n August the 1st 2013 an information appeared on Sounddeco's Facebook page that read:
S O U N D D E C O – Our newest experiment - Omega!!
Crystal clear sound and unpretentious form created by modifying Alpha C. A product, that will not drain your pocket dry ;)

There were also some photos along this text, and some time later also some technical parameters were given. It seemed that Sounddeco treated this really as some kind of experiment, market research if you will, that would tell them whether or not there could be a real interest on the market for such products. What are „such products”? Rather small, lifestyle, as some would call them, speakers, offered in quite popular these days, white color. The dimensions, namely 900 x 160 x 280 mm, placed the Omegas among small size, two-way floorstanding speakers. Although it is a two-way design it sports actually three drivers in D’Apollito array. Is it a full D'Appolito system, or just a drivers placement – I do not know. Anyway the D’Apollito array always involves three drivers, with a tweeter placed between two mid- lowrange, or just midrange woofers. Both woofers process exactly the same part of frequency range and usually a third order crossover is in place. There are two main reasons for using this design: first of all when D'Appolito array is used, changes in lateral position of listeners ears don't matter as much as usually, because tonality doesn't change that much in a lateral plane as it does in horizontal. Secondly it is a way to minimize floor and ceiling soundwave reflections.
What else do the parameters of these speakers tell us? Well, they tell us that sensitivity of Omegas is moderate at 87 dB/1 W/1 m, the maximum rated power is quite high (100 W), and we can learn that manufacturer doesn't try to charm us with somehow exaggerated specs but instead offers us quite realistic frequency response with the lowest point of 66 Hz (at -2,5 dB). It looks like that Sounddeco used SB Acoustics drivers, which seems reasonable considering that its mother company, Witowa, is a distributor of this brand.

A short story of…
Sounddeco

To be honest I was surprised seeing the scale of the Sounddeco debut during Audio Show 2012 (photo above, see HERE). Careful examination revealed perfect build and finish that reminded me of products of well known foreign manufacturers, and that was even better than anything Tonsil offered. I noticed that not only loudspeakers were presented in this room but also cabinets, that were manufactured for other companies (photo below). Because of trade secret they were not named but I recognized cabinets for new Harpia line.
Since then I learned much more about this company. Witowa Limited Liability was established in 2005. The firm was separated from Witowa Joint-Stock company, founded in 1995 after purchasing Carpenter Cooperative that existed since 1950. Witowa Ltd specialize in varnished and veneered inner door, furniture and, which interests us most, loudspeaker enclosures manufacturing. In fact 25 years ago the company was commissioned a contract to manufacture loudspeaker enclosures for Tonsil. It didn't last as Tonsil went bankrupt and Witowa was left with a huge (over 2300 sqm) shop build and adapted for enclosure production. Already in 1995 half of this shop was used as a paint shop providing service for Witowa S.A. The other half was unused until 2005, when Witowa Ltd was established and they started to use it as carpenter shop. In 2007 they built additional 1300 m2 to be used for production. The first loudspeaker enclosures were actually built in 1999 – 2000 and they were made for Tonsil's Denon model, finished with high gloss black color. Later they also made veneered elements for Tonsil's Excellance. Later Witowa had a short break in enclosure manufacturing and in 2005 they invested again in their machinery park increasing their production potential. Today they are able to fulfill orders for many different types of enclosure finishes – veneered, gloss and mat lacquer, PVC foils, and any combinations of the above. Due to its huge potential Witowa started to manufacture enclosures for several Polish loudspeaker manufacturers, and even single units have been made upon particular orders by individual customers. I was also told that Witowa is at present discussing possible cooperation with well know, foreign loudspeaker manufacturers.
Cabinets are still just cabinets and if you can do them it doesn't mean you're ready to manufacture loudspeakers, because what you still need are drivers. That is exactly a reason for establishing Witowa Audio, a distributor of SB Acoustics drivers. That gave the company almost all they needed to start their own production of loudspeakers. Almost, as there was one more element missing – to make cabinets, coils, resistors, wires and drivers „sing” they needed someone who knew how to put them together. So another company was founded – Sounddeco. I guess the name is just a combination of sound (obvious) and deco (decoration?). The idea seems quite obvious – they wanted to make great looking, nicely sounding speakers. They still needed people to achieve that, and not any people but high class specialists.
As you can read on company's website they gathered a team of people with diversified fields of experience. From what I learned two most important members of that team are Ms Emilia Cieśla and Mr Grzegorz Matusiak. Ms Emilia, as a graduate from Academy of Fine Arts in Poznań is responsible for „Deco”. She's been working with Witowa since 2011 overseeing the „design” part of their activity. She created a design for Alpha speakers and takes care of all promotional materials of this company. Mr Grzegorz Matusiak, a graduate of Wrocław University of Technology, a Doctor of Technical Science, is responsible for „Sound”. He is also publishing his works at Audio Engineering Society (www.aes.org) and European Acoustics Association (www.eaa-fenestra.org).

