Rocky Mountain Audio Fest: Art Audio, Gill Audio & Omega
October 22nd, 2006 — By Jonathan Valin
I’m a big fan of any speaker that sounds like a single-driver sound source, which is one of the chief reasons why I prefer two-ways, ’stats, planars, and omnis to hybrids and multiways. But…you can’t sound more like a single-driver sound source than, well, a single-driver sound source—and that is precisely what the $2695 Omega Max Hemp loudspeaker is. The folks behind the Max Hemp use, well, hemp not only as the material for their single full-range driver (with whizzer tweet) but for the box it is housed in (and the stand it sits on). A pulpy material that is stiffer than paper (and in certain other forms much more entertaining), hemp like paper has very little sonic signature of its own. With its added strength it makes for a superb driver and cabinet material. The Omega Max may not—by its very nature—be the fullest-range speaker on the market (though the manufacturers claim 40Hz extension) but it is certainly one of the purest. Driven by the $7000 Art Audio Diablo SET amp, $6500 Gill Audio Design Alana preamp, $2350 Sheu-Analog ’table, and $2250 Schroeder arm, it was virtually colorless and boxless-sounding in the midband, so beguilingly and effortlessly natural on voice that it made me think it might make for a poor (or poorer) man’s MAGICO Mini. The Omega Max Hemp may be one of those great bargains that come along once in a paper moon. I can tell you this: I plan to review a pair in the near future.
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Dear Jonathan; Please try to audition the Omegas with one of the Bottlehead parallel feed amps. they exhibit huge control and articulation in the mid and low bass region that differs from the characteristic tube amp coloration. The benefits of parallel feed topology can be experienced even in their inexpensive models, and it just gets better and better as you ascend the price ladder.
John Tucker also produces a p-feed amp or two, and Mike at Magnequest can point you to others. I compared a Fi amp and two others with one of John Tucker’s 45 amps at the second VSAC in Silverdale, and that his was the best presentation of low level retrieval and bass control that I have heard since I began listening seriously some 50 years ago.
Cheers, Hank
Comment by Hank Murrow October 24th, 2006 @ 4:20 pmI’d love to hear a that hemp speaker since I no longer partake in the other uses for hemp…
Comment by Donald October 25th, 2006 @ 11:28 pmJonathan, I just purchased a pair of Omega Revolutions, with the Visatron B200 drivers, and I can echo your comments completely. These are one of the best bargains out there. I am driving them with Nelson Pass’ FirstWatt F1 (10 watts per channel) and they sound great! Tom
Comment by Tom Lopez October 27th, 2006 @ 7:00 ambetter than the bottlehead amp try sam tellig’s sun audio 2a3 on the Omega’s, and if Sam has upgraded to a Blackgate power supply cap and jupiter bee’s wax coupling caps the bass may astound you (within reason, of course, I mean it’s only 3.5 watts!)Larry
Comment by larry ness April 6th, 2007 @ 1:49 pmHello Jonathan politics should not get in the way
Comment by Paul Letteri April 21st, 2008 @ 7:01 amof good reporting.The Max Hemp as good as it was in 2006 is now vastly improved in 2008 with the Latest Generation of 8″ Alnico driver for the bigger Max and Super series ,and now the New Alnico 6″
this is a Superb single driver that is solid from
top to bottom in it’s respective frequency Band.
If More Bass is needed their New 99% Pure Hemp powered Subwoofer complements this full range driver.
It is like a Magnepan with Dynamics.
I can say first hand at the 2 shows I attended the latest 04/08 in Montreal the combination of Red wine audio battery gear and the New Alnico driverwith deep Hemp sub in the Omega loudspeakers
Comment by Jim Obrian April 21st, 2008 @ 7:10 amwas exceptional .Myself and many others agreed If I had $20k to spend or less for a system it would be here for that is how they sounded the imaging, soundstaging, and inner detail was Exceptional
at this price point unparalleled.