[jsaliga]

Sorry for not updating this thread last weekend.  I've been very busy with work.

I have also been continuing my speaker break-in.  I have about 160 hours on the setup.  I still haven't seen the wild swings in performance that others have noted.  I can say that bass response in the Max Hemps has tightened up considerably and is much more satisfying now.  I have even taken to doing some listening without the DeepHemp sub in the mix.  I undoubtedly still prefer the combo, and that shouldn't really surprise anyone.  But I can also see for the first time that the MaxHemps are capable of standing alone quite nicely.

As for the stridency...it is beginning to smooth out some.  But it's still there and I can hear it, though to a lesser extent.  I think overall things are on the right track.  The mids still seem to be pretty much right where I found them out of the box: spectacular.

I have been very careful to listen to a wide variety of music.  Here is a sampling of what I have been listening to, spread out over the past 10 days or so.  All of it is vinyl unless expressly stated otherwise:

Al Smith - Hear My Blues



There probably aren't too many people here who have even heard of Al Smith.  That's a real shame.  Originally appearing on Prestige in 1959, Hear My Blues was recently reissued on vinyl by OJC.  Five months ago I was buying up hard bop jazz vinyl reissues like crazy.  This one is a real gem, and Al Smith has the right kind of swagger to fit the mid tempo blues numbers and ballads that grace this record.  If you like blues and jazz then spring for the record while it's still available.  I snagged it for a measly ten bucks and it was worth every penny.  I wish I could say the sound of this record knocked my socks off, but I listened to it right after I got back from my business trip when the speaker setup had about 40 hours on it.  The highs and even the upper end of Smiths vocal range still had a harshness to it that bothered me.  I listened to the album from beginning to end, but it wasn't an easy listen on these speakers despite the passionate performance by Smith.  The MaxHemps obviously needed more break-in.  No surprise there.


Bachman-Turner Overdrive - Not Fragile



A criminally underrated hard rock staple of my high school years.  The problem with the album is that the song "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet" got all the radio air play.  It's a great song mind you, but it misled people hungering for hard rock into thinking that Not Fragile was really pop oriented.  The thing is that this album rocks pretty damn hard, and the title track that leads off side one is a perfect example of what the record is really all about.  If you have a vinyl setup then buy a copy if you don't already have it.  If not then good luck finding a CD release that's not mastered hot.  I bought my copy on eBay for $6.00 and it played perfectly, no pops and no clicks.  It also sounded pretty incredbile on my speakers.  This is thunderous stuff, and the DeepHemp was hammering out the rythym while the MaxHemps were gettin' it done on Bachman's stadium sized guitar riffs.  I have found hard rock perfection and I like what I'm hearing.


Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus



You're not really a hard bop fan unless you have this record in your library.  I have a 180g reissue and it sounds awe inspiring.  It also sounded inspirational on my MaxHemps.  Rollins was firing on all cylinders on this outing, and it also helps when you have Max Roach taking care of precussion.  Easily in my top 100 albums (of any genre), this was a surprisingly smooth listen from beginning to end, and was the first hint that some of the harshness I have been hearing was starting to even out.  Good things come to those who wait!


Supertramp - Breakfast in America



I have to admit that when this record came out in 1979...I despised it, and I despised Supertramp.  I was a hard rocker and metal head back then.  I was on a steady diet of Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and Kiss.  Supertramp was for wimps.  Well, that's the sort of nonsense that was running through my head in 1979.  I'm 48 years old now, and my taste in music has broadened tremendously since my youth (lucky me).  Breakfast in America has become a favorite album of mine, and I have it on a Simply Vinyl 180g virgin vinyl pressing.  Very low noise floor and incredible sound.  This album really opened up on my speakers and it was a thoroughly satisfying listen on all fronts.  I would love to have a copy of the MFSL reissue to compare it to the Simply Vinyl pressing.


Bruce Hornsby and the Range - The Way It Is



This was another terrific eBay find.  The record wasn't sealed, but didn't have a mark or sleve scuff anywhere and it was perfect when I played it.  Easily worth the $7 I paid for it.  This was also the first album that I listened to that really told me I truely had something special in the MaxHemp/DeepHemp combo.  I was totally immersed in the music on this wonderful record.  To me, that is the mark of a really great system: one that allows you to focus entirely on the music and not the gear.  This album was that for me.


