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

I'm just salivating waiting to get mine. Out of curiosity, does the wrong placement make them sound like bad, cheap speakers, or does the wrong placement merely not give the full, intended sound? All I really have to compare them to directly in my home will be Audioengine 5 active speakers, and my Epos ELS3 bookshelves.

Rbf1138,

In my own experience, correct placement of the Ohms is like "getting them in focus". They will sound pretty good where ever you put them, but to hear what makes them special, getting them in the right position is essential. I'd move both speakers one inch at a time and then sit and listen for a while before I made another adjustment. It took about three weeks until I accidently hit the right spot, and Bingo! All of a sudden, it sounded like the room and speakers were working as one, giving me a sonic landscape that still brings a smile to my face. You'll have to experiment. If the bass sounds too loose, move them closer together, too much bass, move them further away from the back wall, ect. I actually hade fun doing this, as I was eager to hear the Ohm magic that I had read about in this thread and in independent reviews. A little patience and perseverance will pay off handsomely. And don't forget, they take some break in, so they may sound a bit reserved and stuffy at first, but will open up more with time. Joe

Joefish nailed it!

At first its largely about getting the right "focus" and allowing initial break in. Once it sounds as Joe describes, then you assess what tweaks if any might be applied upstream to take things to a higher level. I've found once dialed in that the OHMs will respond to most all common tweak types that knowledgeable listeners might recommend. That can be anything from maxing out performance with the amp, tweaking the sound via a pre-amp, or even via ICs, cleaner power, etc.

Well, sounds like my black wood finished Talls aren't gonna ship till next week. This thread will be the one thing to tide me over until I can finally hear them myself.

Have you ever played videogames with the Ohms? Eventually I'll probably go with a real 5.1 setup, but I'm curious how they do with modern videogame sound effects.

Well, my kids have an xbox and Wii between them but neither hooked up to my audio systems or OHMs.

I have played various sound effects available via Squeezebox Touch off the internet and gotta say sound effects that you might be familiar with in nature or society make for some very interesting reference sound sources.

My bigger OHM 5s (only ones I have tried) ace the test in this regard. Locomotives sound like locomotives. Thunderstorms like Thunderstorms. Birds like birds. running water like running water. With eyes closed, I'd venture to say it was hard to tell the difference, even at seemingly fairly realistic volumes. Its a real eye/ear opener.

Micros are much smaller but I would expect fairly similar performance is possible at least in a smaller room.

Hold tight. I hope things can live up to the high expectations!