankie Goes to Hollywood's 45 rpm of Relax just rocked the house last night. Listening to some cello music right now and it is eerie how life like it is. Does it sound like a 9' Steinway Grand piano in my living room? No, and I don't want a 9' grand in my living room but it sure sounds like a window into a space. Sorry for the ramble, and I am actually have a tough time expressing my thoughts on these other than totally happy. If you are wavering on making a purchase, I cannot speak higher about this product. I am happy, and amazed daily. Happy listening, Chris. 

[mresseguie]

 

hdrider,

That report is clearly from the heart. It sure works for me. I can't wait to finally hear what you're hearing. May fifth.....mark you calendars!

 

[rebbi]

Tekton Lore 2.0? If it comes to that, keep your de Capos.  Seriously, likely no contest, even with your SET. 

...

Personally, if I owned and loved a pair of 3A de Capos I would think twice about parting with them on a gamble.  Maybe you could sell your spouses car to fund some Omegas.  Public transit is better today than it was 100 years ago.

Hi, Canada Rob,
Thanks for the honest assessment.
I understand that the Lore 2.0 and the Omega are very different animals, indeed. Given what I value - texture, seamlessness/coherence, tonal purity, imaging and soundstage and the ability to listen "into" the music, I suspect that the Omega's could be a great fit for me. How they'd compare to my De Capos is a very interesting question. But I have no way of knowing that without doing a direct comparison. I may try to see if there's any way I can finance a trial of the Omega's without first having to part with the De Capo's.
As to your assertion that my SET would sound better with the De Capo's than with the Tekton's, it's interesting that you should say that. I started this thread on Audiogon about good value speakers for SET amps. There's a fellow there with the moniker Mikirob who has compared the De Capo to the Lore and M-Lore in his own system, powered by a Coincident Dynamo 34 SE, which I believe is an EL-34-based SEP integrated. You can see there that he thinks it's no contest, but the other way around! For example, he writes:

"For $1,500 bucks you cannot do better. My De Capo vs Tekton-Lore shoot-out was no contest in the bass, Tekton clear winner! On every other parameter the Tekton was as good or better. Tim Smith liked the M-Lore better than his Harbeth 7s amongst others. The Lore is even better.

If you got $2,100 for the De Capo I'd get the Lore 2.0 for $900 (8 ohm, 98db, 30hz) with the money left over get a good power cord and interconnects. It will kill the De Capo."

Horses for courses, as the Brits say.

As for selling my spouse's car to fund the Omega's, well, given that she's driving a 2004 Honda Accord, I'm not quite sure the sale of her car would cover the speakers.   

[rebbi]

Rebbi- The whole single driver speaker (7XRS in my case) presents a seamless transition of the instruments or voices. What I mean is that as a piece of music is playing, the ability to listen to as a whole, or to pick out individual instruments and follow their lines is easy. It is just right there in front of you.

...

Sorry for the ramble, and I am actually have a tough time expressing my thoughts on these other than totally happy. If you are wavering on making a purchase, I cannot speak higher about this product. I am happy, and amazed daily. Happy listening, Chris.

Chris, no need to apologize for the "ramble." I loved reading your impressions which were well expressed! It sounds like we like some of the same music and value a lot of the same things, audio-wise. What I've loved most about my De Capo's (and the Dulcets before them) is their coherence or seamlessness. The performance is all of one piece. Percussion sounds like a person playing a drum kit, and not just "banging." Listening to music is delicious and relaxing because my brain isn't working overtime to decipher what I'm hearing. As you've said, it's hard to describe but you know it when you hear it.

Golly, if the Omega's could better the De Capo's, I'd never leave the listening room - well, maybe for meals and bathing, but that'd be it.    Oh, yeah, and for earning a living and supporting the family, but that'd be all.

Thanks again for sharing. Glad you're so happy.   

[rebbi]

Had a very nice chat with Louis yesterday. He's a pleasure to talk to.

He still recommends the Super 7 XRS for my amp and room, although another possibility is the Super Alnico monitor, which I'm guessing would be somewhat over my budget. He told me (if I'm getting this right) that the 7 XRS has a slightly more forward quality than the Alnico, not shouty or rough in the "bad single driver" sense, just more in the presence region.

I asked about break in time and he said about 80 hours if done properly, which means playing bass-heavy music (he favors reggae for this!) at moderate to loud volumes in order to get the speaker cone moving and loosening up.