Three lines make up present portfolio of Sounddeco – Alpha, Omega and Echo. It all started with Alpha – the first letter of a Greek alphabet. This line includes three floorstanding speakers (Alpha F1, F2 and F3), a large monitor (Alpha M), a small stand mount (Alpha S) that can be used as a surround in home theater system, and a central speaker (Alpha C). Prices are nothing short of reasonable – the small Alpha S in white mat costs 1.899 PLN for pair, and the most expensive, large, three-way, four driver Alpha F3 with the most expensive finish (white or black high gloss) costs 9.999 PLN. Model Echo looks impressive and it seems it is supposed to compete with some high-end designs. I don't know its price but it looks really great. And finally Omega – the last letter of Greek alphabet – if Alpha was an opening, Omega should be the final step, and in fact it is an answer to customers suggestions – speakers are smaller and their look is even more important than in other models.

Recordings used during test (a selection)

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• Black Sabbath, 13, Vertigo/Universal MusicLLC (Japan) UICN-1034/5, 2 x SHM-CD (2013).
• Breakout, Blues, Polskie Nagrania Muza/Polskie Nagrania PNCD 940,CDP (1971/2005).
• Chet Baker, Chet Baker sings and plays, Pacific Jazz/EMI Music Japan TOCJ-90028, HQCD (1955/2006).
• Daft Punk, Random Access Memories, Columbia Records/Sony Music Japan SICP-3817, CD (2013);
• Dire Straits, Brothers in Arms, Vertigo/Universal Music Ltd. Hong Kong, 5483572SX, SHM-XRCD2 (1985/2011);
• John Coltrane, Coltrane, Impulse! 589 567-2, “Deluxe Edition”, 2 x CD (1962/2002).
• John Coltrane, One Down, One Up, Impulse! 9862143, 2 x CD (2005).
• Julie London, Julie is her name. Vol. 1, Liberty Records/EMI Music Japan TOCJ-90014, HQCD (1955/2008).
• Laurie Anderson, Homeland, Nonesuch 524055-2, CD + DVD (2010);
• OMD, English Electric, 100%/Sony Music Japan SICP-3810, CD (2013);
• Pink Floyd, Is Anybody Out There? The Wall Live, EMI 5235622, „Limited Edition”, 2 x CD (2000).
• The Beatles, Please Please Me, Apple/Toshiba-EMI TOCP-51112, CD (1963/2000).

Japanese editions of CDs and SACDs are available at CD Japan

So called designer, or lifestyle speakers are intended for people who care a lot for the look of their speakers but still expect a decent sound quality. Audiophile speakers are not necessarily supposed to look like a work of art but to sound at their best, and if they also look OK, it's just a bonus for an owner. Every now and then some „crossover” products appear, when a designer company builds audiophile speakers, or an audiophile company makes designer ones. From my experience it never really works. That is why I am more willing to accept products like Omega – simply a good looking speakers that are not trying to be something they are not. They are suppose to look good and offer decent performance – that's what they do best.

Despite reasonable pricing these speakers are capable of doing all they are supposed to in a good way. First of all they communicate with listener very well. Just sit in front of them and play recording after recording and you'll find out that your attention is focused strictly on music. These speakers look really nice and at the beginning you spend some time admiring the design, but once you get used to it you just stop noticing that, because you just accept that this is how a nice speakers should look like, and your focus shifts to the music. Surely a flat, but never „dry” response helps in perceiving this performance as „easy”, „listener-friendly”. But the flat response here is not just a simple, measured flat frequency response that actually works in anechoic chamber, but doesn't in a regular, listening room. To build good sounding speakers you need to measure their performance but it is only a start point of the process. If it's a final stage, not just a mean used in a process, what you get are speakers that measure great and sound.... well usually you can't really listen to music with them. I don't know for fact what are Sounddeco's designers priorities, but listening to Omegas I would say that listening sessions must have been an important part of the process.

These speakers offer a focused, rich and quite big sound. Looking at not too big woofers you can't be really prepared for how big sound they produce. It was obvious to me especially when I listened to mono recordings like Please Please Me by The Beatles, Chet Baker Sings and Plays, or Julie Is Her Name by Julie London. It is easy to impress someone with a recording with showy stereophonic effects. But that's just a simple trick calculated to momentarily impress someone. It gives nothing more than just a short-term thrill. It is a necessary element of the music but it's better if it is achieved with different means.
How? By a great imaging for example. It is something totally different than a momentary spectacular effect, it is rather something much closer to a natural sound. The voices of Baker, London and guys from The Beatles sounded real, because they were rich, dense, and they occupied a large, but precisely defined space between speakers. Sound was truly focused. With most recordings I played sound appeared right in front of me, just in front of the speakers line. When I played some older rock, that was usually recorded in a different way than recordings I mentioned before – say Is Anybody Out There? The Wall Live by Pink Floyd, or Blues by Breakout – there will be still nice focus but this time soundstage would start rather behind speakers line. The important thing is that there is nothing missing, there is no empty space, which happens even with some expensive speakers.

