[hmen]

I told Louis that I wouldn't post anything until I had about 100 hours on the speakers but here it is anyway.
   I got the speakers home and immediately hooked them up to a pair of Decware Zen model C's running through an AES DJH signature preamp. I put the speakers down on the floor about 8 feet apart about 4 feet in front of the rear wall. The first thing I played was a Concerto for 2 Harpsichords and Orchestra by WF Bach. I was immediately impressed by the imaging, even though I hadn't placed the speakers very carefully. The transient tones of the harpsichords were excellent.
   I then moved on to Stairway to Heaven. About midway through the song, when the drums and bass come in, I was very pleasently surprised.  I never thought these little speakers could put out this much sound. The bass far exceeded my expectations (I'm sure being on the floor helped) and wasn't bloated. Percussion was impressive, not just for small speakers,  but was crisper and more defined than on much larger speakers I've heard.
   I played some woodwind concertos and could not get over the imaging. Solo instruments wre front and center and the orchestra was wider than distance between the speakers and had height and depth. The only weakness I noticed was some rolling off on high notes.
   I then hooked the speakers up to just one Decware Zen, no preamp and put on Yes and Zappa. Even with just one 5 wpc amp the output was very impressive. Bass was good but my thoughts kept coming back to the imaging. Singers were front and center and the bass and individual intruments were separated.
    Overall, I was very impressed 0and somewhat surprised by these speakers. I got them to play mostly chamber music and soft jazz in my bedroom but thses speakers can rock. I really look forward to when they're broken and getting them on some stands. Louis told me to call him if I needed some placement advice but wherever I put these speakers they sound great. (I've now moved them 3 times.) This is my first experience with full range drivers and I'm really impressed.  I'll chime in again after the speakers are broken in but so far so good Great job Louis .

[JLM]

Yes, single driver speakers are the great forgotten truth in audio.

Louis does a wonderful job of making the most out of these overly ignored little Fostex FE127E drivers with a minimum of size or cost.  The appearance or sound of Omega Speakers should embarass no one.  Besides Louis is very pleasant and flexible to deal with.

Most two-ways struggle to provide the kind of performance that these $40 drivers do in a simple bass reflex cabinet in terms of frequency response or efficiency, while still lacking all the crossoverless, single point source advantages.  Single driver speakers have no time alignment or phasing issues.  No worries about two different kinds of sound coming from two different size/kind of drivers.  Imaging "has" to be perfect and you won't hear sound coming from two different sources, especially when used nearfield.

Industry marketers have done a very effective job convincing most of us that bigger is better, the more the merrier, and that 20 - 20,000 Hz response is necessary.  IMO 95% of the music is within the 50 - 15,000 Hz that the Omegas cover.  

Decware is another example of high quality, low cost American cottage industry manufacturer.  The SE84C is a $500 SET (single ended triode, that is about as simple as an amp can get).  A full set of replacement tubes costs $40.  It puts out 2 wpc at 8 ohms and 5 wpc at 4 ohms.  Strictly speaking it is a power amp, but has a volume control.  It is well built and comes with a lifetime warrantee.

[albee]

hmen:  thanks for the prelim.  Be sure and let us know how they sound fully broken in on stands.  What stand height did Louis recommend?  

I would like your impressions on the bass when they are off the floor.

[Louis O]

Hi Hmen,

Thanks for the great pre review. Great to haer they are workig out so well for you and with the Decware.

I will be putting up a new products page and all the details shortly and talking a pair with me to the Montreal show.

Thanks again,
Louis

[hmen]

Louis,
  The speakers are breaking in nicely. I'm beginning to notice more at the top and bottom ends of the spectrum. I ordered a pair of Skylan stands and I'll post the results after I set them up.
     
             Howard

[Louis O]

Hi Hmen,

Sounds great. Great to hear there breaking in nicely. The skylans are really good and will enhance the speakers' sound even more.


Many thanks,
Louis

[boead]

Decware is another example of high quality, low cost American cottage industry manufacturer. The SE84C is a $500 SET (single ended triode, that is about as simple as an amp can get). A full set of replacement tubes costs $40. It puts out 2 wpc at 8 ohms and 5 wpc at 4 ohms. Strictly speaking it is a power amp, but has a volume control. It is well built and comes with a lifetime warrantee.

The Zen Select is actually $700 and the stock tubes aren’t very good (Sovtek, Svetlana and Ruby). A full assortment of NOS tubes from Mullard, Amperex or Telefunken will run you $200 and will make a huge difference. I had my Zen modified to have more detail (micro detail) and significantly increased dynamics. It was done to complement the EL84 power tube and made very sensitive to Rectifiers. This makes the amp a changeling through tube rolling and is a joy to own. Total cost of modification is about $300, so in the end a $1200 investment (amp, mods, good tubes) gives you a world class SET in a compact and rather ugly box.

Also you have that backwards, it puts out 2.3w into 4 ohms and 5w into 8 ohms and that’s actually a lie too. It more accurately 1.5w between 4 and 16 ohms. It drives my 96db 8 ohm Klipsch reference monitors to very loud levels before clipping.