Ohm Micro Walsh small vs. tall

I can't comment on the wall version, but I had the Micro Walsh Shorts (which are 22" tall) and have also heard the Micro Walsh Talls at my friend's house. The shorts do loose a bit of low end to the talls, but not much. I believe the wall mounts loose even more in the low end as they are shorter still. Both those I've heard have similar characters and are fun and engaging. I used the shorts as desktop speakers for my computer and they were great for that purpose. They disappeared like Caspar, even in nearfield. WAF? I guess it depends on the wife and on the decor you are trying to blend them with. They looked fine to me and I'm pretty picky. They are nicely finished (mine were black and my friends are cherry. They do require some power to sound their best. In my case the shorts sounded better with 100 watts than they did with 50 so the extra 3db of headroom helped (different amps to be fair though). Most folks who are using them as dedicated speakers choose the talls for the fuller range. In researching them I could find very little input on the short versions.

Hope that helps.

John,

I have a home-theater set up that uses the full-size Ohm 100S3's for LCR, a half-size sealed omni version of the 100S3's for left and right surrounds, and micro-Walsh shorts (not omni's) for the rears.



As far as your questions, ...

WAF: I do not have the wall-mounted versions, but my wife thinks that the micro-Walsh's are cute. Also, hearsay says that WAF is highest for wall-mounted speakers.

Wall v. Short v. Tall: I am assuming that you are going to play movies, so that you will need a subwoofer (even if you went entirely with 2000's). You will have more flexibility on the crossover point as you move from wall to short to tall. The other consideration has to do with the fact that your couch is against the wall. This means that you are relying entirely on your surrounds for rear envelopment. The short/talls might give you more flexibility in placement as you try to get the right sound. For example, I think that omni's disappear better when they are out from the wall a bit.

Muffling: This is more important for music. In home theater, as I understand it, surrounds and rears are used mainly for short-duration localized sound effects and diffuse ambience. My understanding is that film-makers do not want those speakers to produce sounds that will induce listeners to turn their heads away from the screen in response.

Height: For movies, most recommend that your set up support the reasoning given above in muffling. The majority suggest that tweeter level be at least one foot above ear level, but I have seen people say to put speakers on the floor and fire upwards, to fire them into corners, etc. I have my surrounds and rears up on furniture so that they are about 1-2 feet above.


Center Channel: I am of the opinion that a dedicated center channel speaker is preferable to phantom imaging. If you are going to use phantom imaging, you can't beat Ohms because of their wide sweet spot. Still, I have found that phantom imaging tends to make it seem as if someone's mouth is several feet wide. I also think that dialogue is more intelligible when given its own speaker.

Finally, remember that Ohms are not the "loudest" speakers out there. This means that you should not expect to be able to play at reference levels (105 dB non-LFE peaks) even with gobs of power; if you try, you'll just burn up the super-tweeters. I find that -10 dB's is about all I can hope to get for a listening position about 10-11 feet from the mains.

Hey Mike - How did those shorts work out in your system?

Jax2

You know, I wondered if you'd recognize me. Holy cow, do you have a posting history!

Right now, they are being used as rears until the eleven-channel wide-and-height receivers/processors come down into my price range. I know it's overkill and their placement does compromise the disappearing act a bit, but they do integrate much better than my previous mismatch and I like the consistent look.

Still, I like them so much that I may take them over to my office and amaze my friends and anger my enemies with the Casper trick.

Jax2  (Reviews | Threads | Answers)

03-07-10: Simon_templar_32
Jax2

You know, I wondered if you'd recognize me. Holy cow, do you have a posting history!

Right now, they are being used as rears until the eleven-channel wide-and-height receivers/processors come down into my price range. I know it's overkill and their placement does compromise the disappearing act a bit, but they do integrate much better than my previous mismatch and I like the consistent look.

Still, I like them so much that I may take them over to my office and amaze my friends and anger my enemies with the Casper trick.

Yeah, well who could forget The Saint?!

Sad, ain't it: over a thousand posts...but that's in eight years here! Glad the shorts are working out, and yes they will crush your enemies like ants in the office application! I pity your enemies should you ever decide to go that direction... It will not be a pretty sight, and, for the record, I recommend administering such measures with restraint or you may need the services of a good 'cleaner'!

Marco

John - I have no experience with the Walls or the Shorts. However, I have a pair of 2000s as my mains. I lucked out with a used pair of MWTs (not the SE) found here on A-gon at a good price. They make ideal surrounds! I have them placed on two cinder blocks for added hieght. They are along the side walls about 10" behind the listening seats. John Strohbeen suggested I aim the tweeters towards the rear of the room, but I haven't had a chance to do that yet. I still run my old center, a Vandersteen VCC-1. An Ohm center will be purchased as soon as I have the money.

Unlike you, I do have plenty of space behind the listening position, and I also have a pair of Paradigm Atoms on high stands for the surround back channels. As the setup is, I am getting terrific surround on music and films (no hi-rez audio sources, though). I still prefer 2-channel for music (the 2000s are incredible), but the timbre-matching of the 2000s and the MWTs is perfect. I get sounds between the front and rear speakers, above and behind my head, too! Last night, I watched a documentary on DVD. Very little surround information, but there were some subtle surround effects that had me spinning around to look for whatever was making sound behind me, seemingly beyond the side wall of my room!!! I run the 2000s full range, because I have a pair of Vandersteen 2Wqs hooked up to the front channels. The center, surround and back bass is provided by an old Def Tech PF15 fed with a Paradigm X-30 sub controller and a Behringer 1124P parametric EQ to smooth out the response.

The back wall is the worst place for your sofa, from both a 2-channel acoustic and surround sound standpoint. For 2-channel listening, you might want to look into some acoustic diffusing panels for the wall behind your sofa. Try to get the surrounds mounted high up to give some space between your head and the speakers. The good news is that the Ohms require less of this space, IMO, than conventional speakers. As long as you have a decent subwoofer, I think you'll be fine with the Shorts or the Walls. Why not show your S.O. the pics on the Ohm web site and let her pick?

Also, if you haven't yet, please check out the big Ohm thread (Ohm MicroWalsh Talls: Who's Heard Them?). My experience breaking in my 2000s (which I got in October of 2009) is detailed there in a series of posts, so you'll know what to expect, more or less.

Congrats, John. I think you'll love these things! I know I do.