German Physiks - Listening Impressions Wanted

The only GP I’ve heard was last November at CAF. The sound was spot on. Very neutral tonal balance and somewhat laid back perhaps but not overtly so. I believe they were using good qualiy (Veritas?) Class D amps (as I do with my OHMs) which surely imparted much of the tonality. Fans of warm sounding tube amps with lush midrange (not me I tend to prefer accuracy) would not be impressed in that regard. Soundstage and imaging indicated the muscians playing in the front part of the room with good soundstage depth. Like good omnis always tend to do. I heard nothing to fault. There was a large crowd listening intently. The sound was not like anything else I heard there. Of course every room sounded different and each will have unique leanings. That’s what makes the world go round. Omni’s cannot be beat for their large sweet spot and ability to image coherently regardless of listening positioning. If a live like presentation even on studio and/or mono recordings and coherent imaging most anywhere in the room does not appeal, probably no good reason to consider omnis.

[...] Omni’s cannot be beat for their large sweet spot and ability to image coherently regardless of listening positioning. If a live like presentation even on studio and/or mono recordings and coherent imaging most anywhere in the room does not appeal, probably no good reason to consider omnis.

A "live like presentation" and "... coherent imaging most anywhere in the room" would definitely appeal to me, but I find fault in equating omnis like the GP into being "live like" in presentation simply from those traits mentioned. They may be aspects of live-like sound, but very little of what I heard from the GP HRS-120 made me think of a sound character in that ballgame. For that to happen there’d have to be a very different magnitude of dynamics, scale and ease (not to mention overall coherency and presence/immediacy, certainly through the central midrange), and to accommodate this I’d wager the GP’s would have benefitted from a smaller size listening room compared to where I heard them, though I’m certain it would only have helped them so much. It’s not that I can’t appreciate an omni-presentation that relies heavily on the contribution of a given room’s acoustics/boundaries as "opposed" to a directivity-laden "through the window" type of sound that involves reflections to a lesser degree from the likes of horns, but if GP is largely representative of omni sound it’s too malnourished a sonic meal to my taste.

(The only GP I’ve heard was last November at CAF. The sound was spot on. Very neutral tonal balance and somewhat laid back perhaps but not overtly so.) I believe they were using good qualiy (Veritas?) Class D amps (as I do with my OHMs) which surely imparted much of the tonality. Fans of warm sounding tube amps with lush midrange (not me I tend to prefer accuracy) would not be impressed in that regard.

I can’t buy into the "[quality] tube amp not equaling neutrality/accuracy" dichotomy; on the contrary, I’d say. The harmonic structure and texture, liquidity, tonality, sheer dynamic explosiveness/uninhibited-ness and natural fullness of good, lower wattage SET’s (preferably through higher efficiency speakers) to my ears takes the price towards a natural (I favor this term over "neutrality"), live-like presentation compared to many if not most solid state offerings with typically less efficient speakers. Good SET’s seem to lower my "reproduction"-guard and more into something that is simply there, with an element of simplicity or wholeness that downplays any dissecting tendencies of what’s heard. To me at least this is very much akin to witnessing an acoustic live event.

@phusis - I don’t dispute that you heard what you heard when you listened to the HRS-120. I would only mention that, I think, GP has made significant revisions to its DDD driver, and I think the HRS-120 included an older version. When I heard the speakers, also in a very large space, both the Limiteds and the Borderlands (both with the current version of the DDD drivers) were very dynamic, engaging and life-like. Of course, there were many other variables, and YMMV. I also think that omnis vary in their sonic character just as much as dynamic or panel speakers do. There are dozens of variables, so I would not judge all omnis by the HRS-120 anymore than I would judge all dynamic speakers from hearing just one of them. There may be general family resemblances, but they can sound quite different from one another.

Phusis there are some tube amps I like and others I find too limited. The ones I like tend to be able to do well with electronic as well as acoustic music. Of course I could say the same about SS amps. I do use a tube pre-amp (Audio Research sp16) in my system.

The tube amps I hear that I do like also tend to be playing with speakers that mate up to them well, often not the same ones I would choose with a SS amp.

So two different worlds really. I would never use a tube amp with the GP. The ones up to the task would likely be way too big and expensive, run hot, and consume loads of power.

Those who lean towards tube amps are not likely to go the German Physics or mbl way.   But they will also end up with very good sound just in a different manner.    Some like OHMs with tube amp and sub I know but not sure I would do that myself either.

What do you guys that have lived with a Omni speaker long term think about these.

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lis8j59a-ohm-acoustics-walsh-300-mkii-full-range

Not a lot of money for me to try maybe,give me your true thoughts.

Kenny.