First off, my buddy brought his Zu Omen Def's (Mk 2 rev A) down to my place and let me live with them for a week.  I am truly grateful for the experience and I have learned a lot.  In general, the Zu’s are quite a bit different vs. the 944’s.  Below are some of my thoughts.  

For reference, we placed the Zu’s in the same spot as my MG944’s and they are hooked up to the 8 ohm tap on the ZMA.    

I love the scale of the soundstage the Zu’s provide.  They project a vertical wall of sound and it is enveloping.  I was listening to solo classical music and the size of the instrument (e.g. cello) appears more realistic and life like. The Zu’s make the 944’s seem like mini-monitor’s in comparison.

The Zu’s sound cohesive, natural and musical.  These speakers have great liquidity and pacing, which results in lots of toe tapping.  

The Zu images are bigger but significantly softer and less defined (less focused, more diffuse) vs. the 944’s.  The Zu’s offer a natural presentation of the music, similar to a live performance.  The 944’s are more "audiophile" with pin point, focused imaging.

The 944’s disappear better and the soundstage is wider.  The Zu’s offer greater SS depth.  

Surprisingly, the 944’s seem more dynamic and snappy vs. the Zu's on transients (e.g. drum hits on Take Five, House of the Rising Sun/Opus DSD).  In general, loudness is ~equal to the 944’s, even though the Zu’s are rated at 101 dB vs. 94 dB for the 944’s.  So, I am not getting more headroom with the Zu’s.  

The Zu’s wake up with volume.  Again, I wasn’t expecting this with the higher efficiency.  The 944’s have great presence at lower volumes.

I experienced fatigue almost immediately when switching to the Zu's (I had to walk away from the system when we initially made the transition).  Also, if I turn the volume up on the louder side (e.g. 80 dB) I experience fatigue. My sense is that the tweeters on these speakers beam like lasers and placement is critical to get a non-fatiguing sound (e.g. cross the speakers in front of the listening position).

I have been listening to the Zu’s with both with the sub on/off and definitely prefer with the sub on.  The low end reinforcement adds solidity to the soundstage and helps to balance the frequency response. Bass from the 944 transmission line is tighter and more realistic.  To me, the bass on the Zu’s sounds in between a port and TL, but closer to a port.

MG944s are the definition of smoothe and non fatiguing.  I desperately miss mine.  Zu has always appealed to me but I've never made the jump.  Thanks for the comparison.

Line array
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

L-Acoustics V-DOSC/dV-DOSC line array at a concert
A line array is a loudspeaker system that is made up of a number of usually identical loudspeaker elements mounted in a line and fed in phase, to create a near-line source of sound. The distance between adjacent drivers is close enough that they constructively interfere with each other to send sound waves farther than traditional horn-loaded loudspeakers, and with a more evenly distributed sound output pattern.

Line arrays can be oriented in any direction, but their primary use in public address is in vertical arrays which provide a very narrow vertical output pattern useful for focusing sound at audiences without wasting output energy on ceilings or empty air above the audience.

Modern line arrays use separate drivers for high-, mid- and low-frequency passbands. For the line source to work, the drivers in each passband need to be in a line. Therefore, each enclosure must be designed to rig together closely to form columns composed of high-, mid- and low-frequency speaker drivers. Increasing the number of drivers in each enclosure increases the frequency range and maximum sound pressure level, while adding additional boxes to the array will also lower the frequency in which the array achieves a directional dispersion pattern.

Dave, I was at Eric's the other day.  I like his 944/ZMA combo.  I feel that speaker brings out the details and punch the ZMA can deliver.

One thing I did notice was they were had a more narrow sweet spot than what I have at home.  Do you find that a natural byproduct of the MTM design?  Do the bigger driver Zu's also have this trait?

Also, I am noticing some sibilance with the Zu's.

Beowulf…I have not heard speakers from either Omega or Tekton, but would like to.  Which ones would you recommend investigating?

