Ohm Speakers, thoughts?

Just to throw a curveball into this discussion - how about the Wolcott Omni-Directional speakers?

Wolcott supposedly makes some of the most impressive high-power tube amps available, I wonder if this extends to their speaker?

Dale,

I did understand your point. I found your treatise interesting.

My goal with these speakers was to achieve a certain sound.
If my goal had been to acquire something conforming to the original engineering design, I wouldn't have bothered with the trial.

When I considered Ohm's 30-year history of offering upgrades and support and the no-risk trial, there was little downside to hearing how the new and different design compared to the originals.

In spite of the obvious design differences between the current Walsh drivers and the original Lincoln Walsh design, I can tell you that the sound from the new series 3 drivers is close to the original F's. Not identical, but close. In some ways, better.

Kudos to you for pursuing your interest in the original design. I'm also curious how your drivers sound. I'll remain interested in how that effort progresses.

TEchnically, Ohm does refer to the drivers in their "Walsh" product line as "Coherent Line Source" (CLS) drivers on their web site, not as Walsh Drivers. My understanding is the CLS drivers incorporate design principles that were realized in Ohms early Walsh design speakers, the A and F. They are realized somewhat differently now with the CLS drivers, but with the same sonic design goals in mind.

One of the key new factors (requirements) driving the CLS design was cost effectiveness. The fact that Ohm is still in business after 30-40 years still selling innovative speaker designs and supporting all past models as well is truly a great testament to their approach.

This topic has been covered in depth in other threads on Audiogon that I've read. I believe someone even provided a link to a patent document relating to the CLS drivers.

To my way of thinking comparing old Ohms with Walsh drivers to new Ohms with pistonic drivers, is something akin to comparing dynamic planars to electostatics. They may look similar and they may share some dispersion qualites, but they are still very different.
If you enjoy them , that's what counts, but lets not suggest they are the same thing. It's ironic that other manufactures such as Dale and to a lesser degree Huff and some German Physiks are more like the original Walsh Ohms than Ohms present day Ohms.

I think this will be my last comment on this thread.

I've always desired a pair of Ohm F's or A's in proper working condition. My only reservation would be the common assertion that they were not made to be played at very high decibel levels, which is a requirement for me. Apparently there are still a few around today that have been built or rebuilt properly that I could acquire if I was really determined.

My solution for a reasonable cost to meet my requirements was a pair of Ohm f5s, the best drivers Ohm sells today, that can play really loud and clear with the right amplifiers, mounted in refurbished and modified Ohm F cabinets.

So the bottom half of these speakers at least look the same as the original legendary Ohm Fs that I never got to hear. And some who have heard both believe they sound very similar even though 30 years apart in design, which makes me feel even better.

To me they represent a fine combination of the best of the old and the new.

Cheers!