Ohm Walsh 5 amplifier recommendation

[sydneyh]

I recently acquired a pair of Ohm Walsh 5s. I had Ohm do a refoam and high repair on the speakers. Hooked up to my Phase Linear 400 they sound nice but I don't think i'm hearing their full potential. I have to turn the volume up to around 12 o'clock just to get to my normal listening level so I can tell I don't have much headroom to play with. I notice a distinct lack of bass from the Ohms as compared to my JBL 4311s which is what i've been using for the past 10 years or more.

Anyway, looking for amp recommendations for the Ohms. Thanks!

 

[Retro_Pete]

Looking at the sensitivity specs and comparing the JBL 4311 vs. the Ohm Walsh 5, the JBL 4311s are 91 dB vs. 87 dB for the Ohm Walsh 5s. This means that you need to put down quite a bit more voltage into the Ohm Walshs to get to the same loudness as the JBL 4311s. And the voltage gain is your volume knob position.

 

[nolasally]

If your wanting to go the cheap route, buy an older pro amp from a good maker:

Yamaha
JBL
Crown
QSC
Carver

If you wish to spent more I like high current amps & MOSFET amps from these makers:

Hitachi
Adcom
Parasound
NAD

 

[UncleAng]

Looking at the sensitivity specs and comparing the JBL 4311 vs. the Ohm Walsh 5, the JBL 4311s are 91 dB vs. 87 dB for the Ohm Walsh 5s

That's with the switches in the + position; when set in the neutral position they're more like 83 db efficient, i.e. not efficient at all.
Like my Walsh 4's they love clean high amperage/wattage amps.
Furthermore, the down-firing vent is greatly affected by floor surface; carpet will absorb bass vs. hardwood or linoleum.
One more thing, the internal batting tends to deteriorate over time (10-15 years) and should be replaced; this affects cabinet reflections/resonances big time.

 

[sydneyh]

That's with the switches in the + position; when set in the neutral position they're more like 83 db efficient, i.e. not efficient at all.
Like my Walsh 4's they love clean high amperage/wattage amps.
Furthermore, the down-firing vent is greatly affected by floor surface; carpet will absorb bass vs. hardwood or linoleum.
One more thing, the internal batting tends to deteriorate over time (10-15 years) and should be replaced; this affects cabinet reflections/resonances big time.

I have them positioned over a wood floor. There is a rug in the room but not directly under the Ohms. If I turn up the volume to a level louder than my typical listening volume I start to hear some decent bass. Any idea how involved it is to replace the batting? What to replace it with?

 

[UncleAng]

Any idea how involved it is to replace the batting? What to replace it with?

I used 1" thick (several plies) of quilt cotton batting laid flat on top of the upper braces which are 1/3 of the way down from the top of the cabinet.
Make sure that the batting is well tucked into the corners.
This advice was given to me by John Strohbeen the late inventor of our speakers.
I greatly admired him because he always gave me straight answers with no BS ever. I miss him.
My Walsh 4's have four wing nuts that hold the 'cans' and their bases to the cabinet. Once cans are lifted from cabinets there is one three pronged electrical socket to detach.
Once that is done the cans and their bases can be removed.
Remove old batting making sure you vacuum up the debris from the old batting from the bottom of the cabinet.
Install new batting, reattach cans, then sit back and enjoy.
More batting = more bass, but be careful too much batting will give you nasal male voices and less air in the mid and highs.
Do not be afraid to experiment.
This batting 'adjustment' also takes into account room reflections (which is 50% of the sound).
So in the end you are customizing the speaker to your preferences and your room.
Try doing that with other speakers !!

 

[Retro_Pete]

That's with the switches in the + position; when set in the neutral position they're more like 83 db efficient, i.e. not efficient at all.
Like my Walsh 4's they love clean high amperage/wattage amps.
Furthermore, the down-firing vent is greatly affected by floor surface; carpet will absorb bass vs. hardwood or linoleum.
One more thing, the internal batting tends to deteriorate over time (10-15 years) and should be replaced; this affects cabinet reflections/resonances big time.

Uh oh, thats over 6x more power than with the 4311s.

 

[sydneyh]

I used 1" thick (several plies) of quilt cotton batting laid flat on top of the upper braces which are 1/3 of the way down from the top of the cabinet.
Make sure that the batting is well tucked into the corners.
This advice was given to me by John Strohbeen the late inventor of our speakers.
I greatly admired him because he always gave me straight answers with no BS ever. I miss him.
My Walsh 4's have four wing nuts that hold the 'cans' and their bases to the cabinet. Once cans are lifted from cabinets there is one three pronged electrical socket to detach.
Once that is done the cans and their bases can be removed.
Remove old batting making sure you vacuum up the debris from the old batting from the bottom of the cabinet.
Install new batting, reattach cans, then sit back and enjoy.
More batting = more bass, but be careful too much batting will give you nasal male voices and less air in the mid and highs.
Do not be afraid to experiment.
This batting 'adjustment' also takes into account room reflections (which is 50% of the sound).
So in the end you are customizing the speaker to your preferences and your room.
Try doing that with other speakers !!

thank you very much for the advice!

 

[twiiii]

A man I admired own Walsh speakers and at the time I visited he changed from a Mac 275 to a Marantz SS amp introduced in 1975 when I was there for a school he taught.

 

[UncleAng]

PM sent to OP