[danabunner]

I saw that on AK.   Good deal.  But I thought you wanted a warmer preamp than the CJ, not sure the Audible Illusion will give you that.  Doesn't it use 6DJ8/6922 tubes?  I've never heard one of those which I would describe as warm.  I own a 6DJ8-based preamp and find it neutral & smooth.  No harshness at all, but no "tubey" warmth.  Good detail but not superb.  CDs and other digital sources sound nice through it. 

[sabocat]

[/img]

I saw that on AK.   Good deal.  But I thought you wanted a warmer preamp than the CJ, not sure the Audible Illusion will give you that.  Doesn't it use 6DJ8/6922 tubes?  I've never heard one of those which I would describe as warm.  I own a 6DJ8-based preamp and find it neutral & smooth.  No harshness at all, but no "tubey" warmth.  Good detail but not superb.  CDs and other digital sources sound nice through it.

I think I may have overstated my case on the CJ and the lean/warm antinomy. When I listen to the CJ in my main system it sounds a bit on the warm side, and when I listen to the CJ with the Omegas it sounds thin. I'm pretty sure a lot of that could be the Omegas breaking in, but that being said, I find the MZ2 does a better job with the Omegas for now. That could change after some more break-in time. But I've pretty much decided to keep the MZ2 in the bedroom, so I'm looking for something with more gain to push the Dali 400's in my main system. The CJ is not comfortable being pushed too hard. And since the Dalis have paper tweeters, I think the Modulus will be a good match. More Hudson river school, less impressionism, is how the seller frames it. I will try the M3 with the Omegas though just for kicks. I may sell the CJ, but i will probably keep it and use it primarily for acoustic music, where it really shines.

The other reason is Lance Cochrane suggested the Modulus as a good match for my beastly JWN EL-34 amp, which is based on the circuit mods designed by Lance. Although this one was built from scratch.

[EVOLVIST]

2.  90dB at 1m into a pair of CAM's implies a power of about 0.5wpc at most.  Again, we are talking about the level you will get from a headphone amp.

Can the Dave drive a pair of CAM's, even in the nearfield?  Sure, but rather than "transparency" I would expect that it would run out of steam.  Most music has some significant dynamic passages that create momentary current demands on the amplification stage.

I apologies. My math was wrong because I wasn't taking into consideration that the max from the DAVE's RCA outs, without clipping, is 6.7vRMS. "RMS" being the key factor, which equates to 5.6 WPC @8ohms. My bad.

I don't know; correct me if I'm wrong, but that's a fairly hard drive at 3ft to 6ft away. Maybe I'm just really itching to get my CAMs.  Heh.

But yeah, I agree; "transparency" is a rather nebulous term among audiophiles. I know the DAC to be uncolored yet musical, driving my Focal Utopia cans. I'm just thinking that being that it's the same output @ 0.000015% THD - below 6.8vRMs, that is - I would expect the sound to be just a wee closer to the source (meaning the DAVE).

[sabocat]

Sound Check. I like to listen to acoustic piano in general, but it becomes even more useful when testing new equipment. I'm listening to a German pressing of Keith Jarrett's Koln concert, which is a particularly fine version of an already fine album on ECM label. I'm pretty sure I've hit on a good tube mix with the MZ2 in conjunction with the Omegas, because I cannot recall the record sounding so good. Unfortunately you hear every KJ vocal ad lib, which I would mostly put in the category of Leo Kottke's self-described vocal limitations. The overall tone is fairly well-balanced, as the baritone on the left plunges the depths with just as much energy as the upper register on the right. Plenty of decay on the piano notes, as they shimmer in the air.

https://www.speech.kth.se/music/5_lectures/wogram/decay.html

[danabunner]

Considering the purchase of an Omega speaker, but I'm not convinced I need another pair of speakers.

I have noticed Mark27 selling his Compact Alnico speakers, for the same asking price of the new Super 3 HO monitors.  There are things I like about the Super 3 HO, the smaller cabinet, higher efficiency, more cone area in the bass & lower midrange, and supposedly a little cleaner on the highs with the smaller cone.  But then a lot of people rave about the CAM and its lush, magical midrange.  Without hearing either, it's a difficult decision process.

[roscoe65]

Considering the purchase of an Omega speaker, but I'm not convinced I need another pair of speakers.

I have noticed Mark27 selling his Compact Alnico speakers, for the same asking price of the new Super 3 HO monitors.  There are things I like about the Super 3 HO, the smaller cabinet, higher efficiency, more cone area in the bass & lower midrange, and supposedly a little cleaner on the highs with the smaller cone.  But then a lot of people rave about the CAM and its lush, magical midrange.  Without hearing either, it's a difficult decision process.

MarkR7 is selling a pair of Super Alnico Monitors, not Compact Alnico Monitors.  There is a $500 retail price difference between the two.  The cone area is actually the same with two 4.5" drivers as one 6.5" driver.  I'm not sure that there is really that much difference in efficiency between the two depending on how we measure efficiency.

