Shameless Poll: Pearl vs Ohm vs Zu

Zu Union Supreme 6 with Coincident Frankenstein 300B stereo amp or Coincident Frankenstein 300B monoblocks.

Ohm Walsh 2000 and get a Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum tube amp.

depending on the room size the Pear's. 

Already have chosen the Sibelius and am very happy with them. Don't know the others. If you like clean, detailed, neutral sound, value cohesiveness from the single driver approach, and are ok with adding a sub, then the Sibelius may be good for you. If you want oomph and window-rattling bass, then the Sibelius is not your ticket.

Viel Glück!

The Ohms

i already have planers and monitors. Omnis would add a new flavor to my speaker rotation.

I currently have Ohms and have no urge to change. 

Pearl

How many on this site have even heard the Pearl to give an opinion? I doubt many have. Are there any dealers here or are they manufacturer purchase direct from France?

I have not heard them. But I have been watching the Pearl Acoustics channel. So I feel that I know a lot about them. And I have read a lot about ohm and Zu as well.

I'd go with the one  you like best that works well in your room with your gear...

The Ohm Walsh 2000s with a Prima Luna Evo 400 integrated. Under $5000 when I got it's predecessor a few years ago but now slightly over.  Very happy with this amp/speaker pairing.

I had a pair of Ohm F’s years ago and loved them.  Depending on your room size,  I would recommend getting the Ohm 2000’s.

Thanks y'all for the input. 

So far the tally is:

• Zu: 1
• Ohm: 5
• Pearl: 3

I would respectfully ask Santa if he could take them back and bring me a pair of La Scala, Cornwall, Klipschorn, or if I've been a VERY GOOD LITTLE BOY, a set of Jubilee speakers instead.

Ohms.....but I'd want a pair of all of the current lines, so screwed prior to start.

Either that or a 3d 5axis CNC.....also a non-starter....

"...a kite won't cut it, KLAUS!  Get the memo...?!"

Pearl - 

in the right space they are magical. Vocals were as good as I’ve ever heard. 
spatial presentation was spot on. Bass response was detailed and far deeper than you’d imagine from drivers that size.

From my experience the downsides relate to very large listening rooms, very loud listening or listening from afar (ie connected rooms). But if this is not your environment, Pearl all the way.

ohm

From personal experience, can only comment about the Ohm 2000s... they're in my secondary system(living room tv center - using both stereo and 5.1). They sound amazing driven by Primaluna HP Integrated with AntiCables. Also, location-wise, they're not in an ideal spot for serious 2 channel listening but the imaging is incredible for where they are placed. Smooth-as-butter sound(regardless of which amplifier I've used).

Good luck on your search!

Specific to my room setup, I switched from Thiels to Ohm Walsh 3000.  My reasoning is due to the limited adjustment I can make away from the front wall, incursion into the living space.  Most satisfying is that the Ohms's sweet spot is quite wide. 

Well in general, consider this:

1) My Avatar and I own 3 pair of Ohm speakers

2) Zu has never won me over though whatever model was being demoed at CAF last year was the best Zu I have heard.

3) don’t think I ever heard Pearl

Regardless, three very different designs with very different dispersion patterns I would assume, so that would matter depending on specific application and preferences.

When in doubt, hard to go wrong with Ohm. Just be prepared for something completely different and no flea powered SET amps need apply. For a tube amp, I like the Rogue Cronus Magnum recommendation for a tube amp. Otherwise go Class D all the way. Recommend newer GaN amps in particular. Class D audio makes a very affordable one I use with my big Ohms these days that checks all the boxes. I’ve also used Hypex and IcePower. Each will sound much different. YMMV. Ohms are very transparent to what is upstream.

Also Ohm and Zu US made if that matters.

Celebrate your regifting opportunity 

@yogiboy As noted above, I have a pair of Sibelius since early 2021. See post above re description and pros/cons.

BTW: RYT200/yin

I saw the Popori WR1 electrostatic speakers at the Capital Audio Fest. These were no joke, would love to find those under my tree (or next to it...). Would be a blast to see how they do in my room. Currently very happy with my setup as is. Was exploring a new DAC, but going to hold off and add phono first. Listened to Santana Live at the Fillmore 1968 on the rig last night and WOW! Bliss!

@oberoniaomnia Did you purchase them from a dealer or direct? Those speakers peek my interest. Can you please tell me what is the price range of them?

Thanks much!!

@yogiboy purchased direct, not sure there are any dealers. Another plus is the best interaction with Harley Lovegrove, owner of Pearlacoustics. Prices seem to have gone up significantly. I think I got them for around us$4k, now they are 8k ish. Prices are on pa website. I think there is a bit longer discussion of my experience on the pa website. Since then I got the sub integration working with a relt9. 

