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

I thought I'd weigh in, since I've had a pair of Ohm 5000's for about 6 mo now.  Originally, I had looked at electrostatics (Martin Logans) but they were more expensive and I was intrigued that Walsh drivers were still made, having last heard them ca 1977.  Also, the fact that the company would offer upgrade kits to speakers made over 30 years ago sold me on them as having a quality product and outstanding customer service.  I chose my 5000's in Bubinga wood and John was very nice in not charging me extra for the exotic product.  He even sent me several samples to choose from to help me make up my mind.  The speakers came triple boxed and of course unscathed.  The construction is great, no scratches or flaws.  They are well broken in now and sound fantastic!  I find that the audio sources and the recordings themselves are the most important factors in enjoyment of the speakers. Hooking up my iPod is great for background music if I'm having a party, but no way would I sit down and listen for pleasure with that.

Ok, so what's my setup? I started with a tube preamplifier of unusual design, probably the first in the states to own a Ming Da MD300 APS (sourced through Pacific Valve & Electric).  The initial stage uses 6SN7's, and I use VT-231's from WWII.  The final stage is 300B's, and I have Gold Lions from Genalex (Russian).  This can be a bit microphonic so I installed tube dampers to help quiet them. The sound stage is amazing when using this with the 5000's, really makes one feel you are AT the concert and you can place the instruments easily.  This preamp comes very, very close to a SET sound, which is what i was looking for.  I paired the preamplifier with a Sumo Polaris II that's about 20 years old.  At 6 ohms it puts out 170W per channel and I've never even begun to think I'm underpowered.  So for me tube/SS has worked out well, getting the SET sound I wanted without having to go for a super efficient horn speaker like a Klipsch.

My speaker wire is an old Monster Cable product which is no longer made- it's braided from 8 cables in a Litzendraht design that results in very low capacitance. 

I bought a Sansui TU-919 from eBay for my tuner, and I'm very pleased 
with it. I originally used a HD radio from Sony but decided on an analog unit from the late '70s. 

Nothing special for the CD, except it's an Onkyo C-S5VL that comes with a very good Wolfson DAC and plays SACD.  I don't fiddle with the different digital audio filters, just use the factory settings.  Some SACD's are scary good- Pink Floyd DSOTM and Who's Tommy come to mind.  The bass response is great on these SACD's, but it's also impressive on CD's, like Zappa's Inca Roads.

Vinyl (Pro-Ject 5.1) can be fantastic, like the Blind Faith I picked up for $5, but sometimes recordings sound quite bright. Haven't figured that one out yet. 

It's nice at the age of 58, four kids out of the house, to get back to my musical roots and have an old school setup to showcase the Ohm 5000. 

James

Carja,

Nice. Thanks for sharing that!

WOuld love to see some pictures of the 5000s in Bubinga wood.

IS it a veneer or solid Bubinga? I'm guessing the first, especially of no extra cost.

I ask because I see Bubinga is an exotic wood sought for use in instrument construction, similar perhaps to Baltic Birch.

There are many very exotic and well received speaker lines out there that construct their cabinets from these kinds of exotic woods that lend themselves well to musical intruments as well in that this is a key aspect of the actual sound of such designs. I've often wondered what a pair of OHM Walsh speakers with similar construction might sound like. I think the results could be quite extraordinary if done right, but a different tuning process would probably be required for the Walsh driver, so I think it would entail a significantly different functional design.

Just curious. I suspect yours are babinga veneer which would not change the OHM Walsh design for sonic reasons, but would still deliver the usual still excellent sound plus being more lovely to look at.

Enjoy!

Found this about Bubinga wood in wikipedia. Interesting....

"Uses

The genus is well-known for its luxury timbers. The best-known timber is bubinga (Guibourtia demeusei, aka kevazingo). Another is ovangkol. Species of Guibourtia also produce Congo copal.

The wood is often used by luthiers for harps and other instruments, such as bass guitars, because of its mellow and well-rounded sound. Warwick Bass is known to use Bubinga and Ovangkol. It has been used in drum shells as well. Drum companies such as Tama offer various high-end drum kits with plies of Bubinga in the shells.[4] Crafter also use bubinga on some of their instruments.[5] Bubinga is also used in both acoustic and electric guitars for its figure and hardness.

Bubinga is sometimes used in the production of archery bows, in particular as the main wood of the handle in some flat bows.

Bubinga is also used in furniture making, usually for tables, as large slabs of the dense wood can be cut, and with very little manipulation, be used for a table top.

Bubinga often has an appearance similar to the mineral tiger eye. Light brown through dark brown and red, some samples show as almost purple.

Luxury car maker Lexus also makes use of the wood in their luxury vehicles.

They are known to produce chalconoids (chemical compounds related to chalcone), relatives of medically important chemicals called stilbenoids, one famous one being resveratrol.[citation needed]"

Mapman the 5000 uses veneers, not solid exotics. The end result is very pleasing, though not the glossy finish of a rococo dining piece. I was torn between that and purpleheart. John never had a request for that wood, but he got me a sample. So if anyone out there wants to have a one of a kind, look at purpleheart.
It's quite true that various woods sound different- when I bought my son an electric guitar as a present, I selected one with a body made from korina wood. More of a classic 60's guitar.

Ah, tonewood....

http://www.edroman.com/customshop/wood/main.htm

Some interesting stuff here.