[JLM]

I only made it for a few hours on Saturday, but here's the highlights from my perspective:


Omega:

Louis is a very nice, very down to earth guy.  He had a pretty good room (17 ft x 30 ft x 10 ft high, no treatments), but not in the best location.  Honestly he had some of the best sounding and least expensive stuff there.  Part of the day the adjoining room hosted a different function so we had to keep the spl's reasonable.  The Super 3's sounded really good.  I thought a sub would put them into another league.


Madisound:

They had many different drivers on static display (mostly Fostex) and had 3 different pairs of DIY horns.  I heard many who thought the middle set (FF165K, 6.5 inch full range, $62 each w/ T90A supertweeter, $190 each) sounded especially good.  Reportedly these speakers will soon be offered in knocked down cabinet kits and the supertweeter is somewhat optional.


Norh:

Sorry, but life is short and the sound was one of the worst in the show.


Edgar Horns:

Had the Titans set up in one room and the slimlines in the next adjoining room.  The Titans blew the slimlines away and should for 4 times the money.  IMO, the best pure horns of the show.  Unfortunately the laws of physics says it takes lots of space and 4 separate units to reproduce the full audible frequency range.  Too much complication for me.


Welborne Labs:

The Oris 150 was there with AER drivers.  Sounded good, but Bert's long time issue of trying to match it to a fast enough bass driver was evident.


Pi Speakers:

Don't know where Wayne was Saturday morning.  When he finally opened up his room we heard the 2 Pi Towers (way too good for $110 kits w/o cabinets) and the Stage 7 Corner Horns.  The horns were not afforded the clear space they really needed.  Wayne Parham (another great, ordiinary guy) admitted that the bass was boomy and muddy.  But I wonder why he would display it sounding that poorly.  


Allison:

Remember their speakers from 1974?  Same speakers, with a slightly modified tweeters, and 2 cheaper models.  Warning - prices have gone up since the 70's!


Venus:

Terry Cain's Abbys sounded very nice.  These speakers need a second look.


Chicago Audio Club:

Loud again this year (poorly located across the lobby from the main desk).  Stopped by to find the booming coming from a 2-way open baffle design.  They also had Jordan 92S's mounted on open baffles, but didn't get a chance to hear them.


VMPS:

Sorry, don't remember who brought them, but the 626R's had the new ribbon tweeters and sounded good.

In general I was surprised at how big some things were (Oris 150 horns for example) and how small other things were (RAM 301, TS-3's, Super 3's, Pi Stage 7 Corner horns).  There was 21 rooms in all, but I'll leave the rest of the reporting to others.

jeff

[Bwanagreg]

Damn, I'm sorry I missed the show. Thanks for the comments. Keep your head down once the Nohr guys read your comments ...

Allison is back? I remember those speakers, although its been so long I don't have any recollections of their sound. Who showed them?

Oh well, maybe next year.

[jackman]

Thanks for the feedback, great information.  Unfortunately, it only makes me feel worse about not being able to attend.  I have a kidney stone that is causing me problems and must stay close to the house.  I am most disappointed about not being able to meet Louis Chochos from Omega in person and hearing some of his new speakers.  He is one of the best people I have ever met in this industry and has awesome products.  They sound better than their prices would EVER indicate.  He's also a music lover and a good guy to boot.  It's good to hear that his room was sounding great.  Too bad you couldn't crank the stuff up because his speakers have excellent response at all volume levels and can play very loud and dynamic.  

I can't wait to hear more show details from you!

Jack

[Marbles]

I only made it for a few hours on Saturday, but here's the highlights from my perspective:



Norh:

Sorry, but life is short and the sound was one of the worst in the show.

I have not seen it reported, but for most of the show nOrh was playing the wood 3.0's - show special price of $100 pair .

These are single driver speakers with no bass below 65 hz or so.  For that price nOrh is giving them away, but they are a little thin sounding with out a sub to accompany them.

I can see why JLM might not have liked them considering the lack or room treatment in the nOrh room and the much more expensive equipment being played by the competitors who were there.

[Jay S]

My 3.0s sound suprisingly full to me, but they are placed close to the corners of the room, which reinforces the bass.   I noticed from the pictures that nOrh had them pretty far from walls in Lima.

[JLM]

To answer some of the questions raised:


Frankly after listening to the Omega's, the Norh's did not sound good.  On the other hand I didn't see anything there but 3.0's and 4.0's.  I believe that M.B. is one of audio's good guys.  Who can fault a guy that comes from half way around the world to sell speakers for $100/pair?  


Jackman:

Sorry to hear about your kidney stones.  Louis did have a pair of TS3's there, but didn't listen to them.  The laminate finishes were marvelous!  Louis was one of three cabinet builders/furniture makers there who were displaying speakers.  (What is that all about?)  Those TS3's ARE small cabinets!  Thanks for pointing out the dynamic capabilities of the Omega (TS3's).  I did see the driver near it's Xmax, but the room was over 5,000 cu. ft., and again a sub would help.  I also thought the Omega's sounded best with all tube amplification (and I've had 100% solid state for 30 years).

[jackman]

I agree regarding Barnes.  My parents have a pair of prism 3.0's in their mini-system and they sound (and look!) very nice.   I love the little Omegas, they are in a different league.  Louis' cabinetry is first rate as is his customer service.  The TS3/low powered tube amp combination is hard to beat for the money.  You can get a little SE9 integrated or a Zen amp and pair it with the TS3's (and maybe a Smart Dio) for some sweet sounding system for around a grand.   I could listen to something like that for hours.


J

PS-kidney stones SUCK!

[Louis O]

Hi Jeff,

I'm very happy you liked the system and your right the room was pretty large, but we managed to get some good sound out of it.

I wan't to thank every one who stopped by the room to take a listen to the speakers and Tom Hills from Hudson Audio for bringing the electronics. I had a great time and being my first show, it went very well. Also I want to thank Mike Baker for setting it up.

Jack, I hope your feeling better and no worries at all. I hope to meet in person soon.

I got to meet Michael Barnes, next door and he is a great guy. He showed me the SE-9, SE-18, SS amps and the speakers. Even gave me a CD, it was a pleasure meeting him and my other neighbor Mike from AudioHobby.com who has a great sounding Pass pentultimate Zen amp. It was also a pleasure meeting Marbles and very glad he stopped by.

I look forward to attending next year as well.

Many thanks,
Louis