The Ohm Walsh speakers are the real deal. I've been loving my 3000's for about 15 months now, driven by a NAD M33. I have a large deep room and the 3000's fill the space like no speakers I've ever heard. It's an open concept room with living room, dinning room and kitchen and the sound is incredible everywhere I stand and sit. Could not be happier with the 300's and the Ohm staff is great to work with. Everything you said in this review is spot on!! Great review and more importantly speaker!
My favorite saying in this video " you go to hot topic and you'll find a lot of different people and go to Harvard and you'll find better people, and both of them suck! " Dont ever change Zeos
As a teenager I remember hearing a pair of the ohm A's at a high end stereo store. I remember the sound as being uncannily natural more so than any speaker I had ever heard which included almost everything on the market through the 70's. Jump to about 15 years ago and I learned Ohm speakers were still being made. I took what I thought was a risk and ordered a pair after speaking with them. After I set these up and listened my speaker shopping days were over. I am still in awe of the natural unforced and realistic music coming out of these. The question for me is not that Ohm is still in business but after hearing these why other speaker manufacturers are still in business. Talk to them like I did. They are great people that work in Brooklyn. You can interrupt their day and they won't mind a bit. Totally agree with all comments made here. Tks
I am still on my Walsh 4's from 1985. (First released in the 1970's, when I read about them in stereo magazine). Walnut finish, flared trapezoidal shape. (Ohm went to cylindrical later; apparently, now rectangular.) Listed at the time at $1895 / pair; I got the floor demos at about half that. After 15 years I had to have them re-foamed, have worked perfectly ever since. Highly recommended for main stereo listening room and surround sound.
1) I have absolutely ZERO interest in buying speakers as I am a headphone guy. 2) I watch this review, just because the speakers look kind of funny. 3) You manage to entertain me for 34 minutes. 4) I can´t stop thinking about actually buying these now :) Really happy to be a part of this, Zeos. Keep up the good work forever...
1) Due to my job and private life, I´m only able to listen to music at night --> 2) Living in an apartment --> neighbours would go on a rampage if I´d play music loud at night 3) Have a little daughter --> wife would go on a rampage if I´d play music loud at night 4) I can´t stop thinking about actually buying these anyway :-P
I have the Ohm Walsh 2000's with a yamaha as801 and its amazing stuff... No matter where I walk in my connected kitchen/bar/living room the whole place is filled with magic... there is no loss of impact anywhere I walk... The bass rumbles the walls, picture frames, floor and couch... I was blown away when I first played them and still cant wait for the wife to go grocery shopping so I can just blast away..... The best.... FYI - its my first real two speaker system. My apartment is a catastrophe for a regular setup but these could careless because of the omni-directional...
OHM speakers have been around for a fairly long time, yes. I can remember ads in national stereo magazines back in the 70's! They were revolutionary then, and it's great to see them still sounding superb in 2017! When you get the chance, you MUST get a pair of Magnepan MMG's!
I've had the Walsh Ohm 4s for 30+ years now and they are amazeballs. I do need to downsize a bit though and I'm eyeing the 1000s. Nice to hear the newer ones are also awesome.
I had a home theater system i designed around an onkyo amp and infinity speakers. It was sic. I had a polk audio sub and it was a bit over kill as it was just for my living room because the infinity towers were doing 30 hz . Yeah you definitely know whats good brother .
When you look back on your life, you'll regret the things you didn't do more than the ones you did. If they make you happy they are already an amazing value!
Walked into a record store today, heard the most amazing full, rich, clear, magnificent sound I’ve ever heard AND imaging like I’ve never experienced. Seemed that regardless of where I stood, the music sounded amazing. I turned around to find a pair of these fairly small (from the 70s I’m guessing) speakers and could not believe all that sound was coming from just TWO stereo speakers 🤯 Ironically I had watched your review of them months and months ago, so I knew exactly what I was looking at. Had a 45min discussion with the store owner about them and how special we thought they were. They now have a firm place on my bucket list!
After watching your video I found a pair of Ohm Pro 150's....made in the late 80's....I get it now....these are the best sounding speakers I have ever heard!!!! The sound stage is UNREAL!!!!! I am now spoiled and will never be able to listen to box speakers the same way again.....nothing compares to this design 360 degree sound amazing!!!! this is the sound I have been looking for!!!! Thanks for turning me on to this type of speaker!!!!!!
