Best realistic omni type speaker option?


I have a pair of Martin Logan Ethos at home that sound good, and Davone Mojos at the office which for their size make great music too. 

While I like the MLs a lot, the sweet spot is small. A foot to either side and you're not getting the best sound. Which is why I'm interested in testing an omni against them.

But here's the thing, which to try at around $4-8k?
  • Ohms - lots of fans - basically a cone speaker mounted in above the cabinet and firing down with a tweeter on top- reasonably priced
  • Duevel's - upwards firing woofer with downward firing tweeter above - Bella Luna horn loads the tweeter - expensive and hard if not impossible to get in the U.S. 
  • Decware's HR-1 - hybrid omni / box speaker design  - 5 month or so wait 
  • Or since I like the MLs, step up the line to a pair of ML 11a 
Thoughts?

cdc2

Showing 4 responses by frazeur1

Duevel is very possible to get in the US, just not a demo. I can vouch for Pascal Ravach of Mutine in Canada, the North American distributor. I purchased Venus last May, love them.
As to other Omni types I have owned, various Ohms, very good, Larsen Model 4, also very good and reasonably priced, Shahinian Obelisk and Larc, both very good. 
All of the above while “similar”, have certain things each may do a bit better. It all comes down to system, room and maybe even visual things. 
Honestly, I could have lived with any of these, but extremely happy with my Duevel Venus. Also, my Venus were not as expensive as one might think, Pascal does an excellent job of keeping pricing in line with current German exchange. He does not utilize the typical BS distribution mark up, something that I am very impressed with! 
By the way, I am curious about how you are using your Davone Mojo’s, size of room, placement, amps etc. I have often wanted to try a pair in my bedroom along with my Naim Uniti streamer, always thought that might make for a nice and simple setup.
br3098-I would mirror your comments on the Shahinian Obelisk. That was one of the fantastic traits of them to my ears, the layering of music, a real depth, they had an uncanny way of making a vocalist or instruments have real 3-dimensional body. Not overblown and everything all over the place as some do. If I could have only gotten the lower mids and bass end to work in my room, there is no doubt I would still have them and not ventured on.

One slightly negative thing to me, and this was for me typical of the Ohms and Shahinian, is they seem to require more power/drive level to “wake” them up. This is something that the Duevel Venus do so much better, they play at lower levels with seemingly less loss of detail and impact, and for me now living in an apartment, just works.

I still am very much a lover of the Larsen’s too, will always throw them out as a recommendation to those looking for unobtrusive, great sounding speakers with an Omni-type presentation.

br-Not to hijack this thread with talks on the Obelisk, I am doubtful you are getting any where near the capability that the Obs can give with the little Pear amp, but I could be wrong. Yes, it will drive the Obs and play music, but they are quite a tough load on most amplifiers. I drove mine for a short period of time on a Naim Uniti, stop-gap measure at the time. It worked...sort of.

Needless to say, when I finally got a Plinius 8200 in the picture, I started to really get that feel of what I knew the Obs are capable of. Of course all of our mileage here varies, we all listen for different things etc. I would certainly think about some class D amps, maybe Bel Canto, or Red Dragon, that will solidify your bass and bring some control to the setup there.

And certainly I get the instant gratification thing! Have fun and enjoy!

Yes, the GamuT integrated would have been superb I think! The Obs certainly like the current a good amplifier can deliver, providing it sounds good, of course! I am sure you will manage! Enjoy!