"this is the product Ohm puts out"

One can check out the 40+ year OHM company history Here. It explains what happened to their third party dealer system in the 90s and why they went to direct sales earlier than most.

"Distribution disaster strikes. Tandy cannot profitably compete with Best Buy and Circuit City and closes the TNB division. Ohm is close to the classic position of “having all our eggs in one basket”.

Factory Direct Sales lowers prices and eliminates showrooms. With over 120,000 Ohm speaker owners in America acting as our showrooms, Ohm switches to a Factory Direct sales mode.

· Prices are slashed as the dealer margin is eliminated.

· A 120-Day Home Trial program is instituted to assure everyone is a happy Ohm owner.
"

They did not put down why dealers deserted them in the late 70's early eighties Mapman, I used to sell them.

Why did they desert them?

I used to sell them as well part time at Tech Hifi in NJ circa 1978. The one I worked in sold refurbs of all brands of equipment THF carried, including OHM.

I talked to one still thriving local Baltimore area dealer who used to carry them back in the 80's. HE spoke highly of them and regretted the move to direct only.

I bought my first "good" speakers there in 1978 (OHM Ls). I was surprised to see OHM Walsh speakers in a hifi store in PEnnsylvania in ~ 1982 or so, when I bought my next speakers there, OHM Walsh 2s. After that, I dabbled with other brands for many years, including Magnepan, KEF, and B&W among others. THings headed south for me soundwise in the late 90's. WHen I looked to get back on track about 5 years ago, I ended back to whre I started with newer OHMs. I was out of the "OHM loop" for many years though I retained my Walsh 2s which continued to perform as well over all those years. I was pleasantly surprised to see OHM was still around when I rediscovered the comapny and line about 5 years ago or so.

I used to get a ton of grief as it was common for them to arrive damaged or have the top fall off in the first week.

Every dealer in Chicagoland bailed.

That Said, I would myself take a chance on them IF they were priced better.I don't buy speakers on looks but for 3-4 K I still think they look shabby.

"That Said, I would myself take a chance on them IF they were priced better.I don't buy speakers on looks but for 3-4 K I still think they look shabby."

Well, they are what they are and like most everything else in home audio, the looks will not appeal to everyone.

Take a look at the german OHM distributors web site. Pretty stylish! Have you ever seen the pics of John Strohbeen and the OHM Brookly facility? I recall some in a six moons review somewhere. Pretty shabby and blue collar! Not your typical high end audio type imagery. I suppose it helps keep overhead down being located in NYC. Its a different kind of appeal, based almost purely on the sound. As was pointed out above, that seems to be the focus along with customer service and satisfaction. John S. does do a lot of customizations. I would be willing to bet JS would do up a custom pair of Walshes to meet almost anyones appearance specs if possible. Of course, the cost might go up further as well for a really fine absolute top notch type finish. OR maybe it could be done as a refurb to get teh cost down. Those options usually seem to always exist with JS. Part of the customer service thing. You don't stay in the audio business for all those years without taking care of your customers along the way. OHM depends on customers to promote and build the business, not traditional advertising, so customer service and satisfaction is even more paramount than ever.