Walsh’s speakers have been blowing away unpretentious music lovers for over 40 years. My first experience with them was back in 1982. Because they didn’t test well, the audiophile snobs ignored them. Until now. (The other Omni you were referring to is the Mirage Omnisat)
I have the 80's version - FRS-15's and they are great sounding. One of the main pluses is the sound travels through the house without little loss of volume or detail (open plan).
@ brydon : For example the full range omnidirectional GERMAN PHYSIKS UNICORN MKII. A real full range speaker: No crossover but with basshorn. The driver is a cone-shaped 3 gram extremely stiff 0.15mm carbon membrane called DDD driver. German Quality and relatively affordable for high end for living room.
The best soundstage speaker I ever had. Was a homebuild speaker set I made as a teenager, it was 2 cubes hanging down from the sealing. Very easy and cheap to make, it had 6 x 4 inch paper fulltone speakers, one on each side of the cube. No filter was needed. So 2 cubes hanging down, in a stereo setup. The WAF factor was terrible bad, but the soundstage was OMG. The music did not come from some where, it was IN the room. Ever speaker I had since then was just as if it missing something, no matter the prize and how large they were. It had what paper speakers have, that directness..............
Heard ohm Walsh 20 years ago in tweeter etc and they blew me away, glad to hear they are still going. I loved not being able to immediately tell what speaker in the test room the sound was coming from :)
Yeah, they say that bass isn't directional. But, at what frequency does it *actually* become non-directional. A set of über hifi full-range speakers beats a satellite / sub setup hands down every time.
I was able to enjoy an original pair of these for over a year in 1975. I had a home for 3 years and my roommate was a bartender with a few side jobs (smile) and he had a hard on for the system used at the burger chain Ground Pati. When he moved in he had 2 Phase Linear amps, think Carver pre-Amp, Marantz tuner, Thorens turntable (don't remember cartridge) but instead of the Bose 901's, he came in with a pair of the Ohm F's that he was talked into by the local hi-fi audio dealer. I think he paid $800 each--an unheard of sum in those days. Once the system was tuned correctly (and believe me it took days to tune it right) the sound took your breath away. I can't afford to be an audiophile, but the year he lived with me, I enjoyed the most amazing sound ever. And the living/dining room was large and "L" shaped, but alone or with the room full, every place you sat was the sweet spot. He usually only played mint MFSL vinyl or he also had a TEAC R2R so he didn't want just any vinyl played on his system. I remember him putting on a new copy of Savoy Brown's Street Corner Talking (one of the worst mixed-engineered albums I have ever heard) and he made his policy as soon as he ripped that disc into the trash can. I have been to audio shows and heard amazing equipment since then, but I must say I never heard anything sound so amazing. The Ohm F's were absolutely the magic behind this system. It sounded so good that I could appreciate listening to an artist I despised like the Bee Gee's Saturday Night Fever, Journey, or Styx because the sound was that damn good. No doubt; it has left that memory from 41 years ago still sweet in my mind.
A good setup can definitely leave a lasting impression. It's really imperative to match the amp with the speakers in terms of character and frequency response. One amp can make a set of speaker sound irritating while another will make them sing so sweetly.
She looks at him like "there he goes talking to himself again, waiving his hands about, pulling off the speaker grills and pointing at the drivers. Always pointing in the center of the two speakers especially after he flips them upside down"
$2,800 is a steal for speakers that sound much better than spkrs costing more than double that. $2,800 is nothing in the world of HiFi. They sound huge, even through YT, and you can’t escape great sound no matter where you are. A small electric fence around your gear works well when having a party, btw. Now, go warm yourself by the fire. Great review, dude! Very thorough. Thank you! 🎶🔊🙂
Hey sir, thank you for the review, I'm a gen x guy fortunately my dad was a thorough part time audiophile. I d grew up seeing the OHM speakers and had the fortune of owning two pairs thanx to dad in the mid 90s while in college we found a pair of Walsh 2 ohm from early 80s and then he found a pair of the old original GRANDDADDYs the OHM F s from the the 70s with the old tall from the designer Lincoln Walsh driver, released just after his death from my understanding. They were all cool and I loved my Walsh 2 s kept for years. The BiG Fs were still sweet too but the drivers suspension was worn out. I enjoyed them, but thanx for on this review my fellow audio brethren I didn't know OHM was still functioning!!😎👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾🎶
The Dayton B652 AIRS (with the AMT 'ribbon' tweeter) sound fantastic, especially the mids and highs. I have a pair in my garage, and have had some enjoyable listening moments even in that grimy, junk filled room using my FiiO 'lossless' player and a cheap stereo!
