Ohm Walsh Talls and amplification


Ok, I am perplexed and I would appreciate any feedback you can give me. I am interested in getting a pair of Ohm Tall speakers. Initially (based off from Steve Guttenberg's and Zeos' reviews) i assumed that the 2000s were the ones for me. I don't see where Zeos' or Steve's rooms are any bigger than mine but, I measure the square footage of my room last night and it's only 353 square feet! Zeos himself even said that the 1000s were the correct size for his room, but he just wanted to go bigger. So, my first question is: Can you use a bigger Ohm Tall than what your room requires (as Zeos does)? Also, these speakers seem to love power. Steve drove his with a Mytek amp and a big Pass Labs amp. I cannot afford  Pass Labs and, the Mytek...well, I *could* maybe swing that but, Zeos uses a pair of Crown amps that are not made for audio but for DJs and live entertainers, etc. Obviously, he's very happy with the results. I finally did call John Strohbeen and he confirmed that the Talls love power... he suggested Mytek, Peachtree, certain NAD models, and Emotiva as affordable amps that have good results. I then asked him about Zeos using the Crown amps and he said, "Yeah, that's another way to go that's very affordable." I asked him if the sound was good and he said, "Yeah, it sounds good. In fact, we used something like Crown that here in our factory for quite a while." So, my second question is: what success have you had in the way of amplification with your Ohm Talls? 
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Showing 2 responses by helomech

Class D amps are generally not good current sources. They tend to have minimal headroom and weak power supplies. This is why a 200 watt/ch AB MOSFET amp will usually sound more powerful than a 400watt/ch class D amp. 

Some will contend otherwise but that has been my experience. Certainly there are exceptions out there but probably not in any class D amp that's been around for more than a few years. That tech has only recently begun to sound decent. 

I'd look at the power supply of the amp first and foremost. Investigate whether it has a large transformer and large filter caps? (look for something at least 20K microfarads/channel).

The Parasound Hint6 is a high-current amp and can drive almost anything. I'm told Naim amps are as well. 



The Rogue Pharaoh is severely lacking in grunt. I've owned both the Sphinx and the Pharaoh and neither are high-current amps in practice. One owner on the Steve Hoffman Forum had a lot of difficulty driving his Maggie 1.7s with it. He switched to a PrimaLuna Dialogue tube amp of only 70 watts/ch and had no problem driving the Maggies. Note in Stereophiles' measurements of the Sphinx that it clipped at 150 watts/4 ohms, well below its claimed spec of 200 watts/ch. 

If you're considering Class D, best to go with one of the Hypex N-Core based units. Some of these newer amps are at least meeting claimed output and measuring well. N-Core is the latest development from the guy who wrote the proverbial book on class D topology.

As for Rogue, I owned a Cronus Magnum II and it sounded way more ballsy than the class-D hybrids. Aside from a high noise floor it was a great sounding amp.  Same for the Parasound Halo Integrated - way more grunt than the hybrid Rogue amps.

Another you should look at is the Monolith 2X.
https://www.amazon.com/Monolith-Multi-Channel-Power-Amplifier-Channel/dp/B073GHXYX1?th=1&psc=1

 It was designed by ATI which is a very respected amplifier manufacturer, known better in the pro audio community. Audioholics measured this amp and it performed better than many at much higher prices.