Ohm Walsh vs. Mirage OMD 28

If I had rca interconnects, I would use one of my dvd players...but now with xlr its a different story...I wouldnt even mind the break in, makes it all the more rewarding once the speakers open up, if it wasnt for the short return policy. It's pretty cool that the Ohm is offering such a long trial period...I can already tell that Mirages are a bit less efficient than my Hyperions, and might benefit from a high power amplifier, even though my integrated seem to do a decent job with them.

If you have a tuner, you use that for extended break-in sessions.

My theory is this: If a speaker sounds good right out of the box, it should only get better with break in. IME with the Ohm Walsh 2000s, there were odd sonic characteristics that came and went during break in, but they never really sounded bad, especially once a friend helped me reposition them.

I would suggest you play the Mirages as much as possible in the two week period, and when you're listening, try out all kinds of familiar recordings. If you're still grinning like an idiot after two weeks of that, the Mirages are probably keepers. If you keep them, and then lose your enthusiasm later on, I think you got them cheaply enough that you could sell them without taking a big hit.

Speaker selection should come before amp selection, so if you keep the Mirages because you like the sound, you can upgrade to more powerful amps in the future. That will probably expose another week link in your system. Welcome aboard the upgrade merry-go-round!

You can also minimize the volume level during break-in by connecting the speakers intentionally out-of-phase. This cancels a lot of the sound. If you have an FM tuner or a loaded iPod, that's another way to send uninterrupted program material to the speakers. You don't have to have the volume way up to break them in. In fact, Mirage recommends keeping the volume low until they've broken in.

My OMD-15s broke in pretty easily. They never sounded harsh or wrong out of the box as some do. But the first 30-50 hours opens up the bass response, and I found that as I kept playing them (for weeks), the resolution exceeded my expectations. These are very resolving speakers. They'll sound pleasant from the first, dynamic soon after, add bass slam soon after, and then over time you'll notice how delicately refined and nuanced they are as well.

I meant to also say to wire the speakers out of phase when facing them together. Thanks Johnnyb53 for the reminder!

Well, I'm continuing to play the heck out of them to break them in. I know the thread implies comparisons to Ohm which I've never heard, but I can maybe start to compare it with Hyperions 968 which are quite a hard act to follow in its price range. Like I mentioned, it's apparent that the Mirages need more power and are less sensitive. This makes the low level listening a little harder. Their frequency response is about the same as Hyperions, with spectrum going from low base to 20khz. They are both very easy to listen to, nothing bright or harsh like so many speakers out there. Unfortunately, so far, I can't say the size of their soundstage betters my Hyperions...I was looking for a more enveloping sound and I'm not experiencing that yet. Also I don't think they disappear any better than Hyperions and don't spookily suspend sounds in the middle of the room like Gallo's 3.1 that I used to have. Again, they are not fully broken in and placement plays a big role so there's still hope. They play better than when I first got them...even though they go as low as Hyperions, their mid bass seems to be boosted a bit which I for one like, though opinions vary on the subject....so far it's a toss up if they stay or not...tbc