Ohm Walsh vs. Mirage OMD 28

I think need for use of damping materials will depend on the room and user preference. I have never used any nor been strongly tempted to.

Historically I've found wood or other lively floor materials to be the main issue in that the OHMs are bottom ported and a lot of energy is directed towards the floor.

"Remember: the "first reflection" point for an omni is not the same as for a conventional dynamic cabinet loudspeaker."

The first reflection point for an omni is variable depending on listening location I believe since you can listen from a wide range of lcoations and not just the "sweet spot". For the "sweet spot" the first reflection point on the rear wall would be the same as for other speakers in teh same location essentially I think. It would change depending on where you listen from. So it might become a difficult task to treat the room optimally in this way in a manner that works best for a wide range of listening locations.

I always view omnis like OHMs as best applied in scenarios where you want to use the room as it is as your concert venue as opposed to typical audiophile scenarios where you become obsessed with modifying the room to avoid interactions with the speakers.

Of course, some rooms can just make flat out lousy concert venues, so in these cases, you might want to think twice about using more omni designs like the OHMs.

I haven't listened to Ohms since I worked at an audio store in the mid-'70s, but I have owned the OMD-28's little brother, the OMD-15, for 1-1/2 years, and the concerns leveled about the OMD-28s have no substance. These things are seamless, both in dispersion pattern and crossover points.

As for placement, the Mirages are very forgiving particularly in one way--you will always get a room-filling sound with realistic timbres regardless of where you place them. They are not naturally bright, though you can control brightness by opening or closing window shades and deciding on your wall hangings.

There are two placement issues with the OMDs, however. If you want that deep, holographic soundstage, you want to pull them further into the room and place them wider if you can. If you put them where you put a typical forward-firing speaker you'll get some center clustering, though the timbres will be spot-on. If you want a sonic hologram, bring'em out into the room.

Secondly, the OMD-28s have very strong bass down into the 20s, so that's another reason to have them out from the front wall. I have my OMD-15s a little more than 3 ft into the room. If you have the room to bring OMD-28s 4-6ft into the room they'll probably blow your mind.

The other thing to consider is that these are fairly easy to drive, reasonably sensitive, but can absorb huge amounts of power and translate that into dynamic range. Even my little OMD-15s are bi-ampable and rated for 250 watts power handling.

I have had live music in my living room, and no speaker I've had energizes the room and reproduces the correct timbres as precisely as the OMDs.

"There are two placement issues with the OMDs, however. If you want that deep, holographic soundstage, you want to pull them further into the room and place them wider if you can. If you put them where you put a typical forward-firing speaker you'll get some center clustering, though the timbres will be spot-on. If you want a sonic hologram, bring'em out into the room.

Secondly, the OMD-28s have very strong bass down into the 20s, so that's another reason to have them out from the front wall. I have my OMD-15s a little more than 3 ft into the room. If you have the room to bring OMD-28s 4-6ft into the room they'll probably blow your mind."

The placement considerations for the OHMs are quite similar though moving them out 4-6 feet may be overkill except for larger OHMs in very large rooms.

The placement considerations for the OHMs are quite
similar though moving them out 4-6 feet may be overkill except for larger
OHMs in very large rooms.

And I would put the OMD-
28s in the same bass response/power response/dynamic range category as the
larger Ohms in large rooms. I don't think they'd have to be 6' out; 4' would
probably be enough in most rooms.

Chris Martens of Abso!ute Sound reviewed the OMD-28 and bought the review
pair.

That's why I need to probably scratch Mirage off my list...just like other threads suggested, they do need space around them...I have sort of an open plan, so I probably won't overload my space with bass with either speaker, but I don't have 4 feet to bring them out into the room...and if I put them about 8 feet apart, they have about foot and a half from side walls...it also seems like I'm ok sitting 6-7 feet from Ohms whereas Mirages need at least 8-10 feet to sound their best...these are of course just my conclusions from reading this and other threads...they both seem to like decent power, amp maybe more on the cleaner side to balance out warmer nature of both Ohms and Mirages...