Santana - Santana



This came in the mail today.  It is the Mobile Fidelity 200g vinyl reissue struck from the original master tapes.  Yes, at $29 it is a little pricey, but not nearly as pricey as it will get when the limited run is finished and the title is OOP.  Man was I in heaven today listening to this record over lunch (one of the benefits of working in a home office).  Again, the MaxHemp/DeepHemp combo really did this recording justice, and I can't imagine it sounding better on another setup.

Summary

Things have improved considerably, especially in the bass response of the MaxHemps.  There is still a touch of harshness that I'm sure will work its way out of the sound over time.  The speakers have smoothed out over the last 100 hours of break-in, and I expect that trend to continue.  I have noticed no wild swings in performance so far, and I think I have listened to enough variety in my selections that if something were afoot there then I would have noticed it.  I was happy with the way things were progressing when I started this thread and I am just as happy today.  I'll update the thread in several days time and let everyone know how it's going.  So far, I'm  getting on just fine with my speakers.

--Jerome

[rajacat]

Jerome,

Thanks a lot for the excellent MaxHemp update.  The short record reviews were great too. I must investigate some Al Smith recordings.

--Roy

[miklorsmith]

Jerome, your contributions seriously enrich this site.  Please contribute as much as you can stand.

[mca]

I just ordered a set of MaxHemps today and your posts are really starting to make me 

[miklorsmith]

Mike - my homemade boxes now sport first-gen hemp drivers.  They sound freakin' awesome.  Yours will be significantly better.  This is a very good move for you.

[jsaliga]

Just a mini update...

First, I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to read and contribute to the thread.

I haven't put that much more time on the speakers, perhaps about 20 hours.

I have been doing more and more critical listening as the character of these speakers seem to be pretty well defined by now, or at least they're well on their way to being there.  Also, I want to take a moment and qualify some of my earlier remarks.  I don't think you can separate the observed performance of the speakers from the specific content being played through them at the time the observations are being made.  To wit...there were some albums that sounded absolutely spectacular on the speakers early on while other records of different content did not sound quite so good.  I thought it would help to discuss the specific recordings I was listening to when describing the performance of the speakers because the specific music provides the contextual backdrop for the observed speaker behavior.  I'm not a big fan of audiophilese since most of it is about as meaningful as the technobabble one finds in a typical episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

In the early going I found most of the harshness in acoustic pieces such as jazz.  Horns especially were a bit too bright and forward.  On classical music there were many pieces where the bottom end was just not there (Beethoven's 5th Symphony or "In the Hall of the Mountain King" from Grieg's Peer Gynt).  Some of these early listening experiences made me stick to titles that I knew were superlative recordings that were well mastered, especially for jazz and classical music.  With Rock and blues I was a little more liberal in my approach.

With all that said, if one were to ask me now how I feel about my speakers.  Well, in response I might be inclined to say it depends on what it is I am listening to at the time.  By that I don't mean what genre of music, but which specific recording.  I know to some that this will sound like a cop out of sorts.  But I would go on to say that as time goes by and the break-in continues, I find myself delighted with the way these speakers sound on more and more recordings.  Similarly, I have fewer and fewer critcisms of the speakers as the break-in time marches on.

Here is what I have been listening to the over the past couple of days:

Rush - Permanent Waves



This is also a Mobile Fidelity 200g vinyl reissue from the original master tapes.  I'm sure my feelings are the product of both how the speakers have progressed during break-in and the quality of this fine vinyl pressing.  But this is the abolute best this recording has ever sounded to my ears.  The bass was very sharp and articulate, even through the MaxHemps.  Alex Lifeson never sounded better: his chops readily on display on songs like Freewill and Spirit of Radio.  The DeepHemp provided that last little bit of bottom end that I have come to get used to and will notice it when absent.  But if some of you reading this were here in the room listening to this album just on the MaxHemps alone...well, I think many of you would be floored by the sound.


Herbert Von Karajan, Berliner Philharmoniker - Mozart: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik



This is from a 1971 DG vinyl pressing.  I'm not a hardcore Mozart lover.  I wouldn't regard myself as a fan of his symphonies.  But I do like his serenades, piano and horn concertos, and especially his chamber music.  I really love this performance and recording of Serenade for Strings in G Major.  I found everything to be just about right and in the correct measure.  This was another record that I was able to completely loose myself in and not really focus on the what the speakers were "doing."  I know the speakers are sounding right when I can concentrate on the music and not what the speakers are doing wrong.


