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SDA-SRS vs Walsh Ohm 3XO

wafflesole

wafflesole

Active Member
SDA-SRS vs Walsh Ohm 3XO vs Pioneer HPM-1500

I've been looking to upgrade my speakers (Sony SSU-4000) lately, and have found these two options locally for about the same price. The SRS speakers work, but the wood is completely chewed and the grills were used as scratching posts for the cats. The Ohms are in pretty decent shape but have never been serviced, and as far as I know the surrounds in those need periodic replacement. Either pair would be going in a 25x20 room, and will be powered by either my Luxman R-1120 or some Crown monoblocks with a Pioneer Elite pre-amp. They'd be used for vinyl listening only, mainly with rock music. Any suggestions or opinions would be much appreciated.
 
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As long as the SRS's aren't completely trashed it isn't even a close match; SRS's all the way. The ohm's are nice but they're out of their league here.
 
Can you buy both and sell whichever you like the least?

Personally I've never been happy with Polk speakers, but to each his own.
 
I'd go with the Walsh 3s... I didn't even need to think on it.

The Ohms are remarkable, unfortunately you're right, being 3XOs, they will most likely need new surrounds soon. If they were the original Walsh 3, they would have rubber surrounds & not need service at all. But, if they are still working now, you can enjoy them for a while, and when it does become necessary to service them, you can consider upgrades at that time as well. Either way, they're well worth the effort to have them refurbished. The Walsh line are particularly room friendly, sounding very good in almost any reasonable location. If you're more careful about placement though, they really come to life! They also have midrange like a good electrostatic, or mini-monitors, but still have impressive bass... especially for their size. On the down side, they don't sound as smooth & balanced at low listening (background music) levels. They need to be cranked up to, what I would consider, moderate listening levels before they start to really sound great. So, not the best for Muzak perhaps.

Polk SDAs are impressive in their own way, but I find the imaging gimmicky after a short while, and only obtainable in a VERY small listening space. Without that, they are a pretty mediocre sounding speaker with a tendency to sound a little strident, at least to my ears. Over all, I've always thought they had one "trick", the "cool SDA imaging affect, but the rest of the speakers don't hold up to similarly priced & sized boxes from most of the competition.


...now excuse me while I slip into a bunker to ride out the wrath of all the Polk fans!
 
Both great sounding speakers, and both have some big drawbacks. The Ohms will probably need a rebuild and the only way to rebuild them correctly is to have it done by Ohm, which can be very expensive. The Polks will probably need to be recapped, which you can do and is not too expensive. They are power hungry beasts and will laugh at your Luxman, also they need a common ground amp so they can't be run on your mono blocks if you to run the interconnect cable.
 
Mistake on my dad's part, I guess the amps he has are just big Crowns, not monoblocks. I'm almost leaning towards the Ohms because I'm hearing they aren't as power hungry, but I'm cringing at the repair costs down the road. I love Polk speakers, but these SRS are chewed up pretty bad. Their looks make them look like garage-suitable speakers.
 
That's too bad about the SRS's being destroyed. Probably a good idea to pass on them if they're that bad. If you play rock music in a 20'x25' room like you say the ohm's aren't going to be your ticket to satisfaction either; even after the rebuild. I'd keep looking.
 
The wood(tops & bottoms) are easy to replace. I love my SRS's. You can't beat the lows, you won't need a sub. They have quite the cult following, too. If you don't like them, you could easily resell. Set up is key. That, and power.
 
frommerstop said:
The surround repair isn't that expensive, $250pr + one way shipping to have Ohm do it.
http://ohmspeaker.com/legacy-products/3xo/
They are well worth it!

...Oh, and your Luxman R-1120's 120wpc should be plenty for the Walsh 3s.
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As mentioned many times in other Ohm Walsh posts....if you call Ohm Acoustics and speak with John Strohbeen directly (he usually answers the phone anyway) and let him know what the issue is with your Walshs and that your a member of AK he will typically offer a discount on services.
 
motorstereo said:
That's too bad about the SRS's being destroyed. Probably a good idea to pass on them if they're that bad. If you play rock music in a 20'x25' room like you say the ohm's aren't going to be your ticket to satisfaction either; even after the rebuild. I'd keep looking.
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Ohm has always designed each of their speakers to work within a specific room size range, voicing them all similarly, but recommending a particular model for a given room size. They will suggest a Walsh2 over a Walsh4 if your room is smaller for example, claiming the smaller (& much less expencive) speaker will actually perform better then the larger one in such a space.

The Walsh 3XO is recommended for rooms from about 200-400sqft. Although the OP's space is slightly above the recommended ideal range, it's close enough IME to likely work well with Walsh3XOs. When I had the older, less sensitive original Walsh3s, I used them in a room about 22x35x8, and they had no problems filling the room to very high SPLs.

