@circusdevil I hear you, but my experience has been very different than yours. I do agree that nobody will mistake a pair of Ohm cabinets for Sonus Faber's beautiful, furniture quality cabinets. That said, I have heard many Kef models, Sonus Fabers models, Revel and Zu models. I wouldn't trade any of those companies' offerings under 10k for my Walsh 2000s. Of course, personal preference is everything in audio, especially loudspeakers. I have been enjoying my 2000s for 12 years now, with no urge to upgrade. Every improvement in my signal chain has been revealed by my Ohms. They have grown along with my appreciation of high quality domestic music reproduction.
108 responses Add your response
Sorry but no excuse for quality control, cheap parts, and proper shipping/packaging. Everyone loves the folks at Ohm Walsh, whom I also found helpful and communicative but back to the initial evaluation regarding "audiophile quality" and they are not! I am not comparing them to Magicos at 20k but rather Kef, Sonus Faber, Revel, Bryston, Zu at similar price point. I still enjoy them but must provide honest feedback and not convince myself otherwise bc I spent the 3k that is now 4k. |
@circusdevil Did you ever voice your concerns on the fit and finish with anyone at Ohm? In 2009, when I got my 2000s, I pointed out a few issues with the cabs and the caps. Ohm made good on everything, and then some. Still, for the price they charge, you're not going to get a speaker put together like Magicos. |
I have the 2000 series in Teak for about six months now, took a year to receive from purchase. I enjoy the looks and sound field they produce so far as Ive read they may take an entire year to break in. However, the finish is not audiophile quality. Labels glued hastily/crooked, platform crooked, glue residue and light plastic parts including cheap speaker terminals- just not up to par on the fit and finish but do enjoy the experience I am having with the music. I have them paired with an Accuphase integrated which produces a nice marriage. |
If I recall, and it has been awhile, probably around 2008 or so, my newly purchased 2000/3000 upgrade drivers for older cabinets used Dayton Reference drivers(or were spitting images of them) that were aluminum coated, not all aluminum like typical aluminum drivers can be. It wasn't all shiny, but more of a gray colored cone with a nice aluminum phase plug. I imagine John and company use what is available at the time for their upgrades. FWIW... |
Just notified by Ohm Acoustics my Tall 2000s have been veneered and going to finishing . Should see them 2nd half of March . Also just moved into a new ranch house with an unfinished basement measuring 15' x 22.5 ' x 8' dedicated to audio + video. Hoping to get it mostly ready in time to place them there. Just needs sheetrock, 1/2 bath and flooring over the concrete floor. Already has water / power run. Need to get a dedicated power line run and get bids on the work. I've got 6 panels of owens corning 705 that need acoustic fabric and some diffuser panels . This is gonna be the most fun i've had in years :) |
@mapman Agreed, better upstream gear will make the Ohms sound even better. I am in the process of trying new a DAC now, and differences between them are clearly and immediately audible on my 2000s. |
I’m not sure where my system falls on the “resolving” spectrum according to this forum, and I haven’t compared it to anything other thaN my prior components. But I am more than happy with a Soundsmith SSMC1 cartridge on a MoFi Studiodeck through a Musical Surroundings NovaPhonomena and Rogue Cronus Magnum II. The speakers just keep getting better in the month or so I’be had them |
Agree with the @bondmanp but would only add the more resolving and able the gear upstream the more the Ohms are able to work their magic in delivering the music with pretty much any recording out there. |
@sryeager Peter Gabriel is an excellent example of recordings that can sound awful unless your system is highly resolving. The LP "Us" in particular sounds incredible on my rig, but before I had the Ohm's it was a congested hot mess. Enjoy your music! |
Apparently the hold up on my 4-5000 upgrade was supply chain issues with the can material . It was well worth the wait, these rock. Dynamics are incredible. I’ve been revisiting bands like War, Talking Heads, Peter Gabriel. Actually they do everything well, like acoustic Gillian Welch or Aimee Mann or Vanessa Fernandez. But something driven with lots of percussion- wow. |
Apparently folks are buying lots of Ohm speakers. Just got an update that my Ohm 2000 ordered on Aug 15th should ship in February . i wonder what other popular hand built speakers backlog is . I have read literally every word ever written about Ohm Walsh speakers on the internet and now i'm already addicted to the sound :) Waiting on my fix to arrive. |
| Post removed |
@audionacious.... I did the same thing in the fall of 2009 with the same speakers, which were a new model at the time. After reading through hundreds of posts here in several threads from Ohm owners, a pattern emerged which, IME, accurately characterized the sonic qualities of Ohm speakers in general. Ohm's house sound is extremely uniform throughout the Walsh models (I also own a pair of Micro Walsh Talks for surround). Just give them time to break in. IME, the 2000s went through dramatic changes before settling down about 2 months into the trial period. In six months, I felt they were fully broken in. IMHO, these are killer speakers at or near their price, even the new higher price. Please keep us posted, and enjoy your Ohm's! |
