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

Ron - My wife asked me the same question! I actually have TWO pair of vandersteen 1Cs sitting in my basement (I replaced one pair with the 2000s, and the surround pair with the used MWTs I bought from an Agoner). When I told her the 2000s came with a 120-day in-home trial, so I needed to keep my Vandys until I decided whether to keep them or not, she understood. Good luck!

hehe. I had the same issue. Luckily my wife likes how they look, and managed to tolerate the clutter for a couple of days.

Congrats on you MWT's!

Aktchi,

FWIW, I've had the Verity Parsifal/Encore and the Merlin VSM (uprgrade to near current status) in the same system as my Ohm 100/Rythmik sub system. I can't compare the speakers with the subs on-line and I only ran the 100s full range for a brief time - but here's the comparison off that short full range audition:

ALL THAT FOLLOWS IS JUST MHO:

The Ohm is about as neutral tonally as the Merlin (to my ear, anyway). It's more neutral than the Verity, which is to say that the P/E is noticably warm in tonality and consequently often sounds more acoustically "lifelike" than a nearly dead neutral speaker like the Ohm or Merlin(particularly on a lot of source material that leans bright - i.e 90+% of pop and rock recordings).

The Ohm is less revealing of things upstream than either the Merlin (considerable margin) or the P/E (noticeable margin).

The Ohm is less dramatically dynamic ("jump factor") than either the VSM or P/E.

The Ohm goes a bit deeper in the bass than the P/E and is about as extended as the VSM.

All of these speakers are remarkably "seamless" in their presentation.

The Ohms might be a bit "dry" at the top vs the P/E - that is "might", as in subtle.

The Ohms image with both specificity (as do the VSM and the P/E) but with a sense of weight and body that the other speakers can't quite match. It is this quality which really distinguishes the Ohms.

Since I use (room corrected) subs (troublesome room issues), the bass comparison isn't particularly important to me in this application, so MY OWN PERSONAL bottom line is:

The Ohms are about as neutral as it gets. When run full range, they have real bass extention - sufficient form most recordings. They don't have quite the dynamic jump of the best competition. They aren't as "transparent" as the best I've heard, but they aren't slouches either. They are as seamless as I've heard. Their top end is very good, but some who are more sensitive in this range may demand a half demerit vs. the best competition. Their imaging and staging is unique to Omnis and that provides the special character that makes the speakers essentially irreplaceable to some listeners.

As always, YMMV

Marty

"The Ohms image with both specificity (as do the VSM and the P/E) but with a sense of weight and body that the other speakers can't quite match"

That's a good way to describe what I often refer to as "meat on the bones", or a more lifelike weight to the presentation. To do it well requries moving a lot of air effectively. It's something that typically only large speakers can do well, particularly in larger rooms. Large speakers that also do the all the other things well also tend to be very expensive.

I attribute achieving this particularly well in a fairly compact package like the Walshes as due somewhat to the relatively large radiating surface area in effect with the Walsh driver compared to a conventional driver of similar size. IT moves a lot of air but the absolute level of pressurization of the air at any particular location with an omni is perhaps less than that achieved with a similar sized conventional driver driven similary, which accounts for the more relaxed dynamics and low fatigue factor as well perhaps.

The omni drivers used in mbls also have this going for them although their mode of operation is totally different, and the large mbl base drivers in particular seem well suited for absolute top notch dynamics.

Just recently, I noticed a buzz comming from one of my micro talls at low listening levels, which seemed to disapear when I turned the volume up. I contacted John and he recomended checking to make sure the speaker wire in the cannister wasn't touching the cone. I told him that I didn't think that I was over driving the speakers, but he did tell me that I was driving them pretty hard, and that the 1000's might be a better fit since they will play twice as loud, and move four times the amount of air. He offered to send me another set of matched drivers for the micro talls, and I could send back the other ones. What customer service!! It was at that point that I decided to upgrade to the 1000's, since I was getting a nice fat tax return. I then asked about returning the micro talls. He told me to insure them for the full amount, but not to do so until I recieved my 1000's. He said "No need for you to go without your music" Needless to say, I was impressed. He is also sending me veneer samples to help me decide on what finish I want. In an age of incompetence and nobody gives a danm, it's a breath of fresh air to deal with someone who is willing to go the extra mile and do whatever it takes to make his customers happy. I will miss my micro talls, but look forward to breaking in my 1000's, and continue to enjoy the unique sound of Ohm speakers. I will post my impressions of the 1000's, and hope I can convince other people to take a chance and take advantage of the 120 day trial. Chances are, they will have a hard time settling for conventional box speakers once they hear the Ohms. Can't wait to get my 1000's.........