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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 9 responses by snapsc

snapsc
666 posts
 
I suspect that all the discussion of off axis image and off the shelf components misses the point which most people want to hear about.  The ohms have been around for a long time yet very little has been written on “ how the compare”.

You don’t remain in business selling a product that doesn’t sound pretty good and at a fair price... but side by side... how do they stack up with similarly priced planars, electrostats, open baffles and traditional box speakers in producing accurate lifelike exciting music??

At the end of the day, its the sound that matters... and if ohm bests various loudspeakers and loudspeaker types using cardboard tubes or off the shelf transducers or $10 capacitors, good for them.
snapsc
666 posts
 
I have no doubt that loudspeaker designers (think Eric Alexander, Sean Casey, Clayton Shaw, Paul Barton, John Strohbeen...and many others) are designing products that to their ears, sound like music with the goal to be as musically engaging as possible.  As a listener, I may conclude that John's interpretation is more to my liking whereas you may prefer Clayton.

No doubt there is no substitute for having the loudspeakers in your room hooked up to your equipment in order to make the best evaluation...and almost all manufacturers make that possible for the price of return shipping (if you are not happy).

Reviews and owner comments help a person decide whether go down the "home trial mode" or not...but often reviews and comments don't answer the comments a person might have based on their own experiences and concerns....For Example:

The few "official" reviews out there would make it seem as if the Ohms are position sensitive (as in they need to be close to the rear wall) and power hungry (as in they need hundreds of watts) in order to sound good.

I think it would be helpful if anyone who own a pair of ohms would comment on their experiences with location...close to walls vs 3' out (for example), 6' apart vs 9' apart (for example), 100 watts vs 300 watts (for example), high quality electronics vs entry end electronics (for example)....in other words, the more people can share, the more it will help those trying to decide on whether to move ahead with a home trial.
snapsc
666 posts
 
Does the description “Omni sound” also mean that from the prime listening position the ohms can throw a big image with height, width and depth or is this not in their wheelhouse?
snapsc
666 posts
 
John, it’s great to hear from you directly!!

One of the points that ohm emphasizes is good sound throughout the room.  For many of us with a prime listening position, a widely dispersed sound is less important than live, realistic, dynamic, music with great pitch and tone with scale and image at the prime listening position.  

Many companies refer to their unique speaker design (concentric tweeter, open baffle, high efficiency, ribbon tweeter, etc.) as the solution to realistic sound.  And frankly all the marketing hyperbole is confusing. 

Can you talk talk a little more as to why the Walsh 2000 or 3000 is an ideal affordable loudspeaker for people looking for a musical and emotional presentation... at their prime listening positions for a wide variety of music at reasonable (under 90 dB) listening levels. 

Thanks!!
snapsc
666 posts
 
@bondmanp  Thanks for your comments.  Here is the reason I think it would be interesting to hear more directly from John...Most of us can probably say that we know people that own modestly priced Tektons, Zu, Spatials, Kefs, Maggies, Logans, etc. that are very happy with them and recount a similar experience to yours last night.

And, all of these and many other loudspeakers are well covered by many reviews, lots of discussion of their components and technology and lots of posts by owners. 

By comparison, Ohms are "relatively" unknown, not many professional reviews, not many forum reviews (here on Audiogon, only a few of you regularly talk about them), not much understanding of the current state of their technology, and rarely if ever do they end up on someone's top 10 recommended list.

The professional reviews and the Ohm literature seem to go in the direction of "sounds good everywhere in the room" vs "sounds amazingly like real music at the listening position".

The last time I actually heard the Ohms were the Fs 35+ years ago...they sounded fantastic driven by a Crown amplifier.  I'm guessing the latest versions sound a lot better.

Many/most audio enthusiasts are always looking for the next "change" to their systems hoping to improve musical realism.  Based on all the shows and reviews, they are constantly being urged/pulled/pushed (most recently) in the direction of Tekton or Elac or ??????...and at some point, they are going to pull the trigger and buy their NEXT loudspeaker.

I'd like to hear John talk about why not Ohm.

Often times, the final statement is just ...buy a pair of XXX, try them and if they don't wow you, send them back....and I agree that a home demo is the only way to know for sure.  Realistically, though, many people balk at the idea of a $250 and up return shipping unless they are pretty sure up front that they probably won't be making a return.
snapsc
666 posts
 
Hey guys, thanks for the comments and offers. In retrospect, I screwed up... I was in Allentown a couple weeks ago for a few days and could have easily dropped by the ohm factory.  
snapsc
666 posts
 
@ craigsub
You are in a unique position given that you have the Cylinders and many other respected speakers.

I think that any comparisons you make to other loudspeakers will be helpful to most readers. I'd like to suggest one tweak for your consideration.
Knowing that this is a gross oversimplification, most loudspeakers often get classified as either analytical (highly detailed) in nature (think quad electrostatic) or musical (dynamic, punch, scale) (think Zu or Devore or Tekton)...and obviously many are in between...trying to do both.  And usually to do both well, the price reaches the level of "unobtanium" for most of us.
Obviously, there are a lot of people that want a system that is highly resolving...and there are a lot of people that want a system that approximates live music.
In the months to come as you continue to post your thoughts about the Ohm Sound Cylinders and how they compare...please consider trying to include some comments about how you assess their position....analytical tools or live musical presentation or both...and how that stacks up to the other speaker you are comparing them to.
Thanks


snapsc
666 posts
 
@craigsub

How about a final follow up on the Ohms...what do they do well...what do they do not so well....who might like them....who might not...how are they for piano? trumpet? saxaphone? female voices?  It would be great to hear your conclusions after having these for 9 months.

snapsc
666 posts
 
Craigsub

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