Funny review. I thought every stereo enthusiast has heard of Walsh Ohm's. They're considered one of the most innovative designs of all time. Very famous speakers. I first heard the Walsh 5's almost 30 years ago. Great speakers.
Exactly! Ohm speakers have been around a long time! I can remember audiophiles in the 70's running their FISHER 500C tube receivers (popular units in the 60's) into Ohm Walsh speakers, and ranting and raving back then! Of course, the late 60's through the early 80's were 'The Golden Age of HI-FI'! We're talking beautifully crafted, large 'boat anchor' receivers (with large transformers to boot) with great FM sections, speakers the size of doors, and analog sound via LP's. What an era that was!
I know! He says he knows everything about everything yet never heard of Ohm. He should be reviewing washing machines. Actually after 5 minutes he is annoying, both the tone of his voice and style.
What’s the best receiver for these speakers? I’m going to buy some but no nothing about what else I need. I know you mentioned it doesn’t need a center speaker since the tweeters point to the center. I won’t stress about getting a center for now
A buddy was gifted some speakers from his uncle. They were from the 70's and where about 3x3 feet with a slight curve from top to bottom. They enclosed about 7 speakers each. Bass was decent but the thing that got me was the spacial presence they provided. You thought that they were really loud but it was the way they were producing the sound. You never really had to go above 8 on the dial. The thing was that you really needed a properly powered reciever/amp to power them. Wish I remembered the name.
How do they sound at low listening levels? Some speakers only sound good once they get going and I wanted these for a bedroom for nighttime listening. Thanks!
First hifi speakers we ever bought were Ohm Model L bookshelf speakers. That was in 1981, I think. So, the 90s roll around and CDs became all the rage with their large dynamic range. One would think you'd have to buy a totally new set of speakers and pitch your Ohm Model L's. Uh uh! Ohm provided an upgrade path for the little Model L's via a sub-bass activator and new woofers that were better cooled to deal with the transients coming off of CDs. :) It's a pleasure to support a company like Ohm. IMHO
I auditioned a pair of these in the early 80's and put them on my OMFG wish list immediately. They look the same as they did back then but I am sure they have improved since my old Hippie ass heard them! They were way out of my price range then and they are still a bit steep but within reach if I sell some cannabis or my first born . (All legal in my state of California). I had my choice of new speakers pretty well set on SVS Ultra Towers after months of online investigation. Now you have piqued my interest on these with this review on these Ohm Walsh beauties of which I had completely forgotten about the Brand and the great sound I recalled from my audition so many years back. Jesus on a bicycle , thanks for opening this can of worms back up after I had made up my mind. Please don't apologize for rambling on your review. You and I share a kindred excitement and enthusiasm when it comes to electronics and I dig listening as you talk about products the same way I do. Watching your reviews is like having a close friend whose judgement I trust that uses the same vernacular rather than someone spouting endless stats and attempting to impress me with their sophistication and how cool they are. It was your review of the SVS Ultra Bookshelf speaker and your sound demo that convince me to check out and eventually settle on the Towers after months of fretting over my decision. Now you come up with these to confuse the issue (you bastard)! I still wonder about Home Theater and a 5.1 set up with these and how the omnidirectional aspect will work.
My room is huge: 26 x 22 x 15 ft high. On top of that, a fireplace 4 ft wide by 2.5 ft deep sticks out from the center of the long wall. So to put these close to the wall, they would flank the fireplace; or, to place them in front of the fireplace, they'd have to be 3 ft into the room. So . . . will they work or not? Anybody?
lol.. if you like these, look for the original FRS series speakers.. I have had a set of 1981 FRS-11's for the last 17 years.. a friend of mine has a set of 1990 FRS-15's and they are just unreal.. look around, you can find them at inexpensive prices.. Walsh-Ohm are the best kept secret in audio..
MY friend was Tweeter Etc's highest selling salesman one year, he kept a pair of Ohm Walsh 2's just to show people how bad there were. As bad as many Bose products.
