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

Para,

Accuracy may be part of it, but I don't think it is the whole story.

When I saw PT live a year or so back in a moderately small club venue, the sound was very loud, very clean and very in your face, the loudest concert I've been to where my ears did not hurt after wards.

I think Bondman hit it well when he described the effect of adding the sub as supplementing the "feel-it-in-your-gut" sensation.

I also suspect that moving up to a really big, juicy monster amp (250w/ch or more, doubling into 4 and 2 ohm) with the OHMs alone would have similar effect based on some accounts I have read on the web.

http://reviews.audioreview.com/blog/indepth-user-review-of-the-high-end-but-money-saving-ohm-microwalsh-talls/

Another new OHM MWT review.

Again, you have a good point, Mapman. I have a Parasound 2205A, running 220 watts @ 8 ohms w/60 amps of current available. Could have something to do with the presentation I'm getting...

My co-worker/budding audiophile stopped by Monday evening. Unfortunately, his burned CD-R of his favorites wouldn't play, so we will try it again some evening. But we listened for a while to both the Vandersteen 1Cs and the Ohm Walsh 2000s. No question the Ohms were easier to listen to, if a bit less dynamic (still not broken in). Before he left, I hooked up the Vandy subs again. Just needed to feel that bass again.

I have two question for Ohm Walsh owners:

Once fully broken in, were the vocals from your Walsh's still very laid back?

Also, and I'd never thought I'd say this, I am bothered by the feeling that the 2000s are a bit recessed in the brightness range, 4-8kHz. This lends cymbals, for example, a more tizzy feel, and a less metalic feel. It seems as thought the Walsh driver rolls off too soon before it hands off to the tweeter at ~8kHz. Is this another burn-in issue, or is that a characteristic of the later Ohm Walsh designs with added tweeters?

I was listening to some R.E.M. last night. The electric guitar, while clear & clean as a bell, overpowered everything, especially the vocals. I could barely hear the vocals. I am sure it's a lousy recording, but the sense of being laid back was extreme. Also listened to Ani DiFranco - "Evolve" - on CD. Here, the laid back quality of the 2000s combined with the CD's in-yer-face mix to balance out very nicely. The horns on several tracks, intentionally set low in the mix, were very sweet and real sounding.

Yes, Parasound, the Vandy 2Wq subs run parallel to the mains, in a setup similar to REL. However, unlike the RELs, the Vandy does provide hi-pass filtering for your mains via an in-line filter between preamp and amp, and a compensating curve in the subs' built-in amp. A truly seemless blend, at least in my experience.

"Once fully broken in, were the vocals from your Walsh's still very laid back? "

They are very neutral, not inherently bright or forward I would say, but
I think it will depend on room, setup, electronics and other factors, but no, not inherently.

Break in will make a lot of difference in this regard, whether its the speaker breaking in or your ears adjusting to the new sound or a combo of both (most likely the case).

The OHM Walshes are inherently more laid back than forward sounding in general, but the vocals themselves are not relative to the rest. They are generally very clear and right there where they should be on my system.

Now the Walsh 5s are highly adjustable at the speaker, including presence/midrange, but I do not find myself using these much to compensate for anything.

The toe-out trick, exposing the tweeters somewhat more directly in fron of you main listening position, can always be used to brighten things up a bit as well if needed.

IC tweaks can also have a good effect if needed.

Tizzy cymbals should not occur in any case.

At locations well off axis from the tweeters, the top end will drop off but everything else should remain clear and highly coherent.

Lesser recordings in general will sound more laid back than others, I would say.