Anyone dislike Ohm Walsh speakers?

I have owned W2-100s3 for about 14 yrs. Originally bought original W2s online in MA then sent to John to upgrade before shipping to me in HI. I previously owned Ohm C3s.I also own Kef R3s, Spendor LS3/5, JBL L110, Rogers LS3/5. The Ohms are my favorite for their openness. imaging, bass, easy placemtn and natural sound. My only issue with them is they are not good at low volume/low power for late night listening.thua the Kefs. I also have a wierd, packed room which is also my living room so the omnis work well in that space. For the money I think they are very good The cabinet work is good not great. Ohm Customer Service is good too as JOhn is reposnsive. They did take a number of months to break in and they like good power if you want them to respond best. There are some other speakers I would love to look at but they would all be quite a bit more than these cost, like $8-10K.

@unsound -- you're right. I had a pair of the original Ohm Fs back in the mid-1970s.  They had no tweeter, but the cone was made from different materials -- metal at the top to handle highs, but bonded to a paper at the bottom.  Any original A and F speakers are almost certainly non-functional unless rebuilt, and Ohm Speakers hasn't done that for years, though a couple of other companies will do this.

The current Ohms use a more conventional cone, but do include a tweeter, but it is crossed over at a very high frequency, so the main speaker still provides the bulk of the sound.

Old Ohms and new Ohms are not the same Ohms.

@jaymark -- my understanding of most Ohm Walsh speakers is that the main driver has no crossover and runs up to 8KHz or above, and that the single tweeter just uses a single capacitor to cut off frequencies below that point. To my mind, that high frequency -- well beyond the fundamental frequencies of any voice and almost all instruments -- makes the crossover design far less critical than most other speakers where crossover takes place in the middle of the range of fundamental notes of all vocals and almost all instruments.

Cheap crossovers were previously mentioned by @ oldhyvec, I think. This seems to be a common problem. In my Magnepan 1.7s, the crossovers were cheap junk. Asi Teknology rebuilt them and moved them into an external box. Strikingly positive sonic improvement.

I think this is part of Ohms problem, quality is so variable at times, and it is frustrating! Who wants to wait even longer for something that they have already waited a long while for, only to have to send parts or the whole speaker back?

 

I ordered a new pair of MWT’s back around 2010, they were supposed to be “new”. I got them and it seriously looked like they were recycled cabinets, the bottom plinths of both speakers were scuffed all up like a pair that had been around awhile. The veneer was bubbling and actually coming off at the seam. And just looking at the driver cans, it looked like they had collected enough dust and grit that the inner foam lining was covered. Not to mention the cans themselves were crazy crooked/lopsided. 
 

I won’t even begin to go into all the issues that I had with my 2000’s or 3000’s. To me, it was a general lack of care or quality finish. Yes, they sounded good, but it was a frustrating experience, the 3000 drivers went back twice before things were right. 
 

I don’t mean to disparage Ohm here, as I do love the sound of the CLS/Walsh speakers, just really hate the hit or miss quality aspect, especially for what one pays for them. Sad thing is, I know that they can do decent work! I’d really love to buy a pair of 1000 Talls for a room I am looking to set a system up in, but I really don’t know if I can stomach what I might get, and the pain in the ass I’d have to go through to get it fixed. 

Interesting comments regarding the quality of veneer finish. I tried a set of Ohm 200s about 15 years ago and the cabinet quality was mediocre, but not bad.  Fast forward to more recent times and I bought a set of Ohm 1000s about 4 years ago and the veneering and finish is very good. It's not a fancy piece of wood furniture like some speakers, but certainly good. Definitely an improvement over the 200s.  And, I love the way they sound.

It's sad to hear that after all the years that Ohm has been making speakers that they are still having problems with something as basic as applying veneer correctly. That should be a simple thing to do right. 

@bondmanp It may have been closer to two months.  I worked with them for about a month with positioning and adjusting switches but the bass was always muddy to me.  The build quality was really subpar for speakers in that price range (8-9K).

They were very helpful but the speakers and my ears and eyes just didn't gel.

@gimmer Interesting that you returned them after one month with two months left on your trial period.  I bought mine in late 2009 and if they continued to sound like they did after one month, I would have returned them also.  The biggest changes came in the 6-12 week range. I have even heard that John Strohbeen won't take a return in less than a month for that reason.  I assume you tried adjusting the level switches before you returned them.  

