History on ohm A's and F's.

AudioFeil-
what do you think of the new 5-S3? I would like the MBL but too much money. Looking for something that is amazing and these have come up.. Thoughts?

I participated in some exchanges here on A'gon threads with Dale Harder a few months back, but not recently.

He seems most knowledgeable regarding what it takes to get a pure Walsh driver like those found in old A's and F's operating properly and has shared that info in the form of a guide both here on Agon and on Ebay. It is an extremely challenging task to accomplish in practice, as I understand it. I have also seen ads he has posted for both Ohm As and Fs here on Agon that he has completely refurbished for $5-6 grand (about the same price as a pair of new Ohm Walsh 5's) and they looked very nice. Would love to be able to hear them someday.

The closest things to Ohm As and F's today design wise are probably the larger and extremely expensive German Physics designs and Ohms own Walsh line based on the CLS driver.

I have heard most all Ohm box speaker designs from that era but never As or Fs so I cannot comment on their sound other than saying that many who did hear them remain dedicated.

Newer Walsh CLS speaks are definitely easier to drive (though the larger models still require very good amplification to do their best), are easier to locate relative to walls and are less problematic and more reliable overall.

The newer Ohm CLS speaks have better specifications on paper, but I have heard some Ohm F fans state that they do not think the newer Ohms have the same "magic" as the Fs.

Pedrillo,

One other thing of interest is that Ohm's website indicates that newer Walsh 5 speakers, like those like the F5s in my system, can be set to sound identical to original Ohm As using a certain combination of the 4 range level adjustments on the Walsh 5 cage.

My experience with most assertions on the Ohm site is that they are usually on target, for what it is worth.

I tried this with my system and found it a bit bass heavy in my larger 30X20 L shaped listening room. I've used similar settings in that room most recently but with the relative bass levels lowered somewhat.

In the current 12X12 main listening room I currently have the F-5s in (where I have access to best speaker cables, etc.), I lower the bass even further otherwise my fixtures will start to vibrate and I might well be driven out of the room at even moderate to higher level SPLs.

The weight, dynamics and overall impact the Walsh CLS speaks provide though when properly matched to room size is an exhilarating experience you will most likely never get with electostats or planar designs which may otherwise sound similar.

The Ohms and Maggies are the only speaks I can afford that I ever found endearing when set up properly with classical music but the Maggies alone cannot touch the Ohms in regards to overall power and impact.

The 5-S3 is a nice speaker, a good value.

However, it is not an Ohm F but nothing else is either.

The F is among my favorites of all time which includes Apogee Duetta, Quad 57, and Magnepan 20. You can see I am partial to panels or speakers that replicate the imaging of panels.

One drawback to the F was the lack of SPL. I believe the sensitivity was around 82dB. Very few amplifiers back then could drive them to rock and roll volumes that we were accustomed to vis a vis the other contemporary speakers such as ESS, RTR, Infinity, JBL, etc.

I remember listening to my Phase Linear 700B in 1973 getting sucked dry during the opening heartbeat from Dark Side of the Moon. Even at reasonable SPL the Phase Linear was gasping for breath and out of gas.

Great memories of the speakers and the recreational medication.

Audiofeil,

Have you heard Walsh 5 series 3? What electronics have you heard with them?

I'd be curious for a comparison between 5 series 3 and properly functioning Fs if you've heard both.