Ohm F speakers... What did I just get myself into???

elgato8905

elgato8905

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Ohm Walsh F speakers... What did I just get myself into???

I just picked up a pair of Ohm Walsh F speakers and I have some concerns. On the negative side... The foams are shot and from what I've read, the drivers on these are unrepairable without spending a small fortune on them (which I don't have). On the positive side... I only paid a bill for them and also got a Sansui 8080DB thrown in for free. Also they are in very good cosmetic condition and they came with all of the original paperwork.

I guess my question is... Is there a way of fixing the foams on these without breaking the bank? Also does anyone know where I can actually aquire the foams to to do the job? I'm going to try and keep this as much away from valuation as possible but I was wondering if people think that paying $100.00 for them in their condition was getting ripped off because of the problems of the cones breaking down over time? Regardless of the price I paid for them I'm still glad I got them because they are just so cool and I doubt I will ever see another pair in person again. They really are just TOO cool and I'm a sucker for unique speaker designs.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Greg:scratch2:
 
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As you probably know, the F's are a phenomenal speaker. It is possible to get them repaired. I have a friend who is doing that as we speak. There is a place in Vancouver, BC, that can do the repairs, reputedly to Ohm specs. I believe there is at least one AK member who has done it, but as he would probably tell you, it is not easy. There is not only the foam to worry about, but also sagging spiders which may need repair. To minimize further damage to the spiders, remove the drivers and store them upside down. That will take the stress off the spiders. The foam damping inside the cone will also need replacing. Make sure that the mass of the new foam equals that of the old foam. Once you get them up and running, keep in mind the fact that the F driver has a relatively large mass and as such needs an amp with a high damping factor.

If you are at the stage of last resort, ship the drivers to me and I will take them into the Vancouver shop were they can be repaired. It will not be inexpensive. I can get you a quote if you like. Other than that, there may be some others on this forum who can assist you. I don't think you paid too much for them at all. Keep in mind that fact that in the mid 1970's, the F's sold for $1200/pr, at least up here. That is a lot of moolah in today's dollars. To get them properly repaired you may end up spending a few hundred more, depending on the work that needs to be done.
 
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If the cones and VCs are good you got them for a steal..... There was a guy on Flee Bay selling kits to refoam them. He also included the internal damping foam and clay. Instructions too....I pickup two of the kits. 100% worth it.....

This was the Seller .... chiefs_tradin_post He is still up there....

I have 3 pair.... 2 working pairs and one pair with a bad driver. I have two spare cones...one of these days will get to repairing the bad driver.

I will never sell mine.


Now to get the best out of these speakers you need amp with lots of damping factor. And lots of power.... 250 - 300 wpc into 4 ohms..... My amp is 500 wpc.

Critical to use 4 amp FAST BLOW Ceramic type fuses or risk destroying the cones & VCs. You need Heavy Gauge Speaker wire too....

One thing.... once operating correctly, these speakers will make you want to upgrade every thing else in your system... Ohm Fs are a low distortion speaker, which means improvements in other parts of the system will be clearly heard. They are one of the very few speakers that can reproduce a squarewave.


Once you start listening you will be startled by 3D stereo imaging. It is weirdest thing the first time you hear it. You will swear you are on the stage in the middle of the band. Finally no matter were you stand in the listening room you will still hear stereo imaging....

Last point, I know a person that worked at OHM back in the 70's.... He was the lead designer and still has a pair of Ohm As and his custom Ohm Fs....


Enjoy .....


johnk
 
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SoCal Sam said:
Congrats Juan Doe. I figure it would be you or Bigears on these.
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Yeah it be me Sammy... I couldn't believe it when the guy threw in the 8080DB for free. Him and his wife were very nice people and I talked to them for like an hour before I left. He also gave me a bunch of old KLOS (the radio station) promotional pictures of bands from back in the 70s. Each one has a photo of the band in the front and a breakdown of the band and their history on the back. They include such bands as the Grateful Dead, Tom Petty, Led Zeppelin, Steve Miller, Neil Young, Eric Clapton, Rod Stewart, The Police, The Doors, Yes, Elvis Costello, Queen, The Rolling Stones, Supertramp and many more. It was a very good experience.:thmbsp:
 
"What did I just get myself into??? "

oh, just one of the best speakers ever made. heard a pair in the '70s. simply amazing! good luck and enjoy!
 