At a different price point, I am curious about the Living Voice Avatar OBX-RW and Salk Exotica speakers.  

I had been using Klipsch RF-7 mains (sensitivity of 102db) for over 10 years with the Zen and more recently a Super Zen. Thought hard about the Omen Def but in the end decided to purchase the Omega Alnico Monitors due to their completely different design approach (simply wanted to try something different).

Quite frankly I expected their would be some real weaknesses in the Single Driver Design and that the Super Zen would never be able to achieve acceptable volume levels with the Alnico Monitors (93db). However as beowoulf states, the clarity & transparency are so good you get a great sound stage with very audible micro-dynamics. The best Focus I've had a speaker present in my room. Vocals & instruments all have their own space and don't bleed into one another.

Not sure exactly how to explain this but the Omega Monitors fill the room so well that Volume with 2 watts really becomes less of an issue. I tend to listen at lower volumes now with the Omegas because they simply don't have to be played loud to sound great. At moderate volume they really provide a big full presentation. If you are into Jazz & Acoustic my guess is you won't feel the need for a sub at all.

In my case I do a lot of Rock, Classic Rock, Blues, Blues rock, live recordings and have a larger listening space. I use a pair of HSU Mid Bass Modules (downward firing 12" low frequency drivers) to augment the low end from 50 to 200 hz, the combination is seamless and can rock. The Klipsch could play louder but never sounded this good.

The Omega Alnico Monitors really are special. Don't think I will be moving away from the High Efficiency Single Driver Omega Monitors any time soon.

The 944’s are back in my system.  My reaction after the deprivation is as follows:

-The 944’s offer significantly more detail than the OD’s.  This was my gut reaction and it still holds true.  I doubt the frequency curve on the 944’s is flat (as it says in the description) and I don’t know that anyone has taken any measurements.  It might be time to get an omni microphone and see what’s going on.  I already have an AD/DA USB sound card that would work just fine.  

-The 944’s have greater presence at lower volumes, and enable lower volume listening with engagement.  The OD’s really need to be cranked up a bit to come alive and when they you do you are rewarded by a massive wall of sound.  In the evening, I typically listen at 75 dB or below, and the Zu’s really don’t start to come alive until ~80 dB.

-The Zu OD's don’t disappear like the smaller 944’s do, so it’s a noticeably different soundstage.  The Zu’s offer greater scale, which is great for classical music.    

-The Zu OD's and the 944’s are about equal efficiency on the appropriate taps.  When I hooked the 944’s back up, I didn’t switch back to the 4 ohm tap (Zu’s on the 8 ohm tap) and the 944’s were noticeably less loud.  At first I thought my reaction to the efficiency was incorrect, but I realized I needed to go back to the 4 ohm tap for the 944’s.  After switching taps, I was back in business.  

-I think it’s possible the Zu OD’s might be better off on 16 ohm taps.  The nominal impedance of these speakers might be closer to 12 ohm vs. 8 ohms as the impedance is quite variable (check out the curve on the Zu website).  Or maybe they would sound better on a Torii vs. the ZMA because the Torii follows the impedance curve (vs. trying to ignore it).    

-That said, my experience makes me question whether or not the Zu Druids, which are a 16 ohm speaker, would be worth listening to without having 16 ohm taps.   The nominal impedance of the Druids might be more like 20 ohm, which would be >3dB loss on an 8 ohm tap.  

-I miss the body and meat that the Zu OD’s add to the music/images.  The OD’s have a tone and warmth that make them very easy to listen to.  Or maybe they just have a flatter frequency response vs. the 944’s.

-I didn't add much vs. what I reported on originally, but wanted to capture it nonetheless.  If I have additional thoughts I will report back.  I think it’s fair to say that the presentation of these two speakers is fairly different and it comes down to preference.  

I will look into the Omega speakers.  For those that have them, is there consensus that one of the AlNiCo models would be best?  

