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

parasound 1500A:

Continuous Power Output - Stereo:
205 Watts RMS x 2, 20 Hz-20 kHz, 8 Ω, both channels driven
315 watts RMS x 2, 20 Hz - 20 kHz, 4 Ω, both channels driven

Specs say 60 w peak current which sounds good but I suspect much less on average in real life.

Ideally you want the amp to double down from 8 to 4 ohms ie 410 w/ch at 4ohm.

From that spec alone the parasound is probably not the best match to get the best out of most OHMs which from impedance curves I’ve seen can have a drop down to 4 ohm or so in the very demanding mid bass region.

Higher efficiency with the other OHMs no doubt helps. that is what they are designed to do.

You need very robust power supplies capable of fairly continuous high current delivery in an amp to be able to double down to 4 ohms best.

I had an amp with similar power specs originally, a Carver m4.0t 330 or so watts into 8ohm but significant fall off at 4ohm. The sound with my big OHMs was as you describe, loud but not great. Somewhat muddled, less dynamic and less articulate bass. This amp was designed with a tube amp like transfer function. Most tube amps would have similar issues which is why sub with high pass filter on the mains is required for optimal results if using most OHMs with a tube amp. Same Carver amp worked nicely with Magnepans I had prior which needed power but not current.

BTW if newer OHm Walsh speakers do not sound "good" its not because of the parts or build quality. More likely a combo of the stuff upstream feeding them and room acoustics. OR something defective or damaged perhaps. Fact is I throw the kitchen sink at these power and current wise and they just go louder and louder with no sense of strain ever. Cheap speakers don’t do that. Cheap speakers will break up, compress or distort way before things get up to the really fun levels.

Even after all that, hey no product is for everyone. They still might not sound "right" but never have I seen any OHM Walshes be the first one on the team to cry uncle when things get tough. Less so in fact than pretty much any other speaker I own or have ever owned for that matter.  I've never observed  them to be the weak link in the chain.  Throw the kitchen sink at them.  Best thing you can do!

Fantastic, the thread is alive....

Let me start to answer the layout of the main driver and tweeter assembly. Nothing is what you think with the Ohms, normally it would be called smoke and mirrors, but in this case JS has managed to make strawberry pie from potato dumplings and that
is his magic. If you open the "Can" the first thing you see is a round
3/16" thick (varies from speaker to speaker) plywood platform.
This platform is approx the diameter of the backside bottom of the
main driver. On the platform (which is glued to the bottom of the magnet) you will have X-over parts the wiring harness going to the switch network, the tweeter and that's it on the top. On the bottom
is a two inch thick insulation pad made from re-cycled denim.
I have certainly thought over the why of this part and the only reason I can come up with is that the platform by it self would smear the sound stage if left in its raw state.  Here are a few images of the 
platform. Sorry for the state of its shape Etc. But I needed it out 
and removed from the main driver.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/147883144@N08/shares/9K82X5

So I see no issues with an ESS driver, or any other type of driver
above the main driver.

I agree you need beefy power supplies or it's a no go! These speakers are incredibly hard to drive and I can follow the power deliver on the output meters and very few speakers has managed to 
come even close to what both 2/2000 and 4/5000 has managed to do.

Thank you for the input on the tweeter choice, I will mull it over
this week and make some decisions. As for attaching the tweeter
my solution is so deliciously cool that you wish 😜 you thought of it
and I will share very soon.

One more thought on subs. One of the big things youlll find when you add subs is that the stereo width opens up and the delivery is deeper and more palpable (just my take on it.

P...........🇸🇪

When you look at the insides of the "cans", it all makes sense. JS kinda looks like a mad scientist so its only proper that his designs kinda resemble the speaker equivalent of Frankenstein.    To top it all off he found a way to be able to use whatever he chooses that works and not have to worry about appearances.  Pure genius!  :^)

Bondman,

I would not expect partial obstruction above the driver to be an issue in practice given that the driver does not produce the higher frequencies ie the more directional ones that can be more easily absorbed, reflected or diffused.