Well, here we go! The first installment of a shoot-out, if you will, between the Ohm Micro Walsh Tall and the Ohm 100 S3 (Series 3) speakers. This first installment will focus largely upon physical differences.
The 100's shipped in two very large boxes, weighing in at 57 pounds each.
The speakers are extremely well packed the packaging is substantially more robust than on the Micro Walsh Talls. In fact, the unpacking process reveals that the 100's are QUINTUPLE boxed that's right, there are 5 nested boxes in the packaging. Indeed, once the speakers are freed from their packaging, it becomes clear that the packaging itself is far heavier than the speaker it contains. I joked with John on the phone that UPS, their standard shipper, should be pronounced, Oops! (The box on one of my Micros was almost unbelievably mangled in transit but the speaker inside was fine.) John referred to their packaging as a sacrificial offering to UPS."
Speaking of packaging, kudos to John Strohbeen and the boys for utilizing almost 100 percent recyclable packaging materials. Other than a thin layer of styrofoam at the very bottom of the box, everything is made of corrugated or recycled paper fiber.
Unpacking tip: because one of my boxes was somewhat confusingly labeled (the shipping label on what proved to be the bottom of the box rather than the top) I had the experience of unpacking my 100's both from the top and the bottom. My tip: open the boxes from the bottom. It's not only a much easier unpack, but it's easier to keep the spacers between the nested boxes in place and reseat the empty cartons for storage.
Exterior Size: The 100's are, in cross section, 8 x 8 inches, compared to the 6 x 6 inches of the Micro Walsh Talls. They are, with the fabric caps installed, about 2 inches taller, as well. Placed side by side with the Micros, the 100's cut a far more imposing figure, really making the Micro's look, well, microscopic! But taken on their own, they're hardly gigantic, especially in the context of some of the truly behemoth-sized, high-end speakers out there. Interestingly: in terms of height, the wood cabinet of the Micro's and the 100's is exactly the same height. The taller height of the 100's is totally in the size of the cloth cap on top.
Here's the difference: take off the caps and you find that the diameter of the driver can on the Micros is about 4 3/4 inches, with a height of about 5 inches. In contrast, the driver can on the 100's is a whopping (comparatively!) 7 inches in height and diameter. Add to this the fact that there's about an extra inch of clearance between the top of the driver can and the top of the cloth cap on the 100's, and you've accounted for the difference in height.
Another few observations about the drivers. The driver can on the Micros is plain on top. The driver can on the 100's has the Ohm italic logo embossed in it. The mounting flange on the Micro drivers is bolted to the top surface of the cabinets. The mounting flange on the 100s drivers sits in a recessed channel carved into the top of the cabinet. Finally, the cap on the Micro simply rests on top of the speaker. The cap on the 100 has velcro dots on each corner which mate to velcro strips on the top of the 100's cabinet. If you look carefully, this imparts to the 100's a slightly different look than the Micros the velcro causes the caps to hover about 1/8 above the cabinet.
Fit and Finish: It's been noted here and elsewhere that the finish on the Ohm line isn't furniture grade. That may or may not be the case, but the semi-gloss, black woodgrain finish of both the Micros and the 100's looks very sharp to me. I can't vouch for the appearance of the more conventional, woodgrain finishes. There are no obvious flaws in the finish of either set of speakers.
This concludes this initial report. I'll have more to posts after some listening and break-in time.
