Ohm Walsh Micro Talls: who's actually heard 'em?


Hi,

I'd love to hear the impressions of people who've actually spent some time with these speakers to share their sense of their plusses and minuses. Mapman here on Audiogon is a big fan, and has shared lots on them, but I'm wondering who else might be familiar with them.
rebbi
"I was talking with John Strohbeen about using them for surround duty, he says they will work fine, but the omni version of them works even better for surround duties."

I think the omni version does not employ the internal damping in the wall facing directions (at least not in the same configuration) and the super tweeter is mounted to face up rather than angled forward. There may be other tweaks as well to go along with these.
Yep, that is basically what is going on in the omni version Map. I would think either one would do a fine job though with proper positioning.

With the time I have played with my 3's in the front left/right, I don't feel a need for a center either. I think that would obviously depend on distance apart/screen size too.

I am still debating the whole surround-sound thing anyway, and it is hard to break with the traditional 2-channel sound that I love and know. But I have found it doesn't mean that you can't do both nearly as well, might just cost a little more! Tim
Guys - I really don't know what version I have. I am the third owner. I looked, and there is no "aim toward center of room" sticker on either speaker. My system is a 7.1 setup, with the MWTs on the sidewalls, just behind my chair, and a pair of Paradigm Atoms on tall stands near the back wall, some 8 feet behind the listening seat.

IMO, the one thing that makes Ohm Walsh speakers ideal for surround applications, other than the omni-dispersion pattern, is the uniformity of the sonics throughout the line. If you keep up with the columns of Kal Rubinson ("Music In the Round" in Stereophile), and other writers on the subject of surround music (not film soundtracks), having a mismatched surround system, especially in the center, is worse than having no surround at all. Problems arise for people like me who have a combined 2-channel/home theater system, since putting a third tower in the center would match the mains, but block the TV. If my experience with the MWTs and the 2000s is any guide, the Ohm Walsh Center should be a very, very close sonic match for the 2000s, making multichannel music a future possibility for me (although for now, I have no multichannel format player, and use non-matching amps and preamps for the mains and center/surround channels). But I could see how Ohm's approach could solve a lot of problems for those with TVs who want to move to surround sound for music and have uniform sound in each channel. Of course, this use of different size Ohm Walsh speakers requires a subwoofer to handle the deep bass that the smaller Ohms and Ohm center channel speaker obviously cannot reproduce in medium size and larger rooms.

Even though they were close, my Vandersteen VCC-1 center did not match exactly the Vandersteen 1C mains and surrounds I replaced with the Ohms. IMO, few manufacturers even aim for identical sound throughout their product line. Even when they do, the center is usually a compromised design, and a poor sonic match for the tower models in the same line. Ohm is one of the few speaker makers that truly has one "sound" that is just scaled for different room volumes.
"Ohm is one of the few speaker makers that truly has one "sound" that is just scaled for different room volumes. "

I suspect OHM might lay claim to being the best at this in particular.
Bond/Map, I totally agree on this. I think that is one reason why I am looking at possibly even doing surround at this point instead of scrapping the whole thing. I have the processor and amps that are all as matched as one could want(within reason/budget). It is a matter of just using my 3/3000's for the fronts, and because I don't have a super-wide space to cover between my L/R fronts, I can get away with not having a center. I just need to come off of some money and buy the MWT's for the rears. I think the voicing will be very seamless/uniform. I very much agree with Kal and others on this point.

My problem will be more along the bass end. I have tried subs, a pair of Velodynes, and my room just is a nightmare to get them positioned and sounding right. I would rather use no subs at all compared to the crap I have been trying to achieve/get through. The good thing is, I don't really care for all that really low bass boom/bang. Hopefully the 3/3000 will do enough of the low end to satisfy me there. I guess there are always 4000/5000's! Right! Enjoy, Tim