Vintage Pioneer & Ohm Walsh 2 - ?s

[IndyAdamC]

Greetings all. I am a brand new member to the Audiokarma community and recently decided to make my passion for sound a full fledged hobby. I’ve always admired and appreciate the technicality of achieving a sound that appeals to my own ears but ha e historically relied on others opinions to steer my own process. With that said, here is my latest project:

I randomly visited a flea market in central Indiana and happened to stumble upon a fully functional, clean and gorgeous Pioneer SA-9100 amp (see attached photo). When I asked the seller how much he was asking I couldn’t believe what I heard: “$45” I thought to myself, “either this thing is junk or this guy truly has no idea what he’s selling.” After testing all of the terminals, switches and nobs, I found that it was working properly and decided to offer the full $45. Bargaining just didn’t seem right. However, I felt a strong desire to marry such a classic amplifier with a set of legendary speakers.

I did some digging on Craigslist and found a guy locally who has a strong passion for collecting vintage hi-fi equipment and saw he had a pair of Walsh Ohm 2s listed for $150. Again, I thought this was a deal too good to be true but had to check it out just in case. After spending about 30 mins with the collector and running through a wide spectrum of music, I was convinced this set was a perfect marriage for the SA-9100. The only issue with the speakers was that they were missing the protective grills (aka a non-issue). SOLD! Photos attached.

My questions are for folks familiar with both the amp and the speakers. I understand it’s best to tune the speakers to my own ear but am open to feedback on where to start.

- What are some dos/donts with this receiver?
- How much of a difference do the treble and bass filters make on the Walsh 2s?
- Does this amp offer sufficient power for 4 Ohm speakers?
- How far apart should I place these speakers?
- Any additional advice?

Thanks in advance for helping a newbie out!

 

[goodolpg]

Is the Pioneer rated for 4 ohm speakers?
If so, you should be fine. Use caution should you attempt to use a second pair of speakers in addition to the current speakers.
Common knowledge says to place tweeters at ear level.
Not sure if you are constricting the sound stage of the Ohms as placed, a more open placement might be worth trying.

 

[warriorfan]

Nice! I am in NW Indiana and fwiw there are/were a pair of ohm 2's on that list sight. Missing the cages for tweets but very cheaply priced. I have resisted even hollaring at the guy thus far.

 

[mprince]

Placement of Ohms - they should not be angled like you have them, the left speaker should have the Ohm badge facing straight ahead, the right should have the Walsh2 badge facing straight ahead, this will align the tweeters properly. They should be at least 10" from the back wall and 3+' from side walls. Ohm recommends placing them at least 6' apart.

The switches on the crossovers will have an effect, if they have not been moved for awhile you may need to "exercise" them to feel the detents

 

[Katalyst]

Here is a document for placement.

 

[Katalyst]

A link for you. https://www.hifiengine.com/manual_library/pioneer/sa-9100.shtml

 

[IndyAdamC]

Placement of Ohms - they should not be angled like you have them, the left speaker should have the Ohm badge facing straight ahead, the right should have the Walsh2 badge facing straight ahead, this will align the tweeters properly. They should be at least 10" from the back wall and 3+' from side walls. Ohm recommends placing them at least 6' apart.

The switches on the crossovers will have an effect, if they have not been moved for awhile you may need to "exercise" them to feel the detents

This made a huge difference. Thank you!

 

[goodolpg]

Placement of Ohms - they should not be angled like you have them, the left speaker should have the Ohm badge facing straight ahead, the right should have the Walsh2 badge facing straight ahead, this will align the tweeters properly. They should be at least 10" from the back wall and 3+' from side walls. Ohm recommends placing them at least 6' apart.

The switches on the crossovers will have an effect, if they have not been moved for awhile you may need to "exercise" them to feel the detents

The current placement did not look too good but I wasn't sure.

 

[Clutch]

Both very good buys. I am very familiar with those speakers as they are what I am using in my main system. That amp should be okay with those speakers as long as you are careful at higher volumes to not push the amp to the point of clipping. If you hear the least bit of distortion, turn the volume down. Those are power hungry speakers. As long as you are satisfied with the volume you get with that amp it will work just fine.

You should check out Ohm's website. They still service those speakers. If you care to spend the money, they sell new grills. If you care to spend more money they can be upgraded to the Super Walsh 2.2000.

Speakers are the cornerstone of a good sound system and you found an excellent pair that will be hard to find better without spending a lot more money. Enjoy your new amp and speakers.

