Posted July 17, 2016 (edited)
Took a leap of faith and have ordered a pair of the new Ohm Walsh Tall 2000s. A complete change of direction but curiosity and all that…
A very different design and concept that just might have legs with my evolving tastes and listening habits. Was thinking about a pair of RF-7 IIs but no good deals to be found in Canada. Have been sitting on the fence for a couple months and have decided to try the Ohms, another iconic American speaker.
Dealt directly with John Strohbeen, who is president and head designer (and has been since the 70s). Sort of a
PWK/Bob Crites rolled into one within the Ohm universe. Will post my thoughts once I have them.
I wanted to try something different that has a wider soundstage and sounds good off axis. I had been intrigued with much I have read about their new lines re clarity and musicality. The downward firing driver sends lower notes downward through the tuned ported box (ported underneath the speaker). It gives them good extended bass, meaning I should be able to retire my sub from music duties. Unlike their legacy products they are now more a 180 or so rather than a 360 speaker making them much easier to place. The WAF is huge as they look like nice wooden pillars with a small footprint.
They do have a 120 day home trial period so they can go back if they don’t fit the bill.
Posted July 18, 2016 (edited)
Loudness is irrelevant to me and not a factor. I live in a high rise condo tower and listening is done at moderate levels, occasionally high moderate. As I mentioned initially, my tastes and listening habits have changed with age and lifestyle. I’m more interested in realistic uncoloured presentation. Once these bad boys show up, I’ll post my honest thoughts about them. My current system is four Klipsch 61RB IIs with a RC62II centre and small Klipsch sub. Edited July 18, 2016 by YK Thom
A bit of a bump and update.
I didn’t really care for the first veneer samples sent to me by Ohm Acoustics. Living where I do in the far north, mail is beyond slow. Second choice was the Rosewood which is a much better match to my existent wood furniture. My Ohm Walsh Tall 2000s are being built next week and should be here in early December. I will write a synopsis of my impressions once they are set up properly and going.
They gave me a call today to let me know they are being shipped from Brooklyn tomorrow.
Speakers have arrived in the great white north (literally, it’s been snowing for over 24 hours). Unfortunately I have to fly down to Ottawa tomorrow for a conference and won’t be able to debox and set them up until this weekend. Something to look forward to and keep me distracted the rest of the week.
Ended up with few major work fires to put out and was just able to get them home from the office today. I did have concerns about these making the long journey from New York intact. I needn’t have- these bad boys are packed for the ages. Triple boxed with a set of heavy duty cardboard corner protectors within each of the three boxes! The first inner box was also protected with thin pressboard sheets. This was a near two hour process getting them deboxed. They are immaculate. Three trips down to the large garbage downstairs (I’m on the tenth floor), and I’m just about ready to swap out the RB61 IIs, hook them up and rerun Audessy. Thus far I am seriously impressed and best of all, my wife loves the look of them! The veneer selection I settled on - Rosewood, nearly perfectly matches our furniture, most of which is mango wood which is a closely related species.
Updates to follow but so far so good.
Serious packaging. As well a demonstration for those using stand mounts who don’t think they have space for floorstanders.
On 12/5/2016 at 7:58 PM, Marvel said:
Ooooh, is that s Siamese or Himalayan you have?
btw, nice looking speakers.
Bruce
She is a Balanese , the long haired variant of the Siamese. Great cat, and like all of them attracted to boxes like moths to porch lights. The speakers are even nicer in real life, heavy as hell and dead solid. STILL haven’t heard them yet! Had to host and MC a 25th anniversary reception for my work tonight and have Christmas dinner for the board and shareholders tomorrow. Wednesday it will be…the universe keeps throwing obstacles my way. At least they are here in my living room.
On 12/7/2016 at 7:08 PM, FuzzyDog said:
Nice, but can you set a drink on top?
I’d say no.
First thoughts…they are even nicer in person than in web photos. They possess a classy elegant simplicity and the veneer choice we made has them blending in very well with our wood furnishings as well as wood veneer flooring. They don’t really even look like speakers, more like nice pillars. The WAF is huge. My wife loves them and is very pleased to see the Black Klipsch RB61 IIs mounted on black metal stands removed from the living room.
