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

Very, very nice. It's like looking at my MWT's bigger brother.

I especially like your understated layout. Very tastefully done.

Great rig Rebbi!

Parasound and Zkzpb8,

Thanks for the nice comments. The media center unit was a kit from Crate And Barrel, of all places. It's handsome and solid as a rock, but the openings in the back for cabling are too few and too small... the cable situation in the back ain't pretty. If I can find somebody with the right tools, I may remove the back this summer and see if I can make some more openings in the back to neaten things up. I know some folks swear that the way cables are "dressed" affects the final sound...

I was in NYC recently and finally made it a point to attend a performance in the main Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall.

In the back of my mind I also had the unsubstantiated assertion I had read a while back on the net that OHM Walsh speakers were voiced to sound like Carnegie Hall. Could that be true? If so, what does Carnegie Hall Sound like?

I asked the ticket clerk at the hall to recommend good seats to listen from. I sat in the front row of the "Dress Circle" level, just right of center and well elevated about 2/3 of the way up above stage level.

The program included various chamber orchestras and choruses performing various spiritual pieces. It was a most enjoyable performance overall and I would have to give at least some credit to the venue itself for making it that.

I think Stern once commented that the hall is an instrument in itself, which I would have to agree with. The hall delivered fantastic clarity and detail to the performance. Soloists and percussion in particular seemed to smoothly and cleanly resonate within the venue. My eyes teared on several occasions.

So what of the assertion regarding the OHMs? I'll just say that I felt right at home, albeit on a larger scale, with what I heard and leave it at that.

One thing I found very interesting was that a lot of the sound that reached my ear was reflected from the rear stage walls. I say that because the sound of soloists performing at stage level seemed to eminate from a point that was a good 12' or more vertically over their actual location, a very surreal effect I do not recall ever hearing to this degree anywhere else.

A while back I wrote a review about the Walsh 5's wherein I likened their soundstage to Carnegie Hall (the old hall that is, the one that the architectural genius Tuthill designed and built, before Stern and his nouveau renovators ruined it into just a 'good' hall), front mezzanine center to be exact. I performed at Carnegie and attended concerts there. The magical quality about Carnegie is the combination of tons of scintillating air, a vibrant yet critically damped acoustic, and astounding lucidity of instrumental and vocal articulations. In the old Carnegie, one could sit on stage rear and hold a conversation with someone sitting in the balcony without hardly raising the volume of one's voice. The Ohm Walshs recreate that magical acoustic space in my listening room. Mercury Living Presence and RCA Living Stereos, as well as live recordings from Carnegie Hall itself, enjoy a special synergism with the Walshes.