The Super 3 HO will be a more versatile speaker (smaller, works in more rooms, uses off the shelf stands) but the SAM is something special.

Of course, an alternative is the CAM, which is the close in price to the Super 3 HO and has a similar size cabinet.

[RDavidson]

Considering the purchase of an Omega speaker, but I'm not convinced I need another pair of speakers.

I have noticed Mark27 selling his Compact Alnico speakers, for the same asking price of the new Super 3 HO monitors.  There are things I like about the Super 3 HO, the smaller cabinet, higher efficiency, more cone area in the bass & lower midrange, and supposedly a little cleaner on the highs with the smaller cone.  But then a lot of people rave about the CAM and its lush, magical midrange.  Without hearing either, it's a difficult decision process.

Own CAM's. Owned the 3xrs.
I feel somewhat qualified to help a bit.

The CAM's have the advantage of simplicity and complete coherence being single driver speakers. The Alnico drivers are the best overall drivers Omega makes. Balanced and refined come to mind. They live in the midrange and have enough heft to make a lot of music sound realistic and natural. I also tend to believe that simplicity often has advantages (keeping with single drivers).

The introduction of the HO RS5 based speakers DOES make things more interesting. I always felt the RS5 driver lacked weight in the upper bass and lower mids. The HO configuration alleviates this (from what I've read). Though I don't think the RS5 driver is the best overall (as a standalone driver), I think the HO configuration could also be considered as good as the CAMs.

So essentially you've come to that same conclusion. If I were in your shoes and could pick only one pair of speakers, I'd greatly consider my listening preferences first. The CAMs have that midrange naturalness that makes them work wonders with all types of music. They just gave an ease that draws you in. The RS5's have the speed and amazing imaging (and now the midbass heft with the HO configuration) that makes them very "entertaining" to listen to. I'm sure the CAMs and 3 HO are equally good in most meaningful ways. You just have to prioritize how you like your music presented to you. I intend on keeping my CAMs and also getting a pair of 3 HO's at some point....so I can enjoy either world whenever the mood strikes. Hope this helps.

[danabunner]

Yes, I mis-typed when I wrote Compact Alnico monitor.  I meant SAM. 

There is a $700 difference between the Super 3 HO Monitor Level 1 and the SAM Level 1.   I know efficiency specs & measurements & impedance curves are tricky when it comes to real life differences.  According to Louis, the Super 3 HO is 2.5dB more efficient, which I assume is largely within the sub-500Hz region, where the two drivers are both employed.   That's a rather  significant region for me, as my amp produces 4 wpc and rolls off a bit under 80Hz. 

Decisions, decisions.   I do feel that the asking price for these new Super 3 HO Monitors is quite attractive. 

[RDavidson]

The RS5 based speakers are all among the very highest value speakers one can buy on this planet. The price to performance ratio is outstanding. I know DaveC113 believes this as well.

[roscoe65]

I have the luxury at the moment of being able to own both Alnico and RS5 based speakers.  If I were making the choice of one speaker starting from scratch I would probably choose a 1.5 way RS5 monitor.  I feel the HF of the RS5 is better and that it is a more versatile speaker.  The price difference between it and the alnico monitors would be well spent on other parts of the system.  If you ultimately wish to supplement bass actively, the balance with the Super 3 HO might be better.

[sabocat]

From my end the Omega HO's sound very well balanced between high and low end, and I'm not even at the 100 hour mark. I'm very happy with my bedroom set-up.

[FireGuy]

The RS5 based speakers are all among the very highest value speakers one can buy on this planet. The price to performance ratio is outstanding. I know DaveC113 believes this as well.

 

[milford3]

Building single driver speakers is a difficult task but Louis has done it.   I have heard the RS5 driver and its simply amazing to say the least.  The RS5 driver makes the music float in the air.  Add two subs and one is in audio heaven.

[sabocat]

I just wanted to update all y'all on the high output omegas. It's been several months now and they are pretty much broken in. I've made a recent change to my bedroom system worth mentioning. I've kept the microzotl as my preamp, which feeds my JWN 6V6 amp at 12 wpc or thereabouts, but I just switched out the vista audio phono 1 for the phono 2. Source is unchanged, the thorens 125mkII with the denon 301mkII.

The Vista audio phono 2 is quite a step up from its sibling. if there was ever any lingering doubt as to whether or not i may want to spring for a subwoofer down the road, i have to say the phono 2 opens up the bottom end considerably, so that won't be necessary.  in addition to a bigger soundstage and more precise yet musical imaging, my system sounds  a bit more refined in the upper register.

KUDOS to Boris for a great phono preamp.

[sabocat]

Further reflections. Thinking on the subject of bass, I decided to switch out my Thorens for the VPI. I had replaced the stock head shell on the thorens some time ago, and that tightened up the bass considerably, but the bass through the scout in my main system is so bad ass, why not switch?

OH Yeah. Not only does the phono 2 scale up with ease, but there is even more bass, as i had imagined, and even more refinement in the midrange and upper register. Think I will keep the scout in the bedroom for a while.

The Omegas sound freakin awesome.