Having seen and heard these speakers before, I had to pick up a couple when I saw Vanns advertising $129 per speaker. I hooked these up to a simple Denon 590 receiver to see how they do in stereo. Mirage puts the OMD-5’s +/-3db point at 60Hz which Audyssey MultEQ confirmed, however, I found 90Hz sounded best to my ears. Audyssey was turned off during my listening.
Packaging: Mirage did a good job packaging the speakers. They wrap the grill separately (but in the same box) and the tweeter assembly of the speaker has shaped plastic over it so that you don’t put your finger on the tweeter while lifting the speaker out of the box. Vanns put both speakers into another box with additional foam which was nice and ensured the speakers would arrive without damage.
Build Quality: The build quality of these speakers is excellent. The finish is flawless and everything fits together perfectly. I’m a fan of wood finishes like the burled maple Mirage uses as every speaker will sport a unique look. The binding posts will accommodate bare wire, spades, and banana plugs no problem. One thing I did find on one of the speakers was a little adhesive inside the binding post attached to the little plastic red cap. A little Goo Gone took care of it and in went the banana plug.
Sound Quality: In the beginning, I didn’t really care for Mirage’s Omni sound, but I have to say, it has grown on me with time and I really like it now. The OMD-5 follows the same design as Mirage’s other Omni offerings so you have the tweeter assembly hovering over the angled midrange driver and another flying saucer looking assembly above the tweeter itself. Very early on, I thought this was a gimmick, but this design actually works as advertised.
I started out my listening with some Diana Krall on SACD. The OMD-5’s handle vocals superbly. Diana’s voice was full and the speakers were revealing of details without being overbearing or fatiguing. The ability of these speakers to simply disappear in the room was excellent as they threw an impressive soundstage.
I switched to my Chesky classical CD and found the upper frequencies to be smooth and extended. String instruments in particular were true to the real instrument. I personally love compositions that are heavy in strings so hearing them so well-produced was a real treat.
Imaging wasn’t as accurate as some direct radiating speakers I’ve heard, but instruments and voices found themselves in the correct general area. I’m really starting to buy into Mirage’s approach to sound as having that hyper-accurate imaging isn’t realistic when you compare it to a live performance.
In summary, the OMD-5’s are very well-balanced speakers. My only complaint would be that the lower midrange was a hair reserved and these aren’t really rock speakers. Also, these speakers love power. I would even go so far to say that an external amp would do them justice. They also don’t reach very low with authority so a good subwoofer is a must. At $129 per speaker, the OMD-5 easily stomps on speakers I’ve heard in the same price range including many of the ID brands. Someone in another thread described the OMD-5 as producing sound that is life like and I would agree with that assessment. Anyone looking for a 5.0 system should seriously consider 5 OMD-5 speakers for $645 shipped.
