Whoa! Those are good ideas!
-Thanks!
-Thanks!
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.
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.
2,916 responses Add your response
Check out the OHM site where they list upgrade options for old Walsh speakers to see which models can be upgraded to 100 S3. I think the upgrade itself is around $800. Then, you might be able to pick up a pair of older OHMs for around $200 that you can upgrade yourself. This is the cheapest way, though it involves you doing the upgrade. The upgrade (for old Walsh 2's for example) can involve removing old drivers, removing acoustic damping material, prying out the old crossover board in the base, putting a new terminal board in its place using a glue gun, reattaching internal supports if needed using same glue gun, re-inserting acoustic damping material and attaching new drivers. Some older models might be as simple as removing old driver and attaching new to upgrade. You can get the upgrade info for specific models from OHM. Another option to reduce cost is pick up a pair of old OHMs on ebay that can be traded in for greater value to reduce the end cost of buyng new or refurbished speaks from OHM. OHM will take up to two pair for up to 40% of cost as trade-in I believe. This is what I did to obtain my Walsh 5's. For this option, you have to make sure the speaks you get for trade-in meet OHMs trade-in requirements regarding condition, and you have to factor in shipping costs both to obtain speaks and ship to OHM for trade-in. I was able to buy an old pair of C2s on Ebay for just over $100 and have them shipped direct to OHM for trade-in value of $700, for example. Then I also traded in my own old Walsh2s which cost me about $40 to ship to OHM. Together I was able to receive 40% the cost of refurbished F-5s. |
Ok Rebbi and fellow posters- I'm feeling Ohm-sick. I just sold my Definitive BP-2006TL theater package to a grateful buyer and am using my old Pinnacle Classic Gold References. I have a little cash towards my purchase. But I keep going back-and-forth on the MWT's or the 100-S-3's. If I got with the MWT's, I can probably purchase in the next 2 weeks. If I hold out for the 100's, it could be 2 months. Any guidance out there? |
Parasound, I plan to have a post up by the end of the week, now that my dad is out of the woods with his surgery. I need to soon reclaim some space in the house and so either the MWT's or the 100's will be shipped back to Ohm soon. I'm hoping to do some head-to-head listening on Wednesday/Thursday, so expect a post by the weekend or sooner. |
I have my own minor update. My wife just spoke to me about my pending speaker decision, and asked me if I'd made my mind up yet- the Talls or the 100's. After describing what I know about both, she thinks the 100's are a 'no-brainer'. Now I just need to pay off a couple more bills, save a few more pennies and commit. Hopefully a couple more months. In the meantime, I seem to have acquired some WAF, a very rare thing indeed... |
I have read a lot about the OHM Walsh speakers. All of you seem to like these speakers. I am running a 100 watt triode mono amps with tube preamp. Maybe you have heard of the Legend system or Von Gaylord. I would like to know if anyone out there has the OHM 200s or 300s in the San Francisco bay area that I could listen to. I love the sound of the MBLs but out of reach. Let me know thanks, Steve |
Haven't heard Mikado in years, but my first instinct would be to go with the classic D'Oyly Carte performances that were issued on stereo London records box sets back in the 50s or early 60's, I believe. Those are the ones I grew up with. Remastered to CD, if available, would be nice as well I would think. |
Mapman, Yeah, he loves music. I never thought of that for some reason. I've got Fiedler on Chesky vinyl conducting Rhapsody In Blue and American In Paris that should sound wonderful on the Ohms. And he likes light opera, too. Oh, and while we're on that subject, anybody know of a good sounding recording of Gilbert and Sullivan's ”The Mikado?” That's a favorite of his. Thanks for the idea, Mapman! |
Everybody, Thanks so much for the good wishes. Dad is being released from the hospital to go home today. He had triple bypass. Thank God, it looks like we will get to celebrate his 87th birthday in just 8 days. He's doing very well. Feel free to return this thread to your regularly scheduled programming. I hope to be back posting here soon. |
