Ohm I speaker upgrade??

I have had a pair of Model I speakers since I bought them new in 1980. They still remain my primary audio room speakers driven by Odyyssey Extreme Monoblocks and an Odyssey Tempest preamp. I upgraded my drivers through Ohm Acoustics last year, and I have to say they sound better than ever.

I upgraded the 2" tweeters, had them rebuild the 8" woofers with new cones and SBA, and added the SBA and port tuning to the sub-woofers. The result is a smoother transition between the drivers, and a much deeper and more musical bass.

There are many options with upgrading these speakers. I am very happy with the results I have gotten so far. I intend to replace the 1" tweeters as well but haven't felt the need to do it yet.

John Strohbeen at Ohm is a great person to do business with and full of all kinds of helpful information.

Don't want to sound like a commercial here, but I think you can tell that I like my speakers. Feel free to email directly with any questions you have.

I also upgraded my subwoofers to the SBA models. Ohm says the new subwoofers will go lower than the previous model. You probably will have to ship the orginal subwoofers to Ohm so they can rebuild them. I love these speakers and they still sound nice. The other speaker in my second system is the Proac 3.8 Response and the I's do a fine job for a lot cheaper price. My only complaint about the Ohm I's is that they sound bright. I did change the dome tweeter awhile back and they still sounded bright. Good luck.

Kevyo

I strongly suggest you check the archives before "upgrading" your Ohm drivers. You might be in for a surprise.

Johnymac, I don't now or ever have owned Ohm speakers. From what I understand Ohm no longer has the qualified people to make the original and unique Walsh drivers that were used in the earlier Ohm speakers. The replacements drivers they are currently offering are merely inverted tradtional dynamic drivers with different radiation paterns, etc. You might want to check out their web site, they seem to be rather up front about this. The original Walsh drivers are rare and prized, it would be a shame to needlessly discard them. I am by no means an expert on these things. You might want to do some research before commting to anything.

Unsound,

The Model I speaker that he's going to upgrade is a conventional speaker system. It has a 12" subwoofer, 8" midwoofer, a 2" tweeter and (2) 1" tweeters in a cabinet. Check them out under "Older Models" at ohmspeakers.com. The upgrades for the Model I consist of higher quality tweeters, and some electronic upgrades for the mid and sub woofers, and port tuning. The upgrades really help improve an already good speaker.

That being said, the Model A, F, and G speakers used the Walsh Driver that you are referring to. Ohm hasn't made a Walsh driver for about 20 years. Very difficult and expensive to make. The new "walsh" units are basically a 8-12" inverted driver (size depending on model) with a 1" tweeter mounted on the main driver's magnet. I have read alot on these boards that they aren't as good as the Original Walsh Drivers and that may be true. However, it would probably cost well in excess of $10K to build an original Walsh driver. Also, they were tempermental with placement and had a habit of blowing up. Not exactly a great marketing plan nowadays.

I own a pair of Walsh 5 MkII speakers as well as the Model I's. (and other Ohm speakers as well). The new "walsh" speakers are great for soundstage and imaging, but are not very transparant or revealing. I prefer my Model I's for audio and use the Walsh 5 for the HT room. They are a much different type speaker and some people like 'em, others don't.

Ohm made quite a few different models of conventional speakers and still do. Their conventional speakers, IMHO, are excellent.

Johnymac, sorry to hijack your thread...

Rick

Unsound,

The Model I speaker that he's going to upgrade is a conventional speaker system. It has a 12" subwoofer, 8" midwoofer, a 2" tweeter and (2) 1" tweeters in a cabinet. Check them out under "Older Models" at ohmspeakers.com. The upgrades for the Model I consist of higher quality tweeters, and some electronic upgrades for the mid and sub woofers, and port tuning. The upgrades really help improve an already good speaker.

That being said, the Model A, F, and G speakers used the Walsh Driver that you are referring to. Ohm hasn't made a Walsh driver for about 20 years. Very difficult and expensive to make. The new "walsh" units are basically a 8-12" inverted driver (size depending on model) with a 1" tweeter mounted on the main driver's magnet. I have read alot on these boards that they aren't as good as the Original Walsh Drivers and that may be true. However, it would probably cost well in excess of $10K to build an original Walsh driver. Also, they were tempermental with placement and had a habit of blowing up. Not exactly a great marketing plan nowadays.

I own a pair of Walsh 5 MkII speakers as well as the Model I's. (and other Ohm speakers as well). The new "walsh" speakers are great for soundstage and imaging, but are not very transparant or revealing. I prefer my Model I's for audio and use the Walsh 5 for the HT room. They are a much different type speaker and some people like 'em, others don't.

Ohm made quite a few different models of conventional speakers and still do. Their conventional speakers, IMHO, are excellent.

Johnymac, sorry to hijack your thread...

Rick

I appreciate all this information. I want to thank you all very much!
When I read unsound's reply. I searched the archives and came up with nothing, so I wrote him.

I am thinking of replacing all the drivers, so will cost me just over a grand. Just trying to get a few opinions before I do. I am used to listening to the very efficient Klipsch speakers I own, so haven't played these speakers in about 10 years. I love the sound, just wish they were a bit more efficient.

I think Audiogon had hic-cup. I tried to post a thank you to Rick for clarifying things and his post was repeated.