[cornelius]

I have Ohm Microwalsh Talls, and can't recommend them enough!  They're not true omnis, which makes them easier to place.

would like to compare them to the Morrisons, Decwares...  IMO, any of these omni/poly speakers are better than typical cone 'n domes...

[Danny Richie]

IMO, any of these omni/poly speakers are better than typical cone 'n domes...

I completely agree with your assessment as long as the application allows for them to be at least 3 feet from any boundary wall. 4 or 5 feet out into the room and away from any walls is more ideal. 

[pbrstreetgang]

The walsh talls did not work out for me the way I was hoping, I think they are OK just not like a good dipole or OB, Dannys probably would have fit the bill but I chose one of his OBs instead- YMMV

[Dale Harder]

Hello Gentlemen and perhaps ladies...

I am new here, but may I recomend that you check this out!?
www.hhr-exoticspeakers.com

DH

[doug s.]

Hello Gentlemen and perhaps ladies...

I am new here, but may I recomend that you check this out!?
www.hhr-exoticspeakers.com

DH

hi dale,

welcome to audio circle!     but, yust to let you know - you are supposed to list the fact in your signature that you are a mfr when you post here.

best,

doug s.

[satfrat]

Gilbert Yeung of Blue Circle introduced their new omni-directional Penny loudspeaker at RMAF.



Cheers,
Robin

[TheChairGuy]

I have a 10 year old pair of Linaeum Tower speakers....with a polydirectional tweeter atop the speaker.  It works really well for me.

Warren Gregoire is located not far from me in the Bay area and makes a line of speakers with a Walsh-type driver atop it's structure.  Very efficient and 8-16ohm impedance means one can use very low power amps with it.  Their footprint is small and they have zero crossover components.

I've not as yet heard it/them, but I keep meaning to meander down to hear them for myself.

Prices are reasonable given their competition in the hi-end....and one not need spend oodles on amplification for these: http://www.warrengregoire.com/hifi-stereo-ikonoklast3.htm

At this point, if I were upgrading from my Linaeums (which I will someday), I'd take a long, hard look at these (and Ohm's and Gallo Reference).

John

[FB101]

For the price, the X-omni sold by AV123 would be hard to beat.

http://av123.com/component/page,shop.product_details/flypage,shop.flypage/product_id,122/category_id,21/manufacturer_id,0/option,com_virtuemart/Itemid,37/

I have not heard them, so can't vouch for the sonic quality but the other speakers in the x-series are all tremendous values, so I would be willing to give that one the benefit of the doubt. You might want to call them first though, I don't know if those are shipping yet; as mentioned before they have been announced for quite some time and have taken a while to materialize.

I have a pair of FJ OMs which are truly surprising. Of course their massive birch enclosure and bracing assembled in Germany puts them in another category of finish and price (last I checked around $4000) but I would not necessarily bet that they are any better than the X-omni.

In my experience the front firing tweeter is a real asset to help stabilizing imaging which can be really "fluid" with true omnis of imperfect design (polite way of saying that with inferior omnis the instruments move in the scene depending on frequency range - a very disturbing effect).

[ajzepp]

Just out of curiosity, what would you do for a center speaker with some of these omnidirectional options? Can you put a third one in the middle as a center, or is that not advantageous because of the dispersion pattern? I used to be a phantom guy until I read that Dolby Labs had confirmed there was a dynamic compression triggered when no center was in play.

[zane9]

Just out of curiosity, what would you do for a center speaker with some of these omnidirectional options? ...

I have used the Morrison Model 7's in a surround environment, without a center. No audible detriment. Would you post a link to the Dolby Labs comments? I'd like to read the details.

[emac]

For the price, the X-omni sold by AV123 would be hard to beat.

http://av123.com/component/page,shop.product_details/flypage,shop.flypage/product_id,122/category_id,21/manufacturer_id,0/option,com_virtuemart/Itemid,37/

I have not heard them, so can't vouch for the sonic quality but the other speakers in the x-series are all tremendous values, so I would be willing to give that one the benefit of the doubt. You might want to call them first though, I don't know if those are shipping yet; as mentioned before they have been announced for quite some time and have taken a while to materialize.

