Ohm Speakers Status Update

When I first got into audio in 2016 the first two places I went were Audio Connection in Verona, NJ and the Ohm factory in Brooklyn, NY. Ultimately, I chose the Vandersteen 1ci as my first speaker, but the sound of the Ohm 1000's have haunted me ever since. 

I look at the used market every day and these speakers seldom come up for sale and if they do they're sold quickly. I spoke to Evan last week and inquired about the 1000 Tall. Unfortunately, due to supply issues the 1000 is back ordered by a few months. 

I put myself on the notification list to alert me when they're back in stock. But I am committed to finally owning a pair. 

Long live Ohm!

It's great to hear that the name and the speakers will still be with us!

Continuing legacy is always appreciated.

Glad to see that update!

For anyone interested, Ohm has a place in Facebook that gets a lot of activity from devoted  owners.  Check it out!

Since the ‘80’s I was interested in and wondered how these Ohm Walsh Omni speakers sound but could not afford them.  After many years away from this hobby due to other priorities and interests I decided to get back into this hobby 3 years ago.  A couple months ago I finally picked up a used pair of Ohm  Walsh Tall 2000’s.  They have not disappointed and sound great in my living space. Sooo glad to hear that Ohm with Evan and all are keeping the deserving unique brand on the market.  Ohm’er for Life!

@audionoobie  Interesting.  I also bought a pair of Vandy 1Cs from a local Jersey dealer.  This was in 2000.  I since added a pair of 2Wq subs.  I upgraded my electronics until I felt that I had taken the 1Cs as far as they could go.  The natural upgrade would have been the 2Ci, but they were too large for my small man cave.  My search for an upgrade led me to the Walsh 2000s, new at the time.  I bought them without an audition, and never looked back.  With the Vandy subs, these things just kill it in every genre.  My review is posted in the review section.  It was a great move.  If you can swing it, keep looking for a pair of Walsh Talls.  They won't disappoint.

A tidbit of history for all you Ohm lovers:

In 1972, as a fledgling audiophile, a friend & I happened to find ourselves at the old Tech Hifi in Cambridge, MA where I bought my first serious hifi system.  Just for fun, because I couldn't afford toys like this on a poor college student's budget, one of the salespeople treated us to a pair of Ohm F, powered first, by a big Phase Linear amp and immediately thereafter, a big McIntosh rig.  We did the same with a pair of Bose 901.  Can't remember if the 901 came first or second but, in my and my friend's opinions, the clear and indisputable winner of that shoot-out were the Ohm F speakers!  No question!  It was a sound my mind's ear will remember forever.

The following year, I returned to Tech Hifi to upgrade a pair of Studiocraft bookshelf speakers and spent a few hours doing shoot-outs with the likes of AR, EPI, Bose 301, Advent and probably a few other speakers in a similar price point.  I have to say I liked all of the speakers I heard that day but, eventually, came home with a pair of Ohm C that served me very well into the mid 90s.  I had them re-foamed once.  In fact, a few audiophile friends with much more expensive and higher end systems than mine, at the time, often remarked, when visiting, they couldn't believe how good the Ohm C sounded.  One friend in particular, at the time, who owned a pair of Bose 901 and a big Yamaha integrated, after a few visits, uttered something to the effect of:  "Damn!  Those things sound better than my 901!

I don't know what kind of magic Ohm used in those days to accomplish that level of sound fidelity but, as far as my ears were concerned, it was nothing short of audiophile alchemy!  I would love to hear their new stuff.  

Years ago I had an Ohm F and had a love hate relationship with them and finally sold the less that a year after I bought them. They sounded great, but I had a few issues with them. Some was the design and some was the room and some was me.☺️

I am glad to hear that the company is still with us and look forward to hearing a newer version in a proper room.

Two years with my Walsh Talls 3000. 11' ceilings in a factory loft setting, brick walls front and 28' behind me. Expansive sound stage and no big deal with moving out of a sweet spot position.  

The new shop is in Bridgeport, Conn. - a block form where I grew up and went to school through 6th grade. 

@oldaudiophile Interesting. When I worked briefly at Sixth Avenue Electronics in NJ, we sold Bose and a few decent brands, like NHT and Paradigm.  The Bose were on display only in a separate alcove.  They were not allowed to be displayed where they could be compared to other speakers.  That was the Bose rule!

