Mirage Omni 350 omnipolar

I don't know Mirage, (I own Ohm omnis) but a few A'gon posters are enthusiastic about the current discounts on these models from Vanns.com. If the 350 is among these, you might want to e-mail member Johnnyb53 for his thoughts - he's a Mirage guy.

As for omni speakers and rock, I doubt that there's any inherent issue. MBL often demos their omnis with rock because their speakers play LOUD and high SPL rock shows this off nicely. The specific omni characteristics aren't necessarily the primary point there, but, in one track where an electric guitar solo is "hung out in space" in an impressive fashion, the omni dispersion is definitely displayed. I don't know that a ton of rock records allow this kind of trick, but there are certainly a few that do. OTOH, it's probably true that larger ensembles more frequently illustrate this benefits of omnis.

Good Luck

Marty

I don't think they really take getting used to, unless you're used to a limited sweet spot, suckouts, and HF rolloff when you get off-axis. For me that was an easy thing to drop in favor of uniform power response throughout the listening area, more realistic timbres, and the same basic tonal balance wherever you go in the room (excepting, of course, the increased bass in corners and near the back wall.

You still get imaging, about as precise as you get in live music and a realistic soundstage that scales up and down according to the production and size of the ensemble. This does not come at the expense of the midrange; it doesn't sound like it's sitting in a hole, but is transparent and right where it belongs.

The two 5.5" speakers in a column with downfiring woofer works surprisingly well. Bass is very fast and clear, yet full and fairly extended. Should be good for rock. The 350s were from their budget line, now discontinued, with aluminum tweeter and less sophisticated cabinetry, but they should still do a good job for the money. Generally you'll want them 2-3 feet out from the wall, but mostly you lose some soundstage depth if you put them closer to the wall, as with most speakers.

Just an observation here:

Vanns.com has the Mirage 550 CH listed at $300/pair. This looks to be a pretty serious discount and might represent a good alternative to whatever deal you're considering on the 350 - depending on the pricing you've been offered and the relative merits of the 2 models. Johnny, do you know anything about the 550 CH?

The last thing in the world I need is another pair of speakers, but that looks like a pretty low cost of entry for a very interesting design, so...

Marty