Ohm Walsh Micro Talls: who's actually heard 'em?

Here is a link to the coverage Stereophile gave the Ohms.
http://www.stereophile.com/content/nyas-2016-day-one-jim-austin#32si0iLbhryvqxkY.97

I wasn't there to have a listen, but I have to say that I have never heard the "abundance of ambience" that he was talking about. One comment that did strike me and I wish reviewers would learn to acknowledge and identify their own listening bias is that laser sharp imaging that so many seem to want in hifi today that is not what "real" music sounds like.

Laser sharp imaging is an artifact of stereo speakers and is a design choice and not a sign of quality or increased desirability. I have seen folks slight Magnepans before for a lack for a lack of razor sharp imaging. Yet again if you look at Magnepan and Ohm's marketing material it is about recreating live music. Most speakers are not about recreating live music.

Interesting that Austin seemed to equate extended highs with excess, or unwanted ambience.  The Ohms are anything but tipped-up iin the treble.  I think they might even be a tad rolled off in the highs.  To be sure, the Ohm room did not sound as good as my own system.  I have a better front end, better acoustics, better amplification, and I have dialed them in as well as my space permits, including giving my 2000s more space than John had in the hotel room.  In my fantasy, John Strohbeen visits my man cave and opines on my system setup.  I bet he might have some positive suggestions, but I also think he would like what he heard.

My Ohms were dialed in pretty well in my room. I continued to fiddle with placement, but consistently returned to the same position time and time again.

Honestly if I were to fault the Ohms it would be a tendency to have instruments sound like they are radiating directly off the tweeter, a lack of full resolution like a ribbon or Heil driver, and build quality which is just not up to snuff for a speaker at the price of the Ohms. I have seen other internet direct vendors build speakers for less than a quarter of what I paid for the Ohms that are built twice as well. An abundance of ambience would not be something that I would suggest. There were recordings that sounded large or chambered, but it was the recording and the same effect was present on other speakers in my room.

I continue to wonder how could my Walsh 2000s would sound if they were built to more exacting standards.

The sound of either pair of mine is totally detached from the speaker. Cannot tell where they are exactly with eyes closed. They never show any signs of strain and no noise that should not be there no matter how loud played off 500w/ch amp. So based on the overall quantity and quality of sound delivered, I’d have to say they are very well built and hard to match in their price range based on that alone.

Both of my pair use older refurbed pyramid shaped cabinets. Perhaps that helps.