I believe you do pay return shipping if you return the ohms.
I use my 100s for video as well as audio and voices sound good.
I
The ohm omni presentation and the wide range walsh driver are the unique things with the ohms. If what you read about them has appeal they might be worth a try. I am less familiar with the vandy sound but they are good too. |
"I'd have a pair of the 5000's if I could afford them."
ME too. Maybe next time I have a good excuse to upgrade.
My OHM 5 series 3 ended up costing me a fraction of list price due to taking advantage of several incentives that OHM offered at the time concurrently:
1) refurbed (OHM F) cabinets instead of new.
2) "Summer sale" pricing that John seems to run usually about this time of year prior to his 1 month summer shutdown in July usually I recall. HAven't heard about such this year so far though. Maybe business is really good.
3) trade-in of two pair of used OHM speakers to reach the maximum 40% discount for two pair that was offered. I traded in my old Walsh 2s + bought a pair of cheap C3s with refurbishable cabinets for cheap on ebay and had those shipped by the seller directly to OHM as part of the trade-in. |
"Ohm Walsh + Porcupine Tree = Sonic Heaven"
Amen.
If you have OHM Walshes and not the case, keep working at it until it happens.
PT's FOABP was one of hardest of my favorite CDs to really get done to the max. Finally after the right amp, tweaks, etc., sonic heaven.
Very dark but insightful and great sounding concept album is FOABP. |
I do not know Vandys well, but I read a 1c review that indicated some breakup noticeable at higher volumes with more challenging kinds of music. OHM 100s were also referred to as well indicating a similar situation. SOme other third speaker type as well.
I was thinking that the author might have been confusing an amplifier clipping issue with the capability of the speakers. I have heard this with my 100s where they deliver whatever I throw at them with my 500 w/ch amps but my 180 w/ch amps will give up way before the OHMs do.
Can't speak for Vandys or others in this regard but I will say that I think the OHM Walsh design is exceptional in its ability to go loud without stress, compression or breakup. Part of this is due to the high crossover frequency which puts most of the burden on the wave bending Walsh driver and asks very little of the soft dome tweeter. It also provides outstanding coherency through the midrange which is a unique aspect of the OHMs I would say. Vandy 1Cs cross over much lower I believe. |
I believe drivers, sizes and pricing changed with the release of the latest 1000 series including microwalsh. I think size of mw stayed the same. Se edition may have some extra cosmetics. Not sure..... |
How much were the Wharfdales?
I would say the OHMs have similar characteristics as you describe liking with the Wharfdales but the presentation and interaction with room acoustics will be much different I suspect. Should be interesting. Keep us posted. |
SHould be interesting. Two radically different designs to chose from! THe Wharfdales appear to pack a lot of hardware into that package for that price! |
GOod advice from Joefish. |
I can only speak for the OHMs but I think they are hard to beat for prog/rock/metal, which constitutes a major portion of my listening as well, especially with the right amp. That kind of music is perhaps the biggest reason I am where I am today.
They will hold their own or better against most any competitor I have heard with all the rest. A lot comes down in the end to personal preferences. |
The thing with prog rock is that there is often a lot going on in the recording to hear at any particular time, like large ensemble classical or big band. A large deep soundstage enables one too discern more details, like a big screen 3-d hd tv or movie screen in that things are less cluttered. Of course all the other stuff matters as well. The ohms can do it all very well. |
Hey,
I had similar issues with older Magnepan's from the 80's that were my mains for many years alongside a pair of older OHMS.
The newer OHMs I have now replaced both.
The older OHMs did not have as refined a presentation as most more modern speakers.
The Maggies were fine with a variety of music at low to moderate volume, but became compressed and congested at higher volumes especially with prog rock and similar pop/rock genres.
The modern OHMs handle whatever you throw at them with ease at any volume, especially with a decent to good source and the right amplification.
One caveat is I hve never heard MWTs but the consensus is that all modern OHMs have a similar sound the main difference being bass levels obtainable in various sized rooms. Larger OHMs tend to do that better in larger rooms though I have not heard many complaints about MWT bass levels in general. In some cases, like more lively rooms, less can often be more in terms of overall performance. |
"Grace Under Pressure"
That might most simply describe the thing I like best about the OHMs. Nothing seems to phase them ie they are seemingly NEVER the bottleneck, however they will easily reveal shortcomings upstream, in recordings etc. |