 

[IndyAdamC]

Both very good buys. I am very familiar with those speakers as they are what I am using in my main system. That amp should be okay with those speakers as long as you are careful at higher volumes to not push the amp to the point of clipping. If you hear the least bit of distortion, turn the volume down. Those are power hungry speakers. As long as you are satisfied with the volume you get with that amp it will work just fine.

You should check out Ohm's website. They still service those speakers. If you care to spend the money, they sell new grills. If you care to spend more money they can be upgraded to the Super Walsh 2.2000.

Speakers are the cornerstone of a good sound system and you found an excellent pair that will be hard to find better without spending a lot more money. Enjoy your new amp and speakers.

Thanks for the advice. I need to play around with the placement a bit but overall I’m thrilled to have this setup.

I’ve read several reviews about the upgrade to the Super Walsh 2.2000 configuration. It sounds like a significant leap forward that I’ll probably move forward with in the future. I’ve read the brief description about what’s included in the upgrade from the Ohm Speakers website but the limited description of what exactly they do leaves me with questions.

Do you or anyone else familiar with the process have more detailed information on what the upgrade includes? The following link is a narrative of what they do but I’d love to have a visual of the process (i.e. pics or video demo). https://ohmspeaker.com/site/assets/files/2414/super_walsh_2.pdf

Thanks in advance.

 

[Ohighway]

Congrats on both your finds! Both are nice pieces of equipment!!

The Walsh 2 will operate off your Pioneer integrated amplifier, but truthfully they won't live up to their full potential unless you use a more powerful amplifier.

 

[Clutch]

These are detailed instructions on how to perform the upgrade. Seems fairly simple. I hope to do it myself in the future. Not sure if this is what you were looking for.

https://ohmspeaker.com/site/assets/files/2658/super_walsh_2_upgrade_june_2016.pdf

 

[IndyAdamC]

Congrats on both your finds! Both are nice pieces of equipment!!

The Walsh 2 will operate off your Pioneer integrated amplifier, but truthfully they won't live up to their full potential unless you use a more powerful amplifier.

What suggestions do you have?

 

[IndyAdamC]

These are detailed instructions on how to perform the upgrade. Seems fairly simple. I hope to do it myself in the future. Not sure if this is what you were looking for.

https://ohmspeaker.com/site/assets/files/2658/super_walsh_2_upgrade_june_2016.pdf

This helps. Would love to see pics or a video of the process.

 

[Ohighway]

First pair of Walsh 2 I got as a package deal with a Yamaha preamp and an Adcom GFA-545 power amp. Worked really well together.

 

[Jeremy64]

Greetings all. I am a brand new member to the Audiokarma community and recently decided to make my passion for sound a full fledged hobby. I’ve always admired and appreciate the technicality of achieving a sound that appeals to my own ears but ha e historically relied on others opinions to steer my own process. With that said, here is my latest project:

I randomly visited a flea market in central Indiana and happened to stumble upon a fully functional, clean and gorgeous Pioneer SA-9100 amp (see attached photo). When I asked the seller how much he was asking I couldn’t believe what I heard: “$45” I thought to myself, “either this thing is junk or this guy truly has no idea what he’s selling.” After testing all of the terminals, switches and nobs, I found that it was working properly and decided to offer the full $45. Bargaining just didn’t seem right. However, I felt a strong desire to marry such a classic amplifier with a set of legendary speakers.

I did some digging on Craigslist and found a guy locally who has a strong passion for collecting vintage hi-fi equipment and saw he had a pair of Walsh Ohm 2s listed for $150. Again, I thought this was a deal too good to be true but had to check it out just in case. After spending about 30 mins with the collector and running through a wide spectrum of music, I was convinced this set was a perfect marriage for the SA-9100. The only issue with the speakers was that they were missing the protective grills (aka a non-issue). SOLD! Photos attached.

My questions are for folks familiar with both the amp and the speakers. I understand it’s best to tune the speakers to my own ear but am open to feedback on where to start.

- What are some dos/donts with this receiver?
- How much of a difference do the treble and bass filters make on the Walsh 2s?
- Does this amp offer sufficient power for 4 Ohm speakers?
- How far apart should I place these speakers?
- Any additional advice?

Thanks in advance for helping a newbie out!View attachment 1151459 View attachment 1151461

I have 2 sets of Ohm's and I can’t say enough about the speakers and the company. They fully support their vintage line and will refurb your speakers quickly for way less then a new pair. I just got my 80’s Walsh 3xO’s back and they’re incredible. Great first setup, congrats!!!