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

Joe,

45 wpc is almost certainly a problem with these speakers. In my (14'X23' - with high ceiling, open rear wall) room, the 122 wpc ARC VT130SE is operating at the margin. I'd be very happy with another 6db of elbowroom if I had it, so a 500wpc amp would be more my cup of tea. (Of course - YMMV) This might not address your issues re: timbre, but it will definitely allow more a dynamic presentation.

Good Luck,

Marty

I'd been happily running the 100S3s for 7 months with my Cayin TA-30 tube integrated, at 35wpc. In earlier posts to this thread (much earlier!) I stated that I found the power fine and dandy for these speakers. And I did -- they sounded quite engaging, with good bass and wonderful voicing on voices, pianos, etc.

Well, last week I lucked into Yamaha separates on craigslist (M-85 amp/C-85 preamp) and I must say that while I have no idea what it means to say that the Ohms need more "current," I will say that the 240wpc M-85 is clearly driving these speakers more musically, with greater authority -- it isn't just volume, which in my 12x15 room I'll never be able to fully explore(!), it's the incredibly effortless performance the speakers now have -- peak music, fast bursts - they're just right there rythmically. Plus bass is more powerful, more musical, more distinctly focused in the soundstage.

So, while I still say that lower power will work with the Ohms, I'm now thinking they really do need more .... current?

Guys,

I know this has been covered here and elsewhere prior, but just a reminder that more watts will let you go louder but current is key to delivering smooth tonal balance top to bottom at low to typical listening levels in particular with the OHMs due to variation in input impedance at various frequencies (often referred to as a "difficult" or "complex" load).

A high efficiency, high current amp can be identified by mostly double rated wattage output from 8 to 4 ohms and then ideally from 4 to 2 ohms as well.

Mapman, I mentioned this before but I'll be using a Blue Circle BmPH 160 @ 8ohms, 240 @ 4ohms. So no doubling down here. I'll be using it with the Walsh 5 S3.

Foster_9,

Yes, not uncommon with integrateds. More juice and bigger transformers produces more EMF that can create noise in nearby low level pre-amp sections, especially phono pre-amp sections.

Though I don't think integrated amps are optimal for the OHMs, there are some very well built and good sounding integrateds nonetheless. I suspect the Blue Circle is one of those though I am not intimately familiar with it.

John Potis raved in a review about a pair of Blue Circle monoblocks taking his Walsh 4 mkIIs to an entirely new level and Blue Circle is using OHM drivers in their new speaker line as well, so I think Blue Circle/OHM in general is a good match.