In general, do single driver speakers sound good with push/pull amplifiers?   Historically, I thought SET’s were preferred with single drivers, but I’m sure this is an outdated generalization.  My main amplifier pairing would be the ZMA.  

That said, the Outlaw models seem like they would be a great fit for the little Decware amp since they are lower in impedance (4 ohm) and higher in efficiency vs. the standard lineup.  Does anyone have experience with this combination?  I also have the CKC for comparison.

Lastly, does Omega offer a trial period similar to Decware or Zu?

Thanks for all of the great info DBC.   A couple of questions:

1) Why you would recommend the Omega AlNiCo monitors vs. the floor standing version?
2) Have you heard the Omega speakers with any of the Decware push/pull amps?

Thanks J2G.  Sounds like you are really enjoying your Omega speakers with a Declare PP amp.
 
-Do you have to engage the treble cut on the Torii with the Omega speakers?  
-What version of the Outlaw speakers do you own?

Quote:


Attending this years Decfest reminded me how many different amp / speaker combinations there are and how they all have slightly different flavors. Then add on top of that all the different personal musical tastes and preferences of the different attendees and it's clear why there is no single amp / speaker combo that reigns supreme.

I prefer the qualities of the Super Zen but understand the attraction of the more powerful amps to others as I listened this year. We each have our own music history and musical experiences. Myself for instance I have no others in my area to share with and to listen to other systems. So I'm more or less stuck in my own Audio Bubble and try to remember that when I post here.

So with that said, Dave I'll answer your first question the best I can based on my personal experience. On the question of Monitors verses Floor-standing models, Monitors have become a personal preference of mine after owning many of each.

Some of the Floor-standing units I've owned produce good bass if placed closer to the walls while this can cause the Sound-stage to suffer. Pull the Towers out into the room where they image best and Bass output can fall off substantially. So the analogy I use is that of the Flying Car. It wasn't a great car and it wasn't a great plane but it was a flying car. I tend to find Monitors more forgiving when it comes to placement while at the same time they can perform very good since they are being asked to do less.

OK, so the question is what if the monitor's are a bit light on Bass for your personal taste. Well first of all be thankful that you don't have a Floor-standing model that just loads the room up with too much Bass no matter where you place it (I've had that problem before).

The Omega Alnico Monitors I own really produce great Tight Clean Bass in my 16" X 24" room with multiple openings into other areas of the home. Really quite amazing. Only because of personal taste do I use a pair of Mid Bass Modules to add a touch of Mid Bass Dynamics. So in my case I look at the Mid Bass Module as the Car and the Monitors as the Airplane. Both built for a specific purpose, very good at what they do and can be placed separately where they perform in a given room best. As a side note the speaker designer told me the Monitors have a bit more speed and tighter bass compared to the towers that can go a bit lower.

As far as the Push/Pull amps, No I have not heard the Alnicos teamed up with a Push/Pull but my guess is someone here has the combo.

@ Dave, both Mark and DBC have provided really good insight to which drivers and speakers that would be good candidates.  I'll add my .02 cents as well.

While there are fans of probably each Omega driver/speaker that is produced, I have found there are 2 standout models that seem to be a little more revered than the others (similar to Decware's Super Zen and Torii).  And they are the AlNiCo Hemp Cone based speakers and the RS5 based speakers.

Based on my opinion of all the drivers in Louis' range ...

The RS5's strongest attributes are speed and immediacy ... at 4.5" it doesn't take a lot of imagination to see how fast these can be.

The AlNiCo's strongest attributes are tone and smooth transitioning throughout the frequency range and give a more refined sound to them with just a really beautiful tone.

The other driver's which are the RS7 brings in the middle ground ... they dig deeper than both the RS5 and AlNiCo, but are not as fast as the RS5 or as smooth and refined as the AlNiCo.

That said, all of these drivers have about the best imaging you can imagine (as a single point source) and all give that you that spooky 3D holographic soundstage.  But the tone on the AlNiCo's and the speed of the RS5 make them exceptional in their prospective price ranges IMO.