@yogiboy Ps. Here is my longer impression

https://pearlacoustics.com/daniel-geiger/

If you want to audition them ask Harley whether there is an owner near you. If you are in socal lmk. 

@oberoniaomnia Thanks for the info!

Thanks again for participating in this thread, I'm going to wrap it here here for the final tally

• Zu: 1
• Ohm: 10
• Pearl: 4

While Ohms are the more popular choice, those who have experienced the lesser known Pearl's speak very highly of them. Not much love for Zu here.

One unknown with Ohm is that their founder passed away last year and the team is regrouping into a new building. The owner's apprentice of 10+ years looks to be at the helm now.

I wouldn't consider myself an audiophile yet, more like a "researchphile", enjoying absorbing knowledge. I'm at the point of analysis paralysis and am devolving to a state where throwing darts and pulling tarot cards makes good sense. On a more shallow level, the fact Sibelius is made from 1.25" solid walnut has real sex appeal. I've imbued enough George Nakashima into my DNA to finger veneer as fake furniture.

Maybe Santa will come into my dreams tonight with the right answer.

Cheers

I currently have Ohms and have no urge to change. 

Likewise

I currently have a pair of Union 6 Supreme and Lii Audio Fast-15 drivers in a ported cabinet.  I use a Decware Torii Mk IV and occasionally a Gromes Phi-26 (SET or SEP with EL-84 output tubes). Can't speak to the Ohm or the Pearlacoustics but I'm sure both would also work great.

For what it's worth, the Lii and the Zu share some similarities but are overall very different sounding loudspeakers.  Both are predominantly front row, midrange forward presentations, image 3D and benefit from subwoofers to my ears.  The Zu are clarity and tone queens and have greater extension to the frequency extremes but don't feel unbalanced.  The Lii (depending on how you implement them) are just an all around pleaser with a little more euphonic tendencies than the Zu. Amazing what 15" single drivers can do.  Easier to pair the Lii with a wide variety of amps.  The Zu U6S are more picky.  I could live happily ever after with either but I'm glad I have both.

@karl_desch I had the Union 6 Supremes with a VTV Purifi amp for just a few weeks prior to liquidating the system due to personal circumstances.

While it was really too early to pass serious judgement, I couldn't shake the fact that they only sounded good to me when they played loud, louder than I cared to listen. Might have been the amp, it was running Volumio through a Schiit Bifrost.

I had pondered the Lii drivers in an open baffle set-up, price isn't too dear to be entirely regrettable. I was leaning toward a First Watt SIT amp. The SIT-4 has appeal but is pretty steep for price, although I feel like that would be a keeper for the long term, buy once cry once kind of deal.

@ahillenb FWIW, here is my .02. When I got into this hobby 10 years ago, the first two speakers I heard were the Vandersteen 1ci’s and the Ohm Walsh Tall 1000’s. I chose to go with the Vandy’s at that time, and I still have them. But I always had this romanticized memory of what the Ohm’s sounded like and have wanted a pair ever since.

Forward in time to last September. I was in talks with Evan at Ohm. The 1000’s were on backorder - they still are - but Evan said for my room the Ohm Walsh Tall Micro would give me the same flavor. And if and when the 1000’s became available he would give me full trade in value on an upgrade.

Long story short, I did not care for the Ohm sound. They didn’t play loud. They didn’t produce hardly any bass and on tracks that possessed a decent amount of low end, I felt like I was breaking the speakers. The top end was way recessed, like they had blankets over them.

On a positive note, they were absolutely gorgeous to look at and perfectly fit with the aesthetic of my home. Also, in some respect, the bass that they did produce had this kinda cool tactile response to it. Bass strings being plucked could be felt as well as heard.

In the end, I gave them back well within their 120 trial period and was given a full refund. Perhaps the 1000’s would’ve given me more of what I wanted, but I feel like I heard enough to satisfy my Ohm curiosity.

Any way...that’s my Ohm experience. YMMV.

Rockport 

@ahillenb Sad to hear you had to sell everything!  I think you are on the tight track with a high efficiency speaker paired with a First Watt (or Pass XA-25?).  I find the U6S to be fairly linear sounding below and above my preferred listening volume which is typically peaking in the mid 80 dBs. I'm sure the room plays a role here too. I would consider talking to Zu about your experience and they might help you decide on which speaker would work best. 

If you go the Lii route, I think you will want a subwoofer or two. 

I will sincerely decline these offers but hand in my wish list to Santa for next Xmas.

In the past 3 months I gifted myself a set of Zu Omen Def Supremes and a Pass Labs XA25 amp. I think I am done, will likely leave these 2 in my will. 

OHM 3000's here. Love them. They perform great in my above the garage listening room that has slopped walls.

I for one is happy to see the Ohms' lead the straw poll here, although in another forum  they'd be trampled upon.  I chalk that up to habituation and basic design restrictions between an Ohm/Walsh/omni 'anything else' versus the venerable cabinet profile array of pistonic drivers....a light bulb v. a flood lamp being the default description.

