EMO ERT-8.3 vs. Mirage OM-5 anyone?

[moookie1051]

Anyone familiar with both of these?? Can you offer a comparison of your perceived strengths/weaknesses of each? I've currently got OM-5s & one needs repair (a crossover & 4 drivers). I'm wondering if I would be better off replacing the Mirage pair with ERT-8.3s?

[Deleted]

most interested in these findings myself . . .

[beekermartin]

I am interested as well. I have the Mirage OM setup listed in my sig. I just blew the midrange woofers in one of the OM-5s last night. This is the third time I've had to replace the midrange woofers in one of the OM-5s. Unfortunately I don't know if it was the same tower each time because I have moved the room around a few times over the years and I hadn't marked them left or right. I will mark them now when I install the new midrange drivers so I know if it is the same tower blowing them. If it is maybe it is a crossover problem. I spoke with Mirage/Klipsch today and they didn't think it was. They said it sounds like they just blew? Strange they would blow while listening at low volumes to Monday night football and not when blasting them listening to NIN.

I love the Mirage setup but I am disappointed in the reliability of the OM-5s. The tweeters and 8" woofers have been perfect though. I have looked at the ERT 8.3s but I am a big believer in matching all speakers. It would get very expensive for me to replace all 7 channels with Emotiva speakers. The Emotiva surrounds do look very similar to the Mirage OM-R2s.

I would love to hear a review comparing the OM-5s to the ERT 8.3s.

[moookie1051]

Just ordered a pair of 8.3s & a 6.3. Will have a comparison posted soon. ;D

[beekermartin]

I am anxious to hear your results. I hope you like the 8.3s/6.3 but I also hope you don't like them too much more than the OMs. I can't afford that type of upgrade right now.

[moookie1051]

Oct 29, 2009 11:02:24 GMT -5 beekermartin said:

I am anxious to hear your results. I hope you like the 8.3s/6.3 but I also hope you don't like them too much more than the OMs. I can't afford that type of upgrade right now.

I'm hoping I don't like them too much either. Had to spend about $475.00 just for parts to repair my OM-5 , so I thought I'd go ahead & get the EMOs to compare them to. ;D Worst case scenario, I'll be out the shipping charge to return them.

[beekermartin]

I just spent $145.00 for two midrange woofers. It isn't a ton of money but this is the third time I've had to order a set. I think they were covered under warranty once though. I should have them on Monday. I am so disgusted with them being blown that I haven't watched a movie since they blew.

I do listen to music at extreme levels sometimes. I've registered over 110db on my rack shack meter more than a few times . It seems like the tweeters and 8" woofers can handle that without issue. Unfortunately the midranges don't appear to. What is strange is that they blew when I was listening at very low volume. Maybe they just get worn out then suddenly blow.

What happened to yours?

[moookie1051]

Oct 29, 2009 11:45:10 GMT -5 beekermartin said:

I just spent $145.00 for two midrange woofers. It isn't a ton of money but this is the third time I've had to order a set. I think they were covered under warranty once though. I should have them on Monday. I am so disgusted with them being blown that I haven't watched a movie since they blew.

I do listen to music at extreme levels sometimes. I've registered over 110db on my rack shack meter more than a few times . It seems like the tweeters and 8" woofers can handle that without issue. Unfortunately the midranges don't appear to. What is strange is that they blew when I was listening at very low volume. Maybe they just get worn out then suddenly blow.

What happened to yours?

Pantera- "A Vulgar Display of Power" measured 115db at the listening position!!!!!

[beekermartin]

Exactly! That is my favorite Pantera album. I saw them in concert a few times back in the day. They were a great live band. It is very sad what happend to them.

If you don't already own the NIN BR then go out and buy it immediately! It rocks!

Anyway, I look forward to reading your review.

[badsarge]

Greetings All, I've been enjoying Mirage fronts OM-9's & OM c1 (about 6 years), OM-14's rears (about 10 years) powered by Denon, Pioneer, and thankfully over the last few months an XPA-5. I'll admit to driving them occasionally to levels only the deaf could appreciate but must concede that I've never had any component failure or had to replace any midrange,tweet or woof. Upgraditis is common on these threads, and one is always inclined to hope that technology improves over time. The wife should usher our offspring into the game in the next few weeks and still she allows me to register for the UMC-1 extended pre-order list. A good woman is hard to find:) !! Think the boy would approve of a pair of ERT-8.3's?

