What type of Amp for Ohm Walsh F-5015s?

Dep14, I am picking the rosewood finish and the version that has the smaller upper grills and the wood veneered middle portion above the large veneered tapered base (not the other available version with large upper grills like on the original Ohm Fs). I am having a pair of Ohm F’s that I inexpensively obtained remade into these by Ohm Acoustics, as the discount for reusing old speakers is significant.

Of the amps that I listed, 2 are class D and 1 is class AB. The amp you use is class AB. I have read that class D amps work best with "warm" sounding speakers and I have seen some Ohm speaker reviews that use the term "warm" in the description and some that do not include this word. How would you or anyone else reading this classify the Ohms that you have?

You may be amazed by this, but this is a totally blind purchase by me, so I don’t have any experience with Ohms other than a few minutes listening in an aisle way in a used audio store to a very old smaller pair with dated drivers. I am going off of online recommendations to my past posted topics, so all of you that have responded in the past collectively have picked these for me. Thus, keeping up with the spirit of this, you all can collectively help with the amp selection, which I may or may not, as stated earlier in this topic string, be able to audition prior to purchase.

They will sound different with different amps.  

I'd say both of my current Ohm Walsh speaker pairs are neutral sounding. 

 I have Ohm F5 series 3,  which are similar to yours but one generation older model and no built in subs.   The 4 3 way level adjustments on each provide a lot of flexibility with tuning the speakers to teh room and personal preference. I run these off Bel Canto ref1000m monoblocks fed by an Audio Research sp16 tube pre-amp which perhaps adds just a touch of tube warmth.

I also have "Super Walsh 2 100 series 3 which are 8" 100 series 3 drivers in refurbed Walsh 2 cabs.  I use those with a Bel Canto C5i integrated amp.  This is perhaps the smoothest, most neutral, airy and detailed sound overall I have ever had.

Both  amps are Class D and I am a big fan of Class D amps with the OHMs for overall value and performance.   

I have Walsh Super2 100S3 units like mapman. I power mine with ATI 1502 amp which delivers 150wrms into 8 ohms estimated 180 to the 6 ohm speakers. I have previously run them with a Marantz pm8005 about 90 wrms. Both worked fine but I  like separates and use an upgraded preamp which is detailed but not harsh. Both are AB amps and sound good. I have run them with tubes too and they sounded good bjt were too hot for my climate.  All amps sounded different. I would try to get some trial amps to see what you like. I have heard the Hint and really liked it. I spoke to John at Ohm when I bought my speakers and he recommended a solid state amp with good current. The Hint provides that. I am not a class D guy but have heard good things about Wired For Sound amps. There is a very long thread on Ohm speakers on tnis site. You might scan that and see what amps others are using.

@mapman  I have often thought that a tube pre-amp with a Class D amp might make a lot of sense.  Conceptually it makes a lot of sense to me as opposed to a tube pre-amp with a tube-amp.. that always makes me wonder what flavor are you getting from the tubes?  Plus I like bass, but I want it relatively tight.  

@michiganbuckeye I would consider the 5000's neutral.  Keep in mind the adjustments on the back do make a difference.  For instance with my pass labs preamp and amp, I prefer the mids and treble in the (+) position (mid-bass and bass are left neutral).  For a while I had a mark levinson integrated amp I was trying.  It was clearly a brighter presentation than the Pass, I ended up turning the treble with it to the neutral position.  

I also happen to be in Michigan.  Drop me a PM if you are interested in a listen.

With separates, just keep in mind that every combo of amp and pre-amp will sound different as well. Tube or no tube.

The key attribute normally for the amp with at least any fully passive Ohms for best performance is high current delivery and damping factor. Class D amps or large bulky, heavy Class a or class a/b amps tend to fit that bill. Tube power amps need not apply IMHO unless one wants to relegate much of the bass to a separate subwoofer, which is uniquely inherent though in @michiganbuckeye's  case with the F5015 model specifically.

I find tube amps or even SS amps that emulate tube amps with higher output impedance/damping factor are not ideal. The larger the OHM Walsh driver the less ideal in that bass will be fatter and less refined and articulate and that also tends to mask mid-range detail.

That’s not to say some might very much like the resulting sound, even if things are not all as optimized from a technical perspective.

In general, I find the tube pre-amp/Class D amp combo done well can be very cost effective and deliver that articulate bass as well as all the rest and makes for a sound that one can just sit and enjoy for hours on end.

Again, with the f5015, teh built in Class D amps will in fact handle the bass, so you can likely use most any amp SS or tube to good effect as long as the setup provides the dual line level outputs for sub. Having an active crossover on-board the amp to be able to refine the sub crossover characteristics as needed sounds like a huge advantage as well, which I suspect is why JS recommended those particular amps.