My DBX soundfield VI's also have middle-of-room angled tweeters and 15" rear firing woofers which really transforms the soundstage. They definitely fill the whole room and even sends sound dripping into other rooms. 200w max and you can bi-amp them. $1,000 a pair brand new.
I remember these from the 70's. I believe they also did P.A. 'columns'. Pronounced O. H. M. if I remember correctly. Never heard of them since. Leave it to the Z to uncover them :)
I hear ya, but this isnt the LSR305 - *any* problem with the build quality or anything else, and Mr Z knows exactly where the guy who built the speakers lives. There's a vid on YT where a guy has to pull his LSR308's apart to fix a loose driver that steadily drives him crazy - at every stage of the teardown you can hear him muttering 'OK, that's why they cost $x ....'. I'm not bagging JBL or anyone else who has their speakers built offshore - thats just good business practice in 2017 - but personally I have no interest in disassembling a new product simply because the manufacturer needed to shave a few USD off the price to keep the beancounters happy. For all I know these sound like shinola in my room - or yours - but there is a lot to be said for knowing that the people who built your speakers actually give a shit. Kudos to Ohm just for surviving in an uber-competitive market - I prefer active designs but I enjoyed Z's review.
These work almost like my Advent 2 speakers from the 70's. The way the tweeters are set is weird, Left side-1 tweeter fires center at the roof the other fires away at the ground;Right side-1 tweeter fires center at the ground the other fire up and way. The sound field sound good everywhere. The woofers are kind-of ported the case isn't ported but air can pass thru the dust caps. Also the more reflective surfaces that are around it the better, put the speakers in the corner, even better. And they where defiantly worth the $20 i paid for them
The first speakers I ever owned were Ohm C2 bookshelf’s bought in 1978. I still have them but they are damaged. Amazingly, I can still get parts from Ohm if I want to take on the restoration project.
I was shocked and pleased to hear some good reggae music coming from your test sound 😄 I am from Jamaica and I'm a videophile/audiophile. Love the video! I just subscribed
Most amusing audio equipment review I’ve ever seen. Saw ad for vintage Ohm speakers, research led me to this video. Considering getting the vintage ones, but might try some modern ones instead
Goddamned long ass review Zeos but entertaining and informative been looking to make my own movie sound system these are a bit expensive but thanks for the review.
Hey man I know this video came out a long time ago but I have a question. I just picked up a pair of these, and was wondering what receiver I should get. Thanks in advance 🤙
I miss my Ohm i speakers that were connected to two Nikko Alpha 440 amps , but soon my Ohm Walsh 2000 in rosewood should be arriving, i was already sold on them, your review made me pull the trigger n get them
*_I'm buying these based on Z's recommendation. The only man who can sell me on a product and the gold standard when it comes to authentic, no bullshit audio advice, the rest are just industry pimps. Much love from all your many loyal fans in beautiful Bangor, Maine where recreational marijuana is legal, home prices are still some of the lowest in the entire nation, auto insurance is the lowest in the entire nation and the scenery is absolute nirvana._*
Saw the video you made. Looked on craigslist. And contacted the guy. Pair of 2xo's in rare piano black. Looked after well and serviced. Perfect condition. Also he refused to sell them online at risk of damage, so lucky me lived 15 minutes away. Also he gave me a 80% working onkyo badass 50 lb. receiver and two pair of awsome bi polar and tri polar surround speakers. And packaged them with rugs and drapes also free. Best day ever. Knew your videos would change my life. Not sure it would happened that soon. Thanks
Rico Suave I like them a lot actually. They aren’t very efficient speakers so you’ll need to power them well. But at 4ohms that’s not bad. They work extremely well for home theater. They need a sub. On their own they don’t produce much bass. I want to know how much better their new stuff performs. I’m sure it’s so much better.
Rico Suave that I can’t speak on. I have been powering mine with a regular avr 100wpc @ 8ohms. I believe mine ask for 125w so I’m well above that in 2ch. Maybe the newer ones require more power? Check their site.
i grew up with a pair a Walsh 2's....my dad bought in 1982, he had always wanted some since the Original Walsh which is different than the new Walsh, but the new 82- and beyond are outstanding...i think im going back to my roots probably a pair of Micro Talls or 1000's...1 of the best companies to deal with period....