White paper regarding radial loudspeaker technology https://www.decware.com/radialwhite.htm https://www.decware.com/radialwhite2.htm Decware builds it's own version of a radial |
https://www.dagogo.com/ohm-acoustics-f5-speaker-review/ New review on the Ohm F5, interesting read. Sorry if this has already been covered recently/ elsewhere… Oops, apologies, just saw Mapman’s post above, good grief… |
link to new active thread here that is very relevant to this topic: https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/and-now-for-all-you-omni-fanatics?highlight=Omni |
@cdrat... I don't know what the woofer surround material is. However, the current line of Ohm Walsh speakers are expected to have about a 50 year lifespan, according to John at Ohm. John is all too aware of the wear and tear issues with earlier Ohm speakers. I think he set his very capable mind to designing in better longevity when he designed the current models, including the woofer surrounds. I would expect your upgrade to use whatever material is being used for the new production speakers. |
FYIMy beloved Walsh 4s have been in storage for a few years and before bringing them back to replace my "2s" I sent them to Ohm to have them "refurbished. When I spoke to John I mentioned that I would love to do the full upgrade to the 4-3000 but it was not within my budget. He mentioned that there was a "tweeter upgrade" that was just what I was looking for. It is typically offered when the "maintenance" also needs to replace a tweeter. I did not need my tweeters replaced but wanted more brightness that the later 3000 tweeter would offer. In this upgrade you get your surrounds replaced, upgraded tweeters, and modifications to the crossover in the can to accommodate them. You keep your additional controls and the associated crossover in the base. It is "plug and play", sounds terrific, and costs around $1000 (half of the 4-3000 upgrade) You miss out on higher power handling, the lighter weight motor, the deeper bass, and I assume the surrounds are foam? and not rubber (like the 2s?) so they eventually will have to be redone like most speakers. As you would expect, John, Evan and staff are expert, caring, and know how to listen to speakers (and you). I am thrilled that years ago I found a speaker that to me, sounds right. BTW, OHM has just announced that prices are going up....now. |
I've been consulting with John Strohbeen since the late 80's regarding my Walsh 4's. One thing I love about the man is his direct answers to direct questions; no hesitation, no BS, just a straight answer. Here's a sample of some of his answers over the years. Q. The felt on the backside of the cans are coming unglued and curling at the edges, should I re-glue them? A. Don't bother, peel them off, sound wise they make no difference. They're there because some people hear better with their eyes than ears. Q. The 'tufflex' batting inside my cabinets have disintegrated, can I buy replacements from you? A. You mentioned that your wife makes quilts; well, steal some batting from her stash, about 1" thick put them 1/3 of the way down the cabinets making sure that they're tucked into the corners and you're good to go. (worked like a charm) Q. For a few years you were using aluminum tweeters and now it appears you've gone back to soft dome. Why? A. Aluminum tweeters spec out better but I just don't like their sound so I went back to the soft dome. See, you don't have to Google ad nauseam and get wrapped up in analysis paralysis, just call John. |
My understanding is similar to @bondmanp but the variance I recall being mentioned I believe by John Strohbeen, maybe somewhere in his blog on OHM site, is version to version over the years more so than model to model. Not sure. A call or email to Ohm would probably provide a more concrete answer. Would be interested in the answer. I think I recall aluminum being mentioned recently with at least some latest versions as well. Mine are one generation older....series 3, pretty sure they are not aluminum. THere are 4 generations/versions over the years since the early 80’s: original usually designated X, series 2 and series 3 usually designated X00 and current line designated X000. |
They are fantastic if you don’t have any choice but to put them next to the front wall or even in the corners. I’ve had Ohm Walsh 4s for about 5 years, and since I got them I haven’t been curious once about trying different speakers. I think that’s audiophile if audiophile means listening to and enjoying music instead of wondering if something might image better or whatever. Recently the audiophiliac described analog as more “dense” than digital, and right away I thought, and Ohms too. |
