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

Marty,

I was talking to John at Ohm some time ago about this. He said that people tend to rave about the Ohm's soundstage presentation with two very different kinds of recordings.

The first is the "audiophile purist" kind of record -- single mike, lots of "hall ambiance" captured. On these tracks, you get a wonderful sense of space and air in the room..

The other, paradoxically, are WELL PRODUCED, heavily multitracked studio recordings, like "Graceland," "Brothers In Arms" "Two Against Nature" or "Rikki Lee Jones," where the engineers have deliberately put in "phasey" effects and used other tricks toward an artistic effect. In those recordings, the Ohms will totally take over the room and put you in the middle of the fireworks. ;-)

Rebbi,

I was wondering what John demos with at shows (assuming that Ohm does shows). Any idea? I'd love to program one of those demos.

As to purist vs studio tracks. The Lindsey Buckingham tracks that wow me (you can add "Come" -with its monster guitar solo - from Fleetwood Mac's "Say You Will" to that list) are definitely in your second group, while the jazz that occupies most of my listening time generally falls into the first group.

For something else in that "purist" camp, you might want to try the new Allen Toussaint cd "The Bright Mississippi". A beautifully recorded set of N'awlins standards re-worked in a brooding, spare, but subtly more rythmic fashon than the originals. Woodwinds, horns, piano and a WHOPPIN' big bass drum.

Marty

Marty,

I'm kind of a broken record (no pun intended) about this one, but I really love the original soundtrack album of the film "Princess Mononoke" (on the Milan label). For a beautifully recorded orchestra doing really good film music, you can't do a lot better. I even told John about it; wonder if he ever picked it up... it sounds luscious on the Ohm 100's, just glorious.

Marty,
I don't think John does shows. I think they're content over at Ohm, quietly going about building speakers. The last I heard of John at a show, was RMAF in '07 at the Blue Circle booth. He was there getting consumer feedback on the Penny, before production...

Zk,

Sort of a shame - I suspect that many more people would have their eyes (ears?) opened by the speakers, given the chance.

Marty