Are the new Ohm Walsh speakers Audiophile quality?


Considering buying the Ohm Walsh 2000 Tall but very few reviews has me questioning there quality. Any thoughts?
sixsigmaguy

Showing 12 responses by bondmanp

@mlsstl ... All good points, but I think many audiophiles don't give Ohm a fair chance for several reasons:
1. They are not expensive, so how could they be any good?
2. No fancy adverts in the audio rags, which leads to...
3. No glowing reviews in the big audio rags (there have been a few in the blogosphere, all pretty good).
4.  John Strohbeen of Ohm avoided audio shows for many years. Although he has demonstrated at shows in the last few years, the sound he got at the shows ranged from middling to good (all I could think about when visiting his demo rooms was how much better his speakers sound at my house).  IMO, that was due to John's desire to showcase "everyman" systems with low- or mid-fi electronics.  I would suggest John, at least once, go over the top on the electronics and wires at a show.  Then I would make up a new, fake model number, and add a zero to the price of one of his tower models.  Then, on the way out of the room, have someone hand visitors a card that says, "You actually just heard the Ohm Walsh x000, which sells for 1/10th the price that was displayed."
5.  I personally invited John to present at my local audio club, in an adjacent state to Ohm's NYC home, but was rebuffed.  He felt he wouldn't be able to get good sound in the short time he had to set things up.  I think he would have impressed a lot of members who would have heard his speakers.  Since John seems to rely almost entirely on word of mouth adverts (plus some web adverts), this would have been a smart move.
6.  For those who need approval from the S.O., the speakers may or may not get approval based only on their appearance.  They are great for cat owners and parents of toddlers, but nobody will mistake an Ohm tower speaker with a floorstander from Sonus faber.  But that's one reason why they are inexpensive.

There may be more to this list, but that's all I can think of right now.

@sryeager Peter Gabriel is an excellent example of recordings that can sound awful unless your system is highly resolving. The LP "Us" in particular sounds incredible on my rig, but before I had the Ohm's it was a congested hot mess.  Enjoy your music!

@mapman Agreed, better upstream gear will make the Ohms sound even better.  I am in the process of trying new a DAC now, and differences between them are clearly and immediately audible on my 2000s.

I have said it on other threads, but it bears repeating: The current Ohm lines are capable of very refined sound and will respond well to upstream improvements.  My 2000s, purchased new in 2009 have never sounded better.  I have upgraded most of my gear and wires, and the improvements have been apparent to varying degrees.  I feed them 500 watts/channel of Class D power from Arion Audio, and each is crossed over, first order, to a Vandersteen 2Wq sub with MHP-5 crossover.  I have heard many systems with all sorts of speakers, some priced at multiples of my Ohms.  I love listening to music as a destination activity, and only life's obligations and required sleep bring my sessions to a close.  Warmth with appropriate amounts of detail and transient information, a phenomenal soundstage and image resolution, make, for me, speakers that may well be my last. Of course, some speakers I have heard outclassed my Ohms, but nothing that I have heard under $12k has made me want to dump the Ohms.  Not bad for $2800 the pair! 
@mapman...
I knew I forgot something!  Yes.  The misconception that omni speakers can't accurately image, in spite of huge successes in this regard from MBL and German Physics, as well as Ohm, persists.

AFAIK, cone material varies from model to model. I was once told that my 2000s from 2009 have aluminum cones. This was surprising, as they don’t sound like aluminum cones to my ears. John Strohnbeen of Ohm is pretty forthcoming if you want to give him a call.

 

AFAIK, I think it varies from model to model.  I think my 2000s have an aluminum driver, but it doesn't sound at all like an aluminum driver.  John Strohbeen is a genius.
@uncleang... Yup, that's our JS!  I have met him numerous times, and called him on occasion, and JS is BS-free.  12 years and counting with my Walsh 2000s.  Loving them more and more.  Wish I could say that about my wife!
@cdrat...  I don't know what the woofer surround material is.  However, the current line of Ohm Walsh speakers are expected to have about a 50 year lifespan, according to John at Ohm.  John is all too aware of the wear and tear issues with earlier Ohm speakers.  I think he set his very capable mind to designing in better longevity when he designed the current models, including the woofer surrounds.  I would expect your upgrade to use whatever material is being used for the new production speakers.
@audionacious.... I did the same thing in the fall of 2009 with the same speakers, which were a new model at the time.  After reading through hundreds of posts here in several threads from Ohm owners, a pattern emerged which, IME, accurately characterized the sonic qualities of Ohm speakers in general.  Ohm's house sound is extremely uniform throughout the Walsh models (I also own a pair of Micro Walsh Talks for surround).  Just give them time to break in.  IME, the 2000s went through dramatic changes before settling down about 2 months into the trial period.  In six months, I felt they were fully broken in.  IMHO, these are killer speakers at or near their price, even the new higher price.  Please keep us posted, and enjoy your Ohm's!

@circusdevil Did you ever voice your concerns on the fit and finish with anyone at Ohm?  In 2009, when I got my 2000s, I pointed out a few issues with the cabs and the caps.  Ohm made good on everything, and then some.  Still, for the price they charge, you're not going to get a speaker put together like Magicos.

@circusdevil  I hear you, but my experience has been very different than yours.  I do agree that nobody will mistake a pair of Ohm cabinets for Sonus Faber's beautiful, furniture quality cabinets.  That said, I have heard many Kef models, Sonus Fabers models, Revel and Zu models.  I wouldn't trade any of those companies' offerings under 10k for my Walsh 2000s.  Of course, personal preference is everything in audio, especially loudspeakers.  I have been enjoying my 2000s for 12 years now, with no urge to upgrade.  Every improvement in my signal chain has been revealed by my Ohms.  They have grown along with my appreciation of high quality domestic music reproduction.