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


Hi,

I'd love to hear the impressions of people who've actually spent some time with these speakers to share their sense of their plusses and minuses. Mapman here on Audiogon is a big fan, and has shared lots on them, but I'm wondering who else might be familiar with them.
rebbi
I should qualify that I have run my OHMS off two SS amps designed to deliver sound like a tube amp: Carver m4.0t and Tube Audio Design Hibachis. These both sounded Ok but it takes a more highly damped, beefy, high current, low output impedance SS amp to make the OHMs sing best. More watts like that will get you higher SPLs with the Ohms and they do that very well. I have found good quality modern Class D amps tend to do that in smaller more affordable packages and these tend to really get the most possible out of OHM Walsh speakers and that is a lot. You can throw the kitchen sink at them and they will never sound stressed or compressed. Most any amp will run out of gas first.

I use my Ohms in my two larger rooms. I use Bel Canto ref1000m amps 500w/ch into 8 ohms, high current delivery, with my big OHM 5s (12 inch driver with 4 three way level adjustments to tune for use in most any room) and this setup does it all. I use smaller but similar 60 w/ch Bel Canto c5i integrated with my OHM 100s (8" driver). The only limitation there is how loud and dynamic I can go which is still quite up there by most standards but not rock concert or symphony hall level loud like I can in my bigger setup.
I switched (ha!) to a Class D amp a few months ago.  10k input impedance and 500 watts per channel.  Still breaking it in.  I will have more to say about it with my 2000s, but for now, I concur with everything mapman says about high power class D amps and Ohms.
Thanks so much Mapman, for the thoughtful, detailed response. It carries considerable weight with me that many Ohm owners on this thread are experienced audiophiles and have had experience with a number of other systems/speakers. I also appreciate the cordial, civil tone I’ve seen here. 
While the wife and kiddo were out on Saturday, I indulged in some high-SPL listening of Graceland and other albums on vinyl.  My normal listening level is around 7-9 o'clock position on my Pioneer VSX-D1S (http://www.hifi-classic.net/review/pioneer-vsx-d1s-435.html
On Saturday I took it up to 12.  I  didn't notice the loudness at all until there was a squawking saxophone that  set me off, and I had to dial it back to 11 temporarily.  I  get emotional when I  listen now, so I sat in my listening chair with tears in my eyes for several hours.

Yes, my 4XO's like power.