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Re: NBS : Omega I vs. Monitor I

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MikeFi

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In Reply to: Re: NBS : Omega I vs. Monitor I posted by kuma on April 11, 2004 at 12:59:10:

Thank you Kuma,
I first moved from Monitor II to Monitor I and the improvement with my Avalon Opus Ceramique was huge, particularly in terms of bass extension and soundstage. Before Monitor, I had all Nordost Valhalla cabling and just by replacing the interconnect by Monitor II and then I the improvement was clear. So at the moment by set-up if Monitor I interconnect balanced + speaker cable Nordost Valhalla. It troubles me that you are saying that Omega is "the leanest sounding NBS" as I'm afraid to go back to the traits of Valhalla, but then on the positive side you mentioned "bigger stage than Monitor".
Bearing in mind my setup, would you still favour Omega I interconnect (whilst keeping the Valhalla speaker cable) over Monitor I ?
Cheers and thank you again

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rest assured that... - kuma 14:31:14 04/12/04 (2)
NBS will never sound like Nordost. Far from it. :-)
As I said, Omega is the leanest amongst NBS, but not anywhere near tonaly thin as Nordost. I have tried various Nordost including Valhalla in my systems and whilst I admire their clarity and speed, I found them lacking in expressiveness. ( of course this is grossly subjective and system dependant )
Interesting you use Avalon speakers. For years, I've used NBS ( both Monitor and Classic series ) with Eclipse Classic and Avatar to good effect.
I am not sure if keeping Valhalla is a good thing or not as I have not tried the combination. Omega still retains a tonal richness of Monitor ( I still have 0 and 1 speaker cables around ), but offers lower noise floor and better pace.
What is your rest of system? I'd think that Valhalla would work nicely with Avalon. ( it didn't with Wilson )
- Re: rest assured that... - MikeFi 11:42:20 04/13/04 (1)
  Hello Kuma,
  I'm close to a deal by which I will buy Omega I, but if I'm not happy I will be able to swap it for Monitor I and get a refund for the price difference. Talking about the merits of moving to Omega with the dealer, he repeated the same mantra that "it is system dependent", but did add that the soundstage would be improved vs. Monitor I. He was adamant that my system would benefit and so far his judgment has not let me down (as for my bank account... that is another story!). My system consists of Krell KAV-300iL (integr.amplifier), Cary cd-player 306/200 and Avalon Opus Ceramique. I guess the next step im my hifi quest will be to replace the Krell...
  As for NBS/Avalon pairing, even Avalon was recommending them at some point in time as the synergy is apparent with the tonal richness and soundstage. The combination NBS interconnect with Valhalla speaker cable has worked so far as I'm anyway not too inclined to replace 2x 3m of speaker cable (that would surely hurt my purse). But an all-Valhalla system with Avalon did not work, at least not with the same result compared to NBS. It was thin and lacking the same soundstage. And NBS was delivering the same degree of details ! What else do I need ?
  I'm afraid it will take some time for me to report back once I've got Omega I as the dealer told me that it takes an awful long time for this cable to settle in. I guess I will need a bit of patience for a change !
  Cheers and have a nice evening
  - coincident... - kuma 19:44:02 04/13/04 (0)
    I used to drive Avalon(s) with Krell 300i and various FPB amps. :-)
    Strange, in the US, Avalon's standard cabling has been always Cardas.
    But, I agree, NBS works well with Avalon.

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