Ownership and Review of a pair of Ohm Super Sound Cylinder


Greetings all - I recently ordered a pair of Ohm Super Sound Cylinder speakers, or SSC-4900's. They are in the middle of the Ohm Walsh lineup, and are about 38 inches tall and the cylinder cabinets about 12.5 inches in diameter.

Specs are listed at 88 dB for a 2.8 V input, and a response curve of +/- 3 dB from 25 to 20,000 Hz. 

This whole process is part of a "high end, high value, USA made two channel system" thread I started a couple of months ago on another forum. The electronics are the PS Audio Stellar Gain Pre-amp/DAC and a pair of PS Audio M700 mono amps.

The PS Audio equipment has already elevated the Axiom M100's and Martin Logan Electro Motion ESL speakers in terms of performance. The Axioms have a "twin" available in Brick and Mortar outlets from Bryston called the A1's. 

For reference, other speakers which we have or still have in house include: Klipsch LaScala II's, Legacy Signature SE's, Infinity IRS Sigmas, Ascend Sierras, PSB Strata Goldi, VMPS Super Towers and a host of other speakers. 

The Ohm Walsh speakers have been something about which I have read since 1977 (the year I got the audio bug), but have never had the chance to experience. The SSC-4900's sell for $4900 per pair, though the name and pricing are coincidental. The "4900" is due to the idea that the speakers are "almost a 5000", but with less controls - one switch vs. 4 for the 5000, but also a lower price.

John Strohbeen, who is he president at Ohm and who has been with them for almost 40 years, was gracious enough to spend an hour talking on the phone about our room, the associated gear, and also that there would be a review thread. It was after this discussion that we decided on the SSC-4900's. 

I am purchasing the speakers, not getting a review pair. They are under the 120 day return policy. John is well aware that my daughter sings opera, my son is adept at classical guitar, and that live music is the reference. He was actually quite pleased about this. 

This will be fun (at least for me), and hopefully informative. Comments are welcome. 

I honestly have no idea what to expect from the Walsh sound. They are so different from other speaker designs that the only thing to do is set them up properly and hear what happens! 
craigsub

@craigsub - Thanks for the update.  To us Ohm owners, your experience is not at all surprising. 

I also run my Ohms with powered subwoofers, and I am thrilled with this combo.  Obviously, care should be taken to position and blend the sub(s) optimally with your mains.

Tonight’s disc of choice was "Unplugged" by Eric Clapton. The Ohms are so musical that I find I never want to skip a song - you know how it goes - there are always a couple of songs that you just don’t like, so you hit "next". I am not doing that with these speakers.

Bondmanp - The subwoofer will be fun to add. With the PS Audio Stellar pre-amp, a cool feature is the combo of XLR Balanced out plus RCA out. We will be able to run the Ohm’s full range, and will be switching to XLR out into the M700 MonoBlocs from PS Audio.

Then a full range RCA output will go to the Axiom EP800, which handles all filtering through its DSP. We can set the lowpass to as low as 30 Hz, which should allow for a seamless transition from mains to sub. The plan is to make this a project this fall when we get the first crappy weather weekend. Summer is too short, and my weekends are on the golf course now - but I still sneak away for one disc daily.
I have several "Unplugged" CDs. They are very good live recordings, right up the OHM alley.
Don't get me started!  Listening to a good female vocal + acoustic instrument recording on my 2000s can be an almost religious experience.  Suzanne Vega, Ani Difranco, Neko Case, Norah Jones, et. al., just make you stop whatever you're doping and focus on the music.
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