Review of Omega Super Alnico High Output XRS Speakers

I’ve had my Omega Super Alnico High Output XRS speakers for about 7 weeks now, so thought I’d write down my thoughts and impressions for those who are interested. I researched high-efficiency speakers for about a year, with Zu, Tekton, and Klipsch all under serious consideration. Ultimately I landed on the Omega’s, as they’re popular with other Decware amplifier owners (Decware even sells an Omega model through their website), and I prefer their aesthetic over those other brands. When I called Louis at Omega to place my order, I told him that Imaging was important to me, so he suggested setting the drivers diagonally on the broad side of the cabinet rather than vertically on the narrow side as seen in the pics of the standard Super Alnicos on the Omega website. Other mods/upgrades to the base model include ¾” plywood front baffles, upgraded internal damping material, and propeller style binding posts. The cabinets are veneered in gorgeous curly walnut.

My previous speakers were Tekton Lores, which I used in my system for about 5 or 6 years. Previous and concurrent to those I owned Tekton M-Lores, various vintage models, and a few mid-fi speakers including Pioneer and Bose (I was young and didn’t know any better, lol). Needless to say the Omegas are my first pair of high-end speakers, so this review may not hold much weight for some of you. That said, I’ve attended AXPONA for the last 5 years, and auditioned several high-end speakers in the listening rooms of the two audio stores here in Madison, so I have a decent sense of what high-end sounds like.

Other than the Omegas, my system consists of the following gear:

• Decware Super Zen SE84UFO2 SET Amplifier, 2wpc
  
  
• Rega RP3, hot-rodded with TTPSU, Groovetracer subplatter and delrin platter, and Cardas tonearm wire and cartridge clips professionally installed by Brit Audio.
  
  
• Hana SL cartridge
  
  
• Rogue Triton phono-preamp
  
  
• Cambridge Audio Azure 651 CD player
  
  
• Blue Jeans speaker wire and interconnects

And here are the Omega Super Alnico High Output XRS (man, that’s a mouthful) specs from the Omega website:

Sensitivity: 97 dB (though the label on the back of my Omegas say 98 db)

Impedance: 4-6 ohms

Driver: Twin Proprietary 6.5" Omega Alnico HempCone (1 whizzer, 1 dustcap)

Frequency Response: 35-20kHz

Dimensions: (without spikes) 38"H x 9"W x 14"D

Weight: 50 lbs. each in a shipping box

Power Requirements: as little as 2 watts

Crossover: None:​

I’ll get in to how the Omegas sound now, but real quick I just want to say that Louis at Omega is awesome and really took care of me. He’s a true professional and a talented engineer and craftsman.

So, funny story to start off with. When I first connected the Omegas, they didn’t sound good. They were detailed, but the treble was grainy, and the mids were soft, sibilant, and hissy (vocals sounded like air being let out of a balloon). I’d read that Omegas have a break-in period, so I decided to ride it out (bear with me, this doesn’t turn out to be a break-in issue). I left EDM on at high volume for several days to foster break-in, but only heard minor improvements in bass, and a worsening of the treble and mid-range problems. I started to get a little anxious. These speakers were supposed to excel at midrange, but that’s not what I was hearing. I was pretty worried that I’d just spent close to 5k on a bad set of speakers. I even sent Louis a few panicky emails looking for reassurance.

After a couple weeks of struggling to mitigate the grain and hiss, it finally occurred to me that bad tubes can sound hissy (duh). So, just as an experiment, I replaced the rectifier tube in my amp, and BAM, the treble was clear, bright, and smooth, the mids beautiful and lush, and the bass punchy, deep, and tight. It was my rectifier all along. I suspect the rectifier had been going bad for a while, but the problem wasn’t evident through the Lores. The Omegas were telling me what the Lores couldn’t. I guess this is what Reviewers mean when they say gear is transparent.

To be fair, I don’t really fault the Lores, as they’re recommended to be driven by 20wpc minimum and I was only giving them 2. If I’d been using them as intended, I’m sure they would have exposed the bad rectifier as well. Despite their 98db efficiency rating, I’ve read that Lores have a complicated crossover that isn’t suitable for low-powered amps. This is the main reason I was looking to upgrade and settled on the Omegas, which are crossover-less and therefore supposed to be better suited to my 2wpc Decware.

