How do Ohm Walsh speakers compare to Maggies?

They are very different judging by my memories. Planars excel in image placement, omnis in image size, by necessity these work against each other to some degree. While both may be good , and "non boxy" , the very different ways they create the sound really calls for a personal audition. Shanian speakers like the Compass or larger might also appeal to you if you like the omni sound.

I used to own Maggie 3.5s and they were great...if the room allowed them to be, which my current room does not. Room corrected subwoofers are mandatory in this space, as far as I'm concerned. So....

I currently own Ohm 100s and Maggie MMGs, both of which I use with subwoofers (in a rotation). The little Maggies are terrific (and at $600/pr, a ridiculous value, IMHO), but the Ohms get 95+% of my listening hours.

They may both be "boxless" sounding, but omnis like the Ohms just sound quite different from planars (and anything else, for that matter). Imaging from the two is very different, with Ohms providing unique (in my experience) weight to dramatically localized instruments. Both planars and minimonitors can do the location part pretty impressively in their own way (perhaps localizing sources even more precisely than the Ohms), but the "weight" (meat on the bones?) is solely an omni thing, IME.

In the end, I prefer the omni presentation, but both speakers are outstanding overall performers: detailed, open, and pretty neutral tonally. I'm sure that some would prefer the planars.

Really it's down to personal taste on this one. Both are very good choices, but I'm pretty sure that most people will come down hard one way or the other; some easily prefering the omni approach and others the planar.

Marty

Marty hit it pretty good.

a different kind of "open" imaging compared to Maggie with more weight, impact or "meat on the bones".

I had original OHM Walsh 2s 1982-2007, Magnepan mg1cs 1987-2006, and B&W P6 1997-2006 and my current newer generation OHMs and Dynaudio monitors replaced all three ~ 2007-present.

I have owned Maggies as well, MG-1's that were hot-rodded, and a couple pairs of MMG's. I have spent a lot of time with 1.6's, and have heard the 1.7's a few times. Not the same as living with them of course, but I still have a pretty good idea of their capabilities. I still own a pair of MMG's and like Marty, think they are an awesome value. In a smaller room you can get away with them without a sub, if the total lack of bass doesn't bother you.

In my room, I attempted to get a pair of Velodyne subs to integrate with my MMG's and eventually gave up. It was total frustration to get the sound quality that I wanted, and in the end, preferred the MMG's on their own. But then, I wanted a bit more, I wanted to have some "meat on the bones".

I have had a pair of Ohm Walsh 3/3000's(I had previously owned Walsh 2's years ago) for over a year now, and they gave me everything I was looking for, imaging/staging that in some ways to me is better than the Maggies, more "live" if you will. Also, I have image height that is more correct and natural than most speakers, especially smaller mini-monitors, but very similar to Maggies. The Ohm midrange is as good as the Maggies, and I am often stunned by just how good John has voiced these speakers. Also, I got the bass and "meat on the bones" that I was looking for. That was the icing on the cake to me.

The great thing is that I get all this without the downsides to the placement/listening position with the Maggies. I don't have that head-in-vice postion in my room anymore, the Ohm's just give that nice soundstage really no matter where you are sitting. For me, that is a big plus, because I don't have my speakers in a dedicated listening room that I once had.

They are to me a "real world" speaker, one that definately will respond to better electronics and speaker placement, but one that doesn't kill the musical capabilities if you don't spend every last ounce of effort(or tons of money for electronics) for those things. Personally, I would rather spend my time listening to music than tweaking anyway!

I really still love the Magnepans, they do a lot of really good things, they just make great music. I never thought I would have another speaker that could-or would take their place. The Ohm 3/3000 has done just that. They make even better music for me in my room. As always, I recommend giving them a try, hard to beat John's in-home trial policy. Enjoy the music! Tim

I would agree with all of the replies above, although I have not had much experience with planars.

However, the OP, IMHO, is wrong on the image placement issue. My Walsh 2000s create extremely solid and tangible images of both instruments and voices, throughout the soundstage. This was one of the more surprising aspects of this speaker when I first installed them.