History on ohm A's and F's.

Considerably better.
My measurements were made in the far field at 10 to 12 feet from the pair. 95db to 98db was routine.

These volumes were with less than 10 watts average on my system. Though I can not accurately measure the peak demands.

I use Antique Sound Labs DT-200 Hurricane mono blocks that have been highly modified. IMHO, these tube amps are pretty dynamic and have lots of head room. The Walsh drivers sound very open and articulate on these. I find that tubes are a good compliment for speakers. More so than anything but the best SS amps.

BTW,for those who don't know, I forgot to mention that I am also a rep for Piere Sperry's Mapleshade products. Mapleshade is a great producer of fantastic CD's and a wide selection of some very fine accessories including plinths, wood bases, equipment racks and ribbon cables. Pierre also gives away an enormous amount of FREE set-up and tweak info. www.mapleshaderecords.com

Dale

I don't know how many Ohm A's and F's were sold, but due to the power requirements and various other reasons, I doubt they were exactly ubiquitous. Let us remember that the OHM Walsh A's and F's are now over 35 and 25 years old respectivley. Furthermore, due to their unique design, I would think it would be fair to reason that some may have compromised by less than qualified repair efforts. I seem to recall that both Dale Harder and Bill Legall of Miller Sound have made claims that they have solved some of the issues re: the OHM A's and F's, including the alleged reliability issues. I'd imagine that many speakers of that era might need some maintenance. According to the Ohm web site, it was not failure rate that made them abandon the true Walsh drivers, but rather an inability to replace the skilled labor force that had been lost. The original titanium DDD driver was reputed to be somewhat delicate as well.
I will admit that I am not the least bit qualified to make an accurate assessment, but it appears to me that the new OHM's appear to me to be much more similar to a pistonic dynamic driver than to a true Walsh driver. Perhaps, it's just me, but I find Ohms web sites use of audio buzz words to be confusing if not indeed misleading.
I don't mean to condemn the German Physiks offerings. That the lower frequencies, that most consider to be percieved as omni-directional in nature anyway are passed on to another driver may appear to be less elgant, but doesn't perturb me. The newer carbon fiber drivers appear to be a very good evolution. If I could personally justify the expense of these designs, they would certainly be at the top of my short list.
I can't help but wonder if either or both German Physiks or Dale Harder could manage to use a sub that maintains time and phase coherence in the same way that some manufacturers of more traditional cone and dome speakers have, with their Walsh inspired concepts. Or better yet, develop a larger perhaps differently tappered Walsh like driver to be truely full range? And while your at it (Ha!) let's not forget the dynamic contrasts that allow for appropriate loudness are an integral part of music, for both headbangers and "serious" music afficandos.
I sincerely encourage those who choose to pursue the development of these types of speakers, and I would like to to especially encourage the development of ones that could be afforded by the masses. Good luck!

Dale,

I would absolutely love to hear a set of your speakers. I think that the promise of the Walsh concept has not yet been 100% fulfilled, but I remain a big fan of the concept (which is why I became the importer for German Physiks).

Where are you located?

Hello Unsound...
Please go back and read my responses of earlier today especially regarding the sub. This would be my first post on the 27th.

Regarding the Ohm numbers, sources have said that about 10,000 F's were made and around 60 A's. I do not have this on full authority, however.

Ohm basically stopped making the units because of the warranty policy they maintained. It was no problem, "no questions asked". "Blow 'em up and well repalce 'em". So many people just got very rambunctious and kept on turning them up until they blew up. Hey why not?! Ohm will replace them. They could easily have trained other people to make them, but it was easier and more cost effective to just let them disappear.

Not to mention they are exceedingly hard to manufacture, just like the DDD's are.

You are indeed correct. Ohm's use of the Walsh buzzwords are somewhat ambiguous, but there is some Walsh concept in their new products.

Csommovigo...Thank you..
You are invited at anytime to come and see, feel, touch, hear and enjoy.
I am 5 min from Cleveland Hopkins Airport in Parma Ohio.
This invitation is open to anyone. Just give a call and I will gladly set up a time for you.

I also agree, the Walsh concept has much more developement left in it.

Dale

Hi Dale,

Thanks for the invite. I'd like to come for a visit after the frost! ;-)

Chris