Dynaudio or Ohm?

The thing about the OHMs is over teh years I have run them indoor and out, off many amps of all sizes, and they are never the bottleneck. They can take whatever you throw at them, at most any level. Most amps will clip before the OHMs reach their limit. Plus, I have never had an amp manage to damage one at any volume, indoors or out. I'm sure they are not indestructable, but for all practical purposes, they may be the most so of anything out there. Plus all moving and delicate parts are enclosed and never exposed where nasty things can happen by accident. I would never let small children near my Dynaudios but there is little they could do to the OHM Walshs save perhaps knock them over or maybe tear the grill cloth if they really tried.

Also I would agree with Polarin's comments.

If you want to listen critically from anywhere in the room and not just a small sweet spot, then the choice is automatic. That's a big one for me personally. But the sweet spot done well is pretty darn good as well.

Currently I have a 60 w/ch Bel Canto c5i Integrated Amp driving my smaller OHM 100s3s in my family room and teh bigger OHMs and the Dynaudios in more dedicated listening rooms downstairs.

The c5i/OHM combo can't match the other running off 500w/ch ref1000m amps in terms of going loud and delivering the goods with large scale recordings at realistic volumes, but otherwise still goes plenty loud for most things and the combo is still one of the best I have assembled over the years up to its limits.

The ref1000m/OHM F5 S3 combo is still the best I have assembled overall ever by far and I feel that one can be compared fairly with any of the big boys I have heard in various places over the years.

The ref1000ms with the smaller Dynaudio Contour 1.3 mkII speakers in a much smaller room is absolute top notch as well with some minor limitations though in that it cannot be considered quite as full range as many. I run the smaller OHM 100S3 in taht room in place of the Dyns sometimes and with those, there is nothing more practically to want in there (my 12X12 office/listening room).

Thanks, Polarin. We're all critical listeners at times, but I think you made your point.

I'm not looking for a detailed speaker with crisp highs (as so many modern spkrs are). I'm looking for a natural presentation where I can enjoy symphonic music or a string quartet with realistic timbre and concert hall ambience.

And you used the term I wanted to hear; that these speakers are "keepers."

Mapman, I'm not limited to low volume listening by any means, but I wanted to get a sense of how they perform. Low volume is the Dynaudio's weak spot; just like you said, the lows and the highs are not as present.
I read that the Ohm driver can be fitted with a higher range tweeter if needed, do you know about this?

The ref1000m/OHM F5 S3 combo is still the best I have assembled overall ever by far and I feel that one can be compared fairly with any of the big boys I have heard in various places over the years.

This says a lot. It answers my question if the Ohms are good enough to build a system around. After this speaker purchase, my next move is to upgrade my preamp and I want a speaker that's in it for the long haul.

One last question...
I'd like some clarification on some aspects of the Ohm's. They project a wide, deep image where the soundstage is at the front of the room. The instrument position; eg, a guitar, is constant while the listener moves in space.
No additional sound comes from behind the listener, correct?

In the case of an orchestra on stage, the presentation would be as realistic as my electronics will allow. I have a low noise floor, so would the imaging present a good separation of instruments? I understand Ohms are not the last word in detail, but I'm looking for a realistic and natural reproduction of the concert hall.

Thanks so much for your help, guys. Especially Mapman.

Glad to share what I can.

"They project a wide, deep image where the soundstage is at the front of the room."

True.

"The instrument position; eg, a guitar, is constant while the listener moves in space."

If location is clearly located in the recording and location remains constant then yes. Most recordings should but not all.

"No additional sound comes from behind the listener, correct?"

In most rooms with most recordings, no. But room acoustics play a factor. If the room is very lively behind teh listening position it is more possible. I seldom hear anything from behind me in any of my rooms. I can only think of of brief moments on one or two music recordings when that has occured. The one that comes to mind is when Mel Torme hits and holds a note perfectly for a good 5-10 seconds in "the Classic Concert" on Concord CD. The perfect resonance of his voice sounds like you are surrounded. Quite startling and impressive actually, but not a common thing at all.

"In the case of an orchestra on stage, the presentation would be as realistic as my electronics will allow. I have a low noise floor, so would the imaging present a good separation of instruments?"

Again a function of recording and setup and room size and acoustics and listening position (listening perspective from where you are seated, much like at a live concert), but again that is what I would expect when things are going well. That is the case in my main setup where I am able to optimize everything. In my family room setup which is less optimized out of necessity, not as much but that is the case there with any speaker I use. So like most things, it depends.

"I understand Ohms are not the last word in detail, but I'm looking for a realistic and natural reproduction of the concert hall."

The detail is hard to fault when set up right, when you are getting that big well defined soundstage, but they are not bright or etched at all. They excel with good live recordings. The only thing I have heard better is larger mbls in a much larger tailored showroom. The same mbls at most shows are nothing special. So as is typically the case its all in the setup and getting things optimized accordingly.