Omegarray

Rick Craig · « **on:** 9 Mar 2004, 07:20 pm »

The Omegarray is complete and the first array available from the Next Level array series.

With 97db sensitivity and a five ohm impedance this can be driven by virtually any high quality source amplification. This design features ten Aurum Cantus AC130MK2 5.25" woofers and eight ribbon tweeters per channel. It can be configured for a sealed box / subwoofer system or stand-alone full-range ported system.

Feel free to PM or post questions here and e-mail me for measurements.

Rick Craig
Selah Audio

vpolineni · « **Reply #1 on:** 9 Mar 2004, 07:52 pm »

rick, do you have any pictures for us to see?

Rick Craig · « **Reply #2 on:** 9 Mar 2004, 10:50 pm »

Quote from: vpolineni

rick, do you have any pictures for us to see?

Not at this time. My customer is building his own cabinets and I expect they won't be finished for 4-6 weeks due to his busy schedule. When I have the pictures I'll post them on my site.

JoshK · « **Reply #3 on:** 9 Mar 2004, 10:56 pm »

My interest is piqued.

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #4 on:** 9 Mar 2004, 11:02 pm »

What price range are we talking? It will be a regular offering, won't it?

Tyson · « **Reply #5 on:** 9 Mar 2004, 11:21 pm »

No pictures? Does that mean you don't have a digital camera, or that you don't have any speakers to take pictures of? If the latter, how do you complete the design process without a working prototype? Or are the prototypes just to ugly to take pictures of

Rick Craig · « **Reply #6 on:** 10 Mar 2004, 05:27 am »

Quote from: JoshK

My interest is piqued.

At some point I want to have a pair of arrays in the NYC for a demo. I'm not sure yet what design that will be but any input you can give is appreciated.

Rick Craig · « **Reply #7 on:** 10 Mar 2004, 05:33 am »

Quote from: Rob Babcock

What price range are we talking? It will be a regular offering, won't it?

$5,000/pr. for standard finishes. I do many custom designs and make them available to other customers when they fit a niche within my regular product line. This one falls into the latter category.

Rick Craig · « **Reply #8 on:** 10 Mar 2004, 05:37 am »

Quote from: Tyson

No pictures? Does that mean you don't have a digital camera, or that you don't have any speakers to take pictures of? If the latter, how do you complete the design process without a working prototype? Or are the prototypes just to ugly to take pictures of

Yes, I have a digital camera and have a picture of the butt-ugly prototype

The customer of this pair is building his own cabinets and I probably won't have a picture for another 4-6 weeks.

Tyson · « **Reply #9 on:** 10 Mar 2004, 03:25 pm »

Cool, I figured as much. I did want to say that the Excelarrays I heard at Gary's here in Denver are the only speakers that I would be able to live with after owning the RM40's. The excelarrays are very very impressive speakers. How to the Omegarray's compare to the Excelarrays?

JoshK · « **Reply #10 on:** 10 Mar 2004, 05:20 pm »

Rick,

What sort of footprint would a sealed Omegaarray have?

Rick Craig · « **Reply #11 on:** 10 Mar 2004, 05:37 pm »

Quote from: Tyson

Cool, I figured as much. I did want to say that the Excelarrays I heard at Gary's here in Denver are the only speakers that I would be able to live with after owning the RM40's. The excelarrays are very very impressive speakers. How to the Omegarray's compare to the Excelarrays?

Considering the popularity of the RM40 I take that as a huge compliment. The Omegarray is different in that the increased line length allows for both seated and standing listening. The ribbons are also higher in sensitivity and offer better top octave extension than the Newform.

The Aurum Cantus woofers are not as detailed as the Seas drivers used in the Excelarray and being a 5.25" woofer they don't go as low as the Seas magnesium cone units. But at less than half the cost per woofer the AC woofers perform very well.

At this point I've started work on two other arrays with one being similar in format to the Excelarray. This one (not named yet) will have six Vifa XT 7" woofers per side and six ribbons. Like the Excelarray this is optimized for seated listening and using fewer drivers helps lower the cost. I like the XT woofer quite a bit; in fact, some listeners will prefer it because it has more warmth than the magnesium cone drivers. While it doesn't have as much detail the Seas driver it still outperforms every other 7" driver I've heard in terms of overall performance.

This array will be available in a sealed or vented box configuration. The vented box will be more extended than the Excelarray with -3db point in the low to mid 40's. With added room gain this speaker will have significant output to 30hz and below for those that don't want to use a subwoofer. The sealed box version's -3db point will be in the 60-80hz range making it ideal for combining with a subwoofer. At about $4,200 a pair this one will be very competitve with other speakers selling for 2-5 times more.

The last speaker in this trio of arrays is going to be the same type of format as the Omegarray, but with ten Seas 5" mag cone woofers per side and eight ribbons. At $7K per pair this will be my reference system.

Rick Craig · « **Reply #12 on:** 10 Mar 2004, 07:17 pm »

Quote from: JoshK

Rick,

What sort of footprint would a sealed Omegaarray have?

11" wide by 14" deep.

EProvenzano · « **Reply #13 on:** 11 Mar 2004, 03:40 am »

Hi Rick,

Will the second design, with Vifa XT woofs, use the same ribbon tweeter as the Omegarray?

Do you have pricing for this model established yet?

Thanks

Rick Craig · « **Reply #14 on:** 11 Mar 2004, 03:52 am »

Quote from: EProvenzano

Hi Rick,

Will the second design, with Vifa XT woofs, use the same ribbon tweeter as the Omegarray?

Do you have pricing for this model established yet?

Thanks

All three use the same ribbon. The XT model is $4,200.

EProvenzano · « **Reply #15 on:** 11 Mar 2004, 04:00 am »

The F3 in the low 40's is much more to my liking.
What kind of timeline can we expect for development?

Rick Craig · « **Reply #16 on:** 11 Mar 2004, 04:06 am »

Quote from: EProvenzano

The F3 in the low 40's is much more to my liking.
What kind of timeline can we expect for development?

Ready in 4-6 weeks.

JoshK · « **Reply #17 on:** 29 Mar 2004, 05:17 pm »

Quote from: Rick Craig

Quote from: EProvenzano
Hi Rick,

Will the second design, with Vifa XT woofs, use the same ribbon tweeter as the Omegarray?

Do you have pricing for this model established yet?

Thanks

All three use the same ribbon. The XT model is $4,200.

What ribbon is that? Fountek JP 2.0 (My guess)?

Rick Craig · « **Reply #18 on:** 29 Mar 2004, 05:47 pm »

Quote from: JoshK

Quote from: Rick Craig
Quote from: EProvenzano
Hi Rick,

Will the second design, with Vifa XT woofs, use the same ribbon tweeter as the Omegarray?

Do you have pricing for this model established yet?

Thanks

All three use the same ribbon. The XT model is $4,200.

What ribbon is that? Fountek JP 2.0 (My guess)?

Yes, it's the Fountek. The JP-2.0 is simply the best driver I've found for arrays and superior to the Newform or BG planar ribbons. This design is going to be very amp-friendly, particularly with tubes. The 8-9 ohm impedance and high sensitivity (94-95db) will make it very easy to drive.

JoshK · « **Reply #19 on:** 29 Mar 2004, 06:05 pm »

Seemed to be the most logical choice. I am excited to hear about this design and will hopefully be able to hear it, any of the line arrays actually, at some point.

$5K almost seems like not enough when you consider 16 JP 2.0s are near $1900 and the woofers are easily another $1200. Doesn't leave you much wiggle room after crossover and cabinet.