Ownership and Review of a pair of Ohm Super Sound Cylinder


Greetings all - I recently ordered a pair of Ohm Super Sound Cylinder speakers, or SSC-4900's. They are in the middle of the Ohm Walsh lineup, and are about 38 inches tall and the cylinder cabinets about 12.5 inches in diameter.

Specs are listed at 88 dB for a 2.8 V input, and a response curve of +/- 3 dB from 25 to 20,000 Hz. 

This whole process is part of a "high end, high value, USA made two channel system" thread I started a couple of months ago on another forum. The electronics are the PS Audio Stellar Gain Pre-amp/DAC and a pair of PS Audio M700 mono amps.

The PS Audio equipment has already elevated the Axiom M100's and Martin Logan Electro Motion ESL speakers in terms of performance. The Axioms have a "twin" available in Brick and Mortar outlets from Bryston called the A1's. 

For reference, other speakers which we have or still have in house include: Klipsch LaScala II's, Legacy Signature SE's, Infinity IRS Sigmas, Ascend Sierras, PSB Strata Goldi, VMPS Super Towers and a host of other speakers. 

The Ohm Walsh speakers have been something about which I have read since 1977 (the year I got the audio bug), but have never had the chance to experience. The SSC-4900's sell for $4900 per pair, though the name and pricing are coincidental. The "4900" is due to the idea that the speakers are "almost a 5000", but with less controls - one switch vs. 4 for the 5000, but also a lower price.

John Strohbeen, who is he president at Ohm and who has been with them for almost 40 years, was gracious enough to spend an hour talking on the phone about our room, the associated gear, and also that there would be a review thread. It was after this discussion that we decided on the SSC-4900's. 

I am purchasing the speakers, not getting a review pair. They are under the 120 day return policy. John is well aware that my daughter sings opera, my son is adept at classical guitar, and that live music is the reference. He was actually quite pleased about this. 

This will be fun (at least for me), and hopefully informative. Comments are welcome. 

I honestly have no idea what to expect from the Walsh sound. They are so different from other speaker designs that the only thing to do is set them up properly and hear what happens! 
craigsub
Time for an update: the speakers have not shipped yet. They are built, but the Ohm is having a hard time with shipping boxes. Another customer had his damaged during shipping, so they are trying something different for the cylinder speakers.

While I understand the delay, it is disappointing that no one called or emailed to inform the delay. I had to call Ohm a week after the expected ship date. 

I will update when they ship.
I talked to John Strohbeen today, and he is "pretty sure" the speakers will ship on Monday, April 23. The new foam inserts for the boxes apparently working well, and they are back on schedule.

The Ohm SSC-4900's have arrived. They got here on Thursday - There is a thread on Home Theater forum which allows posting pictures, so anyone is welcome to visit that thread. It is under forums, the Loudspeakers and Subwoofers sub-forum. I am not sure posting links to other forums is permitted here. 

Here is a copy/paste of the initial set up and first 3 day's of ownership:

""We ordered the speakers in late February, 2018. It took just over 2 months for delivery, with good reason. The speakers are a new model, and are a cylinder in shape. Ohm was having shipping difficulties, and finally, after several weeks of experimenting, they came up with a solution: Ship the cabinets in 2 separate boxes, the drivers in 2 separate boxes and the grills in their own box, for a total of 5 boxes. 


The cabinet boxes are on the left, the driver boxes in the middle, and the grill tops on the right. There was some final assembly required, which took less than an hour, including unboxing the TRIPLE boxes for the cabinets and drivers. (Note - there is a picture here in the HTF thread)

The drivers were mounted on particle board to further protect them during transit. Assembly was simple - plug the drivers into the main cabinets using the "fool proof" connectors (they won't let you accidentally wire the speakers out of phase), then lining the drivers up with the 7 mounting holes and using the supplied screwdriver and screws to secure the drivers to the cabinet.

Next - the binding posts are under the speakers, and are high quality, easily accepting banana plugs. The Ohms were then placed where the Axiom LFR-1100's were located. For now, the subwoofers are still there, although we will "clean up the area" this week when I have more time. For now, we are using the Ohms in a far less than ideal situation. Here they are as they are now placed: (Note - there is a picture here in the HTF thread). 

Initial listening impressions: The Ohm SSC 4900's are unlike any speaker I have ever auditioned. One of the first things that was noticed about the Ohm's is they present sound from an almost "black" background. The impression is similar to a band starting the music from a blacked out stage. You hear music, but it just seems to be a wall in front of you.

Discs being played already are Roger Waters "In The Flesh", Cowboy Junkies "Trinity Session", Steely Dan "2 Against Nature", Bob Seger "Live Bullet" and Diana Krall, "Live in Paris".

Some initial impressions: One can be sitting outside the left speaker, and STILL get a pretty good stereo image, including hearing the right speaker quite clearly. The soundstage is wide and deep, yet vocalist and instruments are placed with excellent location and imaging. Margot's voice on Trinity Session changes as she is singing to us from varying parts of the stage. Lyrics are also really clear and easier to discern than from other speakers we have had.

Even with all the detail, they are also very musical. With most discs, one has favorite tracks and others that one might skip. The Ohms are immersive to the point that I am never tempted to skip a track.

After 3 days of ownership, they are already impressing.
Once you have had enough listening experience, perhaps with and without one or more of your subs in the system, can you please comment on what value the added sub contributes for a) music and b) movies.  Curious if a good sounding sub placement was difficult achieve since it is separate from the speakers.   

Also, can you post a picture showing how the upper grills interface with the top of the cylinder.  It looks like there could be an exposed fastener on the grill ring above the Ohm symbol on the left speaker in the image you posted on the HTF. 

Finally, how have you set the room size switch on the speaker - does the setting make an appreciable difference?

Thanks in advance.  Your guidance will help with my selection process.