Ohm Walsh 100-S3 Floorstanding Speakers

Ohm Walsh 100-S3 Floorstanding Speakers 

DESCRIPTION

Full range speaker with Walsh driver for small to medium sized rooms

USER REVIEWS

Showing 1-3 of 3  
[Jun 05, 2009]
frbock
Audio Enthusiast

This is a review on a walsh 2 (circa 1983) upgraded with the 100-s3 driver. According to OHM, they are the same sonically.
I bought the Walsh 2s in 1983. Wife threw the checkbook at me and told me to come back with only 2 speakers (still married to her). Cost me $800 in 1983. I loved the Walshes, but, when I got a copy of JJ Cale To Tulsa and back, I knew I had a problem.
So, after some searching I found the Ohm website, and after some futzing on my part, Ohm released the series 3 drivers. Add another $800 for the new drivers.
A couple of evenings with a putty knife, a hacksaw, and hot melt glue gun, and my Walshes had been upgraded. 1st off, the amp likes the new setup better, it's a 6 ohm load instead of 4. Most modern amps just shut down on 4.
When you 1st turn them on... they suck, no other way to phrase it. They tell you they need a break in period, and they're right.

Now on to specifics, I have an old JBL demo LP, and I can easily rattle the room with 42hz Lowest mentioned tone on the LP, and even with my 55 year old ears, I can still easily hear the 16khz tone. Dog told me the 19khz was coming out just fine. In any reasonable size room, subwoofer is superfluous. Although, it does pull down the power requirements from your amp.

I'm currently playing Sting Brand New Day, and you can easily close your eyes and point to each instrument, and enjoy the clarity of the music and get yourself vibrated by the lows on the CD. I've also fed them Richter J.S. Bach Organ. Toccata and Fugue in D Minor is a blow your socks off event. Some speakers sound like you are just outside the front door of the church, some make you feel like you are standing in the antechamber near the organ. The Ohms make you feel like you are standing next to the organ. The only thing missing is the echos from the walls of the Cathedral.
For the rockers, sorry, Red Hot Chili peppers, and ZZ Top are about my limit, and the OHMS will sit there and put it in your face. At least at any volume I'm willing to listen to.
The only downside is they like power. I'm driving them with a vintage Yamaha a-32 amp (110W/channel RMS 8 ohms, 200w/channel 4 ohms, I send it out every couple of years to get it re-biased) and with 89db for 1w input, they are not the most efficient. Also means if you're trying for threshold of pain sound levels, these aren't the right speakers as they're only good for 150-200W.
Oh, btw, did re-play JJ Cale, and he sounds just fine now.
If these work as well, and last as long as the originals, I'm pretty much covered for life with great sound.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[May 31, 2009]
fred
Audio Enthusiast

This is a review on a walsh 2 upgraded with the 100-s3 driver. According to OHM, they are the same sonically.
I bought the Walsh 2s in 1983. Wife threw the checkbook at me and told me to come back with only 2 speakers (still married to her). Cost me $800 in 1983. I loved the Walshes, but, when I got a copy of JJ Cale To Tulsa and back, I knew I had a problem.
So, after some searching I found the Ohm website, and after some futzing on my part, Ohm released the series 3 drivers. Add another $800 for the new drivers.
A couple of evenings with a putty knife, a hacksaw, and hot melt glue gun, and my Walshes had been upgraded. 1st off, the amp likes the new setup better, it's a 6 ohm load instead of 4. Most modern amps just shut down on 4.
When you 1st turn them on... they suck, no other way to phrase it. They tell you they need a break in period, and they're right.

Now on to specifics, I have an old JBL demo LP, and I can easily rattle the room with 42hz Lowest mentioned tone on the LP, and even with my 55 year old ears, I can still easily hear the 16khz tone. Dog told me the 19khz was coming out just fine.

