[benjbenj]

Hi all,

first of all, I'm new here and very happy to join the community.

I’m in the process of choosing a new pair of speakers, and I’m almost ready to pull the trigger and buy Omega. Anyway, I have not yet decided which model would best suit my needs. Advices would be greatly appreciated! Note that I live in France, and I won’t have the ability to listen before purchasing, so it will be kind of a gamble, but I’m ready to take the risk based on the tremendous feedbacks those speakers have.
For 5 months now, I occupy a small flat for job purpose 5 days a week. My listening room is my living room, which is around 15x13 feet. I got rid of my big Genesis Floorstanding speakers (86Db) and Jadis integrated tube amp (2x60w), which were actually too big for this space. I need a system more compact but I absolutely don’t want to sacrifice anything regarding sound quality. I do also have small active studio monitors as desktop speakers, but I miss the possibility to simply being able to listen to music without being seated in front of a computer. I also miss tubes! I was thinking of getting a pair of Harbeth P3ESR as they really sound great but might be a little bit too limited regarding bass frequencies, and relatively inefficient. Plus, they are expensive for such small boxes!
In the end, I find seductive the concept of a low watt SET amp associated to sensible single drivers. I like simple, efficient but not fancy things, to listen to my LPs or Flac library the best way. To start experimenting, I’ve just ordered a Musical Paradise MP301 mk3 (2x6,5W) amp. I now need to choose the model to complete the system. Since my room is not that big, I was thinking of Super 3i or Super 7 mk2. The first one seem to be well suited for nearfield listening but might be lacking bass response. On the other hand, The super 7 could be too big and could excite the room. I mostly listen to Jazz, Soul-Funk, well recorded R&B. I’m not obsessed with bass but when listening to gospel music, or contempory jazz (Robert Glasper, Marcus Miller, Victor Wooten, etc…) I don’t want hear the music being too much truncated.
This is a flat I rent and, in 2-3 years, I will get back full time to my house, and will probably keep these speakers as secondary system in a small dedicated listening room (13x10).
So, in the end, what would you recommend, the Super 3i or the Super 7 mk2?
Thanks in advance for your recommendations.
Benjamin

[guillaume bougard]

Benjamin
if you live around Paris, you're welcome to visit my office or home with some of your favorite music
at the office, I have a pair of desktop 3i with a Set 84 Decware amp
at home I have the 7XRS paired with a swissonor 6221 amp
size rooms are similar to yours
that hopefully will give you an idea of how wonderful Omega is

[sunnydaze]

Based on my experience, I very seriously doubt the Super 7 will overwhelm your room with bass.  I have the Super 7XRS mk2 in a smaller room than yours: 10 x 11, perfect 6.5 ft equilateral nearfield listening setup.   Room is untreated, no bass problems at all.

Matter of fact, I pair them with a subwoofer.  I'm no bass freak, but for my taste and situation I find the Omegas to be a bit light and lean without one.  Works great with no overhang or bloat, despite the small room size. 

Again, this is my taste -- for the past 20 years I've been listening to large floorstanders with large woofers in a "largish" 15 x 20 room, with partial cathedral ceiling.  So I've grown accustomed to meat, weight and slam.   Many others feel that Omega bass is completely satisfying sans sub.

A local buddy pairs his Super 3XRS with a sub in an untreated room almost identically sized to my small room, with no bass overload problems.  FWIW, neither of us can go back to listening to the Omegas without sub.

Good luck in your search.  Great speakers!   

[mick wolfe]

I think that several Omega models would fit the small room parameters mentioned. I use an RS5 (twin driver) Omega Omni in a 10 x 11 room paired with a REL T-2 sub and the results are excellent. Similar experience to sunnydaze as bass in the above mentioned system is certainly acceptable without the sub, but I too prefer the sub in the mix.

[Louis O]

Hi benjbenj,

Thanks and welcome to the forum.
mick wolfe is correct and there are several that would be good for you. A great idea is to take guillaume bougard invitation to listen to his system.

