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


Hi,

I'd love to hear the impressions of people who've actually spent some time with these speakers to share their sense of their plusses and minuses. Mapman here on Audiogon is a big fan, and has shared lots on them, but I'm wondering who else might be familiar with them.
rebbi
I think rebbi is correct. I was actually thinking about the Walsh 100S3 before the new line came out. In the new line, the 1000 is too small for my room (~2800 c.f.), so I went with the 2000. Given the improvements to the design, the economy, the dollar, and the cost of keeping the entire operation in New York City, the $1100 jump in price (100S3 to 2000) for a similar place in the model line was not outrageous to me. I don't hold it against John that he obfuscated a price hike somewhat by rearranging the line. The bottom line is that very few speaker companies aim for one sound - their best possible - and then just offer different models for different size spaces. Most other companies start with a statement speaker, then make progressive compromises to hit certain price points. Not only do these compromised designs work better in smaller rooms, they don't perform to the level of the statement model. Ohm claims that the goal is the same level of performance from the entire Walsh line, with different models optimized for different sized rooms. I am impressed with that approach, which indicates a no-compromise attitude towards performance.

Besides, the longer expected life span of the new series has serious appeal to me. If these speakers are keepers, I intend to run them until I die or go deaf.
Bondmanp,

Just to be clear, I don't begrudge John a dime of the price hike. I'm just not sure I can afford it. :-/
I hear ya, rebbi. The 2000s were a stretch for me too. But, I'm almost 50 years old, I get almost nothing from keeping the money in the bank, and with the kids about to start college, this may be my last chance for a decent pair of speakers. Considering my long-time dream speaker lists for $9K, if the Walsh 2000s do the trick for $2850 delivered, I will be one happy camper.
Well, Mapman, I just found out today that my $9K dream speaker is now my $12K dream speaker :-(

The Silverline Audio Bolero is now the Bolero Supreme, with a 33% price increase. This speaker nearly brought me to tears when I heard it at a show years ago. They are not a neutral speaker, but the colorations are intentionally euphonic and beautiful (to my ears, YMMV), with no sense of shrouded detail or distortion, huge dynamic range, gigantic, holographic soundstage and liquid, smooth detailed highs (top-line Dynaudio drivers). And that was in a hotel room with a flee-powered tube amp! The most addictive, beautiful sounding speaker I've heard that didn't have a 5-figure price tag (at the time). My plan was, if I did not like the Ohms, to buy a pair of Boleros used (still much more than the Walsh 2000s) or try to buy direct from Silverline (no local dealers) and get a discount.

This price increase makes a new pair out of the question for me. If the Ohms go back to Brooklyn, I may have a long difficult search ahead of me. I have my fingers crossed with the Walsh 2000s, though.