I'm currently playing Sting Brand New Day, and you can easily close your eyes and point to each instrument, and enjoy the clarity of the music and get yourself vibrated by the lows on the CD. I've also fed them Richter J.S. Bach Organ. Toccata and Fugue in D Minor is a blow your socks off event. Some speakers sound like you are just outside the front door of the church, some make you feel like you are standing in the antechamber near the organ. The Ohms make you feel like you are standing next to the organ. The only thing missing is the echos from the walls of the Cathedral.
For the rockers, sorry, Red Hot Chili peppers, and ZZ Top are about my limit, and the OHMS will sit there and put it in your face. At least at any volume I'm willing to listen to.
The only downside is they like power. I'm driving them with a vintage Yamaha a-32 amp (110W/channel RMS 8 ohms, 200w/channel 4 ohms, I send it out every couple of years to get it re-biased) and with 89db for 1w input, they are not the most efficient. Also means if you're trying for threshold of pain sound levels, these aren't the right speakers as they're only good for 150-200W.

If these work as well, and last as long as the originals, I'm pretty much covered for life with great sound.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Sep 24, 2008]
izark47
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Smooth full range.
Bang for the buck
Huge Sound Stage.

Weakness:

None.

After my movers decided to remove my OHM D-2's from my possession. I was faced with having to replace them. Now I haven't even looked at another speaker, But i knew i didn't need to, Ohms are once in a lifetime purchase. I called Ohm, and spoke to John, the owner and head engineer. After explaining the size of my listening area he suggested the Ohm 100 MK II S3's. They were a bit over my budget, but i was considering them, when he said that he could use cabinets that he had for the now discontinued Ohm 2's at a considerable savings, so much that i was able to get a 10" sub woofer as i use this for 2.1 Home theater.

You get a 120 day home trial with his speakers. so I bit. I ordered them on a Wednesday and received them on Friday, Now that is what i call service. I did not connect the sub for a while, and just used them to see the capabilities of the speakers alone. I knew that they needed to be broken in , but was quite surprised how they did not sound the way i had expected. I found them to be quite lifeless, but was going to tough out the break in period, and must say that I could not be happier that i did.

These speakers are astounding, The sound stage can be huge, almost to the point that I run outside to see if the back wall of my house was moved back 200 feet. Yet can be so close that it feels that you can reach out and touch the performer. It is just Pure naked music, nothing added or taken away. The Super 2 S3's don't force the music on you, they present the music for you to take what you want. The transparency is amazing. I can only relate it to the way you feel with headphones on. The way the music is in the middle of your head. You feel the same way about the sound stage. it is rock solid. and it truly sounds like they are there. The lows are surprisingly full and deep and refined. and the mids are clean and smooth no harmonics or overbearing frequencies, and the highs are clear and crisp.

My Denon DRA-75av just was not cutting it though, so i replaced it with a Cambridge Audio Azur 640A-v2. That change brought these speakers to life. I can hear the newness of the guitar strings, the breath of the singer, the thump of the bass drum. The airiness of the sound stage is huge and it just is so believable.

I have demoed many speakers and i have not heard any speakers that sound better in it's price range. and many that are much higher priced that cannot compare to these.

Customer Service

The best. everything went perfectly and he is always there if i need to ask a question.

Similar Products Used:

Ohm D-2's Klipsch, Electrovoice sp12trx

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jun 28, 2008]
dsandula
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

* This company is model of customer service. Amazing.

Weakness:

* They really need to do more with pictures of their speakers, how they're engineered and how to place them in your listening room on their website.

* I first purchased Ohm's MicroTall's and traded up to these with their excellent 90 day home trial offer. I did so because the MicroTall's just didn't have the power I was looking for. The 100-S3's are a much better fit for my listening room, my need for louder music (no matter what genre) and I'm sure I'll own them for years.
* I listen to them with a HSU STF-1 which fills them out nicely. Although a subwoofer is not an absolute necessity with these speakers, the HSU does cover deep bass even the 100-S3's can't reproduce with ease, especially with home theatre.
* I assume . . . as with all Walsh designed OHM's, these speakers are not for the person who wants "in your ear" hard driving trebles and highly directed mid range sounds. Remember these are very much omni-directional driven speakers with a focused high range tweeter.
* They sound like music heard live, not like speakers. You can listen to them for hours and not get fatigued regardless of volume level.
* They are a treasure for anyone who loves their music.

Customer Service

Again, their customer service is amazing. I talked with the owner of the company to order my speakers!

Similar Products Used:

Something similar to Ohm?

In my pre-children days:
* Audiopro Subwoofer / Bang & Olufsen CX 100 Satellites
* Bang & Olufsen RX2 Turntable
* Sansui AU-717 Integrated AMP
* Pioneer CTF-1000 Cassette

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
Showing 1-3 of 3  

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