@veemike Veemike, when you say "(the) new shop is in Bridgeport, Conn.", does that mean there is a shop there where one could hear the new Ohm stuff?  If so, name of the shop & address, please?  Also, do you know if the Ohm factory or headquarters has a sound or showroom?

Also, with respect to room placement, I haven't read much about this relative to the new Ohm speakers.  How do you think they would do in a 30' X 18' living room with wall-to-wall carpeting, the usual comfy furniture, 9' solid wood ceiling and 7.5" solid wood walls (log cabin)?  The wall behind the speakers, however, would be typical sheet rock.  Also, my particular room placement constraints would not allow me to put more than 2' behind speakers and the sheetrock wall and wouldn't allow more than 6.5 feet separation between left & right channels.  Listening position or sweet spot would be approximately 9' from the speakers.  Room placement makes all the difference with most speakers.

@bondmanp You mentioned the names of two speaker bands I adored.  Heard a pair of NHT floor-standers probably around 30 years ago that were absolutely stunning (in a good way, of course)!  Can't remember the model number.

As for the Paradigm, I owned a pair of Monitor 9 that I loved for about 20 years or so.  I upgraded them around 3 or 4 years ago to a pair of Revel F206.  Like my old Ohm C, all my audiophile friends with much more expensive systems than mine were amazed by the Paradigm and just couldn't believe they sounded significantly better than their much more expensive speakers.  Only reason I upgraded them (speakers; not my audiophile friends) was because I upgraded my amp.  This speaker upgrade, like most, was not an easy one!  I, and an audiophile friend, spent the better part of 6 or 7 months on an intensive quest to find something that would wow me significantly above & beyond the old Paradigm, eventually seriously auditioning somewhere around 16 or 17 different brands & models.  I was trying to keep the upgrade budget under 3K (new or gently used).  While I found a few things that were at least as good as my old Paradigm, when most people "upgrade", so to speak, I think they/we want demonstrably better.  Personally, I want that "wow" feeling, especially when spending serious cash.  Ultimately, I discovered I wasn't going to get that for less than 3.5k.  The best I and my audiophile friend heard on this quest within that price point was a pair of used Aerial Acoustics 6T that could have been had for around 3.5K (7K new).  Unfortunately, these babies really require more juice than my amp can provide in order to really make them sing.  This is the major daunting issue about this "hobby", isn't it?  Ultimately, one "upgrade" leads to another until you are faced with upgrading the biggest and most important component of them all ... your house ... or building a dedicated sound room.

The new Ohm facility is around the corner, literally, from where I grew up and went to grammar school 55-60 years ago - 540 Barnum Ave., Bridgeport, CT 06608. They are occupying space in the old Singer Sewing Machine that was HQ and manufactured back-in-the-day in Bridgeport. 

Ohm informed me that they are close to finishing a showroom and listening room. 

With help from Evan at Ohm I ended up placing my Walsh Tall 3000 only about 12" from the front wall and only about 6.5' apart with me in a listening position 9' away. That would not have been (and wasn't) my idea of a proper setup for these omni directional speakers. I was more inclined to set up per PS Audio's Paul McGowan's The Loudspeaker suggestions.  But Evan knew instantly that their speakers break the mold of the typical box speaker.  So they are sounding best 12" from front wall, 6.5' apart and almost 9' from my listening position. 

Keep in mind that these speakers have a wide sweet spot. You are not cemented to a tightly defined listening position. 

@veemike my big Ohm F5s I’ve owned since 2008 are set up in a very similar configuration in my decent size L shape room. Listening to them as I type. They are tuned in perfectly these days and oh my. 

@veemike -- "Keep in mind that these speakers have a wide sweet spot. You are not cemented to a tightly defined listening position."

I have a set of Ohm 1000s that I really, really enjoy. Besides their very natural voicing, I agree that one of their other best traits is the enormous sweet spot.  I can't tell you how much I enjoy being able to move around and have the sound image remain realistic, unlike most speakers where the presentation goes south as soon as you're out of the one magic spot. 

The best description for me is it is like listening to live music.  It is still realistic no matter where you are in the room.