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Are Ohm-Walsh micros and 1000 series disrespected because of omni-directional design??

I never was a big fan of Omni-directional speakers because they are often disappointing.  I don't need the sound in back of me or 2 foot to my right or left.  However, I have seen many testimonials for Ohm -Walsh speaker on Audiogon, yet they are infrequently reviewed. 

Therefore, are Ohm-Walsh speakers disrespected because of  their Omni directional design??. I  noticed two issues on their website: 1) how do your determine which micro or tall column will be compatible for the dimensions of your listening area, especially if your listening area is only part of a larger room. 2)  A  buyer can easily mistake  the way they are priced. For example, the OW Talls (w-1000)  are $ 1000 each, NOT $1000 FOR THE PAIR.  So, that model is $2000 a pair, and there is lot of competition from conventional designed speaker, in that price category For example. the Golden Ear Technology. model 7, and the Magneplanar .07 both in the $1400-1500 price range and, some of the PSB towers, like the T-2 or T-3. or Monitor Audio recent series.. 

Would like some feedback about whether this Ohm-Wash design is disrespected  by the major audio press. Are  hardcore audiophile not convinced by the Omni-directional design and results, and so it never gets a f"air shake or serious audition,

sunnyjim
bondmanp
1,808 posts
 

Sunnyjim:  As a happy owner (for 5+ years) of the Ohm Walsh 2000s, I beg to differ with your preconceptions of omni sound in general and Ohm Walsh sound in particular.  You can read my impressions in the review section of this site, as well as on the lengthy "Ohm Micro Walsh Tall, Who's Actually Heard 'Em" thread.


First off, I don't think Ohm is disrespected at all. It is simply off most journalists' radar.  Ohm does not advertise, reducing the chance they will be reviewed by the major audio mags (although if you search for them, they have been reviewed by some of the big-name reviewers in the past).  Ohm only sells direct, so it has no dealer network.  Also, and John Strohbeen, owner of Ohm, told me this personally, he does not do audio shows, as he feels he would not have enough time to properly dial in a system in those notoriously awful sounding hotel rooms.  He is a bit of a perfectionist.


As for the "sound" of omnis, my experience is that they differ as widely one to another as do conventional dynamic speakers in their character, including thier soundstage reproduction.  In fact, my previous speaker, Vandersteen 1Cs, actually projected more sound in front of the speaker plane, and near the listening position, than the Ohms do.  As I have commented, the center fill on the Ohms is outstanding and solid, with stable imaging and well-defined images.  When there is phasey information in the recording, the sound does indeed come from all over the room, but if the recording is straight-up, the soundstage is mostly at or behind the speaker plane.  IMHO, John Strohbeen knows how to voice a loudspeaker extremely well.  That is as much an art as it is a science.


As for the pricing, I don't find prices per speaker as unusual or deceptive, as some may want odd numbers of speakers for surround purposes.  Golden Ear does the same in their advertisements, btw.


I agree that the Golden Ear line offers an excellent value, and had they been available when I was shopping for speakers they would have been in contention.  But it would have been difficult to get a 120 day in-home trial on the GE's like you get with Ohms.  That opportunity to hear the Ohms in my room, with my gear, for an extended period, and allow a lot of break-in, was priceless. 


Without meaning to be harsh, I will quote J. Gordon Holt, founder of Strereophile, who used to say "if you haven't heard it, you don't have an opinion".  If you are shopping for speakers, try the Ohms in your home.  Yes, you will be out the shipping charges if you don't like them.  Or, use this site to find a local Ohm owner and ask for a demonstration.  I've done that before, and would do it for you, except I live in New Jersey.

mapman's avatar
mapman
22,179 posts
 
I'm actually glad OHM does not do shows and explicitly target the high end audio market.  I like their blue collar keep the overhead and prices for good sound as low as can be business model.    Most high end audio companies tend to lean the exact opposite way.
johnnyb53
3,510 posts
 
What Mapman said!!

I still have my Mirage M5si's, which are technically bipole speakers, but have narrow depth to be as omni as possible. I've had them in daily use for nearly 19 years.

I also had Mirage Omnipolars in my 2-channel living room. Omnis sound natural. They generally sound like live music played in a live space. They throw a realistic 3-D soundstage, and as with live music, you can even listen from outside the pair of speakers and still have an even-sounding soundstage, just as you would with live music.

Reviews of omnis frequently mention that "you won't get pinpoint imaging" as you would with mini-monitors or whatnot, but overwhelmingly, you don't get pinpoint imaging in live performances either unless the ensemble is small and you're sitting fairly close.
 
Another thing I learned when I was shopping for speakers two years ago--the overall soundstage and imaging of omnis is not that different from a front-firing speaker with wide dispersion and uniform in-room power response. In other words, good off-axis frequency response. In particular I was auditioning Sonus Faber Venere 2.5s and--although they  have a different overall dispersion pattern--they had a pretty similar forward-firing presentation to my Mirage OMD-15s.

To me, absolute edge-defined pinpoint imaging, while fascinating, is sort of a parlor trick and doesn't often reflect the live music experience.

Unless you're a gotta-have-it pinpoint image junkie, omni directional speakers do just fine, throw a very sociable soundstage, and are less prone to localized suckouts and beaming.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,179 posts
 
"Reviews of omnis frequently mention that "you won’t get pinpoint imaging" as you would with mini-monitors or whatnot, but overwhelmingly, you don’t get pinpoint imaging in live performances either unless the ensemble is small and you’re sitting fairly close. "

Good point.

With the OHMs set up right imaging is about as good as one would expect at a live performance. That’s part of what makes the sound more lifelike and convincing to me. More like a live performance even if a highly mixed recording.   If recorded live and well with simple miking, then bingo, you are there.   Many Mapleshade and Dorian recordings in particular are recorded this way.  Some others as well but only a small minority.
martykl
3,578 posts
 
On most material, I find that the imaging/staging from the Ohms is unusually convincing.  Placement in space is specific enough that sources can easily be located and the spread across the room, between and beyond the speakers, is continuous in way that feels very organic to me.  Further, there's a sense of weight and body to those localized images that strikes me as unusually natural sounding (vis a vis designs using narrower dispersion patterns).  I never quite understood this criticism of omnis.  It's even less appropriate to the MBL speakers, which (tho they have tonality issues to my ear) are about as SOTA in this area as anything I've ever heard.
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