[jeffx]

While I am waiting for my speakers to sell so I can purchase a pair of Omega Alnicos I thought it might be a good idea to get as much info/views on them as possible.

I know this is a long shot, but has anyone have the good fortune to hear both of the Super Alnicos - Monitors and XRS? If so, can you elaborate on what you heard? Differences? Similarities? Opinions? I am looking for the pair that offers the most realistic vocals/midrange, body and image size.

It seems that most people who buy an Alnico and post on here buy the Monitor instead of the XRS. Is there a reason for this? Room Size? Cost? Sound quality?

(I have previously been in contact with Louis regarding this, and he has given me his thoughts on the differences. Posted below I have a request for an audition of the XRS, but so far I have not been able to arrange one.)

[seikosha]

Hi Jeffx,

While I've not heard the both versions of the alnico driver, I  do own the RS5 driver in both a monitor and XRS configuration and I do have experience with other identical single driver speakers in different sized cabinets.

Generally speaking, with the larger cabinet, you'll tend to get a little more bass with an overall warmer presentation.  Your room and ancillary equipment will determine if you prefer this as sometimes a slightly leaner presentation can come across as faster or more detailed whereas in the wrong room, the larger cabinet may be too much for your space.  That said, the wild card in these generalizations is the different port placements in the two Alnico cabinets.  I'm just not sure how the down firing port of the floorstander affects the sound vs a standard rear port.

In a small room with warmer electronics and a near field setup, I would prefer my monitors over the XRS's, but in a larger layout, the XRS design will shine.

Hope that helps, good luck with the decision and I'm as interested as you in hearing if anyone has owned both at the same time to hear their impressions of the two in the same room with the same equipment.

[Canada Rob]

Hi Jeffx,

I've tried the current Super 3i and Super 3XRS in the same system, same room.  Both had insane imaging with the the 3i soundstage up higher as they were on 24" stands putting the driver higher up than the driver of the Super 3XRS.  The XRS had a fuller midrange and a larger presentation.  That was in a large room.  In a smaller room, the gap might close a bit.  The 3i will be quicker due to the smaller cabinet loading the driver quicker.

I have the Alnico Monitors on 20" stands in a 13' x 17' room with 8' ceiling, on the long wall.  I wouldn't dare put a sub with them as the bass is nice and full.  I haven't heard the XRS.

Theoretically the XRS will have more bass and will sound fuller (to my ears the Alnico Monitors sound full), but the Monitors smaller cabinet will load the driver quicker resulting in slightly more speed than the XRS.

Choice of amplification well make a profound difference in presentation.  If memory serves me correctly the 3i and 3XRS listening was done on a Decware Super Zen Select.  My Alnicos are currently connected to the same amp.

[jeffx]

Thanks guys for the replies. Both of you are mirroring what Louis said about the speakers.

I am leaning towards the XRS, because I want the fuller(denser maybe?), more life like presentation. My room is approx 16 x 20 with another fully open 10 x 10 area in the rear of the room. However, I might be moving in the not-to-distant future. What is the smallest room size you would suggest for the XRS?

I currently only use tube amps and have a choice of either a 300B, 6L6 or an EL34. And I am building a 45 and OTL amps.

[Canada Rob]

Correction
I'm re-writing this post because I've re-thought it.  The Alnico Monitor and XRS should work in a small room because their real world high efficiency and flyweight drivers allow them to show their incredible dynamics at lower volumes.  An extreme case in point: the Super 3i fills a 13' x 25' room no problem, yet is perfect on the desktop.  I believe the room acoustics play just as big a role in good sound as the size and dimensions of the room.

[rebbi]

I have the Alnico Monitors on 20" stands in a 13' x 17' room with 8' ceiling, on the long wall.  I wouldn't dare put a sub with them as the bass is nice and full.  I haven't heard the XRS.

Rob,
This post is very useful to me because my room is almost exactly the same size as yours.

[roscoe65]

Correction
I'm re-writing this post because I've re-thought it.  The Alnico Monitor and XRS should work in a small room because their real world high efficiency and flyweight drivers allow them to show their incredible dynamics at lower volumes.  An extreme case in point: the Super 3i fills a 13' x 25' room no problem, yet is perfect on the desktop.  I believe the room acoustics play just as big a role in good sound as the size and dimensions of the room.

