"Character changes are rather obvious as the break-in proceeds." Boy, have you ever got that right. I'm just passing 100 hours on my Essences and have experienced the same exact thing. I also discovered how much a difference seating height makes, though that might not be as big an issue with the Omens. How do you find the Omen's bass response? While the Essence can reach down there (check Lyle Lovett's She's Already Made Up Her Mind), and the bass is quite tuneful, I do find that's a bit light weight at times. I found the Essence to become much smoother as it broke in. I'm currently driving them with a Bob Latino/VTA ST70 with all of the cap upgrades. The speaker connectors are hard wired to the 4 ohm tap which to my ears produces a somewhat laid back and polite sound.
