How do Walsh Ohm Speakers compare to Thiels?


Hi, 

I am listening to Thiel CS5's right now with a Prima Luna Dialogue Premium preamp, Coda CS amp, and Hegel HD25 DAC.

My problem is that the Thiel CS 5's may be a bit large for my room, which is 25 by 15 by 9. Due to room constraints (support pole in the middle of the basement), I am forced to set the speakers three feet from the front wall. They are about 8.5 feet apart and my listening spot is ten feet away. 

I cannot get the speakers to "disappear" which I suspect is due to not being far enough from the the front wall. I have bass traps in the front wall corners and across the front wall ceiling.

So, the upgrade bug is sneaking around in my mind and I am thinking about Walsh Ohms given their very wide sweet spot and so many positive comments. There also seem to be good comments about their sound stage.

Can anyone share their experience with Thiels and Walsh Ohms or any other suggestions? I also have a pair of Thiel CS3.6's, which are good speakers, but are blown away by the CS5's in terms of the mid range and treble.

Thanks for listening to this!

Dsper
dsper
Hi dsper,

I have CS5i’s in my 14.5’ X 24’ X 9’ dedicated room and they completely disappear. Your room should be great with the 5i’s. Use the Cardas room node calculator for distance of the speakers from the front wall (front baffle ~80" out from the wall) and then space them 10 feet apart center-to-center with your listening chair 10 feet from the front baffle of the speakers (equilateral triangle). Toe the speakers in such the projected centerlines from each speaker intersect 5 feet behind your head when seated in your listening position.

Large floor-to-ceiling sealed bass traps were needed in the front corners of my room to tame the midbass hump. No other room treatments were needed.

Over the 23 years I have owned the 5i’s i have flirted with other speakers several times but, after extended listening sessions, always decided none equaled the 5i’s in soundstaging, dynamics, and transparency. I think you will find the same. The Ohms aren’t even close.

Dave
I have CS5i’s in my 14.5’ X 24’ X 9’ dedicated room and they completely disappear. Your room should be great with the 5i’s. Use the Cardas room node calculator for distance of the speakers from the front wall (front baffle ~80" out from the wall) and then space them 10 feet apart center-to-center with your listening chair 10 feet from the front baffle of the speakers (equilateral triangle). Toe the speakers in such the projected centerlines from each speaker intersect 5 feet behind your head when seated in your listening position.

Nice! But you forgot the mic drop!
:^)
beetlemania, the throw rugs is  a good idea!

dlcuckrum, I understand exactly what you are suggesting. While my room appears to have the size, the problem is the support post in the middle of the room. If I would bring the speakers out 6 feet into the room, the listening position would be behind the post. Obviously, I was not thinking about speakers when we had our house built. 

:-)
If the post is, say, 3-4” diameter and round it might have very little sonic effect. Just need to listen with your eyes closed!