The Mirage OMD-15 Loudspeaker ($2500.00 USD) last sold for $800.00 USD at Crutchfield. We picked up our standard pair, in rosewood finish, at headphone bar for $400.00 CDN The owner, Travis, paid $1000 and was nice enough to let them go at this price.
The last loudspeaker we liked like this much (not quite) was the Castle Howard S2. It was the same price ($600). We'd rather say Castle Durham. We can't say you can get a good headphone for $500.00 USD. Cardas may say different - we haven't heard the EM-5813.
We set up the OMD-15's stereo store style. That is, right beside the PSB Stratus Gold Loudspeakers we have in shop. We picked up these from a Guy for $400 each who went to work for Disney. ($2,399.00 USD).
We'll get to this later.
Now that we've started this magazine, we've made three (3) purchase decisions before accepting speakers for review.
(1) KEF X300A Active Bookshelf Loudspeaker ($799.00 USD)
(2) Teac S300 Neo Bookshelf Speaker ($599.00 USD)
(3) Mirage OMD-15 Floorstanding Loudspeaker ($2500.00 USD)
We didn't want to pay the shipping and insurance, honestly, for products that cost at $100,000.00 + USD, so we decided to purchase our products for review - at local stores - instead.
What do we mean by full-frequency for a loudspeaker? 20 Hz - 20,000 Hz +/- 3 dB (minimal response). What do we mean by acoustic replay? Like the Focal Utopia III series: capable of rendering acoustic instruments in air, in a believable manner. It has to be heard to be believed.
The Mirage doesn't do this, but it does present a nice image in the living room.
Like DACs, we wanted to start low before buying hi.
Now the Sultan of Brunei may have enough money to purchase the products that we like, and wish to studiously collect, review and then move on to curate... however for now, we'll have to rely on audio manufactures to supply future products for review.
It would be best if we bought them. That way, there would be no beholden interest. Many have complained, and we have listened, about audio magazines glowingly reviewing products with very real flaws, as being the next best thing.
We'd like to prudently purchase everything we like, just as you'd like to sleep with everything you like also, and we'd like, either.
You'll find you have to visit an audio salon to hear loud speakers and equipment in a solid environment - acoustically and aesthetically placed in a nice sounding (and looking) room.
Is a speaker a Mirage? Does it present a full, folded image?
We'll have to get into that in the meantime.
Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark is might where the OMD-15 name came. Elvis was in. 28 is more significant. That was when we were last in shape.
The Mirage OMD-15's are perfect for curls. At $400.00 USD / each, they're $100 more than a 300 lbs Olympic weight-set via Crutchfield.
We carried them, one at a time, on our shoulder, for roughly 2 km. We wonder what it's like to shoulder-lift a Focal Grande Utopia EM.
The Focal Scala Utopia 2 EM is about right for the average person (guy or gal) to move about the apartment on their own.
Four men, or two piano movers, is about right for the audiophile speaker of most magazine selections. We'd prefer to move these items, under our steam. :)
Could you use valves to amplify these "women?" We'd like to use ... to illustrate the beauty of our Summer and Rain twins.
We hooked up the Mirage OMD-15 to our Sony TA-N55ES amplifier using our TEAC's hook-up wire. The hookup isn't the best. The Mirage has about the best binding posts we've seen. Dual sets. Only the posts on the Totem Element Earth (Platinum, WBT) are perhaps as good.
For the bass, we used an old pair of Ultralink Audiophile Reference Series [12-guage]. Unfortunately, we couldn't find our old pair of Monster Cables in the bin. Digging it up, we uncovered the breath controller for our Yamaha DX-27S. That's one breath away from the Mirage OMD-28. Hairsplitting.
The Sony ES amp is as value retro as they come, regardless. Just watched a great video how gold chains are made. The cables are copper, regardless.
Can you understand that your silver cables will oxidize? There's a reason for gold-plated connections.
You'll like the speaker if you like spaciousness, imaging. It's a very good choice.
