Although it appears only Baco99 and I are interested in this thread, I just wanted to put up a last few posts comparing the OM-10 to my Soliloquy 6.2. Of note, Tim Shea from SoundStage purchased a set of the 6.2 to use as his own reference speakers, so they must have some redeeming qualities, even at their 2003 MSRP of $2,700 USD. In 2000, the OM-10 were at an MSRP of $1,200 (~$1,310 in 2003 dollars) or less than half of the Soliloquy.
First off, I wanted to give the Soliloquy a fair shake, as I had always been concerned that I had them placed too close to their back wall, muddying the sound. In the new listening area I have set up, the speakers are on an epoxied concrete floor, in a cedar tongue and groove lined room, with carpet and furniture in front of them. The ceiling is acoustical tile. In short, there are not a lot of harsh reflective surfaces in the listening area, and I can place the speakers anywhere from 0'-4' from the back wall.
They generally operated like direct speakers do. Close to the wall, the bass increased, and the soundstage narrowed. Farther from the wall and closer to the listener, the soundstage widened, and the bass dropped substantially. I had to raise the bass by at least 7db on the preamp to obtain a satisfactory amount of bass. This is compared to the Mirage which had adequate bass running flat 1' from the wall, and only needed a small ~2db boost when moved out to 4'. Bass wise, advantage Mirage. It plumbs to a depth that the Soliloquy only hint at getting to, and they get there much easier.
The Soliloquy are known for the quality of their mids, and they do perform well here. Vocals had immediacy and presence. Upper mids had proper air and texture. Lower mids were a little thin, but not a surprise knowing the bass-shy nature of the speakers. The Mirage had decent mids with a more diffuse soundstage, but not at the quality level of the Soliloquy. However, there was a hair's breadth of difference here, with the Soliloquy winning on technical merit, while the Mirage had very listenable mids. And for some of us, that mid precision the Soliloquy had can make speakers move from "Wow, precise" to "Wow, fatiguing" in a surprisingly short time. I'll call the mids a draw.
At the top end of the spectrum, the dome tweeters of the Mirage could not keep up with the sizzling hots of the Soliloquy. The Soliloquy have great snap and sizzle on strings and cymbals, again, with a high level of precision and clarity. Possibly it is part of the bipolar experience, but I found the Mirage to be missing some of this crispness. Possibly a little bump on the Treble dB might have sharpened up the Mirage a bit, and I was surprised at this finding, especially as the Soliloquy have a silk dome (coated) while the Mirage have the dual titanium domes. This is the first time I have heard such a laid back metal dome - not complaints, I just expected a little more sharpness. Winner this round - the Soliloquy.
In other qualities, the Soliloquy look like speakers, albeit nice ones. The Mirage look like "2001: A Space Odyssey" props. Depending on your listening space, either will likely fit right in, as both are tall, and have similar footprints. The Soliloquy are also traditional direct speakers, in that a little toe-in firms up the soundstage, though the soundstage they throw can be narrow. The Mirage improve only marginally from toe-in, and provide a wider soundstage, one that makes listening to them a lot less fussy that the Soliloquy. Each has their merits, and would depend on one's preferences. A lot of the price difference between the two seems to have gone into the cabinetry - the Soliloquy are dense, well built, 4-side veneered speakers, with a heavy metal plinth, and ingenious spikes. The Mirage are lighter weight speakers, with a plastic-capped MDF top, covered in an acoustic sock. One can see that one pair is a set of handcrafted speakers, and the other is a set of mass-manufactured speakers.
To steal some of Tim Shea's writing, he stated that speakers are like figure skaters; one can win on technical merit, while one can win on artistic merit. I really felt that way with these two sets of speakers - the Soliloquy were technically superior with crisper highs and firmer mids, while the Mirage were artistic in creating space, and not overwhelming the listener with any part of its presentation. That all being said, I think the Soliloquy may be going up on the local classifieds sometime soon, as the easy-listening and dynamic nature of the Mirage suit my ears, room, and music styles a bit better that the Soliloquy.
