Refresh Ohm Walsh 4s or Walsh 5000 upgrade?

I went from 1980s Walsh 2 to newer x00 series one gen older than current in 2008. Had both concurrently and compared them a/b. Huge difference, no comparison...detail, soundstage,imaging, tonality....better more modern sound in every way. Go for the upgrade if you can afford it.

I currently have both 100 and 5 series 3 driver models.   100s on refurbed Walsh 2 cabinets and 5s on refurbed Ohm F cabs. 

Thanks, mapman .  Good to hear.  I’ll put the upgrade on my old 4 cabinets that are in good shape.  That will keep the cost down.  Never had a desire to see if the grass was greener on the other side or replace the 4s until the one acted up, so the cost seems like a bargain to me.

Thanks, mapman .  Good to hear.  I’ll put the upgrade on my old 4 cabinets that are in good shape.  That will keep the cost down.  Never had a desire to see if the grass was greener on the other side or replace the 4s until the one acted up, so the cost seems like a bargain to me.

Just be sure to check with Ohm prior to get an idea of what is involved to do the upgrade yourself. It can vary model to model. Some will be comfortable doing it and others perhaps not. It’s can involve some work. You have to decide if you can do it yourself or if better to just pay to have the speakers shipped to Ohm for the upgrade. Good luck!

In my case I traded in older model Ohms towards the newer model which they did on their existing refurbed cabs for me to lower the cost. I have also ordered parts from Ohm to upgrade an old pair of Ls I own myself and that was not hard but the Walsh models are a different beast and can sometimes require physical mods to install new drivers on old cabs.


The level adjustments only on the 5000 drivers are very useful for tuning the speakers to the room and personal preferences.   I think you will like that.   My newer 5s have similar controls which come in very handy. 

I've talked to John at Ohm a couple times.  The 5000 is pretty much a drop-in upgrade to the 4s with new anchor bolts.  Removing the crossover will take some work, but I'd have to take them out to send back for crossover repair anyway.  The instruction manual is on their website on the Ohm Walsh4 legacy products page.  I sure don't want to ship entire speakers from Seattle to New York.  I have long arms and he said that was most important.  I do have woodworking skills and plenty of wood working tools and good chisels.  Apparently there's also one block also glued to a wall inside the cabinet.  I'm going to ask if he'll give me that black and pink Ohm t-shirt if I return the crossovers to him unbroken.

The level adjustments are key to me.  My 4s have them, and they are helpful as the two speakers are pretty much in the corners of a very long narrow room.  The left wall is 40 feet of mostly windows, and the other side has furniture and opens up to a hallway and then a kitchen.  I had the treble down on the right speaker aimed at the window wall, and the treble up on the other.  I'm especially looking forward to a midrange adjustment.

Thanks for the encouragement.  I was able to tell my wife someone on the forum said it's a no-brainer. 

I agree with madman, go for the upgrade. I sent my original 2’s I’ve owned forever back to Ohm, cabinets and cans. They did the cabinet changes and installed upgraded cans to the super 2-2000.
The difference was unbelievable. I highly recommend the upgrade.
My system is simple, Qobuz to a node 2i, modwright preamp to a threshold 200 class a amp.
I can’t tell you how many friends are jaw dropped at the sound of these speakers.

Sorry I meant mapman

If we had the money, would definitely get the very best upgrade/speakers available. 
  The Ohm speakers are a very distinctive sound, and I still remember them as a kid about 11-12 maybe, hearing them at my cousins house. 
  Great speakers, and amazing customer service!

   Your lucky to be in this situation. 
  Whichever way you go, you know you will have another 20-30 years of music (age dependent of course ;)

Thanks again for the input.  I’m placing the order for the super Walsh 4.5000 upgrade today.

It always great to take something old and make it new again. 

And saves everyone the hassle of shipping cabinets!  Having never done that, and having an active imagination, I was ready for a horror show.

As I was about to give my credit card #, and looking out the window,  a bald eagle glided past about 20 feet away.  They are around here, but rarely that close to a house.  I don’t think Ohm has a raptor logo, but a couple weeks ago I got a Rogue integrated amp.  Kinda close.  An omen?

That sounds like a good omen to me. Love that you kept the speakers for so long and will be upgrading them. Best of luck and let us know how they sound.

I wanted to post an update, because so often I read an older thread and never learn how it turned out.  The 4-5000 upgrade speakers arrived.  Apparently the hold up was the supply of metal they use for the cans.  It took couple hours to get the old crossovers out, new binding posts installed, and speakers on the old Ohm Walsh 4 cabinets and ready to go.  I’ve been listening and average of 3-4 hours a day for about a week.

The difference from my old 4’s is huge, and the sound is just more of everything.  Gobs of base, which is still settling in.  I turned of my subs. These speakers actually go lower than the REL T5’s.  I have a large but narrow room with the speakers at the narrow end and pretty much in the corners, and I’ve got the base set for small room.  I’ll let them continue breaking in for a while before tweaking the various adjustments or placement.

an interesting note - they sound much louder at lower dB levels on my NIOSH sound level app than the 4’s.  The music is just denser, but certainly not muddy. I’ve played every War album I have twice.  All that percussion, horns, and bass just gets the whole room rockin.  Highs are airy and clear.  The bell or whatever it is on Mars Hotel, Unbroken Chain floats around the room near the ceiling.  I hear the air on every note  sung or blown.

couldn’t be more impressed or pleased with the improved performance 

Steve

Nice!   Enjoy!  🏆

Final update for anyone interested in my break in experience.  Another month and a half in, the bass has tightened up.  I now have the bass set for medium sized room, and the subs will probably go to my children.  When I think of listening to music now, the memory and anticipation has a physical element to it.

I have two pairs of S5000 speakers. One was a pre-production prototype with the speaker cans mounted on Walsh 400 bases, the pedigree confirmed by John S himself.

The other pair I modified with the factory kit using new S5000 cans, replacement input board and some other stuff, using my Walsh 5 SEs that I have owned since new.

The modificaion on the 5 SEs are noticibly better than the original versions, which were still functioning great. I was quite pleased with the results. Highly recommend doing the S5000 upgrade vs a refurb.