Very Nice! Ohm F`s are Great speakers and one of my Fav`s from the old days. But the Real gem here is all the Posters you recieved and the comradare from the folks you got them from. Congrats!! :thmbsp:
 
SpruceMoose said:
oh, just one of the best speakers ever made.
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Yeah I know they're great speakers but I was really referring to the problems with fixing the drivers and the cost involved. Yikes!!!!:sigh:


dokblues said:
Very Nice! Ohm F`s are Great speakers and one of my Fav`s from the old days. But the Real gem here is all the Posters you recieved and the comradare from the folks you got them from. Congrats!! :thmbsp:
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Yes I agree... I really enjoyed meeting them just as much as I'm happy about getting the speakers. They really were VERY nice people.


Well here's some pics of the Ohms and the Sansui...
 

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If the cabs and covers are in good shape I think they are well worth restoring.
You would most likely recover your investment regardless.
 
As I mentioned previously, you really should remove the drivers and store them upside down until they are repaired.
 
sealy said:
As I mentioned previously, you really should remove the drivers and store them upside down until they are repaired.
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I took your advice last night and removed them and stored them just as you said right after I took the pictures. I also waded up some paper towels and put them down into where the VC is so no foam from the inside of the cone would fall down in to them. Thank you very much for the tip and I may be contacting you in the future about people who can do a proper repair on them.
 
1978- a special year for me. Saw and heard a pair of these (driver moving up and down). I caught the audio bug that day and still have it, hard core.
 
jstang said:
If the cones and VCs are good you got them for a steal..... There was a guy on Flee Bay selling kits to refoam them. He also included the internal damping foam and clay. Instructions too....I pickup two of the kits. 100% worth it.....

This was the Seller .... chiefs_tradin_post He is still up there..
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Thank you for the tips!!! Yes the VCs are good (or at least they're not burnt and they put out sound) and the cones seem to be alright. On one of the cones the guy got the inside foam replaced a long time ago but he did not do the other one so on one the foam is falling apart on the inner cone and on the other one it is passable. I will be getting a hold of the bay seller who has the foam kits for these and probably try and do the job myself. I've actually done probably close to 100 refoams in my day so it's not my first day at the rodeo when it comes to this stuff. What I'm really concerned about more than anything are the spiders on the drivers. I think they have been sitting unused with no surround foam for quite some time so that's not good. I don't think there's going to be any way to tell if they're bad until I actually do the refoam and try them out so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

As far as the amplification is concerned... I have lots of amps that will drive these very well so I'm set in that department:thmbsp:.

-Greg-
 
Very nice!
Are you going to recap???:)... I'd carefully make an attempt at a successful repair myself but selling off some of those JBL's pictured would go a long way in allaying the cost of a "professional" repair on a real holy grail speaker.
 
tubed said:
Very nice!
Are you going to recap???:)...
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Actually, the interesting thing about the Ohm F is that there is only one driver so there's no crossover network to deal with. The aluminum part of the cone reproduces the high frequencies while the rest of the cone reproduces the remaining frequencies. The entire cone moves at the same rate of speed, so they are actually "time coherent" (no time lag between drivers). They radiate at 360 degrees around the cabinets, so they can image like crazy. The amount of bass and the incredible imaging of the Ohm F is really something to behold. My friend's father just goth his Ohm Fs refoamed and the spiders replaced by Bill LeGall at Millersound in Landsdale, PA last year. They are amazing speakers to hear - as was mentioned above there is no place in the room that isn't a "sweet spot", the whole listening space is like being on the stage. Very cool speakers if you can get them straightened out!
 
audiojones, I had F's and never found them to have *any* ability to image. They sound interesting and the mids/highs don't really change sound significantly from different locations, but you never get any sort of pinpoint imaging, IME, you just get immersed in a non descript field of sound.
 
I didn't read all the posts, but, you know that Ohm refurbishes their speakers. I would think you can get a much or as little help from them. That would allow you to put sweat equity into them and leave things like refoaming to the professionals, er the manufacturer.

Try that.
 
Ohm does NOT refurbish Ohm F's.

Bill LeGall did my Ohm F rebuild - in particular the dreaded "spider" issue - he really knows his stuff on the traditional Walsh driver (the A's and F's). My F's are now a breeze to drive, and I can listen to them at reasonable levels. My sense is that he has really pulled back from repairing F's - they are a VERY time-consuming speaker to work on - but you could still give him a call to see if he will do it...
 
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