He agreed that the De Capo tries to get some things right that other multi-way speakers don't: light, carbon fiber cone, time alignment, mostly mechanical crossover, but there's still that rubber surround and the mix of cone and dome drivers.

Anyway, good conversation and I'm still intrigued.

[vinagunner]

v

[Audiophile58]

Canada Rob excellent description. I have owned several Omega Loudspeakers and now just arriving
Finally my Alnico 6.5 XRS speakers.  One thing that totally blew away all listeners was when listening
To great voices such as Pavarotti ,or Simon and Garfunkle. That texture of the surrounding instruments and

Natural depth and tonal accuracy was stunning. it brought an emotional realism rarely
Ever heard on cd or vinyl. The better the electronics the more you will be able to read into the sound .
That was with a Red wine Sig 15 .. With my Jas 2.3 SET amp  unbelievably 3 dimentional.

[Audiophile58]

I have owned the tekton Lores  with Mundorf silver oil cap upgrade,it was very respectable  but not in the league of the Alnico6.you talk about seamless ness . Canada Rob made a very good point the driver weight, and mass
Has a lot to do with your speed and detail.  And for seamlessness you will get none better then the Omega.
For stability  the build structure of the driver is very important as well as Magnet.
The Alnico-6  driver look at it's build it is 2-3 X better built then any Scanspeak in a 7 inch driver for example

It is a custom made purpose built driver, look how thick the frame is and the huge Alnico magnet.
This is the one BIG difference then any off the shelf  driver . It is Hand made ,not  mass produced !!
This along with the very labor intensive 4 layer cabinet,each cabinet is designed for each specific driver and port tuned .
These take days to build,not hours  .I have also owned Zu speakers again no qualitymade cabinet what so ever
And not in this class .It is like Mercedes vs Kia. you will hear the difference in quality.

[rebbi]

So, if you folks had a choice between the Super 7 XRS floor stander and the Alnico monitor, which way would you go?

[FullRangeMan]

Go for Alnico and Hemp imo.
Consider any Alnico/Hemp in the market=Omega.

[DBC]

So, if you folks had a choice between the Super 7 XRS floor stander and the Alnico monitor, which way would you go?

rebbi,

I've had the Alnico Monitors now for a couple months and am in a much larger listen space than yours. First of all the Alnico Monitors are Large compared to most Monitors. Mine are located about 3.5 feet from the front wall and have very nice Bass using my Decware 2 watt Super Zen. Soundstage and Imagining are the best I've heard in my listening room.

You noted that your speakers would have to be located relatively close to the front wall (this will tend to reinforce the lower frequencies). My concern here would be that the Towers might overpower your Smallish room on the low end ??? I've had a number of Towers (Not Omega) over the years and often it is a placement compromise. Too close to the front wall and they can get Boomy. Out from the front wall and Imaging is good but Bass lightens up. Move closer to the Front wall and Bass sounds good but Imaging can be dimished.

Based on my personal experience over the years, I prefer a Monitor with the addition of a musical sub like the DeepOmega if additional Bass impact is desired. Monitors are easier to place (take up less space) and tend to be a bit quicker (Very Clean). A separate sub allows you to dial in the proper amount of Bass reinforcement per your room and personal taste while being able to place the Monitors where they Image and sound best.

My guess is the Super 7 Monitor would likely do much better than you think in your room. If you decided to add a DeepOmega 8 sub down the road that would be killer. Hdrider has done a fine job describing the qualities of the Omega, the imaging & soundstage. Unfortunately it's kind of like the Matrix (the movie), no one can tell you what IT IS, you have to see it for yourself (or in this case hear it for yourself). When I first hooked up my Omega Monitors I was not prepared for what I was about to hear. I was like WOW, now I get what "IT IS" that Omega owners are talking about.

It's not very often in the Audio World that a product actually lives up to all the Hype. Like hdrider, I have never enjoyed home audio more than with my Omega's.

[happyrabbit]

I would consider the super 7 mk2 or the super 3xrs + 8' omega sub.   i find  the 2.1 setup  most enjoyable  for home theater.    I perfer the 45 or 2A3 tube over the 300b.   Plenty of inexpensive set amps on Audiogon to pick from.   the super 3xrs replaced my Green Mountain Audio Rio's a couple years ago.  It was a leap of faith but Louis's insight has never disappointed me.  Single driver speakers can be a bit addictive.

Dwight