When I was in high school, I heard these at a hifi shop and was mind blown. I went home and took apart my beloved Infinity 10.2’s and took out the main bass driver and inverted it outside the cabinet.
I'm super happy to have found your channel. I've gotta say you're the Dirty Sanchez of speakers! As a musician, getting into hifi your channel isn't super technically advanced but the enthusiasm definitely pushes me to learn more. Thanks!
I picked up a set of Ohm Walsh 4's from the 80's, they really is something amazing about them. I have found that my favorite listening position is directly between the speakers, it feels like a cone of silence forms and you are suspended within the song. it really is quite an experience.
I have them on my list of future purchases. I have been aware of Ohm since I was a teenager in the 70's. Thank you for the nice review. I will pick up a pair of 2000 next year. Currently I have a pair of Zu Audio Druid MKIV 2006 models. My love for these goes back decades.
I didn't address the question of whether everyone or even most people like or dislike them. I don't care in the slightest. They are just Brooklyn-based, and that statement in my comment was correct. For what it matters they seem to have met with some amount of success, though no telling what that alone means in the grand scheme of hi-fi.
Nice to see this confirmation for the toe-in centering trick. That's what I came up with myself when I was imagining how it might be best to orient the speakers to create the best experience for a wide couch full of people in front of the same screen. If you think carefully about it it's relatively easy to come to the conclusion that if you turn both speakers completely toward the center person (or even more, according to the above) you will be helping the people at the edges by compensating for the uneven speaker distances via orientation (muffling the closer speaker and clearing up the farther one). All it requires is that the treble sweet spot (or rather "sweet cone") be relatively narrow and not omnidirectional, which for most speakers isn't a problem anyway. It won't be perfect, since this only works at high frequencies, but it will be better than nothing (i.e. pointing the speakers straight forward).
I used to build competition car audio systems with the tweeters mounted on the side of the footwell and angled up towards the center of the cars roof. The imaging always blew the judges away. I never thought about that technique used in home audio. Makes sense though.
Semi omni is great cos that's how live music is. Some instruments are directional (like trumpets) and some are completely omni directional (like cymbals). So semi omni speakers are a good compromise and make the music sound more realistic. I have semi omnis that I built. They have a 30 degree slanted 6.5" woofer and a 4" coaxial (time aligned) 2- way driver on the top also sloped 30 degrees. Both the woofer and the 4" coaxial have a spread horn above. And (like yours) my speakers never sound muffly anywhere in the room and yet are directional enough for clear defined sound when in front of the speakers.
It has been a while since an OVERALL best was crowned. I have to find SOMETHING that a speaker does best vs others. Some don't do anything best while this does it all.
Wheels Henderson they aren't overpriced at all, especially if you've got any experience with speakers. doesn't sound like you do. And hopefully you're not one of these people who think everything needs to be stamped out of plastic in China by a pennies an hour slave so we can call it "reasonably priced" cause that's how it works friend. High tech omnidirectional speaker that doesn't need subs in a real hardwood veneer? Good luck topping that.
Just listening to this video I can tell the 2000 has way more bass than my old Walsh 2s had. I don't remember where the demo room was that I listened to 2s for the first time (definitely not NY), but like you, I had to own them. The vocals just reached out and grabbed me. The overall sound was noticeably both different and better than anything I'd heard before. If I listened to them today, I'm sure I'd feel the lower end is lacking on the 2s,.. The noticed there is a 2000 DIY upgrade available for the Walsh 2 that's supposed to put some "junk in its low-end trunk" and also improves the high end. Too bad I don't have mine anymore.
Phase linearity is what all three pursue. I've owned several Maggies and sold KEF and Ohm's for years. I prefer the Maggies. Main difference: Ohm's rear wave is IN phase. KEF only has a lower frequency rear wave OUT of phase. Maggies have the whole spectrum OUT of phase. The room has LESS negative effects.
I bought a pair of OMH F speakers in the early 80’s, at a junk store near Buffalo. The guy had no idea what they were. I paid $100. I knew the cabinets were worth at least that much. One of the drivers was bad. I sent it to Brooklyn they fixed it. I had them for a couple of years. Something was wrong I couldn’t figure it out. Traded them in, just the tops, in the early 90s. They were wonderful. Married, kids, divorce, then got into a big room about six years ago. I traded the tops for 5000’s, still on the old F bottom. They are, indeed, the best.
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