Branislav, in talking with John at Ohm over the past 6 months or so, the main thing I come away with is that all of the speakers in the 1000 series(And MWT)are voiced as closely as possible to sound alike, only that as you go up in the range, they are more capable of being played louder and potentially going deeper in the bass.
After going from the 2000 to the 3000 driver, I would say that is all true. I didn't notice any difference at all in the midrange/upper frequencies, yet I do notice a definate increase in bass response/output.
My listening room, which also is a living room, not dedicated, is very open too. It adjoins a kitchen/dining area, as well as a couple adjoining hallways. I had to take as much of that space into consideration in order to come up with the volume that the speaker would see or try to energize. Probably with my 3000's, I am close to being at the edge of it's range. Make sure you don't short-change yourself in this respect.
The 2000 really sounded very good, just didn't have the lower bass/impact on recordings which required it. It all depends too on what is acceptable to you in the bass range. I came from Magnepan MMG's which had little to no bass to speak of, so what I have now is quite good actually. The 3000 is still breaking in, but it does indeed energize my listening space very well so far.
I find the midrange/upper frequencies to be very good, and the music so very realistic and natural. I have to say as impressed as I have been with my Maggies in this regard, the Ohm does every bit again as well. On some occasions such as listning to Michael Hedges/Taproot, or some other solo acoustic guitar, the Ohm doesn't quite have the defined "snap" that the Maggies have(And which is more truthful?), but I do chalk some of this up to the direct sound wave that comes right at you. Yet I find the Ohm presentation a little more realistic overall. Vocals are pretty much dead even for me between these two speakers. The added bass of the Ohm wins every time though.
Another aspect that I am pretty happy with on the Ohm's is the image height. I know I have said this before, the Maggies do a wonderful job with this-and they should being a tall panel speaker, but the Ohm's do a very credible job as well. I always hated listening to tiny monitors and getting this shoe-boxed size image of a performance, even if everything else was great.
I have to say that I am enjoying these Ohm's very much, it is good to be re-aquainted with a new/old friend. Having been able to listen to an un-modified/original pair of 2's, and then swap for the 2000 series driver, and then to a pair of 3000's on a 3 cabinet, it has been interesting. The newer series of driver is a definate step up from the original, yet still retains all the good stuff that made an Ohm so enjoyable to listen to in the first place.
The main thing is to take your time and figure your room volume as closely as possible, and talk to John about your options. Now that you have some Mirages, it may be a non-issue anyway! Either way, enjoy your music! Tim
