Anybody listen to Ohm Walsh speaker w/digital amp?

"yet the Trio's ability to deliver more current seems a likely reason for achieving that effortless sound I'm hearing .. yes?!"

Absolutely yes.

Came across this old thread.

I am now running OHm 100 S3s and 5 S3s with a pair of Bel Canto ref1000 mkii Class D IcePower monoblocks and can offer up some actual observations on this topic now.

CondoCondor nailed it. "grip" is the right term to describe the main difference between the new Class D versus the old Musical Fidelity A3CR, other than the jump to 500 versus 120 watts/channel into 8 OHM, which helps out nicely at louder volumes with the 5s in particular.

The Bels do seem to deliver a vice like grip in controlling the drivers, especially the big 5s, which is just what the doctor ordered. Bass comes across as leaner at first but in fact is delivering the goods in a fast and most rock solid manner, like an MMA fighter in peak condition!

Using the sound from from excellently produced live concerts I have attended recently in smaller venues and some very high end systems I have heard as a reference, this is a big step in that direction. They really do not sound like speakers hardly at all any more at this point.

I have to say that the MF A3CR amp was an incredible piece as well with many similar attributes, but it did not quite have the vice like control of the Walsh drivers that the Class Ds do, but then again the MF amp cost me less than 1/5 what the Ref 1000 mkiis did used.

One thing unique to the ref1000 mkiis which probably contributes to this somewhat is the 100K I believe input impedance for unbalanced input (200K for balanced I believe) which helpss it mate well with a tube pre-amp. That was the thing that helped convince me to go with this particular model. That is a small bump up from the 72K ohm input impedance of the MF A3CR prior, which was also very good compared to most SS amps. The Wyred amps have 62K or so input impedance as well, which is good. Stock Icepower modules have only 10K input impedance I believe, so that is something to consider for those considering using Icepower with tube pre-amps.

Interesting, Mapman. My Walsh 2000s are run off of an Odyssey Stratos HT3 amp, which has a 10K input impedance, and I run that from a tubed pre, the Conrad-Johnson PV11. Should I be worried that I am not getting the best out of my Ohms because of the amp/preamp combo I am running?

Bond,

Specs are only guidelines and alone do not determine level of performance. The only way to determine that is to listen and compare.

In my case, if after listening carefully for a while to a particular configuration I identify an area that I feel could improve based on listening to reference systems, live events, or whatever I can identify as a meaningful reference for comparison, then specs are a useful research tool to help weed through options and identify choices that based on specs might perform better in my system specifically compared to other highly regarded pieces.

Even then, the only way to know for sure is to experiment.

In the case of my amp upgrade, I moved from a 360w/ch Carver to a 120w/ch Musical Fidelity and knew eventually I wanted to get back to a high power amp without losing the benefits the MF brought to the table.

The power rating of the amp and its importance in being able to drive the OHMs optimally was the main factor that drove me to look at an upgrade eventually. The power differential was cut and dry. The MF amp sounded better than the Carver in every way, but there was less power now available for fairly power hungry speakers.

Based on power and current alone, there were many choices to pick from, so I looked for other factors on paper that might make a difference. Its still always something of a risk changing though until you actually try something different and hear the results, which may be better or worse or more commonly better in some ways but not as good in others.

I have heard some claim that they can always hear an improvement in sound quality with an amp with higher input impedance compared to lower. Technically this makes sense. Practically, how much difference is there and is it enough to matter to most? I don't know. Also other factors contribute to sound so it is risky to base a choice perhaps on any one specification alone.

Fun stuff (and potentially EXPENSIVE)! Seldom ever cut and dry however.

I am these days. An extremely good match I would say.