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How do Walsh Ohm Speakers compare to Thiels?

Hi, 

I am listening to Thiel CS5's right now with a Prima Luna Dialogue Premium preamp, Coda CS amp, and Hegel HD25 DAC.

My problem is that the Thiel CS 5's may be a bit large for my room, which is 25 by 15 by 9. Due to room constraints (support pole in the middle of the basement), I am forced to set the speakers three feet from the front wall. They are about 8.5 feet apart and my listening spot is ten feet away. 

I cannot get the speakers to "disappear" which I suspect is due to not being far enough from the the front wall. I have bass traps in the front wall corners and across the front wall ceiling.

So, the upgrade bug is sneaking around in my mind and I am thinking about Walsh Ohms given their very wide sweet spot and so many positive comments. There also seem to be good comments about their sound stage.

Can anyone share their experience with Thiels and Walsh Ohms or any other suggestions? I also have a pair of Thiel CS3.6's, which are good speakers, but are blown away by the CS5's in terms of the mid range and treble.

Thanks for listening to this!

Dsper
dsper
jsm71
141 posts
 

If you feel you need to get your speakers out into the room more for them to disappear, and you can't do that with the Thiels, you might be disappointed looking at Omni-directional speakers.  Every Omni speaker I've heard does best well out into the room where their 360 degree dispersion creates the 3D effect they are known for. 

Do you have the Thiels facing straight forward or are you toeing them in?  Have you experimented with this aspect?  That is often a variable to achieve the disappearing act.

I still have Thiel CS3s now doing HT duty, but as good as they sounded when I used them for 2 channel, disappearing wasn't a strong suit.  Maybe my setup wasn't optimal either.

tomic601's avatar
tomic601
12,911 posts
 
try Jim Smiths excellent book first !!!!!!
 hone your setup
first
buy a Leica disto ($59) it will change your life
stringreen's avatar
stringreen
6,468 posts
 
To make my speakers disappear, I put squares of carpet on the floor right in front of both speaks, getting rid of an unwanted floor reflection.
beetlemania
834 posts
 
try Jim Smiths excellent book first !!!!!!

Great advice! The Thiel CS5 is said to be one of Jim Thiel's best designs. Might as well put in the effort to get the room and placement right before trying a different speaker.
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