Those are some incredible shots Rich. Are you pleased enough with the new First Watt M2 that it'll remain as part of your setup or is that something you have yet to determine?
John
Hi John,
Thanks very much. I am quite pleased with the system and the new First Watt M2 amp used with the new OMA New Yorker Prototype horn speakers. At this point it is a keeper.
Those are some beautiful speakers! I hope you get great enjoyment from them.
Once things are settled, please write a short review for us!
Lee
Lee,
Thank you very much. I have now lived with the speakers for a little over a month and I will try to fill everyone in on how much I am enjoying the system and the new OMA New Yorker Pototyp speakers.
Just as for everyone else in this hobby, there is a lot of interaction with all of the wiring, electronics, tweaks, sources, and speakers.
I want to first give a bit of background information regarding my system before I specifically get into the comments regarding the speakers themselves.
First, I want to let everyone know that my system at this point is all solid state, that is I have no tube equipment presently in my system. But, that does not mean that the system has an etched sound to it at all. I have selected equipment, cables, power cords, tweaks, etc. to get things to sound as they do.
The first things to get out of the way are the fact that I have run 4 20 amp lines into my room using special cryoed about 9 or so gauge romex cable. Two of these lines have the Oyaide R1 cryoed and cooked outlets with the Oyaide WPC-Z receptacle covers. With the exception of the 2 subwoofers, all of the rest of my equipment is plugged into these 2 receptacles by way of 3 Power Conditioners (2 Exact Power EP15A Power conditioners, and 1 Isotek Sigmas Power conditioner) that are in turn plugged into 2 isolation transformers that in turn plug into the R1 receptacles. All of the electronic components sit on an Adona Signature Rack system which consists of individual sandwiched granite/MDF platforms that are each isolated from the rack system.
As to the selection of the Power cords used with 1 exception they are all copper to the best of my knowledge with 13 Analysis Plus Oval 2 Power Cords with the Oyaide 079 ends used on the 2 Epik Conquest subwoofers, the 5 power amps, the Teres Turntable, the Soundsmith 410 Strain Gauge Phono Preamp, the 2 Exact Power EP15A Power Conditioners, 1 of the 2 Isolation Transfomers, and the Onkyo 885 Pre/Pro. There is also 1 Power Cord using speical MIT wire and Oyaide 079 ends used on 1 of the isolation transfomers and there are 3 special wire TimePortal cable with special Rhodium end connectors used on the 3 digital components: the April Music Stello CDT 100 CD transport, the Lavry DA10 DAC, and the NuForce Oppo 83SE Blu-ray player. The Isotek Sigmas Power Conditioner has its own 20 amp Power cord. Finally there is but 1 silver Power cord that is in the system which is a very heavy VALAB Power Cord used on the ARC LS10 Linestage Preamp. The special TimePortal Power Cords with the Rhodium ends were selected because these power cords make the digital components sound more like my Teres/Soundsmith system. The Teres system consists of a wooden cocobolo platter and the same wood for the tonearm. That with the Soundsmith Strain Gauge Cartridge and Phono Preamp add to the warmth and fullness of the sound of my analog playback.
As to the ICs and the Coax cables in my system these are all but 1 pair silver silver stranded TimePortal or King/VALAB cables in either Balanced or single ended RCA cable form. There is 1 pair of new VALAB solid core silver single ended RCA cables that will be put into service as one of the pair of cables used for multichannel analog playback for SACD and DVD-A. Additionally, there is 1 special pair of King/VALAB silver stranded cables that has wooden boxes that contain transformers that runs between the ARC LS10 Linestage Preamp and the new First Watt M2 power amp. This was put into usage because I was not too happy with the initial sound of the new amp with the original silver RCA cables running from the Preamp which sounded a bit anemic. The replacement of the cables resulted in more the sound that I had experienced with their Balanced equivalents when using the Aragon Palladium 1K amps that initially supplied power to the new OMA New Yorker Prototype speakers. Finally, there is a special AES/EBU Balanced cable made of special military wire running between the CD transport and the DAC.
