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

Hi guys. I don't want to sidetrack the dialogue on preamps but I thought I would poke my head in and say hello. I just picked up a pair of circa 1990 Ohm Walsh 2's for $100. I listened to them last night with my Eastern Electric M520.. not the best match, I know. I found they showed promise with certain characteristics of sound so I intend to upgrade with current parts from Ohm to bring them up to the same spec as the Walsh 2000's. I'm going to rework the cabinets as well and use a very dramatic veneer ala Duevel. Should be a fun project. I'll keep this thread updated on my progress.

I talked to John today about upgrading my Walsh 2's to 2.2000's. I was ready to order the upgrade but when I found out the driver in the 2000 is aluminum I balked. Admittedly, I haven't heard many aluminum drivers but the ones I have heard I did not enjoy. Now I may just upgrade to the 1000 spec which has a paper cone.

On a side note, I wanted to try something solid state so I paired the Walsh 2's with a late 70's Luxman receiver and I'm gobsmacked at the sound I'm getting. Anything percussive sounds brilliant which has me scratching my head how a 30+ year old solid state amp, a receiver no less, can sound so good. I'm sure a nuerotic audiophile would find something to pick apart, but man, this combo plays music! I honestly would consider not upgrading the driver now that I've found an amp that dovetails so well with these speakers. However, curiosity will always get the best of me, so I'll move forward with the upgrade. I also just picked up a pair of Walsh 4's. Needless to say, I'm seriously sold on Ohm.

Yeah, I was surprised when he told me that only the 2000 and 3000 have a new aluminum driver. All the other models use new paper drivers.

Mapman, you're right. I should know better than to dismiss the aluminum driver in Ohm's 2000 model before hearing it, especially given the surprise I got with the Luxman receiver. I had my eyes opened this past weekend when the guy I picked up the Walsh 2's from invited me to hear his collection of vintage components. He was actually the one who suggested the pairing of the Luxman to the vintage Ohm's. His setups would not be considered ultra revealing, but damn, I could live with that kind of sound very happily and never feel the need to upgrade again. Anyway, I'm calling John Strohbeen today to move forward with the upgrade to the 2000.

Kristian85,

Your nose is so far in the air you can't see in front of it. You criticize the OP for having audiophile nervosa because he found a sound he preferred to his Ohm's?? Pray tell, I'm sure that's never happened to you, right? How do you suppose one gets to be the trained listener you claim to be if they don't take the same journey the OP did? Perhaps you bypassed the whole process and just got a certificate in "learn critical listening" from University of Phoenix. Maybe the OP should continue his lessons in "learning critical listening" by buying different loudspeaker designs but direct his "anxiety" so it's more dealer-bothering than manufacture-bothering? would that be satisfactory for you?

If anyone is looking for an outstanding high power amplifier to pair with their Ohm's see the class d amp kits at classdaudio.com. These kits are ridiculously cheap for the quality of amplification you get.

I put together their 250w Super D amp to pair with my Ohm's and I could not be happier.

If you have basic soldering skills you can put this amp together. No affiliation with the company, just seriously impressed with the sound quality of this amp for the $500 total in kit and parts.

Thanks for posting info about the sale! I placed my order with John today for the 5000 upgrade for my Walsh 4's. Very exciting, although John informed me that due to the number of people that took advantage of the sale I wouldn't be receiving my upgrade until after the holidays. In the meantime I have my newly refoamed Walsh 4 drivers to tide me over. I'm looking forward to hearing the difference that 26 years of fine tuning will make with my speakers. Congratulations to John and the team at Ohm Acoustics for the success of this sale. More people need to know about your excellent speakers.