Over the last 30 years I’ve owned the Large Advents, Klipsch La Scallas, Dahlquist DQ-10s, Martin Logan CLS’, large JBLs and various Magneplanar models to name just a few. Through decades of experience with these speakers and others, I've developed preconceptions regarding loudspeakers that have been thoroughly shattered by the Omega XRS.
You see, I recently moved into a smaller space and needed speakers for the new room. I chose the XRS’ because they were getting great reviews, reportedly had superb build quality and were the perfect size for my new digs. I figured I could use the excellent sub-woofer that I already own to augment the low-end of the XRS’. To say I was stunned when I first hooked up and listened to the XRS speakers is an understatement. Why? Because of the incredible bass these speakers were creating. It seems ridiculous to talk about the bass emanating from speakers with 4.5” drivers, but there it was, in spades. I recently had a DJ friend over and played him Poi Dog Pondering’s Electrique Plummagram CD (PDP plays turned-on, tripped-out, world soul music. It‘s a beautiful collage of sound!). Anyway, after listening for a while, I walked over and removed the grill covers from the XRS‘ and you should have seen his jaw hit the floor when he realized that all of that sound was coming from those tiny drivers. He insisted there had to be a woofer either inside or on the back of the cabinet! It’s not just the quantity of bass that’s impressive, but it’s probably the highest quality of bass I’ve ever heard. It’s impact, texture and definition is beyond belief! My subwoofer will be collecting dust from now on as there’s no way I’ll be mucking-up the excellent XRS bass by adding a sub to the mix. No, the last octave isn’t there, but who cares when you‘ve got bass this taught, tuneful and real sounding? The resolving ability of the XRS continues from the bass up through the midrange and treble regions too. This was the other huge surprise for me because I had come to believe that only large planar speakers had this kind of resolving power.
Of course I’ve owned speakers that are more extended at the frequency extremes, but I’ve never owned a speaker that sounds so right that I completely forget about the gear, because I’m so busy pulling out all of my favorite albums and hearing tones and textures in them that I’ve
NEVER heard before. Listening to the Omegas is one of those rare
“EUREKA!” moments that make this hobby so much fun.
Omega is an appropriate name for this speaker company because I am
dead-certain this is the last speaker system I will ever own.
I absolutely love them!I have a couple of questions. Are the XRS a single chamber bass reflex design? Or dual chamber like one of the suggestions Fostex has made for this driver? I only ask this out of curiosity because the tuning of the system is perfect. Finally, is the internal wiring solid or multi-strand? I’m thinking about trying solid conductor speaker wire, but this may be made moot if the internal wire is stranded.
Thanks for these wonderful speakers! At the price they are a gift.
