Swap my klipsch heresy's for Ohm walsh 2

TWo different beasts for sure.

Depends what you're looking for.

Original Walsh 2s can go quite loud and lifelike with a large sweet spot and big soundstage in larger rooms and outdoors in particular with 80-100 good clean watts or more.

Walsh 2s can be upgraded to new drivers that are improved in most every way from the speakers of 25 years ago but it costs $800 or so.

The OHMs will love lots of power but really only need 60-80 good watts (lots of current) to sound good.

Klipschs arfe more efficient will go louder faster but may also benefit from more power.

The two sound different and have totally different strengths/weaknesses. No way to know which is right till you try both properly set up.

Marty,

keep in mind that the poster is talking about original Walsh 2's from the 80's I believe, not newer ones with model 100 drivers of any series.

There is a big difference believe me (I've owned both concurrently and compared). The original Walsh 2s roll only go to 17000khz or so according to published Ohm specs whereas the newer drivers use a different tweeter and extend further.

Original Ohm Walsh 2s sounded a bit dead or flat compared to the newer 100s to me as well, which is why I upgraded.

Otherwise dynamics in general were also not to the level of the newer 100s with the same amp driving them.

Most people out there who own OHM walsh speakers own the originals, which were sold through various hifi chains in much larger quantities back then.

The newer series 3 drivers have only been out for a few years and only available direct from OHM. They cost more, and have teh level of overall refinement in the sound one would expect these days. The originals were still pretty good, but not in the same league soundwise IMHO.

The thing to do is pick up a pair of cheap Ohm Walsh 2's on ebay and order the upgrade for $800 or so. This gives you the best sound possible for the least amount of money.

Walsh 2's sold for $800/pair back in the 80s. New 100 series three cost twice that. The upgrade however costs the same as you would have paid back then but is in a totally different league.

Rlwainwright's offer + $800 for new drivers = something to think about.

Keep in mind there is a few hours of work involved to upgrade original Walsh 2's to 100 series 3 drivers yourself, but it is not that hard if you are comfortable using a glue gun.

Or ship them to OHM and let them upgrade.

marty,

Gotcha.

Rbaker, can you confirm if what you have are truly original Walsh 2s?

If they have the obelisk shaped cabinets rather than rectangular, and say "Walsh 2" on the labels, then that is likely what they are, unless, they were upgraded to 100 drivers.

Walsh 2's with 100 drivers have the crossover within the cage. Original Walsh 2's have the crossover board mounted in the bottom of the cabinet near the input connections.

If they are 100 drivers, then they could be either series 2 which became available in teh mid- 90's I believe or the newer series 3 which became available about 3 years ago or so.

By the way, within the last few months there is another new series of the larger drivers (not 100s yet, I believe) that have been unveiled on the ohmspeakers web site that supposedly use new drivers with better magnets and that are also said to be more efficient than prior series 3 (which is what I now own).

RBaker,

Funny the OHMs remind you of ESS.

My first OHMs I bought, back in 1978 were my Ls. These replaced a pair of Lafayette Criterion short floorstandere that used the ESS HEIL air motion transformer.

Of course I may be a bit biased as the owner of 3 pair of OHMs, but if you were looking to swap, I think you made a good choice.

If you like the OHM sound, but think it could be even better, you have the option to upgrade to a more current, truly big league sound that can compete with most anything in most rooms for less than $1000!

Where else could you pick up a 25 year old design for nothing and have that option??????????????

By the way, I would like to add a pair of Klipsch someday when I have a need, but I would not anticipate them replacing either my 100s or 5s. Maybe my Ls, but I really do not use them very often at present.

I've been thinking about trying something different, a pair of Heresy's, possibly new Heresy IIIs in my sun room where the Dynaudio monitors are currently.

The bass with the Dyns in there near the wall (where they have to be, its my wife's room) can be quite heavy. I'm thinking the somewhat bass shy (from what I read) Heresy's angled up on the floor could work quite nicely. This room is my most lively, tile floors, cathedral ceiling, and windows all around.

Any thoughts? Would this truly be "Heresy"?