a stand below my screen which places it no more than 1 1/2 feet off the floor. This is not
optimal placement, but is the only option in my setup. Using the CC was a real treat, as
most of the problems with speaker placement went away. The image from the CC
appeared about midway up the screen, right where it should and sounded as natural as
any conventional center. Transitions of sound across the front of the room were smooth
and did not experience the drop in placement as with my previously center. So as you
can imagine, I am happy with this speaker, and OMNI polar comes through again. In my
setup, the OMNI CC is a warm sounding speaker, certainly warmer than the OMNI 260s.
This is caused by the lower positioning of the speaker. If the speaker is positioned at the
same level as the mains, it sounds almost identical.
Remember I said I would get back to
making a decision if the FXs were more
like dipoles or direct radiators. To be
truthful, I still haven’t made up my mind.
They sound more direct than my OM-R2s
which are bipoles, but the FXs still do not
sound as direct as many home theaters I
have heard with directs as rears. Since
Mirage claims they are neither, I guess I
should just leave it at that. Regardless,
they do a great job from pans of
helicopters around the room off the THX
sampler DVD, to the rain in the opening
scene of "Seven".
The OM-200 maintains Mirage’s excellence
in subwoofer design and hold up to its
claims of bettering the already successful
BPS-150. The bass is tight, controlled, and
blends well for both music and movies. I am amazed by the performance achieved by the
little cabinet sitting between my center and the right main speaker. It easily holds up to
the task of my 12x24 foot room. While I do not use the entire room for my home theater,
the sub still has to fill it with sound. The little dual 8” sub never faltered once during real
listening tests or even the most involved action sequences. Sure, I could push it beyond
its limits, but I cannot imagine a user would find that point under normal circumstances.
Remember, I said this little dual 8" sub was $1,000. The question is do the features and
performance justify the price? Looking at the features alone, it has everything a $1,000
sub would have. The only feature it might be missing is a remote to adjust level, phase,
and output from your seat, which adds little to no value after calibration. The sub easily
gets down to 20 Hz and even a little lower in my room. It is a great looking compact
design that your wife will allow in the room (priceless). So all-in-all I think it is worth
$1,000 and chances are you will be able to purchase it slightly cheaper from a Mirage
dealer, making it an even better buy.
Conclusions
Page 8 of 10
Product Review
5/5/2003
http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_10_2/mirage-omni-speakers-5-2003.html
