Analysis Audio Omega Review

[doorofnight]

What is wrong with your NAD 33?
Europe produces many excellent amps, it's just a matter of understanding what you would be looking for.

It's excellent. Good question. But I wonder if it can get any better. For example with class A.

2 subwoofer outputs
to set crossovers
usb DAC input

If possible:
to set delays for the fronts

 

[doorofnight]

Update! Anthem STR PRE for better subwoofer integration and, soon, the newest bryston 3B3 cubed power amplifier to replace the NAD M33. I can't say anything yet, but I hope for the best

 

[orfeo_monteverdi]

Hello doorofnight,
Nice to read about your journey in Analysis panel's land !

If you ever get the chance to try these speakers, I highly recommend it. I don’t think I’ll ever go back to traditional cone speakers for midrange and high frequencies.

You live in Europe, which country? (Analysis has no US distributor anymore, a pity)
Germany seems to have a first-class dealer, who is an engineer btw, specialized in panels (DipolStudio.com)

I see that now, the "plain vanilla" model embeds (among all) new capacitors and the most WBT gold high-end binding posts (maybe also new filters, not sure). No price increase (!)

 

[orfeo_monteverdi]

[...]
Not sure of their electrical characteristics - are they very low impedance?

Very late reply (I stumble upon this thread).
Omega and Epsilon are roughly 4 Ohms, very flat impedance curve, especially in the bass. (See impedance and phase curves hereafter.)
Initially, while I was a student, I owned a pair of used little Omikron, that I used to power with an little Audiolab 8000a integrated amplififer, which easily did the job (although the Omikron deserves much better).

Analysis are very robust panels, partly due to the damping of the bass panel ( -> no ribbon crackling). Impossible to make them 'flap', says Christiaan Punter (Hifi-advice), in his recent review of the Epsilon (he tried to push them by playing very loud: no issue at all).
I have never encounter the slightest issue in 22 years (first Omikron, then Epsilon).

Around 2016, I welcomed at home a person who wished to hear Analysis panels, as the brand was not distributed in the country. (I did not know him. A few years later, he became Aries Cerat importer* for Benelux, used to sing in a choir, attends classical concerts, etc - not exactly a deaf). He was so impressed by the Epsilons in my humble system and room that he ordered a pair of Omega two days afterwards (and decided to sell his Rockport Avior).

* (eight years ago, I bought my Aries Cerat Incito preamplifier, ex-demo, as he wished to upgrade to the new-at-that-time Incito S. He had no dealer yet and he initially ran his business as a dealer. Alas, I have never heard his Omegas in his room with full Aries Cerat electronics, a pity.)

Omikron: €9200 (6 Ohms - 30-20KHz)
Epsilon: €13800 (4 Ohms - 26-20KHz)
Omega: €19000 (5 Ohms - 22-20KHz)

---

Impedance & phase curves
EPSILON

From 20 to 100Hz, the Epsilon is a true and completely steady 4-ohm load. The 7.3-ohm peak occurs at 550Hz essentially at the crossover point. Above 3kHz, the load turns 3 ohms. The upper phase plot is equally benign and, perhaps most salient, both curves are as linear as a dream for the bass panel.


OMEGA

Source: SixMoons

 

[doorofnight]

Nice to know that there are more enthusiasts for the Analysis speakers. I'm from the Netherlands. Where in Europe are you from? Here, Ohm Audio is the place to be for Analysis and Magnepan speakers. We also have a dealer for Diptyques. I love my speakers (they are amazing), and I combine them with subwoofers. Integration is hard! Especially now that I use Bacch-ORC as DSP.

Without DIRAC, the NAD M33 cannot set delays between the fronts and the subs. The integration wasn't 100%. After days of hard work, the Anthem STR Pre is doing the job a little better! And a "little" is just enough. But to be honest, the NAD M33 is a beautiful-sounding amplifier.

Since I was aiming for a truly perfect preamp, I also wanted the best of the best power amplifier. I hope the Bryston 3B Cubed (the most recent model) will do the trick.

 

[Audiohertz2]

Didn't realize Analysis was still around, nice stuff …!

 

[doorofnight]

Didn't realize Analysis was still around, nice stuff …!

Not only nice