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

Bondman, I'm curious what is the $9K dream speaker you mentioned?

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.

Bond,

I never heard the Silverlines but I know they have a great reputation and a good following on this site.

If there is a lower cost design that can challenge them, it may well be the OHM Walshes.

Most tend to think of the OHMs as extremely neutral though.

I would agree but have found that they will reveal the flavor of the electronics behind them quite well, so there are ways to tweak the sound there if desired.

For example, I have used the mhdt Paradisea tube DAC with the OHMS and that provides a healthy dose of tube "euphonics", particulary a lovely and enticing but somewhat artificial amount of presence in the midrange. It can be clearly heard say in comparison to the phono, which also runs through a tubed phono stage in my ARC pre-amp.

Currently, I'm using the SS mhdt Constantine DAC, which is essentially the Paradisea sans tube output stage. The sound with this is much more like my phono stage, ie more neutral I would say.

Rolling other tubes in the Paradisea can also deliver a more "neutral" sound like the Constantine as well, I have found.

I like that the OHMs let you hear what you feed them. It opens up many possibilities regrading the nature of the resultant sound.

FWIW,

In a more apples to apples vein, I use Silverline Sonatinas (great looking, original pre-Avalon lawsuit cabinetry) in my family room. IIRC, they were priced similarly to my Ohm 100s - presumably they're more expensive today. I like the Sonatinas, but it's easy an easy call for the Ohms, running away.

Marty

Bond,

FWIW, you mentioned the Silverlines use Dynaudio drivers.

I have Dynaudio Contour monitors in addition to OHMs. The OHM sound is not unlike the Dyns, albeit the presentation of the soundstage is naturally different. The OHMs are also full range and deliver more "meat on the bones" without strain, as I like to say, at realistic listening levels which to me makes things sound more real and lifelike as they should. Typically, only larger and certainly more expensive speakers are capable of that.