Does anyone remember Ohm I speakers?

I remember hearing the "box" Ohm speakers (the bigger 12" jobs not the 8")a long time ago and was pleasantly surprised and impressed given the pedestrian drivers. A good speaker as I remember them. I have never had the chance to hear the Walsh driver Ohms so I don't know their sound.

the non walsh ohm line was great, including the I

I refurbished a pair of C2's a couple years ago and they are really just as excellent in comparison to many of the newest speakers as I remembered them back in the day when new.

Thanks all. I have heard many speakers in showrooms over the years and I only heard an appreciable difference with the megabuck speakers 5K plus.

I still use Ohm I speakers for my audio system. I also have a pair of Ohm Walsh 5 Mk2 speakers that I use in my HT system with an Ohm Walsh center channel and Ohm Sats for the rear. I purchased the Model I speakers new in 1980 and upgraded them in 2001 with the newer drivers(with SBA) and tuned bass port. They sound terrific. The greatest improvement came when I upgraded to high current monoblock amps (Odyssey Extreme Mono Blocks)in 2004. The monoblocks really take hold of the speakers and control them. They really need power to make them sound best.

The Walsh 5 Mk2 were tried in my audio system. I wasn't able to tell if they sound better than the Model I because the Walsh ports out the bottom which doesn't work well on a suspended floor. Causes all kinds of floor harmonics (bare wood floors). So I took them downstairs to the HT room where they work very well (tile floors over concrete)but the room acoustics are not very good.

I haven't felt the need to trade up from the Model I. I am curious about trying the Thiel 3.6 or 7.2, but not so strongly that I am willing to go through the buy/sell shipping headache to try them at home. So I happily keep with the Model I.

I still use Ohm I speakers for my audio system. I also have a pair of Ohm Walsh 5 Mk2 speakers that I use in my HT system with an Ohm Walsh center channel and Ohm Sats for the rear. I purchased the Model I speakers new in 1980 and upgraded them in 2001 with the newer drivers(with SBA) and tuned bass port. They sound terrific. The greatest improvement came when I upgraded to high current monoblock amps (Odyssey Extreme Mono Blocks)in 2004. The monoblocks really take hold of the speakers and control them. They really need power to make them sound best.

The Walsh 5 Mk2 were tried in my audio system. I wasn't able to tell if they sound better than the Model I because the Walsh ports out the bottom which doesn't work well on a suspended floor. Causes all kinds of floor harmonics (bare wood floors). So I took them downstairs to the HT room where they work very well (tile floors over concrete)but the room acoustics are not very good.

I haven't felt the need to trade up from the Model I. I am curious about trying the Thiel 3.6 or 7.2, but not so strongly that I am willing to go through the buy/sell shipping headache to try them at home. So I happily keep with the Model I.

Rcjl. I see you have the same opinion I have. Greta speakers huh. My OHMs had all the upgrades except for the 12 woofer upgrade and the crossover. Question. How much wattage are you pushing them with. Right now I am biamping with A Tandberg 150 watt 3026A (In clasifieds here)And a 300 watt Bryston 4b SST. Sounds awesome. Makes my ears bleed!!! About the Thiels. Have you auditioned them? I am no expert on all different brands of speakers. I too looked at getting a pair. Then I read that they arent the best for rock music. Best for chamber music. Check them out to make sure thats what you want. I checked out Paradign(spelling?),and some others in the 2-2.5k range and they were not much better or better at all. Only speakers that cost much more were different.

Blueranger,

The Odyssey Extreme Mono Amps I use are said to push 300-350 watts into 8 ohms, much more into 4 ohms (the I's are 4 ohm speakers). More important is they push in excess of 150 amps of current through the speakers, which is where the control conmes in. High quality power brings out the best in these speakers.

I highly recommend the upgrade for the 12" sub. Not only does the added SBA circuit bring the bass response lower, but the port tuning helps tremendously. I get firm, musical bass response below 25 hz. I have not upgraded the crossovers. When I talked to John Strohbeen about it, he told me the upgrade would not be audibly noticable. Basically, if the original crossover worked fine, just stick with it. He gave the same advise about the 1" tweeters. If its not broke don't fix it.

I have not heard any Thiel speakers. The only reason I mentioned them, is they seem to have a footprint and size similar to the Ohm I. I have read more about them recently, I think I'll be looking in another direction. Not that I am really looking. As I mentioned before, I have tried the Walsh series speakers. I had a pair of Walsh 4XO cabinets with the Walsh 200 Mk2 drivers in them. These were the traditional pyramid style cabinet, which I like better. They did not have the top end or deep bass of the Model I, but I felt they had better imaging. I would have kept them, but had no place to put them. The Walsh 5 Mk2 that I have in my HT room are the newer tall rectangular cabinets. As I said, I really do not know how good they sound yet due to acoustical problem of the room they are in. Whenever I get a dedicated audio room built, I suspect I will prefer the Walsh 5 over the Model I.

What other speakers have you heard that you know are better than your Model I's? Regardless of price?

Rick

Rcj, Just one comes into memory. The B&W 802s' I have heard rave reviews on Legacy focus 20/20 but have not heard one.

I have a set of Ohm I speakers, i have replaced all the drivers with replacements from parts express, mcm and sonic electronics. The only ohm drivers i still use is the top high tweet. I actually replaced the 12"s with the lastest infinity reference car audio subwoofers. All my replacements sound great. I have them bi-amped with 80 watts to top and 80 to subs

YEs, I remember them. Pretty unique. Made to go loud. Would love to have a refurbed pair in the right large room.

I sold OHM at Tech Hifi back in teh 70's. Mostly the conventional models E, L , C2 and H. I's came around towards the end of my run. Each model tended to be my favorite at their price point over other lines like Infinity, Advent, JBL , EPI/Epicure, ElectroVoice. OHMs were the cleanest top to bottom and also relatively easy to drive with common amps of the day. I still have and like my OHM Ls I bought originally back then. I refurbed these myself recently replacing woofers and adding the OHM sub-bass port tweak. THese still excel with progressive rock music in general, though they do not do imaging and soundstage as well as more modern designs.