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

"how do the MWT and 100s do on image depth both behind and in front of the speakers?"

Tends to be mostly behind the speakers, though room acoustics and electronics will make a difference. Imaging is very much like full range MBLs that I have heard.

Moving to ARC ap-16 tube pre-amp from Carver SS helped move things a bit more forward in my system.

"Is it difficult to get the speakers to sonically disappear?"

No, certainly not with decent room placement and electronics. They disappear currently about as well as the Triangles Titus 202s in my system, which are champs at disappearing even in lesser systems and significantly better than the Dynaudio Contour 1.3 mkIIs I also run.

Haven't heard Vandys enough to comment much but from the little I have heard there are similarities in the openness of the sound of both.

Good electronics makes all the difference with the newer OHMs. You will hear whatever you put through them. I recommend using decent tubed sources and pre-amp along with a good SS amp for most magical results.

Bondmap,

I used to have a pair of Vandy 2C's (original model) many years ago. I cherished them for their ability to throw a large soundstage, but the Ohm's trounce them in that department with the right source material.

I agree with Mapman that much of the soundstage presentation takes place behind the speakers, but not entirely. On "The Goodbye Look" from Donald Fagen's "The Nightfly," the percussion, especially the marimba parts, reach out into the room toward you. On "Let's Face The Music And Dance" from Diana Krall's "When I Look In Your Eyes," the piano part also reaches right out into the room. And on pretty much all of the Steely Dan album "Two Against Nature," there are keyboard parts swimming right in front of your nose like nobody's business! :-)

I also remember loving Sade's "Is It A Crime" track from one of her first LP's on the Vandy's, because of how wide the soundstage extended, and the Ohms do at least as well on that track.

What I will say is that the Ohms seem to me to be more forgiving in terms of placement than my old 2C's. I remember lots of futzing around with the Vandy's in terms of distance from any walls, vertical tilt, and so forth. With the Ohm's it's been simpler for me.

I also wouldn't underestimate the convenience of fine tuning speaker placement with a speaker that doesn't require spikes! :-)

Jwtrace,

Will do!

"I agree with Mapman that much of the soundstage presentation takes place behind the speakers, but not entirely. On "The Goodbye Look" from Donald Fagen's "The Nightfly," the percussion, especially the marimba parts, reach out into the room toward you. On "Let's Face The Music And Dance" from Diana Krall's "When I Look In Your Eyes," the piano part also reaches right out into the room."

Yes that can certainly occur with regularity on certain recordings where the stars align.

There is one extended high note Mel Torme hits at the end of a tune on the CD recording of "The Classic Concert" that seems to envelope you from above and behind in my room. I was strtled and jumped up out of my seat the first time I heard it....very surreal!

Bondmap - I have MWT's, and I auditioned 1C's a few years ago. I'm a Vandy fan, but I chose the Ohms.

Image depth was one of the things that I gained with the Ohms. As mentioned, the overall presentation is a little behind the speakers. Vandys were the first speakers that I heard that had that front to back imaging that made instruments sound real. The Ohms do it too, with much easier placement and a much larger sweet spot.

It is very easy to get the speakers to disappear, since owning them, it's very hard for me to like conventional speakers, like I used to. The music spills into the room, and never sounds like it's emanating from a box...