Ohm Walsh Micro Talls: who's actually heard 'em?

Thanks for the response bondmanp. I would say my experience so far with the Ohms is that my image stability in terms of voice height is very consistent at about 4 to 5 feet high regardless of the recording. The changes is the image height and I think it has to do also with how pressured the room gets. The louder I crank of the speaker the bigger the sound tends to get, maybe 10-20% larger soundstage. Additionally as you point out height definitely can vary with recording. Play the Interstellar soundtrack last night by the wind noise was can height, but by the end of the track with the orchestra in full force the height was nearly hitting my 8 foot ceilings.

As for toe-in and Dirac so far I have only tried them toe'ed out which seems to add more image height but I will try them toe'ed in. Dirac also was a great difference in my room. I can turn Dirac on and off instantly with my setup and the difference has been improved control and extension (probably due to Dirac killing a 15db bump between 40 and 60 hz) and a much smoother and focused mids and highs. Also the holographic surround effect has been tuned now to be more precise and realistic.

As for what speakers in their price range could beat the Ohms I would honestly say not many from my listening experience. As I said in another post compared to my 3.6s which are renowned for being a top tier speaker the Ohms excel in numerous places. One could look at the Magnepan 1.7i's or .7s but in terms of dynamics the Magnepans would quickly be put in their place and the Ohms definitely have a less veiled and open sound to them compared to the Magnepans. Which is odd since that is one of the hallmarks of Magnepans. But the Ohms just have this open unrestrained sound to them that is easy to forget when listening to them, but you quickly remember when comparing them to other speakers.

One interesting this is that people talk about Magnepans having an airy sound which they do when it comes to the texture of the sound (especially on ribbon models). However the Ohms excel at having sound literally sounding like it is coming out of nowhere. It sounds not airy in texture, but as if the sound placement is just coming out of nowhere and it is a somewhat weird, but easily adapted to trait. The Ohms when playing some material have the ability to project a wall of sound as if the air itself is the speaker. I have never had that experience before on any system I have heard.

Overall more break-in coming and I will certainly try the toe-out. After spending 4 hours moving the speakers in 6 in increments and then fine tuning I think I have place down minus the toe-in experiments. However all of this break-in work will be for not since my left driver can was damaged at the factory and I have replacement cans for both speakers coming in this Tuesday. I spoke with John the next day about the damage and site unseen he instantly offered to send out new drivers. So the break in process will start fresh on Tuesday, but I am excited to take a closer look at the cans taken off the speakers and atleast I have the placement sorted out so it will be time to pull out the tape and mark some spots on the carpet.

PS: Can you send a link to the exact Sound Anchor product you are using with your Ohms? I am interested in picking some up and wanted to give them a shot. I currently use Sound Anchor stands on the Magnepan 3.6s and really enjoy the effect they had.

accurus I love the rigorous examination you are giving the OHMS!  It helps confirm a lot of what I have been saying over the years.

I feel like with the right size OHMs for a room,   a good quality source, and the right amplification to drive them to their max (which many average OHM owners may not have and not know or care what they are missing) you are basically just hearing the recording the way it should sound in your room.  So the recording is pretty much everything.   The best sound the best and the poor ones lag way behind but are mostly all still listenable once you realize it is what it is and enjoy it or not for reasons other than absolute sound quality.  Its like having a  good HDTV.   Huge range of picture quality possible depending on teh source.

One other thing I would mention is that  I have found OHMS or any speakers for that matter that sit on upper level suspended plywood floors found in most modern homes may benefit from placement on isolating platforms or stands.   Stands that couple to the floor will sound way different than those that isolate.

I have my OHM 100s in Walsh 2 cabinets on Auralex Sub dude platforms when used on my nicely finished second level with plywood flooring.   When I run them on the first floor (house foundation level) the stands are not needed.     In general I find you do not want any speakers interacting with lively floors.   It muddies the bass and obscures detail.

Thanks for the advice Mapman! I in fact do have the speakers on a suspended floor and I do feel it vibrate along with the walls and pretty much everything if I have music like Lorde and Interstellar playing! Even better though is I actually have some old sub dudes sitting around which would actually give me some more physical height out of the speakers and address the problem you are suggesting. Sounds like a fun evening of music is ahead with a couple of experiments and probably a remeasuring using Dirac when I am done.

I will also be posting on here a full review at some point and sending it off to Ohm to use as they want. I will say that I can't believe more people don't own these speakers. Once some time has been spent setting them up they offer a good hybrid of what dynamic cones due best with what planars can do. With the gear in my system I also don't feel like I am losing resolution compared to the 3.6s. I know I have lost some air or delicacy compared to the ribbon in the Magnepans, but I don't think I have lost resolution and I have gained musicality and dynamics. The music so far has been far more engaging.

Let us know how the subdudes work out. Should take things up a few levels still I suspect. They did for me. Exact same true with Isoacoustics brand isolating stands I use with small monitors in another similar room. I’ve used those with my Triangle monitors and just this week with an old Pair of Boston Acoustics A40 series ii speakers I bought 30 years ago and just refoamed this week. Wow! An audiophile could pick up a pair of those for $50 or less at a thrift store, fix them up with a $20 kit, and be nicely set in many smaller to medium size rooms. Not OHMS but they really sound good these days with modern high quality gear driving them. You definitely have to spend 10X as much or more to do better with new stuff.

I'd like to be able to hear the Isotar soft dome tweeters in my Dynaudios used in teh OHMs.   Would probably up the cost even more though.