He could give John @ Ohm a call, and ask about service prices (& any AK member discount), and talk with him about the room & needs. In my experience, they will not try to sell you up to a larger model then you need, though they will obviously suggest their updates. Either way, John's easy to talk with, and not at all "hard sell".
 
frommerstop said:
Polk SDAs are impressive in their own way, but I find the imaging gimmicky after a short while, and only obtainable in a VERY small listening space. Without that, they are a pretty mediocre sounding speaker with a tendency to sound a little strident, at least to my ears. Over all, I've always thought they had one "trick", the "cool SDA imaging affect, but the rest of the speakers don't hold up to similarly priced & sized boxes from most of the competition.
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This has been my experience as well.....with the exception of the "small listening space" part. Once I started hearing them in the company of Vandersteen, Magnepan and Acoustat their tonal deficiencies became apparent quickly.
 
frommerstop said:
Ohm has always designed each of their speakers to work within a specific room size range, voicing them all similarly, but recommending a particular model for a given room size. They will suggest a Walsh2 over a Walsh4 if your room is smaller for example, claiming the smaller (& much less expencive) speaker will actually perform better then the larger one in such a space.

The Walsh 3XO is recommended for rooms from about 200-400sqft. Although the OP's space is slightly above the recommended ideal range, it's close enough IME to likely work well with Walsh3XOs. When I had the older, less sensitive original Walsh3s, I used them in a room about 22x35x8, and they had no problems filling the room to very high SPLs.

He could give John @ Ohm a call, and ask about service prices (& any AK member discount), and talk with him about the room & needs. In my experience, they will not try to sell you up to a larger model then you need, though they will obviously suggest their updates. Either way, John's easy to talk with, and not at all "hard sell".
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I had a pair of upgraded 4's for several years and they were not rock and roll speakers in a large room such as the op has. Very polite, refined, nice soundstage but big room rockers are not on their resume. I've also talked to Mr. Strohbeen a few times myself. I agree; he's a very nice guy with a wealth of knowledge.

So the SRS's don't have nice enough cosmetics and the 3's aren't the ticket either. That's why I thought that a continued search would be better than to settle for something that isn't to his liking or something that won't get the job done.
 
motorstereo said:
That's why I thought that a continued search would be better than to settle for something that isn't to his liking or something that won't get the job done.
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For sure....so long as you don't live out in the sticks, OP, there is absolutely no reason to try to fit a square peg in a round hole. Too many choices out there.
 
motorstereo said:
I had a pair of upgraded 4's for several years and they were not rock and roll speakers in a large room such as the op has. Very polite, refined, nice soundstage but big room rockers are not on their resume. I've also talked to Mr. Strohbeen a few times myself. I agree; he's a very nice guy with a wealth of knowledge.

So the SRS's don't have nice enough cosmetics and the 3's aren't the ticket either. That's why I thought that a continued search would be better than to settle for something that isn't to his liking or something that won't get the job done.
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Well, I have to admit that while I'm no head banger, I do listen pretty loud when the music requires it, and I've found Walsh 3s, or 4s (I've had Walshes 1-4, but no "XO" models) play as loudly as I've ever wanted.

I will say they do have an interesting volume related quirk... I've noticed they need to be pushed to moderately high volumes before they start to really sound great, below that they don't sound bad, just a little lifeless. But, if you push them too close to (what I consider) painful volumes, they loose integration again, and sound a bit compressed - with the highs even starting to sound a bit strident. It's like they have a "volume window" where they are happiest, and as long as you have the model & room size combination that allows them to work within that range, they will be fantastic. If you have too large of model for a small room, you'll never get them up enough to have them come alive, and too small a model in a large room & they will be pushed passed their comfort zone as well. This I think is why they stress evaluating the listening room to choose the model, rather than just picking the "biggest you can afford". A conversation with John about the type of room & listening levels desired, would go a long way to figuring out if they are right for the OP.
 
Thanks for all the info, you guys! Unfortunately, I do live in an area where I don't really have a wealth of options; these Ohms have actually been for sale for almost 2 years as I remember seeing them at a much higher price before I picked up my Sonys. drumiv, are the woods really that easy to replace on the Polks? I assume pop of the top two drivers and the radiator and unbolt them?
 
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I've never had the tops off mine but I do believe how it's done. While you have the box open there's plenty of other mods you might want to do; new armaflex gaskets, and dynamat extreme on the woofer baskets would be a great start. There's plenty of other mods to do if you're interested in bringing them up to their very best at the Polk forum. Proper set up is very important and it sounds like you have a great room to give them the breathing space they require. These speakers will rock your world once you get everything right.
 
I had someone auditioning some gear at my house a week or so ago, I had a Yamaha M2 hooked up to my Polk SDA 1C's, I put on Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd.

The SDA's can take all the power you can give them, they never sound strained or strident, you have to feed them good clean power though, what goes in must come out.

And the bigger the room the better, that being said there are better speakers out there than the SDA's and the Ohm's, it depends on your wallet.
 
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