Analysis Audio Omega Review

[Zero000]

In theory. Everything works in theory.

In actuality, sub 80Hz bass is not omni-directional. Stick a woofer in the corner of the room and it will excite that corner an reveal its location.

Done DIRAC Keith. I don't like the results and disagree with the philosophy.

I won't convince you otherwise I know so I'm not going to add more. Nor post more on it here.

That's not personal BTW. Tis just a hobby and not a business to me.

 

[Purite Audio]

This has nothing to do with DRC , this concerns sound creation and propagation, and the seamless integration of a subwoofer.
Keith.

 

[TitaniumTroy]

Recently, I heard a pair of CLX's and Neoliths recently, I thought I would like the CLX with subs better. Due to it's separate mid/tweeter, however I thought the larger panel of the Neolith's made it superior. while the midrange was more transparent than my Magnepan 3.6's. I missed the dispersion and SQ of the True Ribbon tweeter, and even the Maggie bass. While lacking in impact and lower extension, I thought this was mostly covered when I heard the 20.7s.

I would really like to hear GT Audio's 2.5's, years ago I heard Carver's Amazing III's hybrid and thought they sounded outstanding. Not so much for the original Amazing Loudspeaker, it had a lot resonances in ribbon section. However it may of just been the age of the speaker, Audio Analysis and Graz's Apogee are also very high on my list.

IMHO, True Ribbon's are the way to go for high frequency (better dispersion) quasi ribbons for midrange (greater excursion) and if a hybrid bass (a low crossover like the GT Audio's 2.5) Heard Sanders ESL at the Axpona 2015, bass seemed seamless and full, but that asymetrical room layout threw off the imaging for me. Kingsound ESL's had the good imaging but lacked dynamics, and bass.

Hearing Acoustat 2+2s at an audio dealer way back in the early 80's is what got me hooked on the planer sound. Never heard imaging from a speaker like that before.

 

[bonzo75]

I heard acoustat 1+1 yesterday and they are the best stats I heard. The owner himself owned quads before and has auditioned summits. He also owns apogee studio grands

 

[Big Dog RJ]

Agreed, Acoustats are pretty awesome stats. However, you need a fairly decent sized room for them to really sing. Once that room is dialed in properly everything falls into place real nice. Also being a full range stat panel, the response is quite remarkable. I actually first heard these driven by VTL's, big 450 watt monoblocks partnered with the c-j Art preamp at the time. Heavy price tag at the time, those were my tight budget student days...

Hey Bonzo, can you recall the amplification used on the acoustats? Just wondering... not a lot of well known amps can drive these properly.
Cheers mate, RJ

 

[bonzo75]

Hi RJ, that's the best thing. The 1+1 are smaller and were in his loft, 3.6 m, distance to wall 1.4, distance to listener 2.6. Side walls reinforcing them, ceiling touching them.

The room was perfect for them. I had a long chat with the owner and have a lot of respect for his tastes in general now. The amp was project sphinx, a hybrid, same as the one driving the full ranges, but there are only 12 or 13 made. We later drove it with his Lamm m1.1 in another room.

 

[Ron Resnick]

MIKE KALELLIS OF ANALYSIS AUDIO USA REPLIES TO MY REVIEW

Hello Ron,

Thank you for taking the time to write such a comprehensive review.
They are a wonderful sounding speaker, the Amphitryons even more so.

If I may, I have a few question to ask and a few clarifications to offer.

Questions:

1. Do Peter's Omegas have the crossbar that attaches the two feet together?

2. Do they have external crossovers?

3. You stated "3) When music is playing the entire frame vibrates." Is
there an audible component with the vibration?

Clarifications:

1. Peter's Omegas must be an old pair. The feet were redesigned some
time ago. The current Omegas stand vertical with no fear of falling
forward. Obviously, they can be push over if done so intentionally.
The Amphitryon and Orion have entirely different feet. Because the
speakers are a line source design, they can tolerate minor tilt back
with no negative consequences. I prefer them straight up. The smaller
sizes are better tilted back a bit.

