Ownership and Review of a pair of Ohm Super Sound Cylinder


Greetings all - I recently ordered a pair of Ohm Super Sound Cylinder speakers, or SSC-4900's. They are in the middle of the Ohm Walsh lineup, and are about 38 inches tall and the cylinder cabinets about 12.5 inches in diameter.

Specs are listed at 88 dB for a 2.8 V input, and a response curve of +/- 3 dB from 25 to 20,000 Hz. 

This whole process is part of a "high end, high value, USA made two channel system" thread I started a couple of months ago on another forum. The electronics are the PS Audio Stellar Gain Pre-amp/DAC and a pair of PS Audio M700 mono amps.

The PS Audio equipment has already elevated the Axiom M100's and Martin Logan Electro Motion ESL speakers in terms of performance. The Axioms have a "twin" available in Brick and Mortar outlets from Bryston called the A1's. 

For reference, other speakers which we have or still have in house include: Klipsch LaScala II's, Legacy Signature SE's, Infinity IRS Sigmas, Ascend Sierras, PSB Strata Goldi, VMPS Super Towers and a host of other speakers. 

The Ohm Walsh speakers have been something about which I have read since 1977 (the year I got the audio bug), but have never had the chance to experience. The SSC-4900's sell for $4900 per pair, though the name and pricing are coincidental. The "4900" is due to the idea that the speakers are "almost a 5000", but with less controls - one switch vs. 4 for the 5000, but also a lower price.

John Strohbeen, who is he president at Ohm and who has been with them for almost 40 years, was gracious enough to spend an hour talking on the phone about our room, the associated gear, and also that there would be a review thread. It was after this discussion that we decided on the SSC-4900's. 

I am purchasing the speakers, not getting a review pair. They are under the 120 day return policy. John is well aware that my daughter sings opera, my son is adept at classical guitar, and that live music is the reference. He was actually quite pleased about this. 

This will be fun (at least for me), and hopefully informative. Comments are welcome. 

I honestly have no idea what to expect from the Walsh sound. They are so different from other speaker designs that the only thing to do is set them up properly and hear what happens! 
craigsub

Showing 3 responses by djones51

Wonerful post mamboni, I hope the 2000’s I ordered give me half the pleasure your 5000’s have given you. May I ask are you still using Rotel for amps? I was a bit surprised when I asked Evan what amps they voiced the speakers with, he didn’t exactly say but did say they really liked the NAD C388 with them. I guess the smaller 2000 speakers not sure that would drive the 5000’s. The other amps he mentioned were modest priced amps as well. Actually this thread  and one other on the OHM' s why I decided to try them. 
@bondman - I am hopeful I will be as happy as  everyone on the Ohm threads are with their speakers. From my interaction with the company it looks like I need to break-in as much if not more than the speakers,  since I am used to nothing but box type speakers.  When I was discussing amps with Evan he naturally asked what I had which is a Micromega M100 with room correction. He was not familiar with the amp but  researched it and thought it should work OK.  I mentioned my reservations concerning the room correction paired with the Ohm's and could it be utilized. He told me that yes it can be used  but in their experience concerning room correction I should try it with and without, that's when I asked what amps they liked and he said they really like the NAD I memtioned but there are a lot of amps that will work fine.  He said that in his opinion what they have found with room correction in general  is it is coming at the problems that everyday nornmal rooms have from opposite perspectives,  room correction works to remove the room  to produce a good focused listening position and the Ohm's use the room to produce a sort of whole room listening experience, but he did say as a direct answer to my question it can be used. If I end up not using the room correction I might sell the Micromega since that's one of it's main marketing points though it is a very good sounding amp so then again I might keep it.  Might not make sense but it seems like I am not using it as intended and I could probably get an amp better suited to the Ohm's which is why I was wondering what others use with theirs. Sorry for the long post. 
I’ve had a pair of the Ohm 2000’s for about a month and they just seem to get better as time goes by. The bass on this model goes down to 32hz and that’s just about right for my tastes so I haven’t felt the need to supplement with a sub. The highs and mid range are very smooth and I can listen for hours without fatigue, from Mozart, Brubeck, Pink Floyd , Beatles no matter what I play they just fill the room with wonderful music. I still have a couple of months evaluation left but so far I don’t see me sending them back. I was in a shop about a week ago looking at amps and listened to some speakers that cost three times the Ohm 2000 and they did sound nice just not nice enough to change my mind.