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

Venue is a tough one. I don't attend much classical these days, so jazz clubs are the main reference point for acoustic music. I always choose them on the basis of the performers and the rooms are usually small and oddly shaped with acoustics that are generally "awkward". Vibrato in Bel Air is an exception, but straight unamplified performances haven't been the norm there.

I've been in LA over a dozen years now and the Greek Theater is probably my favorite for amplified music - programming runs all over the place, but the sound is uniformly excellent, especially for an outdoor venue. My luck at The Hollywood Bowl has been a little less consistent, but still not bad by any means.

The Gibson (at Universal) is pretty good and the Hermosa Beach PAC, and Thousand Oaks PAC are both excellent, but programming is spotty, at best. Our local club, The Canyon, gets some great r'n'r talent, but is often way too loud for good sound.

I saw more classical music when I was in New York (for about 2 decades prior) and the old Carnegie was definitely the most memorable. Pop music venues covered the gamut with Tramps supplying the happiest memmories. I just about lived in The Bottom Line (a 2 minute walk from my place) and unamplified shows usually sounded quite good. Rock shows were all over the board.

My taste in a speaker's tonal balance is not a function of a single hall, but rather a general sense from the whole range of experiences. From that, I find that a lot of high end gear is "goosed" in the mis-bass and presence region so that "impact" is enhanced relative to the live experience. Ohms are IMHO voiced closer to "the real thing" than most.

Marty

On a related note:

Understandably, there is something of an obsession with "accuracy" in the A'phile community. The idea is great, but how do you ever really know what's on a record? That information doesn't exist as "sound" without SOME playback system, and even the mastering set-up (which itself would sound radically different in your listening room) isn't a perfect reproduction reference - except with records that were made in that studio and mastered on that system.

I had the experience of being the "Executive Producer" (this means that I paid for a money losing proposition) on a jazz recording about 10 years ago. I was present for a fair bit of the sessions and can tell you that identifying the most "accurate" reproduction on a home system would be highly, highly subjective - even with the unusual benefit of being present at the particular performance as my reference. So, I try to take the holy grail "accuracy" thing with a grain of salt.

I might be more judgemental if there was any kind of meaningful uniformity in the sound of source material, but IME there isn't. Given the number of crappy sounding recordings that I own (including many, if not most, of my favorites), it's hard to expect any system to sound really good on a regular basis. I suppose that I end up listening disproportionately to those recordings that sound best on my main system and relegate the rest of my preferred music to either the distributed system in my home or the CD changer in my car.

So, just get me reasonably good octave to octave balance (relative to the -preferably extended- bandwidth of the speaker) and capture a sense of live players in space and I'm usually pretty happy. IMHO, it's remarkable how many high end designs are fair to pretty darn good on both counts and how few (including the Ohms) are really exceptional.

But I do recognize that this is just my take on a very subjective experience, so - Once Again, just MHO.

Marty

I can understand why many put "accuracy" as the most important attribute for a speaker. As for me, I have heard speakers that measure very, very good that I did not care for at all, and other speakers that measured less so, in some cases, much less so, that I found more appealing.

It is one reason why some earlier assertions about the Ohms not being very accurate don't concern me too much. Once I have a chance to hear them in my own home with my own gear, I'll know if I will still be on the merry-go-round or not for my main room. I'd like, funds permitting, to be able to listen to different speakers for the rest of my life, though, in my secondary room.

Update - As I posted previously, I ordered a pair of custom made, spiked cradle bases from Sound Anchors for my Walsh 2000s. Although John Strohbeen told me that this was not necessary for the Walsh speakers, my uneven floor prevented me from getting the speakers level and level with each other, and they rocked a bit too much (not rocked as in Rock & Roll, but as in back and forth). The stands were $300 plus shipping. Pictures can be seen on the Sound Anchors web site. They are solid, well made and heavy, with 3-point, adjustable spikes that screw into the base.

After I levelled the speakers on the bases, I noticed that the sound was cleaned up a bit, with a little more fine detail. The soundstage also seems a little larger than before, especially in the lateral plane.

As a side note, I think I need a different listening chair. The high-back leather reclining chairs and ottomans I bought when I set up my basement HT in 1994 are less than ideal for music listening. I discovered this when I leaned forward in the chair. The sound was significantly better in terms of details, soundstage and even smoothness in the highs. So, along with seeking improvements in acoustic treatments, cables, ICs and powercords, I will now be on the hunt for an *affordable* comfortable low-backed listing chair or two.

First, I admit I haven't read every single page in this thread, but I have read most of them, and I think what I am hearing is that the OHMs might be just the speaker I am looking for - I have a large room (24 x 36 x 12) with carpeted floors and a central seating area that I am looking to put a dedicated music system in. While I have heard speakers I like, I have been frustrated by the very tight sweet spot - this is my living room and I want to be able to share music with my wife and friends without playing musical chairs. The speakers that have jumped to my attention for this task have been the Shahinian and Ohm speakers and I was wondering if anyone had listened to both? I would very much like to know how they compare to one another. Are there any other contenders that I should be considering for the task?