Anyway, once the tube issue was resolved (I’ve since replaced all the tubes in the amp just to be safe), I could hear what the Omegas actually sound like. Thankfully they’re fantastic in pretty much every way. Starting at the top, the treble is smooth, clear, and bright without being harsh.The bells and alarms at the beginning of “Time” from DSOTM have always sounded great, but the Omegas bring them to life. They seem to actually exist in the space between my sweet spot and system. My Lores image well, but this is on a different level.

Midrange is wonderful. While researching the Omegas, I’d read that they’re especially good at reproducing mids, and this is my experience as well. Vocals are clear and lifelike, and acoustic guitars sound more believable than I’ve ever heard them from my system. Neil Young isn't at Massey Hall in 1971, he’s in my living room in 2019 (or maybe I’m at Massey Hall in 1971).

Bass has surprised me the most. The impression I got from the forum on AK is that many users run subs with their Omegas, so I wasn’t expecting deep or impactful bass. I was wrong to assume this. The bass is actually much deeper than I was getting with my lores, and has way more weight and slam. I suppose this is also due to the fact that the Lore’s needed more power than I was giving them, but I was still surprised at the difference.

I’m not sure if the Omegas would be considered forward sounding or not. Like I’ve mentioned, they can do an impressive job of projecting the music into my listening space, but on some recordings they can also create the illusion of a deep and wide soundstage, as though you’re sitting about 7 or 8 rows back. No matter what’s playing, they pretty much disappear. Rather than forward, I’d say they do what the recording tells them to do.

To offer a nutshell comparison, I'd describe the Omegas as more dynamic, detailed, clear, and holographic than the Lores (and by a wide margin).

The craftsmanship of these speakers matches their sound quality. The veneer is beautiful with tight, seamless corners, and I appreciate the matte finish as opposed to the glossy, overly-varnished finish I’ve seen on other wood speakers. One of the secondary reasons I went with Omega is that I dig the look, which fits in nicely with my Scandinavian furniture.

The only drawback so far to the Omegas is the grills. They look good and complement the cabinets, but the magnets that attach them to the front baffle are a bit weak. If the grills are bumped even slightly they fall to the floor. I’ve just learned to be careful not to bump into them, which I should be doing anyway.

That’s about all I’ve got. I’m knocking around the idea of adding a pair of matching subs -- not because the bass is lacking, but because it would be fun to see what they’d add to the listening experience. If I end up pulling the trigger, I’ll report back.

Many thanks for reading, now please enjoy the obligatory pics:







With grills:

 

Pics continued...

Backside:





Full listening space:

 

Beautiful! Well done review.

 

If they sound as good as they look, they sound fantastic. Enjoy!

 

Thank you!

 

Nice looking set up!

Quick, but unrelated question, what are those black things at the ends of your shelves that look like they prevent the CD's from tipping over and where can I get some. I can use those for quite a number of things.

 

Nice review. Nice room!

I could have written this myself .. the man is a gem.

 

Great looking system. I'd really like to hear a high-efficient speaker that can image. To me that is one of the major drawbacks to most HE designs especially horns. I've been to Axpona and even though it's not the best venue to make judgements I have not heard HE speakers image well and this includes the much revered AN speakers.

I'm also curious as to why the designer feels that the drivers on the wide baffle improve imaging. This seems contrary to me as my speakers image incredibly well are one of the main design features is essentially baffle-less cabinet construction.

 

Great room system, speakers and review!
I would really like to hear a well configured SET / HE speaker system someday. They just don't have them at my local dealers and I haven't noticed any at AXPONA either. Maybe this year.
Peace and enjoy!

 

Many thanks! Those are just cheap book-ends from Office Depot/Max. I bought them about 12-15 years ago and could actually use more but haven't been able to find them again.

 

Re: the drivers on the broad side of the cabinets -- is this a standard option, or an extra charge? ...