Was able to get off work early today and did the initial set up. Going to redo the overall set up and cable management on the weekend. Ran Audessy and puttered around with some settings, moved the cut off down to 60 which seems to be their sweet spot in my room. First impressions: fabulous! Very natural sounding, lots of detail ( I was a bit concerned I’d be losing some). As detailed if not more so than the Klipsch but more “full” and nuanced and natural sounding. They are perfect for TV and I assume will be even more so for movies-I’ll find out this weekend. A big surprise to me was how effortlessly they seem to match with my Klipsch RC62 II centre channel. I had thought it would be a huge mismatch but this doesn’t seem to be the case. Played some music and was blown away. I listen primarily to jazz and have always found Klipsch to excel with this genre. Something about listening to horns through horns. The 2000s are even better. Ridiculously lifelike and without the stridency I would hear with some older recordings. All this through my Marantz SR5008 AVR! More than enough power. I did pick up a pair of used Marantz MA700 mono blocks a while back and will be incorporating them into the system on the weekend, but to tell you true they sound great right now. Everything you hear about the Ohm soundstage is true. My whole room seems to be a sweet spot rather than just my chair which was tuned into the Klipsch. Off axis is a real bonus. Regardless of where I wander the sound is full. This will be great when having guests over during the holiday season. As far as placement goes I just dropped them exactly where the other speakers had been placed and they sound fine. Did a wee bit of toe in and may play around with them this weekend but for now they seem perfectly fine. The Ohm people suggest a 100 hour break in but they sound damn fine right out of the box. If things improve over time well that will just be a bonus. Very much looking forward to the weekend, going to be listening to a lot of music. Time to dig out the Hanukkah CDs !
Did some more placement fine tuning this evening and brought out some favourite holiday CDs. Very impressed; one of my favourites, Kenny Ellis Hanukkah Swings (jazzy big band style) completely encompassed the room. Great album.. I’m hearing things
in the recording I had never heard before and at one point got up to double check the centre wasn’t on. The imagining and phantom centre effect is tangible.
Have spent the evening listening to some favourite holiday CDs (through a Marantz CD6005), with a few glasses of wine. I think I now know what the term “musical” sounding means when applied to loudspeakers. These things are a joy to listen to. I finally get it. The sound is not so extremely different as some would have you beleive. Huge presence, natural full and detailed. I really like the presentation and would put it in my big three sonic experiences: the first time I heard properly set up vintage Khorns, the venerable Electro-Voice Interface D and now the Ohm Walsh Tall. Distinct and natural.
The new Ohms settling into my living room. The WAF is huge, they go very well with our furniture.
The Spherical Cow.
I see Ohm’s woodwork is still great. Great speakers that ought have far more exposure in the audiophile community. Enjoy!
Kevin S.
I owned the Ohm 2000’s prior to getting my Heresy’s. I would like to make a couple of suggestions based on your photo:
1. Do not toe them in. The tweeters already fire at a 45 degree angle when they are not toed in. You should be having a lot of sound being bounced off the face of the TV with your current amount of toe in.
2. Move the left speaker out to be at least even with the front of the cabinet, and a bit further if you can tolerate it. Then make the right speaker be the same distance from the wall behind it. The Ohms perform best when they are clear of any obstructions between them and their 180 degree forward radiation is as unimpeded as possible.
Hopefully you will then get the benefit of their intended frequency balance and a stable sweet spot as wide as the distance between the speakers.
Hope this helps! Enjoy your speakers.
Posted December 11, 2016 (edited)
Thanks Kevin
Just straightened them out and pulled forward a wee bit. You were right on the money.
Well I’ve the Talls in use for over a week a now and have over 100 hours on them (the recommended break in time). Perhaps a slight difference - I’ve always thought the break in thing was really more a matter of your own hearing getting used to a different sound rather than something mechanical. A bit more placement fine tuning and I’m now satisfied. Really enjoying the wide soundstage and the highly detailed sound. One thing I will add is that I have never heard any speaker sound this good off axis. Our dining room table is about 13 feet diagonally to the right of the listening area and during dinner last night the sound still seems very full. They seem to be ideal for filling a room with sound while you are moving around and doing things. You are not chained to a small sweet spot directly in front.
These will most certainly not be going back. Keepers all day long. I could not be happier with my purchase and the sound of the Ohm Walsh Talls. Wish I had bought a pair years ago.
Next project is finding a half decent 12 outlet surge protector power bar and new DVD/blue ray unit before I completely finish up with tidying up a massive wire mess behind the av unit.
https://community.klipsch.com/index.php?/topic/165106-something-new-ohm-walsh-tall/&
http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/ohm-walsh-tall-2000-ordered.725067/
Associated Equipment: Ohm Walsh Tall 2000, Klipsch RC62 II, Klipsch RB61 II,Klipsch KW-100, Marantz SR5008, Marantz MA700 Mono Blocks, Marantz CD6005
