Mirage or Sapphire? (1 Viewer)

[Mike Capulli]

Went into the local tweeter today... My budget is around 1000 bucks. Since this is a completely new setup, I want to spend as much as I can on the fronts and then expand from there some day down the road.

I took a liking towards the Sapphires, and the Mirages sounded a bit narrow in the demo room. This might be due to their placement and what-not - but they were my 2nd pick. (Polks were too bright)

anyways... they will be used for both music and movies, so im wondering which has better bass response and what not, and also which line would be better to expand into home theater? It looked like the Sapphires only had 1 center model and 1 surround model.

The Sapphires were the ST3 Tower and the Mirages were actually an open box deal. They were 1000 bucks for two "omni z608" as labeled. However I cant find the z608 model on mirages website which seems strange.

Any help is greatly appreciated. Tweeter is having a good financing offer good till the end of the month so Id like help deciding soon..

thanks!

 

[Mort Corey]

When I listened to the various Omni speakers at the local Tweeters I came away with the same impression.....they NEED a good sub badly. By themselves they're a little shallow (best word I came come up with) for my taste and usage. From other reviews I've read, it sounds like they're an aquired taste. Think I'll have to give a listen to the Sapphires on my next visit.

Mort

 

[Lee M T]

Hmmm...I had a different opinion. I did love the sound of Saphire, but the Omni series from Mirage just really opened things up at my local Tweeter. I agree that they do need a sub, but I use my setup for 90% home theater (mainly games), so a sub was in the pipeline.

No matter where I stood in the room, the Mirage Omni 60's always sounded spot on. There was definately a sweet spot, but that spot was much larger than any other speaker I've heard, save for Mirage OM series, or perhaps Definitive Technologies, but I didn't have those sorts of funds.

I'm not sure I would have been sold on the Omni 60's though if the price stayed at $599 for the pair. But I ran into them the day after Thanksgiving 2003 and Tweeter was offering the Omni 60's only, for half off! $299 bought me the pair and I was very satisified. The Omni CC was aded next and is to die for. I personally love it. It was highly bass heavy in the mid section, but softened up after about 10 hours of use. Been very happy ever since.

I then added an SVS 25-31PCi (tuned to 22Hz) and the Mirage's sounded even better than I had imagined. The poor LF sub mated with the Mirages when auditioning in Tweeter was not doing them justice.

Next I must add the Omni FX speakers for the rear. Speaking of that, you could actually use on of the Omnisats for rears (small or large) or even the new Nanosats which look very sexy!

Anyhow good luck on your decision. I think both companies make a fine speaker and you really can't go wrong either way.

 

[Mike Capulli]

Do the Sapphires' side firing woofers require a room where they bounce off side walls? I mean is this sort of thing that specific? Or am I assuming something like that is more critical than it actually is?

Do you guys know of any z608 model from mirage? I still can't find any information on that number. Im wondering if Tweeter wrote the model number wrong.

 

[Mike Capulli]

Do the Sapphires' side firing woofers require a room where they bounce off side walls? I mean is this sort of thing that specific? Or am I assuming something like that is more critical than it actually is?

Do you guys know of any z608 model from mirage? I still can't find any information on that number. Im wondering if Tweeter wrote the model number wrong.

 

[Tony Genovese]

No need to bounce off the wall for the side firing woofer.

 

[Tony Genovese]

No need to bounce off the wall for the side firing woofer.

 

[Jay Foster]

I have not heard the Saphires but I did compare a lot of speakers (Boston Acoustics, Klipsch, etc.) and found that the "sweet spot" was extremely large with the Mirages. I could walk right up to the speakers and it was still very difficult to tell where the sound was coming from. You were literally immersed in it. I'm not sure of the setup in that demo room, maybe that was the problem. Certainly, trust your own ears but over at AVS there are various threads raving about the Mirages, even one titled "pocket martin logans." The problem, as with many speakers I demoed, with the Mirages, is you need a good sub. SVS is the one everyone seems to like here. I've demoed one myself and it is impressive.

 

[Jay Foster]

I have not heard the Saphires but I did compare a lot of speakers (Boston Acoustics, Klipsch, etc.) and found that the "sweet spot" was extremely large with the Mirages. I could walk right up to the speakers and it was still very difficult to tell where the sound was coming from. You were literally immersed in it. I'm not sure of the setup in that demo room, maybe that was the problem. Certainly, trust your own ears but over at AVS there are various threads raving about the Mirages, even one titled "pocket martin logans." The problem, as with many speakers I demoed, with the Mirages, is you need a good sub. SVS is the one everyone seems to like here. I've demoed one myself and it is impressive.

 

[Chris Cash]

The Mirage's are by far a Superior speaker at low levels. They kind of struggle when turned up real loud. But excellent for watching movies and such. I intend on going with the OM9's from Mirage as soon as possible. I'm sold on them.

~C.C.~

 

[Chris Cash]

The Mirage's are by far a Superior speaker at low levels. They kind of struggle when turned up real loud. But excellent for watching movies and such. I intend on going with the OM9's from Mirage as soon as possible. I'm sold on them.

~C.C.~