Omega Super Alnico Monitor/Aric Audio SE KT88


I had been eying these speakers for over a year now and finally a pair came up for sale with the matching Skylan stands and I just could not resist. The previous owner had ordered them with contrasting wood veneers, cherry front and back and darker wenge on the sides and top and the quality of the workmanship and the attention to matching the veneers is excellent. They look beautiful. Anticipating this eventual purchase, I came across and purchased an Aric Audio Single Ended KT88 amplifier to match his preamp which I had bought a couple of years ago. Coincidentally and completely out of luck the preamp and the amp have the same exact matching silver chassis.The preamp/amp combination sounded real good even driving my Vandersteen 2Ci speakers but with the Omegas they really came to life.  I already have a single driver back-horn loaded speaker pair in my upstairs system but these Omega speakers are in a completely different league. I'm still trying to optimize their placement since I arrived on Saturday but compared with Vandersteen 2Cis in the same exact system/room their level of transparency and speed is truly exceptional. The Vandys have a warmer sound with more rounded musical edges and a bit better soundstage but the imaging and the level of detail out of the Omegas is highly addictive and a real treat. The bass is not quite as deep but is clearly more defined and tighter. In some respect for most of the type of music I listen to I actually find the bass sound more "real" and not as loose and I think I'll be able to get the soundstage and the bass better dialed in with some room placement experiments. As a bonus, the room looks much less cluttered with the standmounts in the same spots.
I think I finally get why such a buzz about these speakers. And Aric's SE KT88 amplifier is also a very nice piece of gear. 
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I spoke to Louis last week and they should be done in a week or so.  They are for a second system but I plan on trying them in my main room , where the Forte are also 

Hello oddiofyl - Have you received your SAMs? How do they sound compared to your Forte's? I'm still waiting on my Super Alnico Hight Output Monitors. While waiting on the Omega's I've been wondering if I should have bothered ordering them given the Forte's low-end authority and how much I'm enjoying them. Guess I'll find out soon...or later enough. I also have a Zbox2 on order from Decware, in case the Omega's need a low-end assist. Any thoughts? Thanks.

I have a pair of S.A.M. being  built now.   They are for my second system.  I also have Forte IV in my main system.   I love the Forte 

I am driving the Forte with my Toolshed 300b and wanted a speaker that was totally different than anything I have had in the past that could also play nice with low power amps. 

I will be pairing them with a Cyrus i7 - XR  Integrated Amp , a Blusound Vault 2i , and a REL r305 sub.   Will also probably try them with my Quicksilver Mid Mono amps but this Cyrus really sounds great .   It sounded really good with the Forte and surprisingly was a great match sonically with my Sonus Faber Concerto .   Those are only 85 dB sens so the Cyrus should be great with the Omega .

I have several pairs of speakers and like to move them around.   Am really looking forward to these.   I should have them in a few weeks .

 

 

Anyone is paying attention after 4 years? Hope so.

About 4 months ago I ordered a pair of Omega Super Alnico High Output Monitors. In the meantime I went from a LM 218 feeding my Forte IV to a Decware UFO25th Anniversary amp. BTW, in case you're wondering, I had no wait on the Deware since I picked it up on Audiomart hours after it went on sale. Lucky me, because I have to say that I'm really liking the combination with my Forte's. Yes, an embarrassment of riches. In any event, I'm waiting on the Omega's to arrive in the coming month or so and wondering what to expect from the vis a' vis my current setup. Any thoughts? Thanks!

jactoy, that's how I'm using them - in a med-large living room with a pair of REL subs.  They sound great for EBO (everything but orchestral).

Br3098 the Alnico are only one driver for complex they don’t well, small scale like jazz they are good, sometimes they do well in large room with sub...
Alnico does well with subs, they will open up more, cabling is also very important, the better the cables , alnico will even perform better..I like them on tubes a lot than on ss.
I'm getting the room placement gradually dialed in and the soundstage and bass are much better. One characteristic that I'm really enjoying is the quality of the sound especially at lower listening volumes with hardly any loss of detail and dynamics when compared to my floor standers. It does take a little while to get the ears/brain recalibrated to this type of sound. It does not have the "weight" of a large floorstander driven by a high power SS amplifier but that weight came at the price of less speed, at least in my system. This is particularly obvious in drums and piano in jazz pieces. All in all, very interesting and engaging sound. I tend to agree with a previous poster about some limitations with listening to large orchestral or hard rock content at higher listening volumes where the sound can get a bit congested but lowering the volume cleans it out without loosing much detail. Perhaps adding a sub or two and relieving some of the load from the drivers could address that issue. 
I own a pair of Omega Alinico 6 monitors.  They are phenomenal speakers that do almost everything right and image like few others.  My only complaint, if you can call it that, is that they do sound a tad congested when playing complex music - large classical and any music where there is a wide range of loud notes playing at the same time.  But as many others have stated they are absolutely superb for most of the music I play.  I do have these mated to a pair of REL subs, carefully dialed in.  The subs are essentially sonically invisible but just fill out the bottom octaves a tad.  And they are beautiful - even my wife likes them; at least that's what she tells me.

I have used the Omegas with all types of amps and although they sound good with 2W IMO they sound much better with 25W-35W of PP power.  I'm using a Mcintosh MC225 but if I didn't have that I would probably look for a good PP 6L6 amp.  A little headroom is a good thing.

I love reading posts about omega speakers. They are so darn musical. I saw your speakers and they are beautiful! And as jayctoy pointed out, they ❤️ some tubes. 
I've looked at these many times but have my doubts about using 6" drivers in my rather large room. Louis does excellent veneer work - other small-scale manufacturers should take note.
I'll bet your system does indeed sound incredible.Congrats!I don't own Omni speakers but would love to one day.I do have an Aric Audio Transcend amp that can be toggled from ultralinear to single ended.I'm really happy with it and also think that bass sounds more natural through tubes.
The Alnico are one of the best monitor I’ve heard, I prefer the single driver, than the new High output model, but that’s me.Alnicos are very musical and palpable, they Love tubes....
Not familiar with the amp but I do know Louis Chochos (Omega) builds some fine speakers. I love my Super 3i's and DeepHemp8 Subwoofer .. gobs of detail, wonderful tone/timbre, and just a joy to listen to. One day I hope to hear one of his Alnico designs. Congrats!
Thank you. Some folks are driving these speakers with 2-8 wpc SET amps with great results. My Class A SE KT88 is Aric's older (I believe) SEP only design with 18 wpc which I personally think is a good, maybe even a better match for a wider range of music genres. His newer version of this amp allows for toggling between 16 wpc, I guess ultra linear and 8 wpc SET. Lovely sound with these monitors. I honestly didn't expect such level of detail and layering from this set up. It just sounds real alive without any coarseness.
Glad to hear you are enjoying your new speakers/SE amp.This can be a tricky setup, but you have done well here!