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Best real world radial / omidirectional speaker

While I'm in awe of people who spend $20,000 or $100,000+ on speakers and can afford to design their homes to suit, my budget for speakers is around $2,000 and positioning can be affected by my wife. E.g. having the speakers 3-5 feet out from the wall is a problem, which may rule out speakers with a back firing speaker.

That being said, I'm looking for feedback on the best omnidirectional or radial speaker. Ones I'm considering include the Decware Radial, Ohm, or Shahinian.

Suggestions?

BTW, my tastes in music, run towards folk, blues, old school rock and roll, and jazz with only an occasional classical piece.

thanks,
cdc2
martykl
3,578 posts
 
http://www.ohmspeakers.com/
albertporter's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
albertporter
4,949 posts
 
Maybe this discontinued version from King Sound? It was only $4500.00 retail new.

http://www.stereophile.com/ces2010/kings_audio_king_tower/
jdoris
972 posts
 
http://www.morrisonaudio.com/
stanwal's avatar
stanwal
3,147 posts
 
Shahinian Compass if you can find a used pair.
johnnyb53
3,510 posts
 
Since Klipsch bought out API (Mirage, Energy, now-defunct Athena), they've been blowing out the higher end models via Vanns.com at 60-70% off. Sooo... you could get a $2500 pair of Mirage OMD-15s for $800/pair or the $7500 flagship OMD-28s for $2800/pair. I've had the OMD-15s for nearly 4 years now. They are so easy to live with. Tonal balance is very realistic, midrange engaging and transparent. Bass is fast and clean. I like Mirage's approach because it's based on years of research into how live music typically energizes a room. For this reason the omnidirectional pattern throw 60% of the energy to the front and the other 40% to the rear. This difference makes it possible to hear deeply into the recording and the soundstage while having a realistic and very stable soundstage that stays intact wherever you are in the listening are. Timbres and tonal balance stay consistent throughout as well.

If you have the space for the bass to breathe, you could step up to the OMD-28s, which are 2-4" bigger in each dimension, have faster, more transparent drivers, and bass that extends down into the 20's. Professional reviews: Soundstage and Abso!ute Sound.

The OMD-28s are more demanding of the upstream components. The OMD-15s are bi-wireable, but the OMD-28s are tri-wireable. You want to at least use better jumpers than the brass straps supplied with either, and the OMD-28s like lots of current and power.

Still, here we have a couple of true omni's, still in production with full (5 years) factory warranty at fire sale prices that include free shipping and no sales tax.
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