John Fahey - The Great Santa Barbara Oil Slick



I recall several months ago a thread on Head-Fi in the music forum that asked people who were the greatest guitarists of all time, or their guitar heroes.  Well, when I was a kid I am sure I used the words guitar and hero in the same sentence many times.  I sure wouldn't describe any guitarist has a hero today on the basis of their chops.  But the answers are always a list of the usual suspects: Randy Rhoads, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck...the list goes on and on.  There's a lot of electric guitar wizardry out there to be sure and I love and admire much of it.  But when I see these lists I am always reminded of the acoustic guitar playing of John Fahey.  One musician, sitting in a chair, in a small venue, with a six-string acoustic guitar.  What Fahey did with open tunings and his three-finger picking style of playing never ceases to amaze me.  His music has been described as "American Primitive."  It seems to fit.  It's basic, stripped down, emotionally stirring and introspective music that has its roots in the blues and folk traditions.  This music was presented on CD and was recorded live in San Francisco in 1968; I cannot imagine a better live recording of acoustic guitar music.  I've heard other audiophiles use the term "eargasm" as shorthand to describe the rapture that they feel when hearing a great performance, from a truely great recording, on a great amp, with great speakers.  I can't say that I ever really cared for the term, but I cannot think of a better way to describe the feeling that came over me when Fahey, in his demure and understated voice, introduces a song "...and this is Requiem for Mississippi John Hurt" and then lets loose several minutes of the most profound acoustic guitar playing you have ever heard in your life.

Yes, I am very happy with my Omega speakers.

--Jerome

[pardales]

Really nice reviewing.....the music review mixed with the speaker review.....well done! 

[gbeard]

With all that said, if one were to ask me now how I feel about my speakers.  Well, in response I might be inclined to say it depends on what it is I am listening to at the time.  By that I don't mean what genre of music, but which specific recording.  I know to some that this will sound like a cop out of sorts.

Well Jerome, you are now a real reviewer. 

To me this statement reinforces how insightful your writings truly are. It tells me how well you understand your own system and listening bias' and how resolving your system has become.

I hope you enjoy your new speakers for a very long time!

Cheers!

[BossaNova31]

Great thread!!! I purchased a set of Superhemps a few months ago and my experience has been very similar. I particularly like your reviews of specific albums with the Maxhemps as Im also using 300b power   aa

I feel my Superhemps still need much more break-in but so far I am very happy with them

[jsaliga]

With all that said, if one were to ask me now how I feel about my speakers.  Well, in response I might be inclined to say it depends on what it is I am listening to at the time.  By that I don't mean what genre of music, but which specific recording.  I know to some that this will sound like a cop out of sorts.

Well Jerome, you are now a real reviewer. 

To me this statement reinforces how insightful your writings truly are. It tells me how well you understand your own system and listening bias' and how resolving your system has become.

I hope you enjoy your new speakers for a very long time!

Cheers!

Gary,

I'm deeply flattered by the compliment, but I won't delude myself into thinking that I am as thorough and comprehensive as a professional reviewer.  I decided to start this thread and share my experiences for two reasons: 1) not everyone interested in Omega speakers will get an opportunity to audition them and 2) I have not seen a lot of discussion here about the MaxHemps in particular.  While I agree that optimally one should audition gear before purchase, this is not always practical.  I thought that some anecdotal owner experiences would be better than none.

When you get right down to it (to steal a line from Carl Sagan), I am merely one voice in the cosmic fugue.  I'm hoping that by being familar with my audio setup and what kind of music I am listening to, people reading this thread will understand something of what is important to me where music and home audio is concerned.  They may have entirely different priorities, but they should at least have enough information here to judge the relevancy of my anecdotal experiences to their own needs.  I just thought it important to avoid making blanket statements and stick to the musical experience, and if I haven't said it already let me say that in my view, equipment is a means to an end and not an end in itself.  I didn't buy the Omegas because of their aesthetic.  Rather, I was expecting certain benefits of ownership that went right to the musical experience, where it matters most to me.  People on this forum have been mostly enthusiastic about this thread, and several have PMed me stating they have ordered speakers from Louis.  While my goal here is not to help Louis sell speakers (he does a fine job of that all by himself without any help from me), I am hopeful that those new Omega speaker owners take the time to discuss their own experiences, thus adding to the ever-growing knowledge base already available here.

Time to get back to the music.

