Best real world radial / omidirectional speaker

Since Klipsch bought out API (Mirage, Energy, now-defunct Athena), they've been blowing out the higher end models via Vanns.com at 60-70% off. Sooo... you could get a $2500 pair of Mirage OMD-15s for $800/pair or the $7500 flagship OMD-28s for $2800/pair. I've had the OMD-15s for nearly 4 years now. They are so easy to live with. Tonal balance is very realistic, midrange engaging and transparent. Bass is fast and clean. I like Mirage's approach because it's based on years of research into how live music typically energizes a room. For this reason the omnidirectional pattern throw 60% of the energy to the front and the other 40% to the rear. This difference makes it possible to hear deeply into the recording and the soundstage while having a realistic and very stable soundstage that stays intact wherever you are in the listening are. Timbres and tonal balance stay consistent throughout as well.

If you have the space for the bass to breathe, you could step up to the OMD-28s, which are 2-4" bigger in each dimension, have faster, more transparent drivers, and bass that extends down into the 20's. Professional reviews: Soundstage and Abso!ute Sound.

The OMD-28s are more demanding of the upstream components. The OMD-15s are bi-wireable, but the OMD-28s are tri-wireable. You want to at least use better jumpers than the brass straps supplied with either, and the OMD-28s like lots of current and power.

Still, here we have a couple of true omni's, still in production with full (5 years) factory warranty at fire sale prices that include free shipping and no sales tax.

OK CD2, it's time to weigh in on your own thread. We have a growing thread of tail-chasing but we don't even know the size and dimensions of the listening space where you want to install a pair of omnis.

If you have a large space get a pair of Mirage OMD-28s from Vanns.com. This is a $7500 pair of speakers available for $2800, has state-of-the-art woven fiber drivers, is linear down to the mid-20's, and the Absolute Sound review says in part:

Many speakers claim to offer “disappearing act” imaging, but I think the OMD- 28s take this to a much higher level— one bettered, in my experience, only by speakers such as the reference-class MBL 101 E (an omnidirectional speaker against which all others can be judged).

So even at its original price of $7500 it was considered a remarkable overachiever--compared to the multi-thousand-dollar MBLs. The reviewer bought a pair of the OMDs.

If that's too much speaker for your space, get the OMD-28's little brother, the OMD-15, a $2500 speaker pair available new with warranty and return privileges for a mere $800. You can then get a pair of these SVS compact powered subs in matching piano black, giving you bass extension into the 20's and coming right in at your $2K budget. These subs are small and easy to blend both sonically and visually.

Any omni needs to be out from the back wall, but I found that my OMD-15's can function quite well about 24" out from the wall. They also fill a large open-architecture living space with vaulted ceiling. The entire area is a timbre-correct sweet spot with a stable, centered soundstage.