Thanks again,
Louis

[benjbenj]

Thank you so much,

First of all, Merry Christmas.
That's really nice to get answers and support so quickly, even if I'm just a very new member. Really appreciate guys! Guillaume, I live in Lyon but I spend some time frequently in Paris to visit customers, and of course I would be very pleased to have the opportunity to listen to your installation and share you experience. It seems that Omega is absolutely not distributed in France, may I ask how you ended up choosing those speakers?
In the end, it sounds like different models would work. Should I guess the choice of a specific model is more linked to how much different one speaker sounds from another, rather than how they respond to the room size? How would you described the Super 3i in comparison to the Super 7 mk2? What should I theorically expect? I know, it's not very easy to put words and everybody has different perspectives...and anyway, nothing beats a real listening session.
Feel lucky to have discovered such a community of passionated people though.

[FireGuy]

Merry Xmas BenjBenj.

My 2C sytsem has Omega's Super 5 monitors.    You can say these are the bigger brother to the Super 3i.  Same RS5 driver but in a slightly larger enclosure.  I'll try to articulate an answer to your question on the sonic differences from the 3i to the Super 7.  I have not heard the Super 7 but I have had many sessions with the Hoyt Bedford Type 1.  It's close enough I think to the (driver size) Super 7 to give an idea of the difference.   Of these two speakers, no one is better than the other.  They just offer a different presentation.  The Super 5 compared to the Type 1 does not sound quite as full.  The larger driver does offer up a slightly better mid bass.  I run mine with dual, integrated subs so for me it's not an issue.  However, it lacks the speed and slightly better transparency of the RS5.  Always trade offs right?  Both speakers offer up an organic, effortless (it seems) delivery.   Top end extension you can say could go to the Super 5, but ever so slightly... you'll have to push them to actually hear how they differ.  Overall dynamics to the larger Type 1 but that's not to say the RS5 can't muster up some impressive db's for their size. 

I wouldn't classify myself as a "bass head" but I always run with subs.  I would even run subs with Louis' highest output model.

Overall both speakers are gems and highly recommend without reservation.    When I listened to the HB's it was heaven.  When I listen to the Super 5's, it's heaven.  Again, one is not better than the other, just different characteristics of their build. 

Hope this helps.

[roscoe65]

Merry Xmas BenjBenj.

My 2C sytsem has Omega's Super 5 monitors.    You can say these are the bigger brother to the Super 3i.  Same RS5 driver but in a slightly larger enclosure.  I'll try to articulate an answer to your question on the sonic differences from the 3i to the Super 7.  I have not heard the Super 7 but I have had many sessions with the Hoyt Bedford Type 1.  It's close enough I think to the (driver size) Super 7 to give an idea of the difference.   Of these two speakers, no one is better than the other.  They just offer a different presentation.  The Super 5 compared to the Type 1 does not sound quite as full.  The larger driver does offer up a slightly better mid bass.  I run mine with dual, integrated subs so for me it's not an issue.  However, it lacks the speed and slightly better transparency of the RS5.  Always trade offs right?  Both speakers offer up an organic, effortless (it seems) delivery.   Top end extension you can say could go to the Super 5, but ever so slightly... you'll have to push them to actually hear how they differ.  Overall dynamics to the larger Type 1 but that's not to say the RS5 can't muster up some impressive db's for their size. 

I wouldn't classify myself as a "bass head" but I always run with subs.  I would even run subs with Louis' highest output model.

Overall both speakers are gems and highly recommend without reservation.    When I listened to the HB's it was heaven.  When I listen to the Super 5's, it's heaven.  Again, one is not better than the other, just different characteristics of their build. 

Hope this helps.

These are excellent points.  There are inherent compromises between the RS5 with its speed and HF response and the the midbass fullness that is achievable with the larger driver of the whizzer coned RS7 and Alnico models.  Another option exists:  Louis' RS5 1.5 way model allows us to enjoy the characteristics of the RS5 with the bass fullness of the larger driver.  The helper driver plays below 500hz, boosting the midbass response.  As an added benefit, the efficiency is higher than either the single RS5 or single RS7 model.  The cabinet size is the same as the Super 7 Monitor, which is identical in size to the Super 5 monitor.

I would agree that with either of these standmounts one or two subwoofers would be desireable.  I own the Super Alnico Monitors which are considerable larger.  They don't need subwoofers, but would benefit from them.

[benjbenj]

Thanks for all your comments and advices.
I've finally purchased Super 3i from a very helpful member, and they just arrived yesterday. I'm very excited to discover them in depth from now on. Still, I know it is very early early to make assumptions and draw conclusions and I will hold myself a little bit before making any comments. But so far, I'm very impressed by the quality of construction! These are real beauties!