I tried the 5000's for a month and returned them.  Comments from @circusdevil are spot on.  The veneer on mine were also bubbling.  I thought the bass response was really weak in my room.

Shipping them back was not cheap.

 

I have new 2000s and enjoying the soundscape and imaging but this speaker is built poorly with low cost parts. Cheap plastic parts with crooked platforms and labels. The boxes they come in look like they were cobbled together with repurposed pieces of random boxes-cheap.  Laughable speaker terminals at this price range. With all that said, I kept mine and enjoy the look and sound.  Be patient as they take a year to deliver. In short, I do not consider these as "forever speakers", not even close.

Probably too busy listening to his Ohms. 😂

Whatever happened to the OP?

the f5 is a brilliant speaker.  i've been using a pair in my primary system for two years. 

I have my ohm 2000 for a little over a year and really like them. 20 years ago I had (still have) Vandersteen 2ce sig and a pair of 2wqs. I'm trying to get the 2qws into the mix but not having much luck with crossovers. Reading some of Bondmanp's 2010 posts on his experience is encouraging. Been told to stick with the Vandersteen crossovers but may have to start experimenting with others. Bought a pair of 50k X-2 crossovers with finger crossed but no good. Need 80.   As much as I like the 2000s I can't wait to hear them with the 2wqs

I've owned a couple pairs.  I've enjoyed them.  I don't currently own any, but always have my eye out for a good deal on used ones, or better yet the sound cylinders.

Not perfect, but do a lot right, fun speaker.  Good bass, big soundstage, solid imaging, coherent.  They don't compress at volume.

Best advice I can give though is "reverse" your room.  You want the speakers on the live end, not the dead end, that, and they do like power.

Thomas:

I've owned my OHM Walsh 4's since 1986 so they're my 'forever' speakers.
It's very hard to buy speakers without auditioning them; couldn't agree more.
Here are some tips to help you make your decision:

• You prefer electrostatics to conventional speakers
• You enjoy a broad sound stage vs: pin point accuracy
• You listen to music to be engulfed with the emotion of the performance rather than analyzing the performance
• You prefer to be lying on a sofa as opposed to sitting in a chair in between two speakers
• You prefer serious listening  vs: background music
• You prefer slightly higher volume than lower

Hope this helps.  Angelo

@lagunamike...very interested to hear what the rest of your system is.  My experience has been a bit different than yours.  I did have a peaky brightness around 5-7kHz which I assumed was the 2000s, but a new amplifier made that vanish completely.  John likes to promote his speakers as a good match with any electronics, but IME, the 2000s respond well to better gear, and work better with some gear than others.

Interesting to hear your experience lagunamike.

Thomas, I have a pair of Ohm Walsh 2000's and have had them for about 20 months now.  I can honestly tell you it is a love-hate relationship. 
They sound OK, nothing spectacular for the price, but good.  Placement is easy, as they can be put near walls without suffering too many bass issues.  The enclosures are hand finished and nice, but there are signs here and there that they are definitely built one by one.
They take FOREVER to break in.  I'm admittedly only a casual listener - I don't play them every day.  But it took the good part of the first year for the bass to settle in.  At first there was little bass, but then it starts to slowly come to life.  The highs were very shrill at first and have calmed down, but if your electronics and sources have a bright tendency, I would look elsewhere.
The one thing that got me a bit upset was when I thought the bass was just not there, I phoned Ohm about it.  They then admitted there was a "secret" switch inside where the crossover were located, near the input terminals.  They said to just remove the terminal plate and move the switch to the side with the red dot.  I asked why such a feature and they told me that too many people were buying the 2000s and would have had a better bass experience with the 1000s when in a smaller room.  When I found the magic switch, it was one of those old, open slide switches - about a $0.50 item.  Plus I knew these switched were notorious for oxidizing as they are completely open.  The other thing that made no sense was the fact that Ohm is very specific about the room size when purchasing.  Crazy.  I'm in the process of contacting Ohm to get a schematic of the crossover to remove the switch.
Once last piece of advice.  I bought these speakers based on 2 glowing reviews on YouTube.  Guttenburg and Z Reviews.  My advice - don't listen to any more reviews, burn your copies of TAS magazines, and stop listening to others.  Buy your speakers locally at a shop where you can return them if you are not happy with the sound.  Then only stop buying audio gear when you and you only are happy with the sound of your system.  That's all that matters.

