Mirage and SDA2
OnlyPolk
Posts: 137
I have seen some ads for a pair of Mirage M3's and OM-9's. I currently have SDA2's. Could someone educate me on what to expect with either of these vs. the SDA2 as per imaging etc. These will be for stereo-music. Thanks.
Post edited by OnlyPolk on
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I am not familiar with either but right off the bat you will lose the SDA effect.
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Mirage has folllowed an omni directional point source approach to sound reproduction.I have seen some ads for a pair of Mirage M3's and OM-9's. I currently have SDA2's. Could someone educate me on what to expect with either of these vs. the SDA2 as per imaging etc. These will be for stereo-music. Thanks.
The omnidirectional speakers they produce have a different kind of image, very spacious, but vague in comparison to the pin point imaging produced by a more directional design.
The old Ohm F's, and the Shahinian Obelisks I used to own were both Omni designs.
It has long been the "holy grail" of speaker design to design a pulsating sphere.
An omni design is designed to mimic a pulsating sphere as close as the current state of Physics allow.
The "problem" with an omni design is it is much influenced by the room it is in.
I find they introduce a lot of "room sound" in comparison to a more directional radiator.
I liked both my Ohm F's, although they were very power hungry, and the Obelisks too.
Listen to the Mirage speakers IN your room if possible.
In some rooms, they can sound quite good indeed.
For classical music, the huge sound field they produce is quite appealing. -
Thanks for the input, I'm not as savvy on audio matters as any of you guys, so this is v. useful. Not sure if I can negotiate testing at my place with the seller, but one problem right away is that I only have a stereo receiver 120Wpc H-K that I can use and I'm not sure that's enough to drive them to optimum levels.Listen to the Mirage speakers IN your room if possible.
In some rooms, they can sound quite good indeed.
For classical music, the huge sound field they produce is quite appealing.
How would you compare the OM-9 (which is 2 way and a more recent model) to the M3-SI?
My real objective is to free my old SDA2's from my living room surround sound setup and get some fairly decent speakers for that purpose and move the SDA2 to an upstairs room (which is much more 'live' BTW) where I'd like to listen to 2 channel stereo. I would then start adding separates to this setup.
Edit: and the thought of a wider soundstage for classical would be very appealing to me -
M3's amd OM9's are a little different in their approach to Omni-directional sound.
The M series is part of their original series where the OM is the newer design. I believe the OM9's are powered. My brother has the OM7's and they are very good but a little different than conventional designs as sound seems to come from all directions with very little ponit source info. It can be a little disarming if one is used to a conventional front firing point source designs.
It's been several years since I've heard the M3's and I can't comment on teh differences between the OM and M series other than the OM is more Omni-directional.
Neither are anything like the SDA's. The SDA's will give a very soild center image while also opening up the soundstage fore/aft and L/R. With the OM you get pretty good depth but not a solid center stage.
H9"Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Puritan Audio PSM136 Pwr Condtioner & Classic PC's | Legend L600 | Roon Nucleus 1 w/LPS - Tubes add soul! -
You are JUST as much an expert at sound as any of us.
You know what sounds good to you.
Maybe you can tell the seller you are serious, and ask for a demo in your home ?
Tell him you are concerned with how an omni speaker is going to react with your room.
BTW, the sound of an omni speaker placed well out into the room is nice for classical.
The sound is just :there: floating out in space, very realistic for classical.
Plus, an omni gives you freedom to move around the couch a bit more and still keep the center image.
Have you ever heard of the simple speakers ?
Do a search for simple speakers on Google ?
OOPS goofed up, LOL
They are called SILENT Speakers, not Simple Speakers, my bad.
Check em out, a friend has em, very musical in a medium sized room.
Cheap too !
http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue26/direct_acoustics.htm -
are called SILENT Speakers, not Simple Speakers, my bad.
Check em out, a friend has em, very musical in a medium sized room.
Cheap too !
http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue26/direct_acoustics.htm
Without my hearing aids most speakers are SILENT (lol). A good bit of exaggeration here but I have lost quite a few frequencies in the upper ranges. I've been reading the forum posts on bi-polars and it looks like view are polarized. Sounds like the Mirages would give you the same kind of experience like my Grado SR125's? More on the stage than outside it. -
IME, different kinds of speakers sound best in different rooms.Without my hearing aids most speakers are SILENT (lolA good bit of exaggeration here but I have lost quite a few frequencies in the upper ranges. I've been reading the forum posts on bi-polars and it looks like view are polarized. Sounds like the Mirages would give you the same kind of experience like my Grado SR125's? More on the stage than outside it.
My 801's WERE bright as all hell in my old, waterfront place.
However, in my new place, they are almost too laid back.
The room is very important.
Dipoles can sound spectacular in some rooms, and not so good in others.
My friend has VMPS RM 40's, they are a line source, so vertical radiation is controlled to some extent.
He has high ceilings, and no carpet tile floors.
D'Appolito arrays and line sources like the VMPS RM 40 and the Bohlender -Graebner ribbons do best in his room.
They stop the sound from hitting the hard surfaces better then a conventional direct radiator.
My room is pretty wide, actually it is a carport converted into a pretty big room.
They used thin, cheap paneling for the walls unfortunately, with wide stud spacing.
The ceiling is a suspended ceiling, not good for bass.
My sub woofers actually make the walls flex, LOL
Just for the hell of it, I took some Bose 901's in on trade for an old Denon Receiver I had lying around.
They were series 6's I think, the latest ones.
They were DREADFUL sounding in my room.
They reflect sound, and you could hear the sound of my room.
Not a good thing.
I had the chance to buy some Ohm F's again.
I passed on it, because of my room.
NOT that the Ohm F is not a great speaker,, it IS if operating properly in the right room.
Unfortunately, mine is not the room for an Omni design.
MAYBE if and when I replace the paneling ..... -
Without my hearing aids most speakers are SILENT (lol). A good bit of exaggeration here but I have lost quite a few frequencies in the upper ranges. I've been reading the forum posts on bi-polars and it looks like view are polarized. Sounds like the Mirages would give you the same kind of experience like my Grado SR125's? More on the stage than outside it.
If you are looking for the Grado experience then it's definetly the SDA's that will give you that.
H9"Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Puritan Audio PSM136 Pwr Condtioner & Classic PC's | Legend L600 | Roon Nucleus 1 w/LPS - Tubes add soul! -
After doing some more surfing and reading through this and other posts here I think I should settle on going back to lusing my SDA2's for stereo-music. I don't have much money to spend right now (and there's the wife factor), so I have to take the gradual approach. I think I would try to find something that matches the other fronts in my living room SS system, which consist of a vintage CS100, two monitor series R-x (don't remember the model RM 30? they are triangular and mounted on my ceiling corners as effects). I need to get a suitable Polk substitute in the current or recent monitor series for the fronts and move my SDA2's to the room above the garage. It's about 15x25, vinyl floor (changed from carpet), and has tapered side walls after a height of 42". Thanks for the infoIf you are looking for the Grado experience then it's definetly the SDA's that will give you that.
H9