2. The perforated steel back plate is part of the magnetic motor
structure of the driver. Somewhat akin to the pole piece of a dynamic
driver. The hole size (some of the holes are covered by the magnets)
is carefully calculated to handle the air velocity of the membrane at
full excursion at the frequencies the driver is designed to handle. If
the membrane had to move 1 inch (which it doesn’t – max total
excursion is about 10mm) then there may be issues of over damping. Low
frequency wave lengths are much longer than any internal cavity
dimension. The back plate is basically acoustically transparent.

3. The front cover of the Omega (and smaller Analysis speakers) is
designed to be semi-floating and to be decoupled as much as possible.
Feeling vibration is to be expected. If vibrations are heard then
something is wrong or the speaker is damaged.

4. As the authorized importer, distributor and repair center of
Analysis speakers, I consider our crossover levels as OEM. Our speaker
can be auditioned with internal and external crossovers. Below is a
brief description of the crossover options:
There are three levels of crossover options:

Level 1. Standard Internal Crossovers. We use high quality crossover
components that are carefully selected and matched to maximize the
performance of the speaker. Sonically, what you will experience is a
transparent presentation with excellent resolution, focus and tonal
balance.

Level 2. Standard Outboard Crossovers. In this level we use the same
high quality crossover components and place them in an outboard box,
one per speaker. Sonically, what you will experience is a more
"transparent" presentation, less veiled and better focus. The tonal
balance is unchanged. This level also allows you to bi-amp if you care
to.

Level 3. REF Outboard Crossovers. In this level we use specially
selected ultra-high quality, exotic crossover components and place
them in an outboard box, one per speaker. Sonically, what you will
experience is an even more "transparent" 3D holographic presentation.
Imaging, detail retrieval and focus is also improved. The tonal
balance is unchanged but the overall "feel' is of a richer more dense
performance. The REF level also allows you to bi-amp if you care to.

5. The crossovers are carefully designed for the best performance and
to seamlessly integrate both drivers. What Peter has done by flipping
the polarity of the tweeter is to very slightly changing the balance
around the crossover frequencies which better suites his taste or
perhaps works better for his given room behavior. Flipping the
polarity doesn’t hurt anything but I don’t recommend starting out that
way. Many people don’t perceive any difference.

6. As stated above, the feet have been improved. We ship the speakers
without the feet attached to make handling easier. Once unpacked, it
takes about 5 minutes per speaker to install the feet. We do offer
custom fabricated aluminum feet with and without wheels for anyone who
wants bomb proof.

7. As stated above, the feet have been improved. The actual speaker is
actually quite stiff considering its shape. If a person was strong
enough to hold the speaker from one of the short end in a straight out
horizontal position you would notice that the speaker does not sag or
twist.

The Omicron, Epsilon and Omega are all basically the same. They are
just longer as they go up in size. The Amphitryon and Orion are built
differently. They are much wider and thicker in size. Due to their
size, the design decision was made to build them much more robust in
order to maintain rigidity.

All materials have mechanical and sonic pros and cons. It is safe to
say that just swapping out one material for another without taking all
the material properties into account will make the outcome be quite
unpredictable. While there have been discussions about making changes
to the speakers, there is no decision to do so. There needs to be a
reason for making changes. The materials selected to be used in the
construction of Analysis speaker are selected for very specific
reasons. Are there better materials? Maybe. It depends on what you are
trying to change.

Analysis speakers have a simple classic style. Being a forever (last)
speaker for many people we don’t push the industrial design envelop to
keep up with styling trends. Maintaining the same architecture also
allows us to upgrade older speakers, if an upgrade is discovered.

There are trophy speakers, there are budget speakers and there is
everything in between. Technically speaking, at Analysis it‘s all
about receiving an electronic signal and as faithfully as we can
recreating a musical sound scape. It’s all about the music.

I hope my clarifications gives you a better understanding of Analysis speakers.

Best regards,

Mike Kalellis
Analysis Audio
MK Audio
908-377-4012

 

[Ron Resnick]

I am very impressed, and I greatly appreciate, that Mike took my comments seriously and constructively. I told you he is incredibly knowledgeable and thoughtful about, and experienced with, the Analysis Audio speakers.

