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Ownership and Review of a pair of Ohm Super Sound Cylinder

Greetings all - I recently ordered a pair of Ohm Super Sound Cylinder speakers, or SSC-4900's. They are in the middle of the Ohm Walsh lineup, and are about 38 inches tall and the cylinder cabinets about 12.5 inches in diameter.

Specs are listed at 88 dB for a 2.8 V input, and a response curve of +/- 3 dB from 25 to 20,000 Hz. 

This whole process is part of a "high end, high value, USA made two channel system" thread I started a couple of months ago on another forum. The electronics are the PS Audio Stellar Gain Pre-amp/DAC and a pair of PS Audio M700 mono amps.

The PS Audio equipment has already elevated the Axiom M100's and Martin Logan Electro Motion ESL speakers in terms of performance. The Axioms have a "twin" available in Brick and Mortar outlets from Bryston called the A1's. 

For reference, other speakers which we have or still have in house include: Klipsch LaScala II's, Legacy Signature SE's, Infinity IRS Sigmas, Ascend Sierras, PSB Strata Goldi, VMPS Super Towers and a host of other speakers. 

The Ohm Walsh speakers have been something about which I have read since 1977 (the year I got the audio bug), but have never had the chance to experience. The SSC-4900's sell for $4900 per pair, though the name and pricing are coincidental. The "4900" is due to the idea that the speakers are "almost a 5000", but with less controls - one switch vs. 4 for the 5000, but also a lower price.

John Strohbeen, who is he president at Ohm and who has been with them for almost 40 years, was gracious enough to spend an hour talking on the phone about our room, the associated gear, and also that there would be a review thread. It was after this discussion that we decided on the SSC-4900's. 

I am purchasing the speakers, not getting a review pair. They are under the 120 day return policy. John is well aware that my daughter sings opera, my son is adept at classical guitar, and that live music is the reference. He was actually quite pleased about this. 

This will be fun (at least for me), and hopefully informative. Comments are welcome. 

I honestly have no idea what to expect from the Walsh sound. They are so different from other speaker designs that the only thing to do is set them up properly and hear what happens! 
craigsub
craigsub OP
63 posts
 
Mamboni - I have an Axiom EP-800 subwoofer that will eventually be added to the mix. It's a dual 12 inch, sealed subwoofer that is flat anechoically to 13 Hz. I have some pretty good measuring hear at the house, and in our room, the unit provides a flat response to about 10Hz.

Even more important, all signal processing is done via DSP, and a low pass can be set at 30 Hz, perfect to match up with the SSC4900's. The bass quality, to my ears, exceeds even the JL Audio Gotham/Fathom series, and this will allow the Ohm's to enter what one would consider "super speaker" territory.

I haven't matched it in yet, as the review was just for the speakers, which do very well to the upper 20's in bass. John and I talked about this last March, and he is honest to the point where he said adding one of his subs would probably not make for better than what the Axioms would do. And this was also done in the context that I was willing to get a pair of the 5015's (with built in 15 inch subs) at the time.


bondmanp
1,811 posts
 
Having paired my 2000s with a pair of Vandersteen 2Wq subs (with battery-biased crossovers) since I got the Ohm's, I can fully agree with craigsub that adding powered subs to Ohm's, if done properly, takes the Ohms to a whole new level.  Go for it!
djones51
4,947 posts
 
@bondman - I am hopeful I will be as happy as  everyone on the Ohm threads are with their speakers. From my interaction with the company it looks like I need to break-in as much if not more than the speakers,  since I am used to nothing but box type speakers.  When I was discussing amps with Evan he naturally asked what I had which is a Micromega M100 with room correction. He was not familiar with the amp but  researched it and thought it should work OK.  I mentioned my reservations concerning the room correction paired with the Ohm's and could it be utilized. He told me that yes it can be used  but in their experience concerning room correction I should try it with and without, that's when I asked what amps they liked and he said they really like the NAD I memtioned but there are a lot of amps that will work fine.  He said that in his opinion what they have found with room correction in general  is it is coming at the problems that everyday nornmal rooms have from opposite perspectives,  room correction works to remove the room  to produce a good focused listening position and the Ohm's use the room to produce a sort of whole room listening experience, but he did say as a direct answer to my question it can be used. If I end up not using the room correction I might sell the Micromega since that's one of it's main marketing points though it is a very good sounding amp so then again I might keep it.  Might not make sense but it seems like I am not using it as intended and I could probably get an amp better suited to the Ohm's which is why I was wondering what others use with theirs. Sorry for the long post. 
mlsstl
1,436 posts
 
Just my two cents -- I've also posted in the Ohm Micro Tall thread -- I bought a set of Ohm 1000s that were delivered in September and have been enjoying them immensely. (There was a near 40 year gap in my Ohm ownership as I had a set of the original Fs back in the late 70s.)

The sense of real instruments in a space is the strong point of these speakers. While I admire the company's willingness to offer a 120 home trial, there are certain headaches associated with that likely prevents a lot of people from taking them up on it. (Repacking the speakers requires an advanced degree all by itself!) It's a pity that there isn't a way for someone who is simply curious about them to give them a listen outside of a formal trial purchase.

However, as I said before, these speakers are an excellent buy for anyone who is looking for a well-voiced, exteneded range floor standing speaker with a small footprint.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,210 posts
 
Craigsub,

I would agree integrating that Axiom properly with the low pass filter should produce extremely impressive results!

From my interaction with the company it looks like I need to break-in as much if not more than the speakers, since I am used to nothing but box type speakers.


That is very true! When I first got my newer OHM Walshes I was totally befuddled by what I heard and even once again later when I fed them from my current amp a pair of Bel CAnto ref1000m. That despite having owned other older OHM Walsh 2s for over twenty years. But once your ears tune into the different dimensional "omni" sound, if like me, there will be no turning back ever.

NAD amps are a very good cost effective match. Most any good quality amp will do well within its limits. The larger OHMs in particular do respond to power and current though, so I always recommend as much of both as you can throw at them.


Even at Capital Audiofest, where most vendors throw the kitchen sink into their rooms, John S. went with a very modest Outlaw amp to drive the 5015s. It sounded fine especially in the acoustically challenged "room" they were in, but I know from experience, as bondman alludes to, the OHMs will respond and sound different with most any change made upstream. I’ve heard it with even more esoteric tweaks like wires and power cords on pre-amp and DAC not to mention no two DACS, amps or pre-amps sound exactly  the same when things are set up well.

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