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

I had an Adcom 545II in place for a couple weeks with the preamp section of my NAD 3155 integrated amp. It's hard to sort out which new item has the most impact but I think the slightly warmer characteristic of the Citation 22 amp (along with 2x the power of the Adcom) has helped a lot but I think the huge improvement in the sound of CDs is mostly due to the Conrad Johnson PV2 tubed preamp. It's the first time since I bought my first CD player 20 years ago that I've actually been able to sit down and listen directly to CDs at a decent volume level for a few hours. I have a line on a pretty decent NAD C541i CD player and think that will also make a difference. All in all... I'm thrilled.

Yes, I've found a tube pre-amp can be a very good ingredient to mix in with digital. I would expect a significant difference with the CJ pre-amp. I use an ARC sp16 in my main rig and currently a 25 year old NAD 7020 receiver pinch hitting temporarily off the bench in my second 2 channel a/v rig. Its quite listenable in taht particular smaller rig.

I have an update on my system. As you know I said that my vinyl was a bit "bright", actually more of a bit lacking on the low end. So I took out the fine high output MC Bluepoint #2 that came with the Pro-Ject and installed an AudioTechnica AT-33EV that was on sale at JR's. I hooked it into my NAD PP3 phono amp, but didn't notice that much difference in sound until the next day when I hooked the phono into my new step up transformer first, then into the MM input of the NAD. The step up transformer is a Raphaelite PM 1.1, sourced again through Pacific Valve (thanks Joe!). The result was game changing! So many more low notes that I never heard before, clean, and not dominating. I can hear the low notes on a piano or guitar in all their glory. Last night I listened to the half speed master edition of "Stradust" by Willie Nelson, ca 1980- it never sounded this good before. So the lesson is that sometimes (as you all know) it's not the speaker that's lacking- this I knew from listening to SACD recordings- but one arm of the system. Unfortunately, PV&Co may discontinue stocking the Raphaelite (they might reconsider if they get a lot of inquiries and NO I have no financial interest in the company), as it didn't sell well, but as far as I'm concerned this one little addition just transformed my entire LP collection into something very magical! Can't wait until I get my boxed set of Dick Dale albums (Sundazed records) in the mail.

Phaelon56: I originally ran my Ohm 2000s with a C-J PV-11 preamp and SS amp. The sound was great, but due to several issues, including an impedance missmatch between the C-J and the SS amp, I upgraded to a McIntosh C220 tube-hybrid preamp. The results are fantastic. Like Mapman, I have found that the tube-pre/SS-amp combo is the magic ticket. Also, consider saving for a new DAC if your current CDP can be used as a transport. While you will have to invest in a decent digital cable, it will give you added flexibility in the future. I recently added a music sever and Squeezebox Touch to my system, and having a stand-alone DAC made the addition seemless.

Yet another moment when I realized how fortunate I am to have the Walsh 2000s: I stopped by a local dealer the other evening to pick up something I'd had serviced there. This dealer (the excellent John Rutan at Audio Connection) offered to play the Vandersteen 7s for me. How could I refuse? He had them in a nice-sized and treated room, with Aesthetix amps and an ARC preamp, all SOTA stuff. The sound was indeed amazing. I'd heard these before, but not from the sweet spot. Incredible sound stage width and depth, just-right transients, deep, tuneful, tight bass, and timbre that was simply spot-on. These might be my "I just won the Powerball lottery" speakers. Nevertheless, all the things that I liked about these $45,000 speakers are simply more of exactly what I like about my Ohm Walsh 2000s. I noted the basic similarity of the way both speakers produce a palpable image of performers and instruments, of the accurate reproduction of instrument timbre, the ability of the speakers to dissappear into the soundstage, and the transients that were there, but never in-my-face. Were the 7s, driven by this SOTA front end, in a treated room, better than my Ohms? Yes, they were. But not by the margin that the price difference would suggest.

The item I had serviced should take my system to the next level. Stay tuned.