--Jerome

[jsaliga]

One thing that I have been noticing, and others have commnented on repeatedly, is how resolving these speakers truely are.  For example, I have three different recordings of John Coltrane's Blue Train.  It is one of my favorite albums.  I have it on SACD, I have the Rudy Van Gelder Remaster on CD, and I also have the Classic Records 200g vinyl QUIEX-SVP reissue.  Today was the first time that I really noticed how badly clipped the RVG remaster of this title truely is.  I never noticed it on my Klipsches and I have spun this disc many times.  The Hybrid SACD is very, very good, but the blue ribbon goes to the 200g vinyl reissue from Classic Records.  If you're a Coltrane fan, have Omegas, and a vinyl setup, then don't pass this one up.

--Jerome

[BossaNova31]

Hi Jerome,

IMHO this is the very best album I have ever heard on my Omegas. AMAZING acoustic guitar and showcases the incredible speed and tone of these speakers.

I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on how this album sounds on your Maxhemps.




Rodrigo y Gabriela

[jsaliga]

I love flamenco guitar and many of its variants.  Don't have enough of it in my music collection so now is as good as time as any to expand it.  Thanks so much for the tip; I ordered it this morning from Amazon.com along with a few other titles.

There are a lot of great players out there and it is sad that so few of them have any real international exposure.  One of my favorites is Javier Conde, but he only has a few recordings out on CD and they are both out of print.  He supposedly released a new CD last year, but I cannot find it anywhere on the internet, even at flamenco centric music outlets such as Flamenco World.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EvcL4hc4Jc

--Jerome

[Louis O]

Hi Jerome,

I second Gary and you're great at reviewing and writing, the latter I wish I was capable of.

I do have a favor to ask and if it's OK with you I would like you to test out a pair of alnico's in your Max's when they come in. I will have them pre conditioned. A pre batch should be here shortly.

Thanks,
Louis

[jman66]

Hi Jerome,

I second Gary and you're great at reviewing and writing, the latter I wish I was capable of.

I do have a favor to ask and if it's OK with you I would like you to test out a pair of alnico's in your Max's when they come in. I will have them pre conditioned. A pre batch should be here shortly.

Thanks,
Louis

Hi Louis,

Not to take Jerome's thread off-topic but could you elaborate on the alnico's or perhaps start a new topic about them (if possible)?

-jim

[jsaliga]

Hi Jerome,

I second Gary and you're great at reviewing and writing, the latter I wish I was capable of.

I do have a favor to ask and if it's OK with you I would like you to test out a pair of alnico's in your Max's when they come in. I will have them pre conditioned. A pre batch should be here shortly.

Thanks,
Louis

Hi Louis,

No arm twisting required!  Bring 'em on! 

Thanks for thinking of me.

--Jerome

[Louis O]

Hi jman66,

Thanks and I will very soon. I will have the pics and curves posted when i have all the meterial.

They are more extended in the bass and the mids are ruler flat. Best I've seen.

Thanks Jerome I'll let you know when they are in.

Thanks again,
Louis

[jsaliga]

Ok, the time for an update has come.  I've been working myself ragged for the past 45 days and just started a long overdue week of vacation.

My speakers have over 300 hours on them now, and I was surprised to find that a lot of shoutyness has recently creeped into vocals, particularly in the tenor range.  It's very strange indeed.  It does not seem to affect instrumental music at all.  I can listen to hard bop jazz, chamber music, solo piano, guitar, it's all great.  Put on something with a human voice and it sounds very forward and harsh.  The frequency with which this has occurred has increased over the last 10 days or so.  During the first couple of hundred of hours of break-in I might have noticed this on two or three recordings at the very most.  It was such a tiny percentage of what I was listening to that I really didn't give it a second thought.  One title I listened to early on was Al Smith - Hear My Blues, where I mentioned this behavior.  It is now occuring on a lot of records with vocals, but not all of them.

I was starting to get a little concerned so I called Louis on Thursday to discuss it with him.  Louis believes this to be a break-in swing, and I agree with him.  I think that is a reasonable conclusion and don't have a problem with giving it more time.  I think what surprised me was that this sort of break-in issue would crop up in a pair of speakers with over 300 hours on them.  I'll update the thread again in about a week.

--Jerome

[jman66]

Hi jman66,

Thanks and I will very soon. I will have the pics and curves posted when i have all the meterial.

They are more extended in the bass and the mids are ruler flat. Best I've seen.

Thanks Jerome I'll let you know when they are in.

Thanks again,
Louis

That's amazing news given the fine performance of the current Maxhemp driver.  I can't wait

[Louis O]

Hi Jerome,

Many thanks and that's a swing for sure it will settle in.


Thanks,
Louis