OHM 5000 V. 4000

any ideas?

You're probably better off asking this in the thread right on this page entitled "Ohm Walsh Micro Talls: who's actually heard 'em?"

AFAIK, the only difference between the two is the ability to adjust the relative level of bass output on the 5000. If you look at the Ohm web site, you will see that both models are represented by a single speaker in the photo. The cubic footage application chart on the web site has the same maximum room size for both speakers, but the 5000 can be used in a much smaller room than the 4000. I believe that is due to the the bass output being overwhelming for small rooms without the ability to adjust it.

I would say that if you are worried that your room is now, or will someday be, too small for the lower size limit of the 4000, it is worthwhile to get the 5000s. Otherwise, save the money and get the 4000s. Plus, Ohm will probably help you upgrade from the 4000s to the 5000s if you ever need to, with a generous trade in allowance.

And John Strohbeen at Ohm is very accessable and easy to chat with. Don't hesitate to call him and ask which he thinks would be better for you.

Please confirm with John Strohbeen but I believe 5000s have 4 separate 3-way on-board adjustments to help tailor the sound to the room, similar to the older 5s that I own.

They enable the 5000s to go into a wider range of room sizes but also provide other on board adjustments that are used to tailor the sound to room acoustics and listening preferences.

There is a low bass control that helps match to room size, an upper bass level control that helps adjust for speaker placement relative to walls and corners, a midrange level adjustment that adjusts "presence" and a high frequency adjustment for brightness, air, definition, etc.

Each control is three way with a neutral, + and - setting (3^4th or 81 possible combinations per speaker, 81^2 or 6561 combos possible total between the two). Generally, you start with each at neutral and increase/decrease each from there as needed.

They are most useful for tuning the speakers in optimally as needed. I have made changes corresponding to IC or component changes, changes in speaker location and/or orientation, or sometimes just on a whim as needed.

I would not recommend the 5000s if going into a small room only (as determined by the chart on the OHM site) in that they may turn out to be too tall and/or big to fit well. Smaller OHMs will provide greater flexibility I would say.

I've used my 5's in my smaller 12X12 room just to see. THey sounded fine, very much like my smaller OHMs that would normally go in there, but took up a lot of space in comparison and placement options were more limited.

My room is ~ 20X30 foot L shaped with a standard height ceiling (lower where a conduit crosses in front of the speaker's location). They are out well away from walls and corners. I set the room size bass adjustment to "medium" and upper bass/placement adjustment to + or "free standing" to get the bass sounding just right to me currently. My right speaker is closer to the walls and corner than my left. SOmetimes I will adjust the upper bass/placement level down a notch back to neutral or "wall" placement on the right speaker only in that the left is more "free standing" and away from walls in general than the right.