Which format recreates 'a reality' more like reality itself, a field of sound v. a source that only disappears when paired properly.  More sensitive to the space it's in due to it's radial pattern of dispersion, true...but the standard issue does as well at best....

But I'm just 'imh'ing...*L* 
 

Dont know the Pearls, but would pass on the remaining choices.

I would scold Santa for trespassing, littering my house with trash, etc and ask him to take back all 3 lousy speakers and that lousy amp back to his shire.

No thanks Santy...

At this rate, maybe i’ll have better luck with Uncle Lucifer...who may bring something huge and worthwhile....Mmmmmm... like a pair of Tekton Bonnevilles and a pair of Daniel Hertz M1.

I already have a pair of Ohm 2000s but for the 5k you allotted for amplifiers I got an VTV 500 wpc class D amp, an Emotiva PT1 and a pair of SVS column subs for way less than the 5 grand allowed and its stupid good. OMG its clean, powerful, immersive and possibly a verry long term keeper. Well under 10K all in and it really leaves nothing to be desired in my current residence. Once I move back to the house, post-rebuild, I may have a different opinion, but I seriously doubt it. I think its adaptable enough I won't seek to change it.

@audionoobie I read your post with great interest. Your experience mirrored mine...that is until I contacted Evan about what I was hearing, or more correctly, what I was not hearing. Your characterization of it sounding like it was being played thru a blanket fits, but what I said to Evan was this: it sounded to me like dialog was way rolled off, like maybe a big dip in the crossover region between the walsh driver and the tweeter. What I noticed in particular was the total lack of natural sibilance but the upper frequency response seemed ok. So it was like a dip in the 2k -5k response. His response was that he would see what he could do to tweak that in such a way to open up that midrange a bit. So he sent me a couple of replacement drivers that I installed myself. This was the entire canned driver assembly so it was an, unscrew old one, connect new one, and screw back into the cabinets and voila, they went from rejects to keepers. Since then I have had a lot of time to live with them and they continue to impress. I'm sorry your experience was ultimately not satisfactory. I'm glad I stuck it out as I ended up with what I would easily call an end game speaker for the room they have to play in.

@livinon2wheels That's so cool that Evan was able provide a solution for you. I didn't even know that was an option. It's good to see so many here that are happy with their Ohms. It's a great company and with Evan at the helm will continue to be well into the future.

I'm happy where I landed with my new Elacs. Sometimes you just know when you plug something in whether it's going to work for you and that's what I got at a quarter of the cost no less. 

@audionoobie Yeah I am really pleased with them overall. Certainly not cheap or cheaply made, and not for everyone obviously, but for those they do work for, well worth the money IMHO. Evan went the extra mile for me and I am very thankful for his efforts. He turned what would have been a mistake into a win for me and that kind of support is worth a lot. You certainly don't find that everywhere today, actually hardly anywhere do you find that. Vendors like that deserve support and repeat business. There is a high likelihood I will be buying more from him, probably this year. I am dying for a set of F5's or maybe two pair. :) The 2000s are good speakers but a tad bass shy. I think they really need subs to do their best work. I also think that the 2000s would be brilliant as rear surrounds in a HT setup. Ohm's acoustic signature is unique and the sweet spot is broad enough you can move around a bit without losing the image. I don't think I have ever heard a standard front facing pistonic speaker system provide a broad sweet spot. Not saying there aren't any but I just haven't heard them.

@livinon2wheels ...and that walsh>typ. tweeter format is what keeps this one from being an all out supporter of current Ohm offerings....
For grins and to just being able to play them without building a pair o' boxes, I 'Ohm Walshed' a pair of vintage' Utah 12" with it's matching exponential horns....

Sound stage suffers a tad. but Loud? Yes.

If an omni is what one seeks. be consistent because it actually does matter.

I've been toying with an update on the Infinity 'ice cream cone' Walsh for awhile now but it can feel like brain surgery with a Dremel.

@audionoobie... the loudness issue was a fault on the early Ohms ( "....great at 200, blows at 201.." ) that surrendering of the large drivers' size helped....

Personal approach:  A good sub, mind the xover...

You want Loud?
Add mid to high drivers to taste.

I've done a 'surround Walsh' array that accomplished just that.

It's all tied into dispersion, a cone at 90ish on-axis vs. 360.  Less radians at your ears with lower 'information' available as well....

It's a quest with an answerable question....;)

Happy Friday, y'all....👍

Glad to hear the Ohm tradition of going the extra mile for customers has survived.  👍

Anyone in the area and interested in hearing F5s I’d be glad to talk about providing a listen. Same for super Walsh 2 (smaller driver, no level adjustments).

I also run Sonus Faber, KEF meta, Vanatoo, and Boston Acoustics live for compare.