Ohm Walsh Micro Talls: who's actually heard 'em?

Been reading this thread for a while now and thought I'd jump in and sorry if this gets long but I think it's a worthy read...After going "retro" a few years back and settling in with some pristine walnut Advents I've recently had the itch to acquire some new (used) speakers. I wasn't looking to replace the Advents per se' but had the itch to fool with something different.

Well, on my local CL a pristine set of Yamaha NS1000m's pops up and I've always been intrigued by these and the guy lives like 2 miles from me so I call and schedule a demo but came away unimpressed. I know it wasn't an ideal audition but I just couldn't get excited about them especially for $1000 so I passed.

About a week later a nice set of Ohm 3's show up on CL and this guy is literally walking distance from my house so I figure what the heck, even if for no other reason but to cross them off my list.

Now I remember Ohm's from Tech Hifi back in the 70's when I was cutting my teeth in this hobby and all I remember of them was the venerable Ohm F's. My cousin had a pair and I new they needed lot's of power and current, (but not too much!)and were somewhat difficult to place. But when everything was right they did things no other speaker could do.

Anyway, back to my audition...I hand the guy my CD of Steely Dans "Every Thing Must Go" album, he pops it into his low end CD player running through a mid-grade Denon AVR and... WOW!!! Crystal clear music was just flowing everywhere and I mean EVERYWHERE! I was flabbergasted at hearing music portrayed in such a manner that I really wasn't sure how to react. So I kept my best poker face on and he and I just BS'd about god knows what but track after track I was smitten by not only what I was hearing but HOW I was hearing it. I was intentionally moving around his room while listening and the music just sounded good no matter where I stood.

Now I've had plenty of "different is not necessarily better" moments when auditioning audio equipment, but I knew these were something special and I bought them on the spot (which I rarely do) and here's where it gets kinda fun for me. I bring them home and the wife gives me that look, (you know the one) so I disconnect the Advents (which she's never really liked the dated look of) and popped the Ohm's in their place. I get em connected to my so so Onix 120MK2 amp and she's watching X Factor so I just ran that through the Ohm's and she is ecstatic! NEVER before has she ever thought ANY of the countless brands of speakers that have passed through our family room sounded better (or worse) than the previous speakers they replaced. She was going on and on about it and then it hit me, she sits quite a bit to the side of the sweet spot and with these Ohms it just doesn't matter, the sound is damn near the same no matter where you sit. She even likes the look of them which is always a plus but the real kicker is when she tells our friends how much she likes them.

Now the critical part for me is after having settled in with these for the last month or so I will say that there is the odd song that still sounds a bit better to me on the Advents, however for the majority of stuff I listen to the Ohm's are just right. But when you factor in the enjoyment of how they sound anywhere in the room or even while moving about it's simply a no brainer to me, these are ultimate keepers, consider me a convert!

My "problem" with my Walsh 3's is that I'm happy with how they sound now, so I have no real desire to upgrade to the newer offerings. I thought I read in a previous post that the 3's had rubber (or treated cloth) surrounds so they don't need refoaming like the 4's and even 5's did. Anyway I'm not hearing anything unusual from them so I guess if it ain't broke don't fix it.

A couple of years ago I acquired a mint and beautiful pair of mahogany NHT 2.5's that I was very stoked about, even the wife thought they at least looked better than my beloved NLA's. However, I was very disapointed that I could not get them to sound cohesive at all, with the side firing woofers the bass always sounded detached and rubbery to me.

I was really bummed, I had owned Super Zero's and One's in the past and really loved the "house" sound of those NHT's but the 2.5's were an entirely different beast, one that I was unable to tame.

I realize I probably wasn't driving them with a big enough amp (only 100 watts) but I just couldn't get them to sound acceptable and I wasn't in a position to start upgrading my amp and such so I grudgingly sold em' here on A'gon.

I lived with the NLA's until about 4 months ago when I grabbed a pristine pair of Ohm Walsh 3's and all I can say is WOW. This is what a music lovers speaker sounds like, full rich sound everywhere in the room. Perhaps the best compliment I can give them is they have made me completely forget about my audio equipment and simply enjoy the music (or movie soundtrack) that so beautifully flows from these simple towers. I can't imagine how much better the newer versions of these must sound and I know at some point I will probably upgrade but these 25 year old speakers still sound so good it'll have to wait. Welcome to the club Ultimatezap!!!

Just noticed this thread hit 1700 posts! That is nearly 10% of all the posts in the entire speaker section, unreal.

On my Ohm Walsh 3's I removed the casters and replaced them with solid rubber footers. Then, because they sit on carpet I went down to Lowes and picked up a piece of solid birch 1" thick which I cut into two 14" squares, after painting them black I installed 1 1/2 spikes.

I placed the new stands where the speakers were previously positioned and put the speakers with their new footers on top (leaving about an inch of clearance). To me the bass sounded noticeably cleaner and more defined, not a night and day difference but better nonetheless. Plus they look a little better to boot.

Finsup nice story about dancing with your son. A few weeks ago my 20 year old daughter had a few girlfriends over and I blasted Nick Curran and the Nitelifes "Down Boy Down" through my Ohm Walsh 3's and within seconds they were all dancing and jumping around the room, priceless!

Mrjkycvs as a proud owner of Ohm Walsh 3's I've no doubt about your love for the MWT's. BUT, as a former owner of Definitive Technology speakers I can't help but think you're embellishing your criticism of those speakers just a bit. I mean Def Tech towers + subs sound like a transistor radio from the 60's and unable to fill a 4500 cubic foot room? Something in your setup had to be amiss because one thing I know Def Tech's to be able to do is fill a room. Anyway I'm not trying to rain on your parade as you are obviously ecstatic with your Ohm purchase but I had to call a foul on your assessment of Def's...

Just to add my 2 cents I would say that the Ohm's make good recordings sound really good but their ability to make lesser recordings sound enjoyable is a trick too few speakers can pull off.  What good are ultra high resolution speakers if they render 95% of your music collection unlistenable?

On my Walsh 3's I got rid of the casters, I simply unscrewed them and replaced them with solid rubber footers. I made sure that the final height was the same as the casters for proper vent clearance. I won't say the difference was dramatic but the bass tightened up nicely and overall clarity seemed improved. The speakers are more stable now and in my opinion  better looking.