Any current/former Mirage OM/Omni Series Owners out there? (1 Viewer)

[Shane Morales]

A great advantage a noobie has when checking out speakers is that he doesn't have any preconceptions; there's only his ears to guide him.

I hadn't even heard of Mirage when I first heard the OM7s and I didn't even know I was also listening to the 250s and 260s (let alone that they were also Mirages). I just had the sales rep go through all the floor standing speakers in the demo room. My first pick was Martin Logans, but they were too much for me. My next pick were the OM7's (in cherry). The demo music was some of my favorite tunes and movies played on the equipment I was going to buy. So I picked the OM7s.

I gotta say, however, that the 260s sounded better to me with classical music (Vivaldi) and south american tradional flute music, but only with the matching sub. They seemed clearer, more refined. If I'd only been interested in this kind of music perhaps I would have been more keen on them. But the OM7's delivered the goods better with movies and various densities of hard rock.

After reading this thread the first time I went back to have another go with the 260s because I figured I owed it to myself to double check, especially if I could save a good chunk of change. Not only that, but I like the way the omni series looks better. But it didn't take long to see (hear, actually) that I preferred the OM7's.

Just my take. I say give them both a listen and pick the one YOU like best.

Good luck to you and I hope you enjoy your speakers no matter which ones you get.

 

[Kevin C Brown]

Hee, hee. The problem is that I very much believe in capitalism. I pay more? I fully expect to get more. I have read enough reviews of both the Omni and OM series to believe that will hold true in this case too. The funny thing is, I actually do prefer the looks of the Omni series. I still have yet to visit the sole Mirage dealer within 150 mile radius of me. Hopefully they have all of the 260, 7 and 9; hopefully I can get time to try to listen objectively to both, and hopefully it's a cool dude who will give me a good deal...

 

[Billie]

johh, thanks for answering my question.

 

[John_Charles]

Billie,

You're quite welcome!

 

[John_Charles]

Hi Jerry:

I definitely sympathize about being short on time, so here’s to yours well spent!

Please don’t think I was defensive or taken anything you said personally; I just haven’t found anything written thus far that would warrant becoming that interested. Until then, I’m loafing along with this particular thread and remain somewhat amused in the process.

In rereading your posts, you did mention a comparison between the ‘5 and the ‘260 though nothing concerning the wherewithal of the comparison (i.e. the equipment, room, software involved, etc. – all of which is extremely important). Any informed enthusiast knows that they are never listening to a single audio component for pleasure or research, so what good is it for the reading audience or me if you allude to a comparison sans the intrinsic values of it? Perhaps you’re a standup guy, at least you read mostly as such, and perhaps you have very good auditioning habits (something one would never know by reading your contributions to this thread); nevertheless, there are WAY TOO MANY people that don’t know the first thing about auditioning, where the posted conclusion of their comparisons (such as yours) reads like the invariable noise that it is. So until you post the particulars of your “comparison” I have no idea in which camp you reside let alone possibly traipsing somewhere between the two.

Being rightly way past nauseated with the whole "Speaker X is better than Speaker Y" nonsense without a substantiated manifest; the very reminder not to post such tripe is refreshed ever-so-often on my thread. When unfortunately (I am extremely busy) I do have to probe into the lack of depth via a given contributor’s “conclusion”, and find something like they drew theirs between two combatants via two different dealer locations (and the different equipment, acoustics, etc. ad nauseum – that goes along with it); they are verily reminded that ours is dedicated to congenial education for the masses, not the usual 'net shit hole to dump one’s opinion. Meaning: anyone can post an unsubstantiated opinion, coming across as yet another carbon-based-sack-of-water readily declaring just as well that Elvis is indeed Buddy Guy in disguise (LOL). However, stating whether or not they liked Brand X, Y, or Z without the particulars of the “audition”, the prime benefit (the particulars) of sharing information on the ‘net is lost.

After all, there is so much involved in “auditioning equipment” that a person’s “conclusions” as to why one speaker sounded better might be directly attributed to incorrect speaker cable phase (among too many other variables to even name) – though they never thought to check; so their opinion is of course worthless. When one illicits the fine points of an “audition”, then others have a FAR BETTER idea of its actuality and can better take the information as relatively noiseless. I couldn’t give a damn whether you or anyone else made a comparison; I do care very much about being educated past such a briefly stated opinion. This is why I setup the AVS thread the way it is – to foster a down-to-earth “home” where people can respectfully learn well from others while getting rid of as much bullshit noise as possible. Through this, the repeatable quality of the education goes comparably way up, whereby the writer and reader become educated in how to better rid that noise during the audition, as well as the writing and reading of it. So until you have the good graces to elicit the conditions of your comparison along with how you came to your conclusion, I remain amused rather than informed.