I got a pair of Ohm F still using. The sound with so neutral and open. The bass is beyond transcription. For a fair price, I wouldn't mind considering it. I am in Canada.
Good choice if you have the proper environment and equipment. Its very power hungry:)

Greetings,
Still listening to, and loving, my 25+ year old ,Infinity Rennasaince 90's

...I think I'll just lurk for awhile......

$500 shipping is not an insignificant amount of money.  Add that to the inability to audition the speakers and it seems like a bad idea to me.  I am in SE Asia and there are lots of hifi shops in my city with a fairly wide selection of gear to audition.  It is unfortunate that the pandemic has canceled the audio shows otherwise I would recommend going to one and see what you can fine there. The last one I went to here had Spatial Audio Labs open baffle speakers and they were great.  Not quite omnidirectional but still very room filling.

I  purchased my original pair of Ohm Walsh 2's in 1982. I did the full upgrade in 2007 and gave then to a deserving friend in 2019. So I had a good ride with them: They are one of the least fatiguing speakers and great for long term listening. They have one of the widest sweet spots & can image like crazy. I enjoyed them for 30 plus years. On downside, they need a good amp to deliver dynamics. They will benefit from a clean tight subwoofer. The Ohm Walsh 2 or the upgrade were not bass champs. I plugged the bass ports in the bottom to kill as much of the speakers bass in favor of using a subwoofer to reinforce the bottom end. Being an Omni design, they are not the last word in delivering a precision soundstage. It still boils down to preference & given your situation an audition would be tough   

I had a pair of the Ohm F’s from 1978 to 82-3 and liked them a lot. Placement wasn’t overly finicky and they gave a very spacious sound. While I have not heard the 2000’s, I hear nothing but great things about the whole line from the 1000’s up.

All the best.

jd

I have owned a pair of Ohm Walsh 2000s for a little over 2 years now, and I can say that I am completely satisfied with them. Indeed, I think they are the best speakers I have ever owned, with the exception of a Pair of Ohm A speakers I owned back in the mid-70s. I also owned a pair of Ohm F’s during that same period, and I would say that the 2000s I currently own are better than the Fs, offering better imaging and better bass.
One important improvement in the original design worth commenting on is the decision to dampen the higher frequencies (above 5K) from the rear of the speaker to the front wall, and to replace those frequencies with a super-tweeter in the front crossed in at 8K. Please go to the Ohm web site for more info

https://ohmspeaker.com/technology/

This corrects the generally poor imaging that plagues omnidirectional loudspeakers and also allows them to be placed much closer to the front wall. As a matter of fact, the new Ohm Walsh line are all designed to be placed anywhere from 12” to 24” from the wall, to be determined by careful listening. Mine are exactly 13” from the front wall and provide excellent imaging with a terrific sound stage. The overall sound I would describe as coherent and natural. They have the clarity of a good electrostatic speaker but with terrific bass (deep, tight and detailed) and the magical sound stage that only an omni can give you. And yes, the 2000 is still an omni in spite of the design mod described above. The only thing affected is the high treble (above 5K). All other frequencies are generated omnidirectionally by the Walsh driver, so the speaker definitely sounds like an omni, only with focused imaging.
The 2000s also are capable of playing majestically loud, given enough power. I am driving them with 160 watts RMS per channel into their 6 ohm load, and they love it! One caveat to consider though is they are extremely revealing. If there is anything wrong with your electronics, there will be no hiding it. In that respect, the Walsh driver is much more like an electrostatic than a conventional speaker.

I have a dedicated music room that has been hard to get right and have tried to audition omni directional speakers. COVID has not helped and no dealer in Adelaide has anything omni directional.  The Ohm Walsh has been top of that list.  However I now have installed bass traps, one is 1.5 x 0.5 x 0.5 metres and 2 subwoofers? and have stopped thinking of new speakers just enjoying my Audio Physic Sitara 25's. I did own a pair of Sonar OA14's with 4 tweeters per speaker but actually much preferred by Royd Doublets which I owned at the time and for nearly 20 years.

