omnidirectional sound

Mapman
How do we start a more in depth conversation on Ohm speakers?
Thanks.

Ask away I guess either here on this thread or send me an email via agon.

The Ohms are excellent speakers IMO, and they're substantially omnidirectional, so they'd be a good choice if you want one set of speakers to "fill the house". MBL, HHR, Duevel, and Mirage are well known alternatives, but your budget and your required volume levels may be important factors here.

The MBLs are capable of much higher SPLs than most speakers, so they'd be an excellent choice for listening from a distance. OTOH, they're (IMHO) less neutral (particularly through the bottom end) and vastly more expensive than the Ohms. I haven't heard the HHRs, but in conversation with Dale, he has indicated that the speakers have somewhat limited maximum output levels. They're also pretty expensive vis a vis Ohms. If you're looking to keep the expenditure under five figures, the HHR and MBL options are probably moot anyway.

Duevel is another expensive omnidirectional option, but they have one model (Planet) that's less pricey. I haven't heard that speaker and distribution was severely limited, last I looked. If you can figure out how to hear them, it might be worth the effort.

At lower price points, that leaves Ohm and Mirage as the main omnidirectional speaker options that are (AFAIK) widely available. I can't speak to Mirage (haven't heard 'em in years), but you may want to investigate this brand, too. As to the Ohms, they're sold direct with an in-home, money back trial period, so you can give it a shot if you're willing to deal with the potential hassle of returning them if you're not happy with the sound.

You could also go the Sonos/Blue-Sound route and add multiple zones to your home. You could probably link your system and add a couple of zones for about $1500 - more or less an Ohm price point. This approach represents a different set of trade-offs, but it's one more way to skin your particular cat.

Good luck.

Marty

I have also been an Ohm owner and could recommend them as well as a couple others. I also own Larsen Model 4's and Shahinian Obelisk 2's. While these are omni-types, they all do things a bit different. Definately, they all have a very open and spacious sound stage.

I would also say that Shahinian seems to get a big nod to classical music, I think this is because Richard Shahinian is a huge classical fan, but I have found them to work extremely well with all types of music, pop, rock, jazz, it all sounds good on them. Likewise the Ohm and Larsen do not seem to be "music specific", and I am not so sure any speaker really is to a large degree.

All three of the above have slightly different placement considerations, the Ohms can be used say around a foot from the wall behind them, the Larsens are to be positioned hard against the wall and Shahinians tend to like as much space around them as you can give them.

Don't know what your budget and system includes now, but maybe some of these options would work.

The OHM Walshes are a solid choice if you need options to go as loud as needed, like a neutral sound that lends itself well to all kinds of music and are looking for good quality coherent sound from most any location in the room. They have a much larger than average "sweet spot".

OHM does run sales on occasion, usually in May/June before closing for a couple weeks of summer vacation in July. The outlet section of the web site lists special models available at that time, usually latest and greatest drivers in refurbed older cabinets that cost less than all new cabinets.

OHM also offers up to 40% discount for trading in up to two pair of older models with cabinets that can be refurbed, last I heard. One might pick up older OHMs on ebay for very little and trade them in for a profit towards newer speakers. Between trade-ins and specials, the discounts possible are substantial. Plus they are usually pretty good about helping to find the best model/solution in each case.