Price Paid:  $795.00 from Factory Direct

Summary:
First of all I must state that I worked in the audio industry and sold Ohm speakers in the late 70's and early 80's. I always loved the sound of the Ohm C2's and H's. The Ohm F was my favorite speaker by far. The dealer I worked for also sold Klipsch, JBL, Wharfedale, Tannoy, Leak and a couple other brands. When things were quiet, we would sit back and enjoy the magnificent sounds of the best the audio industry had to offer at that time: SME tonearms, moving coil cartridges, etc. The Ohm F was by far my favorite sounding speaker, with the Leak's coming in a distant second. So when it came time to build a new sound system, my first choice for speakers was Ohm Acoustics. I was delighted to find that 20 years later, they were still in business. At the time, I was living in a high rise apartment with a layout that had some very stringent limitations on the size of speaker I could use. As much as I wanted Walsh driver based speakers, they simply would not fit. Even though my listening room was about 300 square feet, much larger than recommended for the speakers, I selected the Ohm P-1's for their size. I was one of the first to receive the updated P-1's with the single tweeter mounted on the top of the cabinet. Before that point the P-1's had two tweeters, one on the front and one on the top. As the speakers would also be used for my two channel home theatre, Ohm had magnetically shielded the drivers at my request. My apartment was mostly glass and marble, and I found the P-1's a bit bright. A call to John at Ohm was all it took to have custom networks for the tweeters built and sent to me. Rather than return the speakers to have the networks installed, I chose to install them myself. Anyone who has built speakers would have no trouble with this modification. The sound of the speakers was much better than I expected. In a room that was twice as large as recommended and with a lot of reflective surfaces, the sound was natural and clear. Knowing that I had only 120 days to trial the speakers, I spent many, many hours going through my CD collection, trying to find problems with the speakers. I couldn't. In fact, I can swear I hear a bit of that great Ohm F sound in these speakers. My music tastes are stuck in the 70's, and I enjoy the popular music of the era: Elton John, Fleetwood Mac, Steely Dan, Boston, The BeeGee's etc. No matter what I listened to, the music was new and alive like never before. Even with the poor room acoustics, the imaging was great. The crispness of percussion instruments was simply spectacular, something I had only heard before with headphones. I have since moved to a new appartment, but, still have a room of about 300 square feet to fill with sound. With less reflective surfaces, I have found that the imaging has improved. The speakers are driven by a Rotel RX-975 receiver rated at 100 watts per channel. I don't tend to listen at loud volumes, but the P-1's are capable of filling the room with sound at a level that would bring complaints from the neighbours. Likewise, as home theatre speakers, special effects and deep base are produced aplenty. Often I have to turn on audio compression in the DVD player to keep the sound at reasonable levels. For those that have limitations on speaker size or can't afford the Ohm Walsh driver models, I would highly recommend the Ohm P-1's. The only speakers that will replace my P-1's will be Ohm Walsh speakers. My time working in the audio industry spoiled me. With audio systems I could afford, I found that I would be listening to the system and not the music. With the Ohm P-1's I finally have a sound system where I can listen to the music and not the system.

Strengths:
Clarity, incredible rise time response, imaging, lack of a "sweet spot", size.

Weaknesses:
Ohm stickers instead of proper badges on the cabinets. Shipping costs.

Similar Products Used:
I recently had a chance to stay at my cousin's place for a couple of weeks. He is a professional musician, and has a system build around some older, but highly regarded, JBL studio monitors. Quite frankly, the system sounded so bad compared to my P-1's that I shut it off after a short while. The highs just seemed muddy. I found I couldn't listen to the music, I just kept hearing the system.

Price Paid:  $790.00 from Factory Direct

Summary:
The P1 Tiny Towers of Power have 3 distinct advantages over other speakers: Sound Quality, a Free 120 day in-home trial, and Custome Service.

Let's face it, the prime variable considered when making a decision to purchase any speaker at any price is subjective. That is, how does the speaker sound to the listener at the point of purchase? Try as they might to impress, audiophile shops spend as much extolling the virtues of their "sound chambers" as they do pointing out speakers' features. How many of us actually have an anechoic chamber in our homes? Speakers only sound good (or bad for that matter) in our own homes. To this point, advantage Ohm and the 120 day free trial offer. I don’t suspect they get many returns. The next advantage is the sound clarity of the P1s. Ohm actually underrates the P1’s performance by providing room proportions for the P1s that are, in my opinion, too constraining. The sound produced by these speakers easily and effectively fills much larger rooms. The third advantage is outstanding customer service. Prior to plunking down the cash for the P1 Towers, I called John to discuss my needs. I am a musician and appreciate clarity, appropriate imaging, and openness across the dynamic spectrum. In addition, my main listening space is complex, with unusual wall angles, open walls, and two different ceiling heights, including a soaring cathedral in the prime listening area. After some discussion, I sent a floor plan to John, and he modified the P1s to meet the demands of the room and the listener. As we know, speaker sound is subjective. Having said this, the P1 Towers of Power are the only speaker I have ever auditioned that sound good to everyone who listens to them. From brass quintet baroque fans to head banging speed metal freaks and everybody else, my Ohm P1s are coveted by all. Thanks, John.

Weaknesses:
An adjustable wedge to lift the front of the speaker would be nice.

Similar Products Used:
Mirage, Polk, PSB

Summary:
These speakers are available only from the manufacturer. Which may explain why there are not more reviews on them. They are almost the lowest priced speakers that Ohm manufactures. I bought them un-heard, but with a 120 day home trial, there is nothing to loose.

Packaging was excellent. Double boxed with corner supports and plenty of padding. The speakers are about 2 feet tall and 8 inches deep. One thing I like is there are no spikes so they sit flat on the floor. Another good feature is the bass port is on the front. These speakers can be placed in a corner or flat against a wall and still sound good. In fact Ohm reccomends they be placed against a wall.

This is a 2-way system with a 6.5 inch long throw woofer, and 2 tweeters. One firing front and one on the top. Sound quality is excellent. The first few days they sounded a bit brassy but then evened out. These speakers are meant to 'hide' in a room and there small size hides their performance.

I use these with an NAD 7240 receiver, Sony CD player, Denon turntable (yes I still isten ti vinyl) and Yamaha cassette deck. The NAD is rated at 40 watts which is more than plenty to drive the speakers. I have tested the speakers with ELP, Jimmy Buffett, Yes, Led Zeppelin etc. They have held their own with soft to hard rock. bass response is very good.

I am sure there are speakers out there that cost less, but given how these sound and look (a major selling point to my wife) they cannot be beat.

Strengths:
Sound quality, looks.

Weaknesses:
Price

Similar Products Used:
Listened to Acoustic Research 328PS, PSB 6001, PSB 8001, Snell J4, Polk RT 600