Agree with the prior posts to try them in your room with your equipment.  However here’s my experience with Ohms. 
I briefly heard the F’s in the 70s and was impressed. Hadn’t thought much about it until recently when I heard Ohm was still around. 
I picked up a nice used pair of the 4’s and they sounded great - very natural and easy to listen to. They weren’t as detailed or extended on top like some newer speakers, but the coherence and openness made up for a lot. 
I took a chance and ordered the upgrade to current tech which makes them equivalent to the 3000 talls. I’m very happy with the upgrade and the upper and lower ends are more extended. 
I end up listening to them more than my other Salk Songtower / AVA system but like both a lot. 
Maybe the safe thing is to see if there are any used pairs in your area. 

Not the answer you are looking for, but IMO, if you are looking for an endgame speaker, of which I've had several :) you should buy something you can audition in your home country.  Everything else is a guess, no matter how well-reviewed.  Auditioning before buying used to be the norm.  Now it seems to be the exception and I personally don't think buying blind is the best way to build a system.  At least that's what I think. 

I would counsel against buying any speaker without listening to it first. From what you’ve said, you’re potential purchase is on the basis of reviews that you have read. Your ears and taste may differ substantially from the reviewers. I’ve read many great reviews of speakers and then listened to the actual speaker. While appreciating what the reviewer heard and raved about I’ve still walked away and said to myself “good speaker, just not for me”. One person’s “detailed” is another person’s “cold and harsh”. Another’s “warm” some would consider “muddied”. Beauty is in the ear of the beholder. It may turn out that you absolutely love the Ohm Walsh speaker when and if you actually purchase it. But I wouldn’t bet on it.

See, you go about this from an odd place. ALL speakers have their fans, so I tend to think more about the accuracy of the reproduced music.

Walsh speakers are not worse than or much better than many box speakers. They have their good points, and they are an interesting design point by someone who is trying to "move the bar" in a new direction.  I always support innovation regardless of the outcome.  You never reach your goals without some bumps in the road.

Unfortunately, Jim WIney kind of solved the accuracy issues back in the 1970’s, leaving boxes in the dust. This is not to say boxes are not good, just that they all distort in some way that Jim’s speakers do not.

So, if you like the Walsh sound, go for it. This whole hobby is about what YOU like IN YOUR ROOM.

Don’t let anyone tell you what YOU like, ever!

Cheers...

I have no skin in this game, but I always loved the F back in the day. I didn’t work for TechHiFi but against them…or I would certainly have gotten a pair!  The current Ohms are different in design than Fs, with batting on 90 degrees to make them at best “semi-omni” and less needful of placement away from the wall., emr.  MF, what relevance does stacked AR 3a’s have to this discussion?  Are all vintage speakers alike?  AM58, what model Ohm Xover were you disecting? 2000’s or some old sh**tbox from the 70s?  If 200s are in the OPs wheelhouse budgetarily, there aren’t many better choices he could make. A used pair of Revel F208s maybe, if he could find them might be equivalent. 

I have a pair of old Ohm model 2’s (equivalent to the current 2000’s). They are really easy to live with and generally make everything sound “nice” (smooths over bad recordings and the omni effect gives depth to the sound). They don’t have that etched glass resolution that most current higher end speakers have. Zero listening fatigue.
Worst thing I can say about them is that they love power. I would recommend around 150-200 watts per channel to get the most out of them. I use room correction and a sub with mine (mini dsp w/Dirac… Rythmik powered sub). They easily fill my 600 sq ft space to any volume level.

I have a pair of their Surround Micros hanging behind my Sofa.  Works great !

