Best real world radial / omidirectional speaker
OHM Walsh speakers tend to have similar sound from bottom to top of line. Driver and cabinet volumes increase up the line to deliver better bass in larger rooms. Micros are the smallest and 1000s second smallest. That is the main difference. Another is cabinet height. Larger models tend to be taller. You generally want to listen from a position at or above driver level for best tonal balance, especially if listening more nearfield. SOmetimes the smaller models including micros can still work quite well even in larger rooms. It all depends. JOhn Strohbeen at OHM has a good customer service reputation for helping his customers find the right model for their application and not overselling his products. |
I will second the Mirage suggestion. I've owned almost every speaker in their lineup, and currently have the OMD-28s. They are truly amazing speakers, and I only have them about 18" off the back wall. More room would be better, however, they still sound absolutely stunning. I'm pushing them with the flagship receiver from Pioneer...which has been plenty of power. For smaller room, the OMD-15s are great as they don't have the bass to overwhelm. Good luck! Mot |
OK CD2, it's time to weigh in on your own thread. We have a growing thread of tail-chasing but we don't even know the size and dimensions of the listening space where you want to install a pair of omnis. If you have a large space get a pair of Mirage OMD-28s from Vanns.com. This is a $7500 pair of speakers available for $2800, has state-of-the-art woven fiber drivers, is linear down to the mid-20's, and the Absolute Sound review says in part: Many speakers claim to offer disappearing act imaging, but I think the OMD- 28s take this to a much higher level one bettered, in my experience, only by speakers such as the reference-class MBL 101 E (an omnidirectional speaker against which all others can be judged).So even at its original price of $7500 it was considered a remarkable overachiever--compared to the multi-thousand-dollar MBLs. The reviewer bought a pair of the OMDs. If that's too much speaker for your space, get the OMD-28's little brother, the OMD-15, a $2500 speaker pair available new with warranty and return privileges for a mere $800. You can then get a pair of these SVS compact powered subs in matching piano black, giving you bass extension into the 20's and coming right in at your $2K budget. These subs are small and easy to blend both sonically and visually. Any omni needs to be out from the back wall, but I found that my OMD-15's can function quite well about 24" out from the wall. They also fill a large open-architecture living space with vaulted ceiling. The entire area is a timbre-correct sweet spot with a stable, centered soundstage. |