 

Lovely. I think when you no or minimum crossovers you have a new window on the situation and may need to fix issues in the chain that were less apparent previously.

 

Really nice! I always wanted a pair of those. Love the sound of Paper/Hemp cones.

 

Hopefully Louis doesn't mind me posting this, but no, he didn't charge extra for that.

 

Great review. A pleasure to read--"complement" spelled and used correctly, no less. I like that matte curly walnut finish. I don't think I'd have guessed it was walnut.

 

Thanks for posting this fantastic review. Do you feel these do reasonably well will most types of music? I know you lean heavy toward jazz--as do I--but I enjoy some classic hip hop, pop, and a symphony or two. Good to know that the bass is there, but do they hold up when pushed with more complex music?

 

Wow. That is wonderful!!

Those really look 'the business', as the English say. On my shortlist if I can ever afford to upgrade seriously from where I am now.

 

So Jazz definitely sounds amazing through the Omegas. I've been particularly enjoying 50's mono recordings on both CD and vinyl.

But I listen to pretty much all genres -- Rock, Hip-hop, Classical, Country -- whatever sounds good. So far I haven't found a type of music that doesn't work with the Omegas, but I have noticed that most new Rock and Pop CDs sound terrible, while their vinyl counterparts sound great.

For instance, I just got Kacey Musgraves "Golden Hour," and The Shins "Heartworms" on vinyl, both of which sound fantastic. I've owned those albums on CD for a while but haven't been able to stand them since putting the Omegas in my system. The CDs didn't sound like anything special through my Lores, but they were at least listenable. I guess this is because the Omegas are more transparent and less forgiving of compressed, poorly mastered music.

I've actually been on a bit of an 80s kick lately, and things like Gary Neuman, Bronski Beat, The Violent Femnes, etc., all sound fantastic with the Omegas. Great dynamics and energy -- the Omegas are really fast.

Regarding Classical, the Omegas have no problem with the chamber music and small orchestra stuff I've played, but I don't think I've tried any symphonies yet. My favorite composers are Mahler and Shostakovich, so any symphony by one of them should tell me how the Omegas handle large orchestral pieces. I'll try to find time this week to play some.

 

I had a chance to listen to some symphonies through the Omegas last night. I played the first movement of each of the following recordings:









I don't play music as loud as many others do, but at the moderate levels I like they all sounded the best I've heard them in my system. The different sections of the orchestras were easy to distinguish and the solo instruments were clear and lifelike (the horn solo at the beginning of Mahler's 5th blew me away). The Omegas are very fast and dynamic, so they made the recordings sound as close to a real concert as I've heard them at home. I tried cranking the volume a few times, but with 2 watts you can only go so loud. I'll take the realism of an SET amp and single-driver speakers over volume, YMMV. The Omega High Output models are made to hold complex music together better than the true single-driver Omega models, and it seems to work. Can't wait to listen to more!

 

Thanks for reporting back. I listen at fairly moderate levels as well, so this is promising. My Tektons really come to life at levels I don't always want to listen at, so one of the things I'm looking for is a speaker that sounds great at low and moderate levels.

I'm curious, did you get a chance to hear any Omega speakers before you took the leap? That's a lot of coin to drop for something without getting to hear them.

 

No, I wasn't able to hear them before buying, but Omega has a 60-day trial period so I felt safe taking the chance -- especially with the amount of research I did to make sure they'd be a good match for me and my system. I would have been happy to pay return shipping and possible restocking fee if I didn't like them just to satisfy my curiosity.

I actually came close to sending them back before I realized the bad rectifier tube was making them sound bad. I felt really dumb, but glad I stuck with them. It would have been a huge mistake to return them.

 

Great review! The look is a departure from anything I've seen on their website in the past, but I like it - a good fit for your decor.

 

I didn't see the 60-day trial listed on the site. Thanks for all the info so far. These are now firmly on my short list thanks to your impressions.

 

Oops, the return policy is 30 days not 60. He doesn't advertise the return policy on the website for some reason, but I know he offer one.

If you ever want to make the trek up to WI, I'd be happy to let you hear mine before you pull the trigger.

 

They look great, I'm a huge fun of single driver speakers.