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

Moon,

I'd agree with Mapman, the height thing is really recording specific.

One of my favorite "studio-stunt" recordings to demo the imaging capabilities of the Ohms (100s w/ a pair of Rythmik subs in my case) is found on Lindsey Buckingham's "Under The Skin". The track "It was You" bounces grouped/multi-tracked vocals around the stage - left/right, up/down, forward/back. This is not exactly a natural, audiophile approved recording technique, but a dramatic demo of how well the speakers place sources in space.

Similarly, "Q sound" recordings are shown in full glory.

IME, with more traditional recordings, results will vary too much to generalize.

Marty

Moonglum: I agree fully with Marty and Mapman regarding image hieght. I have just 6' ceilings in my man cave, and with good recordings, the vocalist is about a foot or so beneath the ceiling.

FWIW, I run my 2000s with an Odyssey Audio HT3 (w/ cap upgrade), rated at 150 watts/channel. I do have them rolled off below 80Hz, first order, as my Vandersteen subs roll in. So, the level to the Ohms is down 6dB at 40Hz, and 12dB at 20Hz. I do not push my system so loud that it hurts my ears, but I play it pretty loud, and the system also serves as part of my home theater rig, which can get pretty loud, too (but I don't think I usually watch at "Dolby reference levels"). In the 2.5 years I have had them, I have never felt that they were either underpowered or being over-driven.

And, just like Mapman, I take great pleasure in the fact that, at a fraction of the cost of statement speakers and gear, I have a system that gets closer to SOTA performance than I'd ever hoped for.

Hi Mapman,
Many thanks for your most detailed and informative reply. As a 'Stat user I can readily identify with the effects that you describe. It's good to hear that you are also experiencing "phase" effects which can place the sound in other parts of the room. Strangely enough I tended to hear those effects more with my old LP12 t/t than with the current Raven unsuspended table (I think attributable to the fact that the Raven has more dynamic contrast which ultimately leads to a more natural sound.)
I won't mention the Logans presentation but simply say that the reason I asked was that I've been interested in Ohms for some time.
It's always good to get genuine enthusiasts views (which you guys obviously are). The fact that you are so enthusiastic suggests that the Ohms are something special.

I only have a single reservation regarding the Ohms and that is the fact that John uses a fairly massive driver to cover most of the audible spectrum from DC upwards.
10K is one serious upper limit for a bass/midrange driver but I guess we should acknowledge that some speaker designers swear by only using one driver (period) and thereby no crossover. :)
Do you feel there is any sense of strain by the bass driver to capture those upper frequencies?
Best regards.....

Hi Marty,
Interesting.
I remember a collection of Beach Boys recordings where many of the tracks had been clearly recorded in the same studio with the same treatments. In these cases the voices appeared uniformly over 5ft but some tracks were clearly done elsewhere. In one case, a Beach Boy's voice appeared at the top of the L panel (>5ft) while his opposite number appeared (extraordinarily) at the BASE of the R panel (just above the sub-woofer)!!

Generally I find that height is a function of loudness. Full height is coincidentally achieved when the vocalist is pretty much level, or a whisker behind, the speaker plane - but sometimes can be even further back. Drums and guitars are generally about 3-4 ft from the floor while flutes etc tend to be same height as the vocalists so it all leads to a very realistic presentation.
Adding surround sound DSP increases the phasiness and results in all performers becoming slightly "taller" :)
Reverb embedded within the recording is the primary reason for outside-the-loudspeaker effects just as the complete absence of reverb causes the sound to appear dead centre of the panel.
Agreed that this sonic trickery is not based on reality but a function of the speakers using the room's reflective surfaces and also reverb/phasing within the recording itself.
It is undeniably entertaining and experience enhancing :)

Thanks Bondmanp....funny you should mention a sub-woofer. I've looked at 2 "omnis/quasi-omnis" in particular : the Deuevel Bella Luna (needs a subwoofer?) and of course the Ohm 5K (which for music, probably never needs a sub-woofer?) Certainly given the Ohms rendering of Organ music, it suggests that the Ohm is often better than many dedicated sub-woofers! :)
This really makes the Ohm a front-runner in my book. I've heard too many speakers that drop off at 40Hz e.g. the Maggie 3.7 and for me that's just too limited.
All the best....