new speakers for surrounds - mirage speakers

[jomari]

so, i have been yearning for a cheap thrill, and wanted to replace my current klipsch surrounds. i had 7.1 set up once again here in the apartment, but with my recent purchase of JBL speakers (i dont know if i shared this or was embarrassed to due to its price/brand etc)....

i got this recently via Woot, its one of the kind of speakers i always wanted to try, until Mirage was 'sold' so to speak to klipsch and said goodbye to that opportunity.

i love horns, so i might have a higher tolerance for the valley girl treble experience. this one i just had to try.

just opened it up, the wood finish on this is your traditional kind, nothing special. but the dome was pretty much nice to look at. i just want to try what 'omnidirectional' sounded like. sort of like how we experience bipoles and dipoles.

sound? fuggedaboudit. i havent tried it yet, i have to do some bills and well, will do this later on.

for those interested for some inexpensive speakers, this is a good buy i guess. the problem i foresee is that its a bit big for what it is. i remembered buying my energy c10s i think, which i still love. they are humbly under my tv display, but this one i dont know how id use it. its not my pictures, but i put them on here for your reference.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JDT ... UTF8&psc=1

it has free port plugs with it, but also came like this,

very interesting!

 

[Dentman]

Congrats!
I'm curious what you think of them . I've seen them on woot several times. Please keep us posted.

 

[jomari]

i couldnt resist, i just thought id give em a try, and 'break em in' so to speak.

i tried playing a couple of tracks, mostly in stereo then tried to switch to 5.1, replacing the front LR speakers for a whim...

dave brubeck take five was great with it, the piano definitely had some great presence in it.

then i went to jazz, some bossa nova. Sergio 77, man, this is where it kinda shined. a bit bright (somewhat resembling that of horns) but i noticed two things,

1. the brightness came from 'behind' my ears. facing it, but more or less, when i stood up, i REALLY thought i turned on the 'extended stereo' function (this is where the rear surrounds are active, but at a 4.1 without the center). if you want spaciousness and not directionality, this is a great option.

2. it sounds great with vocals, but a bit raw on the high hats a bit. of course, this is without the grills yet, and at a smaller soundstage, im kinda stuck with what i got.

then i remembered i still have the smackdown cd we had a couple of years ago, man that cd was good.

it sounded pretty well, even on the 8 tracks we played with, it definitely was fun.

great set of speakers, albeit a bit on the bulkier end, for the price.

 

[Randy]

Ya, I saw where Woot had a BUNCH of Mirage stuff lately.

Congrats, hope you enjoy them.

 

[jomari]

i think i like the way these speakers sound. i really do. enough to justify me asking the wifey if i can get another pair.

seriously, if i could stick to what our other colleagues have advised me, and instead of purchasing mid entry level speakers here and there, id have my heresies and/or a decent pair of stereo speakers.

after listening to em a bit further, i kinda can describe it as er... non directional?

ive always loved how spacious my surrounds were (thus the purchase of i think three dipoles/bipoles in the past), and how i kinda had that skeleton in the closet wishing my fronts sounded in a similar way...

it sounds good, its a bit muddy on the bass side, but hey, at this price point and at around 70hz, i cant ask for the same quality i got accustomed to with my klipsch and/or energy C50's.

if i was to describe it, on a 2.1 or stereo setup, it feels airy. kinda like what you hear when you listen to "im not in love" by 10cc... that constant AAAAAAAHHHHHH..... thats how disperse it felt.

maybe its the reflective areas i have for such a smaller living room, or the lower ceilings i have, or just because its on a lower height compared to my bookshelves back when i was in the apartment. i dunno. or maybe its just plain ol placebo.

i love em for the 140 they represent. i love em for the inexpensive value they are giving me. aside from the stoopid guilt of "i shouldve saved all this money and bought some f*ckin electrostatic martin logans or even a pair of dynaudio or golden ear towers".... i kinda got over it. im too f*ckin old to stick to regret shit now, and how much do we really, really have to stick to the rules with regards to our equipment.

i am trying to cut back on my spending but sh*t i lived a little today.

heck maybe tomorrow, i might just change the polarity on my speakers for sh*ts and giggles.

f*cking go commando.




















PS.

i just watched expendables 3 here in my in laws place (we stay over on fridays to help 'cheer him up' a bit) and i loved it. i think it was much better than the first two.

now i have to do some push ups before i get man boobs and exhale through my wrinkled chapped lips.

 

[PaulyT]

Ha! Glad you're enjoying these, Jomari. I've never heard any omni-style speakers, myself. Do you have a sub in this system? I remember you were trying to figure out where to put it...

 

[jomari]

Thabks pauly, I do have two subs, and tried to put one behind the sofa, and the other in the little cave next to the fireplace. In all honesty the sub in the back of the room evened out pretty well, creating a more balanced, bigger sweet spot. It worked well.

Bur I tried using those wireless sub kits and it caused some interference wih my router, and wife also wanted to put the coat rack in that same spot.

So I moved it into the cavity right next to the fireplace and stacked it. Calibrated both separately, then tried to lower he volume to a respectable settig, just so the neighbors wont complain.

I just realized actually, listening to music downstairs I had to go to the bathroom upstairs, and noticed reverberatios from the energy speakers (I was already done fiddling with the mirage), and had to turn it down a bit. It was setat my max level, so just broight it down a notch.

funny, now I wamt a second set , tyin to justify it by thinkin, if I dont buy em now hey will be gone forever. (Which I think is true with klipsch acquired them years ago, they are now discontinued from what I see. ) you can see another klipsch owned company using omnipolar technology, but only uses a tweeter to do it. Sort of true satellites.

 

[jomari]

im still rethinking if I need a second set.

im truly happy with this set, aside from two things

1. its HUGE for MY needs, a bit bigger than my Energies, and a tad difficult to place on my entertainment stand. other than that

2. it does lack a bit of midrange. considering how the treble is made to be omnidirectional, there is only one other driver, and I think it lacks that 'warmth' you find in directional speakers.

maybe im just out of touch with things, but I guess I can say I enjoy these speakers, enough to even replace my current fronts.

why not get a second set? I still have my klipsch surrounds. I was going to use them for my 7.1 setup, but realize that somehow, im content with my 5.1 setup enough in my old place, so when I tried using 7.1, well... it didn't do much for me, considering how small my living room area is anyways. plus, what if I decide to go in ceiling speakers right?

anyways, still a good deal, apparently its only good for the next three more days so for those who might be interested.