Recent components like the Marantz HD-DAC1 follow in the Sony ES tradition, however we're surprised to see it still in the market these days and years. The Sony SCD-1 is a very good source, if you can find it, regardless. Not bad.
When you hook up components you have a few options. Bare connections are probably the best. Multi-stranded wire. Sexy. Twist the wire ends clockwise before you insert them in and around the binding posts, not leaving any copper exposed. Binding posts are basically bolts with specialized nuts. Others prefer banana-plugs, but they come out. We'll call a spade, a spade, and leave it.
The Mirage OMD-15 Loudspeakers don't do much for our preferred system.
While we prefer two sets of speakers, say the B&W 800 Diamond, and the Bang & Oluffsen BeoLab 5, two sets of less normal speakers don't do much.
Are the OMD-15's ES worthy? That's a Garth Brooks (Wayne & Garth) question. Can you get Country in your Union?
Let's get a replay.
Visually, the black ash PSB Stratus Golds looks like Bass Towers, back and left, to the Mirage OMD-15. Especially if we double-mounted them, inverting the buggers. This is what old men do. The black PSB's are 3.63 ft. (43.5") high, so 7 1/4 ft. (87"), doubled for more. SPL. You could do this with the OMD-15, but you'd need a special cage to mount them.
As a unit, setup, they look best, in the room. That quite a ways away from any wall, or hardware. There, you can admire them properly. Placed beside a large stereo drawer (despite the same finish), they look not very interesting.
This may also improve your imaging.
Placing Ray of Light by Madonna on our Sony PS-X100, using the Grado Black was a revelation. This was the first time the fewly played disc had been played by a cartrdidge other than our Lyris Da Cappo or on electronics other than all YBA. We were reticent to do it.
A21 G3 (AutoHouse) was fine on the Korg Microkorg (AutoHouse). All other notes of this patch were wrong.
A24 (HouseBass) was wrong on all notes (no bass - flubby) compared to the Gold.
A53 is about as William Orbit as they come. (R&B Lead). On the Mirage, it was harsh.
You can say what you like, but Madonna's voice had no quality to it on Ray of Light, ultra violet mix.
We'll move further to a few rounds of the Ultra Violence, with Anthony Burgess's A Clockwork Orange soundtrack. It features Wendy / Walter Carlos on a few rounds of the Transnova.
Would Hafler's '9505 be a good companion to the OMD-15?
Something dark, to tame the light of that tweet.
They have a HA-15 Headphone Amplifier, which can function as a pre-amp.
How about some Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark?
It's nice to have Klipsch back in the house. We are fondly reminded of our three Klipsch Heressy II's, which never sounded that good, but you could always convert a spare HII into a guitar cabinet, and our KG 1.2's, which sounded fine, with a T1 and a Velodyne.
The Mirage OMD-series are lovely. The NanoSat Prestige reminds us of our Radio Shack Otimus Pro LX 5's, by Linaeum and our time with MacDonald Dettwiler, writing software for RadarSat.
You can get a better glow with a blow from a saxophone.
You have to go through a security clearance to write OrbView software, and the earth sure is lovely from afar.
Ground Sat to Major View, this is Major Tom.
http://www.miragespeakers.com/floorstanding-speakers/?sku=OMD-15
How you see it is how you see it. We like the OMD's...
If you
We'd say that if you consider the Mirage OMD-15 Loudspeakers ($2,500.00 USD), you go for the Revel Ultima Studio 2 ($15,999.00 USD). They don't look as nice, but they come closer to offering a Hi Fi presentation. (Not full-frequency, nor acoustic replay, however solid).
JP 2015/03/31
www.hifiart.ca
I have the omd set for my home theater I miss the pinpoint imaging for music at times and I know it does. It sound "right" but listening to Battle of Evermore the other night was a revelation. I mean these speakers have their place. I know that this blog is dead and it's been years but thanks for the review. Still alive in 2021.
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