True, though many manufacturers tend not to give away diamonds from the rough, they sometimes stumble into a better direction hitherto unknown to them. Again, such is the case with the current Omni Series – departing notably from the rather veiled house sound of the OM’s to a more transparent offering in the mid-mids on up with the Omni Series. And for the first time to my knowledge – producing a product line with true horizontal omni-polar dispersion. Something they strongly allude to being a staple in their philosophy via Mirage marketing bullshit – yet have never until now delivered it. Believe me, I’ve never been a “fan” of Mirage let alone their “statement series” as (again) its way too opaque for me to take seriously for the money. Given that, the last thing I thought I would ever do, would be to start a product line thread from a company that was mostly mid-fi for the money… And with that, some background is in order.

Since my younger days, I have always been intrigued by the execution of a true omni directional speaker system, and wondered why no one seemed to deliver one that was cost effective for the masses. So, fast forward to last year: Intrigued by a decent online review for the Omnisat, combined with curiosity of the new design to see if Mirage was changing for a more transparent direction, along with the pure desire to see how close I could get to a true omni-directional pocket Martin Logan; I setup time and space for an audition. Lo and behold, what I heard was enough for me to think that if they could refine what the nerf balls did well, and provide equally enthralling lower registers in a more upscale product, they’d have a winnuh… When they introduced the rest of the current Omni Series, I gave those that I could a shake to see what they had to offer; and the results both good and bad are laid bare to rest in the AVS Thread. You have to understand, I wasn’t even in the market; I did this mainly out of curiosity and to see if the company in question could finally become serious about higher fidelity.

Though the Omni’s haven’t dethroned my ‘Logans, they do many things well that the ‘Logans (not matter the vintage) and most of the OM Series can’t. Are they perfect? Hell no. Would I buy one for myself? Not yet. But if I had to pick a budget desert island system, I wouldn’t hesitate to base it on the ‘50’s or ‘60’s; and for me, that’s obviously saying a lot. Along with that, experience gained with the Omni 50’s, 250’s, and 260’s dictate that they perform WAY-HAY-HAY beyond their asking price (again something the OM’s can’t muster, let alone do well in their price range). In so much as anyone looking for implied excellence on the cheap via speakers – the Omni’s are the FIRST place I have them (wisely) audition. So there it is, I have taken a leap of faith with a company I used to consider as a not too serious player, with their sins of omission and commission with this line along with their virtues - having all been tabled for discussion in my thread.


To whom:

Like many of you, my time is precious (one of the reasons I don’t stray too far away from my thread) therefore; my participation here is at an end. If you’d like help with the Omni’s or have substantiated information to relay, stop by the thread, kick yer shoes off, sit a spell, and make yo'self at home.


Warm regards,
John Charles
=AirCeej=

 

[Aaron H]

hi group,

I hope it's ok that I bumped this thread. I've just begun researching speakers. I have a complete home theater in another room. Now, I'm looking for speakers to sit in a corner setup and fill the room as much as possible.

Like I said, the TV and stereo are in the corner, and the room opens up to the kitchen, dining room, outside patio, etc. I'm looking for some floorstanders that will open up nicely and give a lot of sound, no matter where you are in the room.

Are the Mirage 250's good for this? I also saw mention of the Def Tech's? Are they worth a listen? Trying also to keep the budget down, too. Don't need super audiophile stuff by any means.

THanks!
Aaron

 

[Kevin C Brown]

And to add another thought, I have OM-7's, an OM-C2, and 4 Omni FX's on the way. Still don't like the choice for surrounds/rears in that the R2's and FX's only go down to 80 Hz, which is *not* low enough to use an 80 Hz crossover, but I am still thinking about the Omni 50's too...

Aaron, you really have to go listen to them. Bipolar/Omnipolar speakers sound "different" than direct radiators. Kind of universally accepted that direct radiators give better imaging but with a smaller sweet spot, but bi/omni's give a better sense of spaciousness with a larger sweet spot.

I'm looking at going back (well, had bipoles, now have monopoles, and will test out the omnipolars against what I have now), and one large reason is that I have 3 spots I listen to music in my system: mostly at the sweet spot, but also some at my PC (!), which is in the back corner of the room, and some at the kitchen counter, which is in the kitchen through which my family room open up to. I need to try to figure out if I can live with the less precise imaging of the Mirages at the sweet spot, but with the anticipated better sound elsewhere.

 

[Shane Morales]

Aaron, I'd definately check out the Omni 250's and 260's. Got a Tweeter store near you? Go have a listen.