@mlsstl ... All good points, but I think many audiophiles don't give Ohm a fair chance for several reasons: 1. They are not expensive, so how could they be any good? 2. No fancy adverts in the audio rags, which leads to... 3. No glowing reviews in the big audio rags (there have been a few in the blogosphere, all pretty good). 4. John Strohbeen of Ohm avoided audio shows for many years. Although he has demonstrated at shows in the last few years, the sound he got at the shows ranged from middling to good (all I could think about when visiting his demo rooms was how much better his speakers sound at my house). IMO, that was due to John's desire to showcase "everyman" systems with low- or mid-fi electronics. I would suggest John, at least once, go over the top on the electronics and wires at a show. Then I would make up a new, fake model number, and add a zero to the price of one of his tower models. Then, on the way out of the room, have someone hand visitors a card that says, "You actually just heard the Ohm Walsh x000, which sells for 1/10th the price that was displayed." 5. I personally invited John to present at my local audio club, in an adjacent state to Ohm's NYC home, but was rebuffed. He felt he wouldn't be able to get good sound in the short time he had to set things up. I think he would have impressed a lot of members who would have heard his speakers. Since John seems to rely almost entirely on word of mouth adverts (plus some web adverts), this would have been a smart move. 6. For those who need approval from the S.O., the speakers may or may not get approval based only on their appearance. They are great for cat owners and parents of toddlers, but nobody will mistake an Ohm tower speaker with a floorstander from Sonus faber. But that's one reason why they are inexpensive. There may be more to this list, but that's all I can think of right now. |
It bears repeating that ANY speaker will have its proponents and detractors, no matter how fancy, expensive or exotic. Pick a brand -- any brand -- Magico, Wilson, Moon, Wisdom and so on, and you'll find people who don't like their sound or even think they are an outright rip-off. The only thing that ever really matters is whether the person who bought whatever they bought enjoys them. I happen to think my Ohms sound great and fully understand there will always be a few naysayers out there. That's their problem, not mine. |
I have said it on other threads, but it bears repeating: The current Ohm lines are capable of very refined sound and will respond well to upstream improvements. My 2000s, purchased new in 2009 have never sounded better. I have upgraded most of my gear and wires, and the improvements have been apparent to varying degrees. I feed them 500 watts/channel of Class D power from Arion Audio, and each is crossed over, first order, to a Vandersteen 2Wq sub with MHP-5 crossover. I have heard many systems with all sorts of speakers, some priced at multiples of my Ohms. I love listening to music as a destination activity, and only life's obligations and required sleep bring my sessions to a close. Warmth with appropriate amounts of detail and transient information, a phenomenal soundstage and image resolution, make, for me, speakers that may well be my last. Of course, some speakers I have heard outclassed my Ohms, but nothing that I have heard under $12k has made me want to dump the Ohms. Not bad for $2800 the pair! |
Congrats on your 2000s! I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoy my Ohms. One thing to remember about power is that the relationship between acoustic volume in a room and amp power is logarithmic. Every 3 dB increase in volume requires double the power. That means that one can generally get a fairly good volume level with reasonable amounts of power, but beyond that, power needs jump very rapidly. I always recommend that people get an inexpensive sound level meter so they can speak accurately about their listening level. Without that, one person's "medium" volume is headbanging loud for someone else. Unless you have a very large room, or listen past the mid 90 dB level (C weighted) I suspect you'll be fine. |
The Ohms for the last 20+ years sound muddy, diffuse, two-dimensional, and bland.Not in my experience. In fact, I’ve experienced the polar opposite with the MicroWalsh Talls I purchased in 2004. No reason to fear Class D. Good ones sound great these days and Ohms love it.This. I loved them with my old PS Audio Trio amp (100/200 wpc, B&O ICE) and recently paired them with a Marantz HD-AMP1. Given the low wattage of this integrated (35/70 wpc, Hypex UcD ) I didn’t expect much and boy, was I wrong. Just fantastic. I would love to hear them with newer class D one day but, for now, I’m pretty happy where I’m at. |
I owned a set of the original Ohm Fs and now have a set of Ohm 1000s (though with a recent move that has a larger listening room, I may upgrade to one of the larger models.) A couple of observations. The inside of the cans that cover the down-facing driver of the new Ohms is intentionally padded at certain spots to reduce output to the outside rear. This makes them easier to place in a room. They would be true omnis but for that -- this feature improves their performance in a typical home environment. Also, the tweeter crossover is quite high -- I believe 8KHz or 9 KHz. This is well above the fundementals of most, if not all, acoustic instruments, so you are dealing in a frequency range where moving your head just a few inches at the listening position would affect any theoretical coherency of any pair of stereo speakers. In summary, I really enjoyed my original Fs and equally enjoy the current models. Both offer superb, lifelike sound with good recordings, but the new models are a lot easier to setup, drive and enjoy than the originals. |