Paging Johnny B - Speaker Question

[Brewmaster]

Johnny B. My brother is in the market for speakers. His idea is to max whatever electronics his H&K receiver can deliver. Many of the high end dealers in NYC charge full list and letting his(our) heritage show, he refuses to pay full list price for anything. j&R has Polk, JBL and Klipsch, non of which excite him. OTOH, laying out up to 1,500.00 for a pair doesn't scare him either. BTW, my blood isn't as rich as his but a good pair of speakers to replace the old KEF C-45's I have now would be nice.

What does our resident audiophile recommend.

[JohnnyB]

Johnny B. My brother is in the market for speakers. His idea is to max whatever electronics his H&K receiver can deliver. Many of the high end dealers in NYC charge full list and letting his(our) heritage show, he refuses to pay full list price for anything. j&R has Polk, JBL and Klipsch, non of which excite him. OTOH, laying out up to 1,500.00 for a pair doesn't scare him either. BTW, my blood isn't as rich as his but a good pair of speakers to replace the old KEF C-45's I have now would be nice.

What does our resident audiophile recommend.

I need to know more about his HK receiver--age, power, etc., also his musical and listening tastes, and the size, shape, other uses of his listening room. Also if he's in an apartment and whether disturbing the neighbors is a consideration.

Here's an interesting place to start.

This has been my speaker in my 2-channel LP-based system (where I do all my critical listening) for the last 3 years (also available in black). They really used to sell at $2500/pair (i.e., that's not an inflated list price) and sound every penny of it, but Klipsch bought Mirage a couple years ago and has evidently contracted with Vann's to sell off their former top level products. These speakers sound very natural, fill even large spaces very well, and don't require a whole lot of power, though they do respond well to improvements in upstream electronics and cabling. They have a very natural tonal balance and energize a room and set a soundstage very much like live musicians.

For a more conventional approach, here's a real overachiever. Fairly efficient, excellent on all kinds of music. Deep and dynamic bass and transparent midrange for good rockin', but the transparent midrange, even tonal balance, and decent speed also make it excellent for vocals, acoustic music, jazz, and classical as well. Price is ea., so they're $1200/pair. Definitely in his price range, should match pretty well with an HK receiver, and delivers lots of good sound for a reasonable price.

[Brewmaster]

He lives in an apartment. To say his listening taste is eclectic would be an understatement. From classic rock to 50-60's Jazz and almost everything but country in between. I'll have to ask him how old his HK receiver is but IIRC it's about 5 years old. He just bought an Onkyo CD player and loves it. I'll get the model number from him.

[JGale]

Damn! $500 for OM Mirages!!!

Anyone want to buy a pair of PSB Stratus Golds?

[Brewmaster]

Damn! $500 for OM Mirages!!!

Anyone want to buy a pair of PSB Stratus Golds?

Yeah, I crapped myself when I saw that. My nephew bought a pair of those a couple of years or so ago. If I had the $$$ I would jump on them. Free Shipping, no sales tax.

[JohnnyB]

Damn! $500 for OM Mirages!!!

Anyone want to buy a pair of PSB Stratus Golds?

Yeah, I crapped myself when I saw that. My nephew bought a pair of those a couple of years or so ago. If I had the $$$ I would jump on them. Free Shipping, no sales tax.

Bear in mind that's $500 each, $1K/pair, but they originally sold for $2500/pair and I paid $1700 for mine on eBay in 2008. For what these speakers can do $1K is a stone cold bargain. They sounded good out of the box, they sounded better after 100 hrs of break-in, but as the year progressed they continued to improve in fine detail and low level resolution, the kind that makes for better soundstage, more ambience retrieved from the recording venue, and the inner detail where faint background vocals reside. They also responded positively to improvements in cabling, which ultimately moved me to get better separate components to realize their potential further.

The aren't as strong in the bass as the Stratus Golds, but they're good, and I'd put their midrange transparency and linearity at the same level, which is saying something. What makes these speakers so cool is how they interact with the room. That should be no surprise as the design is the culmination of Mirage's 25 years of research into speaker-room interaction and the psychoacoustics of sound reproduction.

The OMD soundstage is stable, anchored in the speaker plane; you can even sit outside the speaker pair and still hear the soundstage centered between the speakers the same way you can hear the soundstage centered on a performance stage when you sit to the side at a live concert. The tonal balance stays stable whether you stand or sit, too. Many speakers don't do that.

The really crazy deal is that Vann's has Mirage's former flagship, the $7500/pair OMD-28, for $2600/pair. I'd love to have those, but I'll have to content myself with the OMD-15s.

[Brewmaster]

I think my nephew paid $1700.00 for his also. If I had the 1K I would jump on them.

[3of5]

I've had a pair of Ohm 2 speakers for 20 years. They sound great everywhere in the room. A bit of the same idea as the Mirage speakers, which I have never heard in person. Here is a link to a review.

http://www.soundadviceblog.com/home-theate...ng-performance/

[JohnnyB]

I've had a pair of Ohm 2 speakers for 20 years. They sound great everywhere in the room. A bit of the same idea as the Mirage speakers, which I have never heard in person. Here is a link to a review.

http://www.soundadviceblog.com/home-theate...ng-performance/

I used to sell Ohms, and yes, the Mirages and Ohms share a similar soundfield with the ability to energize the room more similarly to live musicians. I personally give the edge to Mirage, however, as their forward tilt of the baffle provides a 60/40 front-to-back radiation ratio, which their research indicated was truer to the average radiation patterns of singers and instrumentalists. This makes sense to me, as the musician's body blocks some of the rearward wave.