Since Omegas sport two rather small woofers, these, even supported by a cabinet and bass-reflex are physically not able to do some things. It seems that the lowest value of frequency response given by manufacturer is pretty accurate. It is actually quite refreshing to find out that a manufacturer is not trying to full customers around with some far-fetched specs. I could clearly hear that while listening to a bass that sounded not as rich as it should have, which was later confirmed also with electronically generated bass on English Electric by OMD and Random Access Memories. These low tones were not really deep, they didn't move the air with that kind of energy that large woofers do. But to be fair, I knew from the very beginning I couldn't really expect that. Both recordings presented proper tonal balance, none of them sounded lean. I assume that credit for that should go to nicely reproduced higher harmonics of low frequencies, that „suggested” bass presence to my ears. They way Sounddeco speakers did it really convinced me. But sometimes, when it came to presenting those lowest frequencies something unexpected appeared in a sound, like some sort of w thump that actually should be there. It was nicely integrated with the whole range, so it did not seem to be some problem with bass-reflex tuning, and it gave the sound more weight, more authority. The design of Omegas puts some limitations not only to bass reproduction but also to dynamics. You can't expect some overwhelming dynamics from quite small speakers. But since they offer quite rich sound, that is neither bright nor distorted, you can play your music loud which allows you to solve, at least partially, a problem of limited dynamics.
Since Omegas present wide soundstage, even wider then a distance between speakers, plus they nicely convey out-of-phase sounds, what you get as result is quite an energetic, powerful sound which „makes up” for a limited dynamics.

Summary

Any company building small, inexpensive speakers is forced to deal with some compromises. That's the only way to achieve their goal. There was one more important factor, that manufacturer had to think about – aesthetics of these speakers. Even though Sounddeco managed to come up with a nice sounding and very good looking product. There is no top class resolution, no high dynamics, and bass in not so well extended. But what's really important is a good tonal balance, surprisingly good ability to differentiate recordings, and a truly involving sound. Just set them up with NAD, Music Hall, or Cyrus and they will offer large sound, that neither their size, nor the above mentioned limitation of dynamics could prepare you for. These speakers „adopt” to any room easily and don't require much attention when it comes to positioning in the room. Surely there will be an optimal spot for them in every room, but the difference in performance between them placed in optimal spot and other one will not be as big, as it can be with other loudspeakers. The imaging is good enough to clearly show how a mono sound of an introduction moves to mono sound of a bass and than to fully stereophonic sound of saxophone in the recording of Coltrane's concert in a Half Note club, which in return will give you a feeling of authenticity (One Down, One Up).
That's how I define a good looking and good sounding product. I think that Western manufacturers (or Chinese as probably nobody in the West manufactures speakers at this price level anywhere else but in China) should envy us!

White color has been popular, fancy if you will, for the last two years and it seems it is going to stay this way for some more time. Obviously more and more „regular” (meaning non-freaks like us) buy stereo systems to listen to their music and, most likely, to watch movies too. Lets face it – its women who make a decision what can and what can not be placed in a living room. The lucky audiophiles who have their own, separate room usually can do with it whatever they want (nobody wants to go in there anyway), but when it comes to living room it's the wife who makes the call. Don't get me wrong – it is a good thing. And in general the come back to decent audio systems used in living rooms is a really good thing.

So the Omega speakers are white. I think I saw a version with classic natural wood veneer on a photo, but the white one looked much better to my eyes. The white color, along with the black plinth is not the only aspect that makes these speakers „room friendly”. The other important factor are the drivers chosen for this project – two quite small SB Acoustics SB12NRX25-4 mid- lowrange woofers, with the diameter of barely 120 mm. That allowed to use only 140mm wide front baffle. The specs given by Manufacturer declare a width of 160 mm, but that's actually a size of a plinth, that is wider by 1 cm of each side that cabinet. The depth of the cabinet is also not too big which makes these speakers look small – thus „room friendly”.
As I said there are two mid- lowrange drivers placed symmetrically above and under SB Acoustics SB29RDNC-C000-4 tweeter in the front baffle. Tweeter sports a fabric diaphragm and neodymium magnets. The 120mm woofers sport a solid,vented cast aluminum chassis, very large magnet and a proprietary cone of natural fabric.
The chamber behind woofers is not too big - it looks like Alpha C central speaker integrated with a stand and put vertically. A crossover sporting nice elements is fitted inside to a bracketing. Internal cabling comes from Supra – it's a 1,6 Supra Classic Mini to be exact – same model that is used in all Sounddeco speakers. Cables are soldered to driver's taps.

The bass reflex port sits on the back wall, right behind tweeter. Below there is a single pair of speaker ports, that are placed close to each other which makes installing spades in them a bit tricky. Speakers are equipped with four steel spikes. These are very nicely made and finished speakers.