All of the HDMI cables are Wireworld Silver Starlight 5 squared cables.
The speaker wire in the system is either TimePortal copper and silver wire or the equivalent in the King/VALAB version. The OMA New Yorker Prototype speakers have a single TimePortal speaker cable to each channel running from the new First Watt M2 power amp. All of the Nola speakers, the LCR Reference Center channel speaker and the Nola Viper IIA speakers used as the side surrounds each have a bi-wire consisting of 2 pair of TimePortal speaker wires running from one of the Aragon Palladium 1K monoblock amps. The rear Dahlquist DQ-6C speakers each have a single pair of bi-wires King/VALAB speaker cables running from the Krell KAV-250a/3 power amp. Finally, each of the Epik Conquest Subwoofers have a silver Balanced to RCA cable running from the Onkyo 885 Pre/Pro to the subwoofer power amps.
I am using 4 Herbies Audio Iso-cup and H-iEnd Base footers under all 5 Power amps. I am using 4 Herbies Audio TenderFoot footers under all of the digital components, the 2 Isolation transformers, the 3 Power Conditioners, the tuner, the Onkyo 885 Pre/Pro, the cable box, and the Soundsmith 410 Strain Gauge Phono Preamp. Herbies Audio Baby Booties are used as footers under the power unit for the Soundsmith Phono Preamp. Herbies Audio Cone/Spike Grounding Bases have been placed below the Black Diamond Racing Cones of the ARC LS10 Phono Preamp. Herbies Audio Grungebuster dots have been placed below the feet of the Teres Certus 450 turntable, and Marigo Mystery Feet have been used as the footers under the Control Box for the Teres 450 turntable.
I am using special footers under all of the speakers but the new OMA New Yorker speakers. Additionally, I am using and experimenting with the placement of the Herbies Audio Supersonic Stabilizers that have been placed on top of the digital sources, the Onkyo 885 Pre/Pro and the ARC LS10 Linestage Preamp.
Having received the OMA New Yorker Prototype horn speakers and listening to the system, many of you know that I had a hiss problem when using the Aragon Palladium 1K monoblock amps supplying the power to the speakers that became worse when using either the ARC LS10 or the Soundsmith Strain Gauge 410 Phono Preamp feeding the amps. The problem was related to the fact that the amps were so powerful for the speakers that the hiss was noticeable and annoying. The amps did sound good with the speakers, but there were times that the hiss was more than I could deal with so they have been removed from the system, are now for sale and have been replaced with the First Watt M2 Power Amp.
I have never owned horn speakers before and have never owned speakers with an efficiency of 105 dB/1w/1m; they only need 2 watts to play loud. The Palladiums were 125 watt class A, 400 watt Class A/B @ 8 ohms, 600 watts Class A/B @ 4 ohms, 1000 watt Class A/B @ 2ohms. So as recommended, I looked for an alternative. And decided to look into some of the First Watt amps that have been designed by Nelson Pass. Initially I had thought that I would get the new top of the line J2. I called and spoke with Mark of Reno HiFi that is one of the 2 distributors plus Lowther speakers that sell the products. After discussion with Mark we decided that he thought that because I was using such efficient horn speakers that the new M2 amp might be a better match than the J2. The J2 had both Balanced and RCA connections, 25 watt Class A output at 8 ohms and used 4 new JFET in the design (therefore J in the name). But, the J2 and possibly one of the F amps by First Watt would probably have too much high end extension for the treble and Mark though that this could be a problem with the new OMA New Yorker speakers. So, he suggested the new M2 amp instead. This unit used 2 JFETs (I believed the same ones as the J2 as well as 2 MOSFETs (thus the M in the name of the amp). The M2 only accepted single ended RCA inputs which was a disappointment. The M2 also was a 25 watt Class A amp at 8 ohms but was 40 watts @ 4 ohms while the J2 was only 13 or 15 watts @ 4 ohms.