My A'gon Friends, Sorry I've been so silent here. My dad had emergency cardiac bypass surgery on Thursday morning. He's doing well, thank God, but as you can well imagine, audio equipment has been way down on my list of priorities recently. Anyway, I'll be back an posting soon, I hope. And if you're so inclined, all prayers appreciated. |
I just orderd a pair of the 100s and the dual 12 sub, I also just pechased the Yamaha htr6180b 735 watt 7.1 receiver. My room is 13x16, and by the sound of things I might want to consider making my romm bigger 13x26. This will be the best system i have owned. Can't wait to get everything in and hooked up. Staker |
Know, I'm good thanks! The image sharpness was not as good on the original Walsh speakers from the 80's and not up to par with more modern designs IMHO. I owned original Walsh 2's for 25 years prior to the two pair of series 3 I own now for comparison. Unfortunately, I suspect the originals, which were sold in large #'s in various hifi chains back then, are the OHM Walsh speakers that most people have heard and remember. If your friends speaks are series 3, I'd bet some placement tuning should resolve things. I've never heard series 2, but I suspect it is somewhere in between in that series 3 uses a different tweeter, though my uderstanding is the Walsh driver is the same as series 2. |
Hey Rebbi, Just caught up with this thread again. Wow, you are on quite an Ohmazing adventure! Sorry for sending you to Totem town, but now that you have visited Ohmville, you know where you want to live. I have learned a lot from this thread and wonder if the Ohm owner I know might benefit from some of the placement suggestions made here - his system suffers a little in terms of image blurring that may have more to do with improper placement than any inherent character of the Ohm speakers. Anyway, seems as though you are enjoying your system and your audio journey. Hey Mapman - hope you are doing well too! |
Hi, Gang, I wrote to John and asked: What's the deal with the new Micro Walsh SE? New cabinet only, or Here's what he said (reposted with his permission): Hi Steve, So there you have it. He also said that the Ohm website would soon be updated with all this information. By the way, the “Special” drivers that John sent me have the tweeter from the 100's in them, with (as I understand it) higher output than the standard Micro Walsh tweeter. |
Actually, from my conversations with John I've gotten the impression that he has been checking this thread, at least from time to time. Those Micro Walsh SE's look sweeeeeet! Wow — those are some handsome speakers! Like Parasound, I wonder if they are just an upgraded cabinet, or if the innards have also been revised? Mapman, I just realized that the first Emerson Lake and Palmer album (the self-titled one with the flying dove on the cover) has some real pipe organ on it. I'll have a listen! And thanks for the cranking it up tip as far as break-in is concerned. |
Here is Audible Emotions site translated to English. http://translate.google.com/translate?prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.audibleemotions.de.%2F&sl=de&tl=en&history_state0= |
Um, I think he's been following this thread for a while... Does ANYBODY have more information on the Signature Edition? I took a look at the Audible Emotions site, and the look of them is certainly impressive. From the picture, it looks like a higher quality cabinet. But I wonder what's in them...? -P |
Did any of you guys get this email? We are proud to announce the appointment of Audible Emotions as our distributor in Germany, Matthias Ertel, founder. Matthias grew up with Ohm Fs and is now providing Ohm F-5000 upgrades as well as the new MicroWalsh Signature Edition (soon to be available in the USA and Canada). He will also be helping with service on Ohm Classic speakers. If you are in Europe and read German, please check out his website www.audibleemotions.de. Good Listening! John Strohbeen, President 800-783-1553 |
Rebbe, One other thing regarding break-in is that with the larger drivers, even the 100 to some extent it will break in best if you are able to "crank it up" a bit from time to time to really help "loosen things up". They will take as much clean power as you can throw at them and still be able to listen comfortably. |