I have a pair of FJ OMs which are truly surprising. Of course their massive birch enclosure and bracing assembled in Germany puts them in another category of finish and price (last I checked around $4000) but I would not necessarily bet that they are any better than the X-omni.

In my experience the front firing tweeter is a real asset to help stabilizing imaging which can be really "fluid" with true omnis of imperfect design (polite way of saying that with inferior omnis the instruments move in the scene depending on frequency range - a very disturbing effect).

I've got a pair of the X-Omni's and can vouch that they are terrific speakers.  In their stock form, they compare favorably, and are in some ways better than the Strata Minis (with upgraded crossovers) I have in the same room.  The Omni's give a very relaxed yet natural musical presentation with a wide and deep soundstage.  Presently, I rotate between the Mini's and the Omni's for music and use the Omni's are surrounds for home theater.  And for listening to sports, I haven't found anything that will provide a better sense of being there than the Omni's.

I haven't heard other omnidirectional speakers, so I can't compare the Omni's to them.  But I can easily say that they are terrific speakers for the price.  You just need to make sure you give them some room.  I've found that 2 feet from any wall is doable and 3 feet or more is preferable.  And you do need a sub.   

[S Clark]

These old Design Acoustic D-12's  are a true omni design and still hold up accurately from about 30-12000 Hz.  I still use mine for the mains in my HT.

[ajzepp]

Just out of curiosity, what would you do for a center speaker with some of these omnidirectional options? ...

I have used the Morrison Model 7's in a surround environment, without a center. No audible detriment. Would you post a link to the Dolby Labs comments? I'd like to read the details.

There was a long thread at AVS about it, and that's where Roger somebody from Dolby chimed in. I believe he said the same dynamic compression (of about 10db) kicks in when you go w/out surrounds, too.  I'll let you do the leg work on the search if you don't mind since my Bills are about to hit the field...but I will also say that it's pretty easy to try for yourself. I used a third speaker I had sitting around and switched back between 4.1 phantom and 5.1 with "Fast and the Furious" and the soundtrack was more alive with the latter. It's apparently not an issue with DTS, and now that I'm finding a lot more DTS tracks on Bluray than I was finding on DVD, I may be more likely to go back to a phantom arrangement.

EDIT: Here is one quote about it from AVS, but not the one I was thinking of: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=11907475#post11907475

[JP78]

hello,

at the time i owned the decware zen-select and linestage and absolutely loved them, so i decided to order the decware rl-2's in my home to listen to, and i'd recommend anybody else who wants these speakers give them a serious listen first.

myself and many friends had very polorized opinions of these speakers.  some found them to be room-filling, expansive and engaging, while others found them floaty and disjointed.

also, i'd like to throw out gallo reference 2 and 3 as partially omnidirectional designs within your budget.

good luck,

[Dale Harder]

Ooops!    So sorry Doug and others,  I did not know.  I don't want to break any rules...
Yes, I am a Boutique or custom manufacture. But first and foremost, I am an audiophile and enthusiast.

Just wanted to get in on the fun and let you all know of my endeavors to bring some great sounds back from the ashes and far beyond....

If I may... I have many great stories from some clients that were into multi-channel and they literally threw away their multiple surround systems when they got my new Walsh "style" omni's.  Properly set up Omni systems perform very well and the sense of surround provided by shall we say less expensive multiple drivers is just a waste of effort and money.  IMHO ofcouse.

Good listening to all
Dale Harder
HHR-Exoticspeakers  Manufacture.

[doug s.]

no problem, dale.  i didn't think you were up to anything fishy - it was your first post, & i figured you yust didn't know!   

curious - if i had an original pair of ohm walsh's, what would your cost be to retrofit one of your new drivers?

best,

doug s.

[TheChairGuy]

Dale Harder

Here's some direction for you on the subject Doug mentioned...welcome to AC - and nice work you have there!

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=41871.0

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=42171.0

John