[Pauly]

How do you know this? Did you open it up? Or did you blow your speakers and immediately pack up the amp and send it back to emotiva? You keep claiming in every thread that the emo amps have a crappy damping factor, and that you blew your speakers because of it, but you have not given a single bit of evidence to back this statement up. Everybody knows that you're just a troll trying to get Emotiva some bad press. Nobody else has had this problem. So please, take it somewhere else. No company deserves to be crapped on like this. If you really did have a bad experience with emo amps, then take it up with them. Otherwise, keep it off the forums. This is ridiculous.

[RPA-1 man]

Definitely sounds like operator issues not equipment problems. Sounds like he's trying to use the equipment in a way it was not intended to be used.

[beekermartin]

Oct 30, 2009 14:48:23 GMT -5 RPA-1 man said:

Definitely sounds like operator issues not equipment problems. Sounds like he's trying to use the equipment in a way it was not intended to be used.

Are you implying I don't know how to use my A/V equipment?

[beekermartin]

Oct 30, 2009 1:15:35 GMT -5 emoblows said:

I am interested as well. I have the Mirage OM setup listed in my sig. I just blew the midrange woofers in one of the OM-5s last night. This is the third time I've had to replace the midrange woofers in one of the OM-5s. Unfortunately I don't know if it was the same tower each time because I have moved the room around a few times over the years and I hadn't marked them left or right. I will mark them now when I install the new midrange drivers so I know if it is the same tower blowing them. If it is maybe it is a crossover problem. I spoke with Mirage/Klipsch today and they didn't think it was. They said it sounds like they just blew? Strange they would blow while listening at low volumes to Monday night football and not when blasting them listening to NIN.

I love the Mirage setup but I am disappointed in the reliability of the OM-5s. The tweeters and 8" woofers have been perfect though. I have looked at the ERT 8.3s but I am a big believer in matching all speakers. It would get very expensive for me to replace all 7 channels with Emotiva speakers. The Emotiva surrounds do look very similar to the Mirage OM-R2s.

Get some better amplification on them and you may find the reliability very much improved. Emos do not have the damping factor needed to control the drivers properly. They use cheap parts inside a flashy case...

Wow. Thank you for the great response.

[scottl]

beekermartin, you may have blown them during a very loud passage and not noticed it until you changed program material - a lot of movies use the left & right much less than the center, except for big effects. When the soundtrack goes back to mostly center channel, you can't hear the damage. Change over to some stereo music or a different film with more consistent use of the left & right channels, and you'll suddenly notice the blown drivers. Heck, sometimes you don't notice until you hear a certain tone through it. So I would guess that something like that happened.

I worked for a rep firm that handled Mirage a while ago, and I thought the OM-5's were excellent - and I only recall replacing one driver (a midrange) in one, ever. Since I was responsible for fixing dealers' demo speakers, I dealt with some real "worst case" scenarios, and the OM-5's generally held up very well.

You might want to check your amp out - ignoring emoblows' unhelpful post, it is possible that one amp channel is out of whack, especially if you've blown more than one set of drivers when connected to that channel.

They will certainly provide a big contrast to the ERT-8.3's. The smooth, wide-open, enveloping presentation of the OM's vs. the crisp, precise, punchy ERT's could be tough to choose.

[scottl]

Oct 27, 2009 16:20:17 GMT -5 beekermartin said:

I spoke with Mirage/Klipsch today and they didn't think it was. They said it sounds like they just blew?

If you call Mirage these days, no one who worked on / with the OM-5's & knows what they're doing is still there. Klipsch eventually fired everybody who didn't leave on their own. Good support for any older Mirage/Energy/Athena/Sound Dynamics product is hard to come by.

[beekermartin]

Oct 30, 2009 15:54:05 GMT -5 scottl said:

beekermartin, you may have blown them during a very loud passage and not noticed it until you changed program material - a lot of movies use the left & right much less than the center, except for big effects. When the soundtrack goes back to mostly center channel, you can't hear the damage. Change over to some stereo music or a different film with more consistent use of the left & right channels, and you'll suddenly notice the blown drivers. Heck, sometimes you don't notice until you hear a certain tone through it. So I would guess that something like that happened.

I worked for a rep firm that handled Mirage a while ago, and I thought the OM-5's were excellent - and I only recall replacing one driver (a midrange) in one, ever. Since I was responsible for fixing dealers' demo speakers, I dealt with some real "worst case" scenarios, and the OM-5's generally held up very well.

You might want to check your amp out - ignoring emoblows' unhelpful post, it is possible that one amp channel is out of whack, especially if you've blown more than one set of drivers when connected to that channel.

They will certainly provide a big contrast to the ERT-8.3's. The smooth, wide-open, enveloping presentation of the OM's vs. the crisp, precise, punchy ERT's could be tough to choose.