Ohm Walsh speakers have good price/performance, maybe a near bargain. But they’re Omni type means that they radiate the sound in all directions (horizontally) which has it’s advantages and disadvantages:
https://parallelhomeaudio.net/OmnidirectionalSpeakers.html

Don Lindich, who reports on products punching above their price points, advises they’re great price/performance speakers. IIRC they use older technologies but newer Omni tech will cost significantly more.

 if you can get them in a huge room well away from walls, they image like nobody’s business, with instrumental locations [imaging] independent of listener position. they were reasonably transparent with a clear but mellow treble. bass even on the smaller models was full and extended down below the low E of the string bass. i could listen to them forever, no listening fatigue whatsoever. the holographic imaging was addictive. if you listen to them closer than about 8 feet in a room where they are closer than a meter from any room surface, then the aforementioned magic disappears, at least it did for me. i’ve run across several and most of them had warped voice coils or sagging/offset woofer, you don’t hear the problem until a bass note comes along, then comes the telltale coil scraping sound. expensive to fix what with a grand worth of freight fees. so get them brand new or vetted by somebody you know well.

About to hit year 12 with my 2000s.  No desire to change these for anything anywhere near the price, even the new higher price.  FWIW, I bought them without hearing them first.  Once broken in, they are fantastic, IMHO.  

Jason I remember they had really good mids they were an easy listen because the tweeters didn't boil my ears. The bass was deep but correct for the time (70s) and the music we were listening to.

Surely rock & roll or Funk ALL LOUD. James Brown or Led Zeppelin. :-)

I've seen the different Toppers on a few DIY projects through the years and as 2nd and 3dr drivers. 3 or 4 total per side at different heights..

I remember they were hung like lanterns. It was in Marin county north of SF. First time I heard VMPS bass speakers too.. I met the owner there his van broke down.. That worked out well..

I like different..

My biggest dislike is the horrible build quality ,I helped a guy upgrade the Xover ,what pure garbage parts , even a electrolytic 
capacitor which is a cardinal sin fir a Loudspeaker Xover .
and even the drivers all China specials , if you spend A few $hundreds on parts in the Xover you can get them to sound nigh5 and day better.

I'm also rockin' with the Ohm Walsh Sound Cylinders - 8" Walsh driver firing down into a ported cabinet with a dome tweeter at 8K firing up!

@oldhyvmec: I have the Infinity Monitors with the Walsh "ice cream cone" tweeters on top! Used them in the past with a Son of Ampzilla! Impressive indeed with 12" woofers in a quasi-transmission line cabinet and Peerless dome midranges!

There are many people who own and enjoy Ohm Walsh speakers. Obviously, there are many more who made other choices. Neither of those facts should have any bearing on your decision. Buy and enjoy what you like and what will work best with your equipment and in your room. 

Wow! Pope Mozart fan of the wideband.

I like Ohm in other folks set up. I've never owned them. I heard them with an Infinity set up in the 70s. It was their tweeter that was used. Pretty impressive both times. The second time was about 8-9 years ago in Sacramento..

Pleasant is what I walked away with. I never got tired of listening the whole evening from 7:00 to past midnight.. Everybody got to enjoy the music.

He had a pair of Jensen Imperial PR-100 setting in the next room. I really wanted to hear them too. :-)

Outlaw country western and Tex-Mex venue, he (the host) bought a pair of my 500rl/16cf bass bins. 30 x 40 room, lots of dancing that night..

All Ampzilla and Yamaha.. Solid stuff.. 

They kept up, 2 F series, 2 Walsh/Talls and 2 bass bins.  Serious Boom Boom!!

Regards

To each their own.
Your Tech Guru lover the AR so let him. You have what you have because you love them.
That's what is wonderful about this sport (sarcasm) what works for you is all that matters. And opinions are like what?

I like mine...

Never mind the sound of paper cones, what about the sound of leaky plywood cabinets, or rattling speaker baskets?

Spendor

I heard my tech geek's Auoustic reserach AR3's  double stacked from the 70's. Running a  Golden tube Amp and a  conrad Johnson 12AT7/12AX7/12AU7 preamp.
He said he loved this sound, as it sounds like a  jazz club type image, Agree. 
Imprsssive, but after soe time with my classical there indded will be certain fq's that will grate my nerves aftera  few days, = good but not cigar.
Is what i am trying to say. 
They have that old paper cone resonances( = distortion sort of) hanging over  upper bass/low mids that I just can't stand.
+ his room was 3x's the size of mine, 
=-  Not doable.
Vintage will  never out shoota   good WBer in midrange. 
This is what i am trying to say.
But of course old vintangers love their paper cone woofer sound.
That is their cup of tea. Never mine.
I've since moved on to true  hifi speakers.