Rob,

I would be interested in the basis for your edit.  Your unedited comment seemed to indicate that the Alnico speakers - both XRS and Monitor - would overpower a small room.  My current dedicated room is embarrassingly small at 12 x 12.  I use Super 3's (wide baffle) in a semi-nearfield environment.  In reality , this room would never allow a listening distance of greater 8 feet or so even with the speakers and listener pushed to within 2 feet of the room boundaries.  In a semi-nearfield environment (4-6 feet listening distance) the RS5-equipped speakers do wonderfully.  However, my questions would be a) would the Alnico be better, equal or worse in this environment? and b) is there either a minimum room size and/or a minimum listening distance that the XRS models need to present an improvement over the monitor models?

I've owned and listened to a number of speakers that simply won't work in the wrong environment.  My Quad ESL's could work in a nearfield environment if they had a lot of room behind them.  Big three ways and especially panel speakers like Maggie's needed lots of breathing room and distance for proper integration.

While I have no doubt that any of Louis' speakers will work within their limits in almost any listening environment (except perhaps the dipoles, which need room behind them to function properly) I would be interested in an honest opinion of where each of the models actually does best.  We agree that in a nearfield desktop/console environment the Super 3 monitor series is the natural choice, but would a Super Alnico Monitor be better or worse in this environment provided we can accommodate the additional space and resolve driver height positioning?  Would a Super Alnico XRS in a nearfield environment be better still or worse?

I think that we can assume in a small room at healthy (i.e., non injurious) listening levels all Omega speakers will provide adequate SPL and dynamics from 2 watts up to their thermal limits (lets call it 32 tube watts - 15 dB gain or 108-113 maximum output at 1m).  However, in a larger space the larger drivers will have the ability to move more air, and in the case of the Super 8 do so much more efficiently, and will present a plausible advantage over the RS5's once the need for more power is present.  The $100k question is that in that very low power environment presented by nearfield listening does the lighter RS5 driver present an advantage over the larger, more massive drivers?  And do the monitor versions of these speakers present an advantage over the XRS versions?

[Canada Rob]

Roscoe,
The smallest room I've had my systems in was one of the best I've had in my audio life.  I had three systems in it (long wall, short wall, and a desktop system).  They all sounded great.  This picture is of that room (it's a stitched pan so it doesn't look rectangle, but it is).  It's an 11'W x 13"L x 8'H rectangle.  Being that Omega speakers don't have the midbass hump that many have, Omegas tend to be easier to place and can work well in a greater variety of environments than the majority of speakers without what some call "overloading".  As far as your 12' x 12' room goes, it's not the size, it's the shape.  You will have to do some treatment to get it to work at it's best.  If you're listening to RS5's right now and want to hear the Alnico "sound", your room, if acoustically prepared should work fine.  That said, if your Super 3's already work great, then I see no reason the Alnicos shouldn't work well too.  Room treatment will likely improve things beyond what they currently are.  BTW, the drivers in the Alnico speakers are as small as what's in many small two way monitors.  Hope this helps.

[vinagunner]

v

[jeffx]

It looks like I will be able to do the comparison myself. I just bought and received a pair of 2-month old pair of Super Alnico Monitors. Now that I have confirmed what so many people on here say about the Alnico Omegas, I will be buying a pair of XRS.

[recarcar]

It looks like I will be able to do the comparison myself. I just bought and received a pair of 2-month old pair of Super Alnico Monitors. Now that I have confirmed what so many people on here say about the Alnico Omegas, I will be buying a pair of XRS.

I know it's been a long time since this post but I was wondering if you have any impressions of between the Alinco Monitors and the XRS? Thank you!

[jeffx]

Unfortunately, I had to put the XRS's up for sale soon after I received them so I didn't get to listen them for long. But I agree with Louis that the Monitors sound a little faster, while the XRS sound fuller, present a larger image, and have deeper bass. Great thing is that you can't go wrong with either speaker.