Thanks Scott.

I don't think they blew during a loud passage because it isn't like they blow in the way I am use to a driver blowing. These just completely die. They won't make a sound once they blow. I am use to a blown speaker sounding bad or crackling once it is blown. This is the first speakers I've owned that the drivers just completely die when they are blown.

I would most likely notice if it happened while listening to music because I listen to most music in stereo. This particular time I was watching MNF at low volume and I heard the left tower crackle and pop. I checked it immediately after I heard that and sure enough they were dead. Maybe they get tired or worn out from the loud levels then just die randomly.

I am going to mark the towers left and right to see if it blows in the same one the next time. I've moved the room around a few times and I am not positive I put them back in the same place. I did install one new driver in each tower the last time. I figured that was the best way. Each tower would have one new and one old driver. I plan on doing the same again. By doing that I was hoping to see if the old driver blew but not the new one. Unfortunately they both blew again at the exact same time. Which makes me think that maybe something else is causing them to blow. Maybe it has nothing to do with being "old" rather they just get over driving then blow randomly.

I have to assume it was not caused by the XPA-2 because the last two sets blew when I was using a Yamaha RX-V1 to drive them.

[beekermartin]

Oct 30, 2009 15:58:59 GMT -5 scottl said:

Oct 27, 2009 16:20:17 GMT -5 beekermartin said:

I spoke with Mirage/Klipsch today and they didn't think it was. They said it sounds like they just blew?

If you call Mirage these days, no one who worked on / with the OM-5's & knows what they're doing is still there. Klipsch eventually fired everybody who didn't leave on their own. Good support for any older Mirage/Energy/Athena/Sound Dynamics product is hard to come by.

I completely agree. The first time they blew I spoke with someone, in I believe Buffalo, NY, who knew everything there was to know about the OM-5s. He told me that the midwoofers are the weakest part of the OM-5s. He said they are excellent speakers but he was disappointed Mirage choose that driver for the midrange.

This time around as well as the last I had to talk with someone at Mirage/Klipsch. They knew what an OM-5 was but that was about it. The rep told me the guy from NY no longer is affiliated with Mirage/Klipsch. I imagine most of the people who do know a lot about the old Mirage product line are no longer involved unfortunately.

[moookie1051]

The smooth, wide-open, enveloping presentation of the OM's vs. the crisp, precise, punchy ERT's could be tough to choose.

After 2 days of comparing the two systems, (OM-5's, OM-C2 vs. ERT-8.3's, ERM-6.3) I'd have to totally agree with the above quote. They are definitely "twin sons of different mothers", i.e. both project excellent SQ, both exhibit outstanding build quality, & both possess extended dynamic range. The most obvious differences I've noticed (aside from the quote above) are that the "timbre matching" between the EMO trio is not nearly as transitionally smooth as it is between the Mirage trio. The ERM-6.3 does not seem to tonally match the ERT-8.3's compared to the way the Mirage trio seamlessly blend together. It's most evident on test tones during the Audyssey setup. Also, the OM-5's delve deeper into the lowest octave than the ERT-8.3's do, though the ERT-8.3's mid-bass sounds slightly tighter and better defined. The ERM-6.3 also calls attention to itself in a way that the omni polar OM-C2 doesn't during TV/DVD/BD viewing, which I believe is due to the dispersion characteristics ( & speaker positioning) of a direct radiator vs. an omni design. Voices emanate from below the screen while using the ERM-6.3 (which is where the speaker is positioned), but when putting the OM-C2 in the same position, they seem to project out from the screen in a much more realistic presentation.

To summarize, at half the price of the Mirage trio, the EMO trio do an admirable job of "keeping up with the Joneses". I really love both sets, but
the smooth, wide-open, enveloping presentation of the OM's just happens to be my cup of tea. I haven't yet decided if I'll keep the EMO trio, but with 5 HT setups in my house, I'm pretty sure I'll be able to find a spot to use them. IMHO, for the money, they are an incredible value, & if I wasn't so enamored of the Mirage sound & presentation, I could easily live with the EMO's in my main system. For anyone looking at a budget of $2000.00 for a trio of main speakers, I wholeheartedly recommend auditioning an ERT-8.3/ERM-6.3 combo. I sincerely doubt you'll be disappointed! ;D

[beekermartin]

Thank you for posting a review mookie. Those are the results I expected.

I installed the two new midrange drivers on Monday. So far so good. Hopefully I don't blow another set but if I do I'll at least know if it is in the same tower as last time.