If I were to zero in on Analysis Audio speakers for purchase Mike's personal involvement in the product and his long experience with Tassos in Greece would get me over my concern about the speakers being made by a small company in Greece.

 

[bonzo75]

Actually, I am, seriously, more comfortable with speakers made by smaller manufacturers with the designers imprint on it rather than large American companies which embody the coke Pepsi principles of marketing, value each product ten times over for everything but the sound - they always have great press and are visible at all hifi shows, all paid for by the non discerning user.

It is best to buy speakers from audiophiles like Mike and Peter who have lived with a speaker they like and tinkered with crossovers till they know the speaker inside out.

If you were ever to buy Jadis or a TT from Mik in London (who is also the Rockport distributor) you will pay more to buy his tweaks, sometimes much more, than the market price. He totally transforms the Jadis transformer

 

[Audiophile Bill]

I am very impressed, and I greatly appreciate, that Mike took my comments seriously and constructively. I told you he is incredibly knowledgeable and thoughtful about, and experienced with, the Analysis Audio speakers.

If I were to zero in on Analysis Audio speakers for purchase Mike's personal involvement in the product and his long experience with Tassos in Greece would get me over my concern about the speakers being made by a small company in Greece.

Ron - just be careful of Analysis. Please see review here: http://www.hifinews.co.uk/news/article/analysis-audio-omega-pound;14500/9793

More importantly, look at the measurements in the Miller files if you can get them.

 

[bonzo75]

Ron - just be careful of Analysis. Please see review here: http://www.hifinews.co.uk/news/article/analysis-audio-omega-pound;14500/9793

More importantly, look at the measurements in the Miller files if you can get them.

Hi, do you know he was advised not use Devialet by Peter before using them? I would be careful of any reviewer that uses Devialet on Analysis or Logans.

 

[spiritofmusic]

The problem being?

 

[bonzo75]

The problem being?

I don't know about the new ones, but back then they couldn't drive low impedances for sure. I compared them many times on the Logans, with Krell, AR, krell integrated, AR integrated, the drop used to be big. And back then I was quite indifferent to other amps on the Logans - Krell, Levinsons, AR, I liked them all. Except the D. Strongly advised a guy who was using D, he finally got around to it and bought Sanders, and is much happier. Peter told me during our first meeting about this hifi news review. Luckily I did not read reviews and trusted my ears. Btw Bill too has used the D on his focals, and found a big jump moving to the krells. The D is good if you want a rackless pretty living room where there are no boxes in sight, but that's about it.

 

[Audiophile Bill]

The problem being?

No idea, Marc.

Not sure of their electrical characteristics - are they very low impedance?

 

[bonzo75]

No idea, Marc.

Not sure of their electrical characteristics - are they very low impedance?

5 ohms

 

[Audiophile Bill]

I don't know about the new ones, but back then they couldn't drive low impedances for sure. I compared them many times on the Logans, with Krell, AR, krell integrated, AR integrated, the drop used to be big. And back then I was quite indifferent to other amps on the Logans - Krell, Levinsons, AR, I liked them all. Except the D. Strongly advised a guy who was using D, he finally got around to it and bought Sanders, and is much happier. Peter told me during our first meeting about this hifi news review. Luckily I did not read reviews and trusted my ears. Btw Bill too has used the D on his focals, and found a big jump moving to the krells. The D is good if you want a rackless pretty living room where there are no boxes in sight, but that's about it.

Lol. I would not disagree with the D comment. My Focal is nasty impedance too. Is Analysis nasty impedance speaker then?

 

[Audiophile Bill]

5 ohms

Nominal? What is the minimum?

 

[bonzo75]

No idea. The review you want to read are the 3 Enjoy the Music reviews. Else best pay a visit to Taunton

 

[Audiophile Bill]

No idea. The review you want to read are the 3 Enjoy the Music reviews. Else best pay a visit to Taunton

I heard them at whittlebury and despite Peter being depressed with his sound, I heard the potential for sure.

 

[bonzo75]

I don't know about depressed but I think at the show he had problems with the power initially, and very speakers, especially panels, sound good at a show, so if they sounded good, then great.