Ohm Speakers, thoughts?

Sean, first let me say that I aways enjoy your posts. They are detailed yet succinct. You have the ability to share your impressions with out resorting to hyperbole. To the best of my limited knowldege they are acurate and technically sound. To top it all off you can write. The professionalism of many so called experts palls in comparison. Your response to a query about a classical radio station in Texas drew my awe.
Of all the various incarnations of these speakers, which are your favorites? Which ones might you suggest as worthy of a hunt? Are any of the current models a consideration?
I have been toying with idea of using these speakers set up along the long wall 50% out from the back wall, 25% out from the side walls with the listener midway and against the opposing long wall lined with some absorbing padding directly behind the listener with an all TacT system. Have you any thought on this scheme?
As always, thank you in advance.

Sean,

I think that you are mistaken about the design of the newer Ohm drivers. The reason that I say this is from reading Ohm's literature and from listening to the speakers. If the can was just a woofer/tweeter combination then you would not get the line source type of sound from them. That said I agree with your comments about the speaker's performance. The area where they come up short is that they won't deliver high SPL's. If you try to overdrive them then the protection circuitry will start to kick in. (This happened to me last night. I was running a high blood alcohol level and cranked it up too high). My thoughts about correcting this is to add a separate sub woofer to handle the low end. Unfortunately I can't afford to do this at present. Gold at $350 will change my life. Check out DROOY, HGMCY, and NEM. Take care bud.

7p62mm, i wish i still had the digital pictures of what the insides of those "cans" looked like. I'll just say that i'm NOT "guessing" at what is inside of them.

I have also discussed this with a local dealer. Not only is he a former authorized Ohm dealer, he is known nation-wide for speaker repairs. As such, he has seen the "guts" of many speakers, including the later "Walsh" drivers. In his own words, he stated that the Walsh series used a "conventional" woofer and was not anywhere near the speaker that the A's and F's were. Knowing what was inside of them and also hearing the lack of performance ( compared to earlier models ), he had a hard time selling them. As such, he dropped the line. I think that this may be a large portion of why Ohm can no longer be found in dealerships.

I do have one question for you. Given the overall height of the original F driver, which is 16" tall, what kind of "Walsh" could you fit inside that little mesh "can" ? Now figure out how you're going to mount both a tweeter and crossover components inside that can. Believe me, it's NOT pretty or even well executed.

If you are feeling brave ( don't do it while "relaxing with a drink or two" ), take your "sealed can" apart. While this will affect your attitude of how you look at those speakers after doing that, it should not alter the level of respect that you have for how they sound or their presentation. If you are happy with them and what they do for your musical enjoyment, my suggestion is to STOP looking at threads like this and start listening to more music. I need to take my own advice and do the same thing. I think that we would all be a lot happier. Not only that, i could actually spend time getting things done and quit blowing so much money on stuff that i don't really need : )

Unsound, thanks for the kind words. I do what i can with what i've got. Obviously, that means that i've got too much "unproductive" time : )

I've often wondered about doing something similar to what you discuss. It is something that i will probably check into in the future. Right now, i just have too many other projects going on to consider it.

As to what model i would strive for, i think that this is obvious. I would look for a GOOD set of Ohm F's. Only problem is that many ( if not most of them ) will need an overhaul or have been physically damaged to the point of no return. The foam will have rotted, voice coils may be damaged, the spiders ( part of the driver suspension ) will be sagging, etc... As such, you would be looking at quite an undertaking should you want to take on such a project.

Most people that have these speakers or do purchase a pair have probably never really heard what they are capable of. Those that have will not part with them. Even with the less than optimum performance that they will deliver in the average installation, it has been stated about them ( and i quote from a review ) "The Ohm F is an extraordinary loudspeaker. It has only one driver, which acts as a pulsating cylinder, translating the electrical impulses of the operating amplifier into sound without disturbing the phase relationships of the impulses. What this means in terms of sound quality is remarkable. The "coherent" sound produced by this speaker is clear, full and undistorted. It may well be the finest speaker on the market, and is certainly without a doubt among the top few. It requires a tremendous amount of power to operate: amplifiers of less than 60 watts per channel are just not suitable. But given the proper associated electronics, the Ohm F is capable of providing almost absolute realism in the listening room."

Keep in mind that even most "expert" and "professional" speaker repair facilities HATE working on Walsh drivers and some won't touch them with a ten foot pole. The second pair that i bought was just about ruined by an extremely well respected and well known "speaker rebuilder" and tube gear manufacturer. Even with as poorly as the speaker was performning when he was done with it, it impressed him enough to try and design his own version of it. He is currently marketing them on a direct purchase basis and claims that they work like no other speaker.

I have since had the second set repaired but not without consequence. Needless to say, i don't have many kind words to say about the first "expert" that worked on them. I have thought about starting to repair these drivers myself, but i would first need to find a pair or two of "basket cases" to experiment with. I'm not about to "gut" the two pair that i have for the sake of advancing my knowledge of them. Sean
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Funny, refurbishing my trusty old Ohm C-2's for my HT system about six months ago is what pushed me toward "rejoining" the higher end audio world after a long absence and assembling a separate system. While the C-2's do not have a place in a high-end system, they are very, very nice in their proper place.

Sean,

Maybe what looks like a 'conventional' woofer is actually some new type of driver. A conventional woofer and tweeter would not produce the sound that I get from my speakers. As I've stated previously I don't see how the imaging could be improved. Perhaps the older models are better as you state.
Regards,
7p62mm