Marty, The thing to me that distinguishes the OHMs from many other designs at their particular price point per room size IS their ability to open up and shake the rafters at more realistic listening volumes with little or no fatigue (with proper amplification). The Walsh CLS driver and all that goes with it is the key to its unique abilities in this area. They also are competitive in terms of dynamics, detail, imaging etc. in most key aspects of good sound at lower volumes, and of course still have the distinctive, lifelike sound of an omni design, but there are many other speaker designs at various comparable price points that do detail, imaging and other things well also using a more conventional design. Rebbe's Totem Arros are a great example. They do most things except go loud and shake the rafters as well as most anything in a suitably sized room. Most speaks that can do what the OHM Walshes do at realistic SPLs in their target room size tend to cost a lot more. That is where a lot of the unique value comes in. Of course, most would also acknowledge that they are champs in regards to size of soundstage, which is also key for enabling the speaks to work all their other forms of magic in terms of air, imaging, dynamics, etc. These are "muscle speaks" that also have the ability to deliver delicate lines with finesse and detail due to their unique design (the Walsh driver). That's what makes them unique and different from say Quad eletrostats or even other good dynamic designs at similar price points. |
I've found that my 100s require higher SPLs to "open up" dynamically and, consequently, I listen louder these days. This has made me wonder about Sat 5s which are designed for higher output. Map, since you have both 100s and 5s, I'd love to get your take on their behavior at higher volumes. I know sat 5s w/subs aren't 5s, but your experience is probably as close as I'm gonna find. Thanks in advance, Marty PS Room is 3 walls w only an open railing behind the listener. The floorplan is app. 23' X 14 ft. The 100s are app 3 1/2 feet from the long wall behind them and 10' from my seat. The ceiling in app 18' high and the open space behind the listening position is pretty large. |
This is what I used: http://www.amazon.com/Mussorgsky-Pictures-Exhibition-Stravinsky-Petrouchka/dp/B000001QBW Its hard to find though. I think most organ stuff I have will be. I'd try a good recording of the "Organ Symphony" by Camille Saint Saens. Maybe somebody can recommend one. It features some low organ notes and is also a nice orchestral piece to boot... a nice piece to test out nice audio pieces with. |
Everybody, I'm sorry that it's taken me such a long time to post to this thread. I've been very busy, but I also wanted to wait until I had something interesting to share. Here than, is Installment #2 of my Ohm Speaker Shootout. I've been running and attempting to break in and optimize the positioning of the 100s for the past few weeks. It's pretty clear to me that they are not really even close to being broken in at this point. But coming out of curiosity, I disconnected them and hooked up the Micros again for a comparison. Here's the interesting thing: it's rather amazing to me how little the Micros give up to the 100s in terms of smoothness, tonal accuracy and sound staging. True, the 100s have a somewhat fuller and more authoritative feel, particularly in the lower registers, but in spite of the substantially larger diameter of the driver in the 100s, it's pretty astonishing how much the Micros are able to capture and deliver the bulk of the essential sound of the 100s. Indeed, even in the realm of bass response, although the Micros don't have quite the power and authority of the 100s, as you would expect, there is nothing anemic about them by comparison! I've had the house to myself for a few days, and so had a rare opportunity for some extended, late-night listening last night. (I'd forgotten how nice it is and how much it enhances the "live performance" delusion to listen with the lights off...) I broke out some vinyl that I hadn't spent time with in years. Rickie Lee Jones's self-titled debut album sounded AMAZING... as trite as this sounds, I couldn't stop listening. And Norah Jones debut album (man, that woman can sing) was glorious... the Micros really show off their coherence in the way that they render the female voice. I also ought to comment that the 100s, visually, are a good deal more imposing looking, especially in a small room, than the Micros. (The footprint of the 100s is 9" x 9", while the footprint of the Micros is 6" x 6".) After looking at the 100s for several weeks, when you put back the Micros they look like toothpicks, almost laughably small. But man, with the right material, they really sing! If I had to make a snap judgment right now, I might actually end up with the Micros rather than the 100s, but I'm cognizant of the fact that the Micros are currently more broken in and that they need to give the 100s more break in time. I guess I'm posting this primarily for anybody who is thinking of putting the Micros in a small room but is worried that they'd be "giving up too much" in comparison to the 100s. As of now, I'd say, "Don't worry about it!" More to come... |
