[Lolivej]

Hi. I'm joining the group. I will be receiving in a few days the CAMs which I ordered from Louis who is so sympathetic. I'm very excited to receive them. I'm French but I live in Brazil, so please excuse my horrible English. I've been reading your Audiocircle group for several months now and have found a lot of interesting information. I'll have lots of questions for you when I receive my speakers. I'll be using them with a Chord Qutest DAC, a Khozmo passive preamp and an Elekit TU-8200 R tube amp that I won't be receiving until early July.
I'd already like to know if you think the system will be well tuned to the speakers and provide me with beautiful music. I listen mainly to jazz and classical music, but not much to great symphonies or operas. Then I'll have to break them in and wait until I get my tube amp/. I plan to use a small Audioengine N22 transistor amp. Do you think it will last 5 or 10 days running non-stop and powering the two speakers, which will be face to face and in inverted phase, as you advised? Thank you very much for your recommendations. Hope to read you soon.

The picture below shows the listening room. For the moment, I have Audioengine HD6 speakers on IsoAcoustic stands. I'll be replacing them with CAMs on larger stands.

[FullRangeMan]

Hi. I'm joining the group. I will be receiving in a few days the CAMs which I ordered from Louis who is so sympathetic. I'm very excited to receive them. I'm French but I live in Brazil, so please excuse my horrible English. I've been reading your Audiocircle group for several months now and have found a lot of interesting information. I'll have lots of questions for you when I receive my speakers. I'll be using them with a Chord Qutest DAC, a Khozmo passive preamp and an Elekit TU-8200 R tube amp that I won't be receiving until early July.
I'd already like to know if you think the system will be well tuned to the speakers and provide me with beautiful music. I listen mainly to jazz and classical music, but not much to great symphonies or operas. Then I'll have to break them in and wait until I get my tube amp/. I plan to use a small Audioengine N22 transistor amp. Do you think it will last 5 or 10 days running non-stop and powering the two speakers, which will be face to face and in inverted phase, as you advised? Thank you very much for your recommendations. Hope to read you soon.

The picture below shows the listening room. For the moment, I have Audioengine HD6 speakers on IsoAcoustic stands. I'll be replacing them with CAMs on larger stands.

Welcome. Who gave you these recommendations?
Unfortunately in Brazil you will to pay 100% of Customs duties over the original product price + ship price + insurance price.

[pstrisik]

Welcome to the Omega world!

You are well on your way it seems.  That tube amp should be a good match as well as your music taste.  4-12 watts I would guess, depending on tubes and triode/pentode mode.  Definitely get better than the JJ stock tubes though.  Even new production Gold Lion EL34 would be an improvement.

Why a passive preamp when the amplifier is integrated with a volume control?  For a remote maybe?

You have a challenging room with that wall on the left.  If at all possible, get floor stands and have the speakers setup in front of that shelf.  Particularly important if Louis put the ports in the rear.

[Lolivej]

Thank you very much for your prompt replies and welcome messages
@FullRangeMan I believe you also live in Brazil. Yes the taxes are unbearable but I didn't want to smuggle the speakers. Equipment recommendations come from HiFi network readings. The Elekit amp, Khozmo preamp and Qutest DAC are good value for money and sound great. And then I read in your circle that Omega speakers go well with small tube amps.
@pstrisik The passive preamp was intended to enable me to improve the small system I had. The Audioengine HD6 has a decent integrated amp and a bad DAC. The Qutest provided a more detailed sound with refined treble and accurate bass. The Khozmo preamp provided a nice transparency and allowed me pleasant listening at lower levels. Now I'll see how they work with the speakers and the new amp? I bought NOS tubes for the amp, a pair of General Electric 6L6GCs and a pair of RCA 6L6GCs. Yes, the room is quite difficult. Besides, it's our living-dining room and I'll probably have a WAF problem if I start overflowing with speaker stands. I'm already going to see what happens with a placement close to the wall and in a corner as at present. That's why I asked Louis for front vents.

[opnly bafld]

Welcome to AC Lolivej.

Your setup looks nice, enjoy your new speakers. 

