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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? 
128x128redstarwraith
frazeur1
345 posts
 
For starters, use cubic feet and Ohms chart for the correct speaker, so if your ceilings are 8’, then your measurement is going to be 2824, which puts you right at the upper edge of the 2000. Sometimes with overlapping numbers, you can chose based on budget and quality of bass end you require. If you have more questions or concerns, John or Evan can assist you further on the matter. Sometimes, there are no hard rules, but recommendations based on experience. Every room can be different based on materials of construction, how well or not it is damped, etc.

As to the amplification end, a budgetary number may help readers here give you potential recommendations. I always felt my Ohms liked the power/current drive in general, as to whether or not a pro audio amplifier versus a typical “audiophile” model will do things any better or differently ultimately comes down to your own ears, use them!

I am sure there will be the usual suspects along to assist! Have fun!
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,500 posts
 
You’ve gotten good advice from John Strohbeen.

Yes they like power and current so throw as much of that at them as you can within your particular budget.

Class D amps in general are a very good way to go.

There is a calculator on the Ohm site to help pick the speaker based on room measurements. That’s as cut and dry as it gets.

Getting speakers that are too big will just produce too much bass in the room. No advantage. If you are a bass hound, maybe go one size larger rather than smaller given the choice.

Or if you have the budget and want the flexibility to use in different size rooms best, spring for the 5000 series that has on board adjustments to fit most any room.
redstarwraith's avatar
redstarwraith OP
17 posts
 
Ah, okay. Cubic feet makes sense! Turns out my guesstimation was not far off the mark: 2824 cubic feet puts me in the 2000 Tall category (or 3000s if I wanted). 
helomech
1,737 posts
 
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. 



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