Map, Ellington's extended compositions/theme albums are my favorites. While this is not "Take The A Train", I find the music readily accessible despite the more involved structures. My personal 3 faves are: Far East Suite Intimacy of The Blues Queen's Suite The last 2 I own only on LPs (Pablo) which sound great, but I can't comment on the CD versions, sonically. All 3 are definitely worth having. Marty |
If you're soundstage/imaging seems skewed to one side or the other due to placement and/or room acoustics, try toeing out the OHM on the weak side only to direct more high end energy from the tweet towards your listening area from that side. That is what I do with my 5's to help balance things out in my listening area in the long area of my very assymetrical L shaped room. You can see an example of this in the "theBigOhms" photo on my virtual system. The right F-5 is toed out more than the left to fire more forward than normal so as to balance out the sound stage which otherwise is skewed significantly to the left and extends well into the short length of the L shaped room to the left of the left hand speaker. |
Another report from Ohm 100 Land... The 100s are sounding terrific. One of my favorite "demo discs" is the LP version of Dire Straits "Brothers in Arms." "So Far Away," sounded wonderful... the thump and pluck of the guitars was enchanting. "Walk of Life" and "Why Worry," were also marvelous. Then, this morning, I had the opportunity to listen for a few minutes to some of "Promise," the LP version by Sade. What the 100s did with the opening cut, "Is It a Crime," was nothing less than jaw-dropping. I mean, this is a very highly produced, multitracked, studio recording... nothing "audiophile" about it, in the normal sense. But the effect of that "Ohm magical presentation" was really something. The track opens with a loud, raucous saxophone solo with lots of plucked electric bass and crashing drums underneath and around it, with lots of studio reverberation surrounding the whole package. The 100s really made it dance and come alive. Then suddenly, the track goes quiet and you are left with just Sade singing accompanied by leisurely chords on some sort of keyboard/organ. The organ chords reach out and envelop the room... you are just getting swept away in the music. I don't know how else to describe it. This, by the way, was one of my favorite albums when I had my old, Vandersteen 2C loudspeakers. As justifiably lauded as they are for throwing a large soundstage, they never brought this level of drama out of that album. Just marvelous. I'm going to have a lot more time next week to play around with positioning. I'm finding this aspect of things a bit frustrating... I'm not always sure what I'm looking for. I'm not convinced that I've got my positioning optimized yet... the "phantom" center image seems a little skewed to the left... and I'm not sure I'm getting the best tonal balance out of the speakers. I will say, surprisingly, that as much as these 100s are considerably larger than the Micros, I haven't generally found them to be overly bass heavy in my listening room. They have more of what you might call "authority" than the Micros, but generally speaking they're not really "boomy." I started with them about 2 1/2 feet off the back wall, and I've gradually been inching them backwards toward the wall, because the width of the soundstage seems to bloom as I move them back. But, beyond that, I'm not sure I've got anything else quite right yet. Any speaker positioning advice any of you experts can offer will be warmly accepted! :-) |
Marty, Thanks for the tip on 'Far East Suite". I need to add more Ellington to my collection. I have the "The Duke: The Columbia Years" box set that covers a wide range of Ellington stuff from early to later years on that label and it has top notch sound. Even the older cuts have been remastered extremely well and overall the whole set is just pure audio candy on the OHMs that is hard to match. It's one of my "Desert Island Discs" and perhaps my single favorite jazz title in my collection, but I do not think "Far East Suite" is in there. |
"The horns and the kick drum particularly come across on the Ohms" I would agree. Since going to the ARC tube pre-amp in my system in particular, mid-range, including horns and vocals, and overall dynamics on percussive instruments have taken as major step forward with the OHMs. I notice it on the Dynaudios as well, but to a lesser extent. |