[newzooreview]

Cool. Yes, Louis is an awesome guy. It's been about 20 years since I had my Omegas. You will really enjoy them, and break-in will definitely be important. There should be no problem running them with the Audioengine N22 transistor amp. The CAM speakers are very efficient and easy to drive. You will not be stressing that amp at all. You will not be using more than 10% of its rated power. No worries.

You should put them on stands on the floor and experiment with a nearfield positioning. This could reduce the influence of the various flat surfaces in the listening space.

Maybe push the couch back a bit to free up space, if possible.

Definitely experiment with toe-in and placement, because that will have the most significant effect on the sound.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFdjpW3P-UU

[Lolivej]

Thank you very much for your answers and advices
@opnly bafle thanks for your support
@ newzooreview thank you, I was hoping that the Audioengine would be enough to break in the speakers as I only have this amplifier at the moment. I was afraid it would suffer from having to run non-stop for 5 or 10 days while the speakers were being broken in, but you've reassured me. I agree with you that it would be preferable to use stands for the speakers, but for the moment I'll have to use the CAMs placed near the front wall on the low cabinet with IsoAcoustics Aperta 300 stands, like Audioengine currently use with IsoAcoustics 155s, because the listening room is also our living-dining room and I'm not going to be able to encroach too much on the living space. On the other hand, you're right, I'll have to test different listening positions and I'll modify the position of the sofa accordingly. I was also planning to use the near-field listening position to avoid reflections from the room. To compensate for the reinforcement of the sound from the left speaker by the wall on the left, I'll move the right speaker slightly forward in relation to the left. I've seen this work with the Audioengine speakers I'm currently using. We'll see when I've got the speakers and I've broken them in, because for the moment it's all a bit theoretical. Anyway, thanks for your advice.

[Lolivej]

Thanks for the link to the very informative video

[FullRangeMan]

As a side note tube amps cant run around the clock, would be safe not run this Audioengine amp to many hours per day.

[Lolivej]

Hi FullRangeMan You're right. That's why I bought a small Class AB transistor amp, the Audioengine N22. That's what I'd like to use to break in the CAMs. I'd like to do an accelerated break-in. I read about it in your circle. It involves placing the two speakers about 10 centimeters apart and orienting them towards each other. Then, reverse the polarity of one of them. In other words, connect the positive cable to the negative terminal of the amp, and vice versa. This way, the audio waves from the speakers should cancel each other out, especially the low frequencies. This should allow the speakers to work without creating too much vibration or volume in the room since I don't have a garage or an isolated room. Then play a bass-heavy music playlist on repeat for a few days. I hope it works and the amp can hold up. What do you think?

[FullRangeMan]

Do you had checked it with Louis to see it the Omega drivers voice coils can run 24h/day?

[Lolivej]

I read about this accelerated break-in method in the Omega circle. For example https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=134698.340

[pstrisik]

I read about this accelerated break-in method in the Omega circle. For example https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=134698.340

I was one of those in that thread that did this break in method with my SAMs.  Worked fine.

[Lolivej]

Great! Thanks for confirming, because all I know about the Omegas is from Omega Circle readings.

[js1955]

It's a well known technique.   I've employed it many times myself.  Some say it's best to run music for several hours (say 10 or 12), then give it a rest (say 2 or 3 hours).  Repeat.  Who knows?      

And yes, invert phase on one speaker.......put them face to face almost touching......and cover them with heavy blankets.  This helps cancel sound, and allows for louder / faster break-in.

I would use this on / off method if you are concerned about stressing the amp.

[Lolivej]

@Js1955  Yes, this on/of method would be perfect, as I'm worried about my little Audioengine N22 amp, which has no radiators and seems a bit rudimentary.

[Lolivej]

Thanks a lot js1955

[js1955]

@Js1955  Yes, this on/of method would be perfect, as I'm worried about my little Audioengine N22 amp, which has no radiators and seems a bit rudimentary.

Don't sweat or overthink it too much.   Give it a break periodically....for your own peace of mind.  All will be fine.   

PS:   I've never heard the CAM, but have heard the SAM.  If a family resemblance exists, you are in for a treat.  Good luck!

[Lolivej]

Thank you very much for your advice and encouragement.

[js1955]

Thank you very much for your advice and encouragement.

My pleasure.