Ohm Walsh speakers; Anyone have any experience


I have been interested in the Ohm Walsh drivers, and their uniformly positive reviews, and omnidirectional nature. Does anyone have enough exposure to these to provide a critical assessment? Happy listening, D
dmason

Showing 1 response by rcj1231

I have had a couple of pair of the newer "Walsh" designs by Ohm, both purchased used on Audiogon. The first pair were Ohm 4X0 cabinets that had been upgraded with the newer Walsh 200 MK2 drivers. The second pair are the newer Walsh 5 Mk2 speakers, about a year old.

I bought these speakers to see if they would sound better than the Ohm Model I speakers that I have had for 22 years. (I recently upgraded all the drivers in these speakers). I wound up keeping the Model I's for my primary audio system, and relegating the Walsh 5 Mk2 for HT duty. I sold the Walsh 4/200's on Ebay.

The biggest problem I had with the Walsh 4XO speakers was how they reacted with the hardwood floors in my living room creating 10+db spikes at certain bass frequencies. The downward firing speaker ports (comb filter effects)had something to do with it and Ohm offered to send me a modified Walsh pyramid cabinet with a front firing woofer to take some of the load off of the main driver. I did not take them up on that. It sounded too ugly.

The Walsh 5's in my HT room do better with the ceramic tile floor versus the hardwood in the living room (audio room). I think they would probably sound best in a room with wall to wall carpeting. Also, the Walsh 5s are big, about 49" tall. Needs a large room to look good and sound best. The Walsh 5 sounds good, strong mid range, very clean and smooth, especially with female vocals and strings. I am happy with them.

I still prefer my Model I's for the stronger bass and highs. I have yet to hear any speakers better than the Model I's I have. When I bought my Model I's 22 years ago, I compared them side by side with the Model F. I prefered the openess of the Model I's by alot over the F's, which probably were not powered as they should have been on the demo.

Overall, Ohm Acoustics is an excellent company to deal with. I have purchased sat speakers, center channel, and various upgrades for my speakers from them. They are easy to work with, back up thier products, and if something doesn't work out, take returns without a hassle. I recommend them. All that it costs to home trial a set of speakers is shipping.

Regards,
Rick