The First Watt M2 though was a no feedback design and would demonstrate many of the attributes of low powered particularly SET tube amps. The amp was supposed to have a more voluptuous midrange and a relaxed and easy listening sound according to Nelson Pass. In any case, when the amp arrived and I hooked it up to the system I was a bit disappointed when I used it with my normal silver single ended RCA cables. The amp just sounded a bit anemic and thin. I decided to substitute a pair of VALAB siilver stranded RCA cables that I had that had 2 wooden boxes which contained inboard transformers. That really improved the sound of the amp. Additionally, when I placed the Herbies Iso-cups with the Hi-End Isolation bases under the amp as footers I believe that there was a vast improvement in the focus, soundstage, imaging and the overall performance of the amp. The review article for the amp in 6 Moons indicated that the M2 did not resolve as much detail as the First Watt J2 or F5 amps, was softer and not as much of a high end (or possibly the bass) as those amps. It has a rounder sound and you may not be able to tell where voices or instruments are quite as accurately. That may be true, but I believe that the addition of my ICs and the Herbies Footers made a vast improvement in all areas for the performance and the sound of the amp and the system.
The First Watt M2 does at least as I am using it in my system does approach the sound to tube amps, but it is not quite as romantic and full sounding as these amps. But, the M2 is probably faster, more articulate, more resolving, with better bass and treble than the tube amps. The amp does run quite hot though. So this amp has many of the characteristics of both tubes and solid state in a single unit.
So, for anyone looking for a low powered Class A amp as an alternative to tubes I most whole heartily recommend this amp. I am having a little ground hum with the OMA New Yorker speakers and the new First Watt M2 amp. It may be a ground loop issue and I will have to try to track down the problem.
As to the OMA New Yorker speakers themselves as they are in my system I have to say that they provide whatever they are given. I am not sure if I have them perfectly placed at this point but they are really quite good. I can not believe that I can adjust their position by 1/16" to 1/8" from the wall for toe-in and change the sound so much. They are extremely fast with a wonderful coherent top to bottom sound. They demonstrate extended highs, phenomenal midrange and deep articulate and fast bass and percussion. You have to be careful of the extent of the treble which like many horns has the potential to be painful and may affect their placement. The speakers are extremely revealing of what ever is the equipment, the recording, the source, etc. With really well recorded sources they are stunning and amazing. They can demonstrate a very warm and romantic sound that is extremely inviting. They image extremely well and demonstrate tremendous soundstage in size in depth to the left and right as well as front to back. They can remove the wall and ceiling boundaries to the room. Additionally, particularly with the proper recordings they can be extraordinarily life like you are there in their presentation with tremendous dynamics on both the large and small scale. They are without question some of the finest and most enjoyable speakers that I have had the opportunity to hear and they are without question the best speakers that I have ever owned.
The new OMA New Prototype horn speakers also integrate well with the Nola and Dahlquist dipole speakers in the rest of the system. The horns of the OMA New Yorkers are very open sounding as of course so are the dipoles. The New Yorkers probably integrate a little better with the Nola Viper IIA speakers used as the side surrounds than they do with the Nola LCR Reference Center Channel speaker. This is probably due in part to the larger woofers used in the Vipers than the LCR Reference speaker. In addition, the LCR Reference speaker is in the horizontal rather than a vertical orientation and a bit closer to the floor than I would like for the 56" tall OMA New yorker Speakers. I hope to raise the Nola LCR Reference speaker more away from the floor when I either get the HDI 100" laser TV (when it is released) or a projection screen in the system. The First Watt M2 amp also seems to be a little fuller sounding than the Aragon Palladium amps. But, the Palladiums probably have a bit more "thump" to them being so much more powerful.
I am waiting for Jonathan Weiss of OMA to come by to finally lock the horns of the New Yorkers in place soon after October 1. At that point, Jonathan will have an opportunity to listen to the speakers for the first time since they were delivered and have had their position adjusted. Jonathan is not particularly pleased with solid state amps though he is looking forward to hearing the system with the new First Watt M2 amp. Also, when he is here, I will demonstrate the home theater set up. Soon after RMAF I hope that Jonathan and OMA will be able to begin the preparation of my Acoustic Room Treatments.
Rich
