put prices on a more level playing field, the
M1 is still a $1000+ speaker some 15 years
later. That alone should validate the
technology for most of us, but Mirage did not
relax, and they continued to improve on
their technology. In 1996 Mirage introduced
the OM series of speakers which brought the
technology and the listening experience to a
new level with a bipolar design in a narrow
column. This new design was the first in the
OMNI polar family.
I still own the OM-6, the original flagship of
that series, and while many speakers have
passed though my system, no speaker has
been able to replace it. Like the original
series it was expensive to build. It required
twice as many drivers and more cabinetry
work then their competitions conventional
loudspeakers. That did not hinder Mirage’s
progress, and people were willing to pay
higher prices for the benefits of OMNI polar
sound. But, Mirage still believed there was a
bigger market opportunity if they could find
a way to reduce the cost of the OM series.
The OMNI series being reviewed here is
Mirage’s first attempt at such a system and
will replace Mirage's more conventional FRx
series. Lets see how they did it . . . .
The Mirage OMNI series
To achieve the same dispersion pattern as the OM series, Mirage did the most logical
thing they could do, flip the drivers on end and point them straight up in the air. Since
sound waves are dispersed similar to throwing a stone in a puddle, this driver orientation
would give the closest pattern to a pair of speakers mounted in Mirage's OMNI polar
configuration.
Now any reputable speaker manufacture knows you cannot listen to a driver in this
orientation. Just look at the polar plot of any driver’s frequency response when you get
more than 30 degrees off axis, let alone 90 degrees. However, that was no reason to give
up. Instead, Mirage’s research department tilted the mid-bass drivers slightly forward and
designed a tweeter raised outside of its mounting basket. The tweeter and mid-bass
drivers can then be placed in very close proximity to one another.
Mirage then uses the bottom of the tweeter housing and a small elevated hat over the
tweeter to aid in the dispersion pattern. This new combination gives an optimal off axis
frequency response and mimics the dispersion pattern of the original OM series with the
use of only two drivers. In my experience, this would be the closest representation of a
OMNI CC Center Channel:
• Three-way
• One 1" Pure Titanium Hybrid Tweeter, One 3"
Polypropylene Midrange and Two 4 1/2" Titanium Deposit
Woofers
• MFR: 50 Hz - 20 kHz ± 3 dB
• Crossover: 500Hz, 2KHz
• Nominal Impedance: 8 Ohms (4 Ohms min.)
• In Room Sensitivity: 90 dB/W/M
• Size: 8" H x 21" W x 10" D
• Weight: 25 Pounds Each
• MSRP: $400/Each - Cherry or Black Ash
OMNI FX Surrounds:
• 2 way
• One 1" Pure Titanium Hybrid Tweeter, One 5 1/4"
Titanium Deposit Woofer
• MFR: 80 Hz - 20 kHz ± 3 dB
• Crossover: 2KHz
• Nominal Impedance: 8 Ohms (4 Ohms min.)
• In Room Sensitivity: 90 dB/W/M
• Size: 11" H x 8" W x 7" D
• Weight: 9 Pounds Each
• MSRP: $200/Each - White or Black
OM-200 Powered Subwoofer:
• Ported Opposing Omnipolar Driver Configuration
• Two 10" Drivers
• 200 Watt Amplifier (800 watts peak)
• MFR: 20 Hz - 120 Hz ± 3 dB
• Variable Low-Pass: 40 Hz - 120 Hz (18 db/octave)
• Variable Phase: +180 degrees - +180 degrees
• Size: 16 1/4" H x 18 5/8" W x 15 1/4" D
• Weight: 48.6 Pounds Each
• MSRP: $1000 Each - Gloss Black or Cherry
Mirage
www.miragespeakers.com
Page 2 of 10
Product Review
5/5/2003
http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_10_2/mirage-omni-speakers-5-2003.html
