Rex81
Well-Known Member
A few years ago I did a full top to bottom restoration on a pair of WTLC and I've loved them ever since. With that in mind, a friend of mine said I should keep an eye out for a pair of Column II because they have a similar sound character to the WTLC but the bass goes lower and hits harder (he also knows I hate messing around with subs). Makes sense since the Column II are the successors to the WTLC (Wave Transmission Line COLUMN).
About two weeks after he mentioned that, I stumbled across a pair locally that needed some work, but the price was right. So I jumped on them. Turned out to need less work that I was expecting, which was a bonus. All the drivers were original, including the doped woofers, and were working perfectly, and recently refoamed. They just needed a nice refresh of the cabinet and grills, new feet (the original fiberboard runners were disintegrating) and they were missing the glass tops.
A few hours, some custom woodworking, and half a can of Howard's Restor-A-Finish later, they look and sound great in my living room system. I have Ohm Fs in my main system, but these do well here because this is the main living area, so they need to be good for movies and have a high WAF.
The bass on these makes a sub completely unnceccesary, and the wife says they're "very cute, very mid-century modern". She actually doesn't want me to replace the glass tops. She like them better without. So they're a good fit.
They're going to replace my Ohm Walsh 3, which occupied this space before. I really like the Ohms, but the Column IIs are better in almost every respect except perhaps that classic Ohm "airiness". The Column II are more dynamic, heavy handed, and forward. They can't compete with my Ohm F with jazz or other acoustic music, but they're a nice compliment because I can happily listen to everything I wouldn't dare play on the Fs.
I can't directly compare them to my WTLC because my brother is borrowing those at the moment, but off the top of my head, they certainly sound similar, but with a bigger, bassier sound, but lacking the ultimate sparkle that the WTLC achieves with its Walsh super tweeter. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as the Walsh tweeter can sound a bit "hot" at times.
Pictures show the Column II in place, next to the Ohm Walsh 3, and the new feet.
About two weeks after he mentioned that, I stumbled across a pair locally that needed some work, but the price was right. So I jumped on them. Turned out to need less work that I was expecting, which was a bonus. All the drivers were original, including the doped woofers, and were working perfectly, and recently refoamed. They just needed a nice refresh of the cabinet and grills, new feet (the original fiberboard runners were disintegrating) and they were missing the glass tops.
A few hours, some custom woodworking, and half a can of Howard's Restor-A-Finish later, they look and sound great in my living room system. I have Ohm Fs in my main system, but these do well here because this is the main living area, so they need to be good for movies and have a high WAF.
The bass on these makes a sub completely unnceccesary, and the wife says they're "very cute, very mid-century modern". She actually doesn't want me to replace the glass tops. She like them better without. So they're a good fit.
They're going to replace my Ohm Walsh 3, which occupied this space before. I really like the Ohms, but the Column IIs are better in almost every respect except perhaps that classic Ohm "airiness". The Column II are more dynamic, heavy handed, and forward. They can't compete with my Ohm F with jazz or other acoustic music, but they're a nice compliment because I can happily listen to everything I wouldn't dare play on the Fs.
I can't directly compare them to my WTLC because my brother is borrowing those at the moment, but off the top of my head, they certainly sound similar, but with a bigger, bassier sound, but lacking the ultimate sparkle that the WTLC achieves with its Walsh super tweeter. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as the Walsh tweeter can sound a bit "hot" at times.
Pictures show the Column II in place, next to the Ohm Walsh 3, and the new feet.
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