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View Full Version : Greets from new owner, rebbi -- long post warning



Rebbi
01-28-2010, 06:55 AM
Hey, Everyone,

I have a pair of Sierra 1's (Espresso finish) and TP-30 stands to go with them on their way. Hope to be receiving them on Monday. Can't wait! (Shout-out to Dina for the great customer service!)

I am a two-channel audio guy. Source material consists of CD's and miles of cherished vinyl. Here's my speaker history, for what it's worth:

Bought my first really good stereo after getting out of school in the mid-80's. Fell in love with Vandersteen 2C's (the original model). Had them pushed way out into the room (I was single then)! :D

Well, there's room for different aesthetic sensibilities, to be sure, but the 2C's are pretty ugly beasts, and when we remodeled our house a few years ago and determined that the stereo would go in our 16 x 13 guest room, my wife asked me to ditch the Vandersteens, which would have totally dominated the room. With a great deal of dramatic sighing and sulking, I agreed. Then I realized that this was a great excuse to upgrade the whole system, and got happy. ;)

This got me back into high-end audio for the first time in 20-plus years. I learned about all kinds of speaker brands I hadn't even heard of. Spent countless hours in the Audiogon forums.

Bought Totem Arros. Gorgeous build quality, amazing bass for their tiny size, but they never really floated my boat. (Although there's this guy on Audiogon who stalked all my posts for a time, shouting about how I didn't give the Arro's time to break in so none of my opinions on any audio matters should be taken seriously...) :p

I then bought a pair of Ohm Micro Walsh Talls. They are an "almost omni" and "almost single driver" design. Ohm Acoustics reminds me a bit of Ascend. They've been building speakers for 30 years, and reflect the vision of a single owner (John Strohbeen) who answers the phone when you call. And they're built in Brooklyn, NY, USA. Also, they only sell direct to the end user (no dealers) and have a 120-day home audition period.

I liked the Micro Walsh Talls quite a bit, and took advantage of my audition period to upgrade to the Ohm Walsh 100 Series 3. Ohm speakers are also voiced for maximum neutrality, and are known for a very coherent midrange.

The big deal with the Ohm line is that it uses the Walsh "CLS" driver, which produces almost the entire audio spectrum, from lowest bass up to around 8000 hz, at which point it crosses over to a supertweeter. The other thing is that the CLS driver radiates sound in an almost 360 degree pattern, except that it's deliberately damped in the rear to attenuate rear wall reflections. This results (theoretically) in the ability to sit anywhere in the room and still enjoy the full stereo "sweet spot."

I've had the Walsh 100's for about a year. And through some creative horse trading and bargain hunting on Audiogon (I'm not made of money!) I have upgraded my electronics substantially -- Manley Shrimp tube preamp feeding into a Bel Canto S300 power amp -- and the Ohms sound better than ever as a result.

So why am I auditioning the Sierra's? (And have you really read this far??) Good question.

There are two things I guess I value in audio presentation. One is transparency, which to me means the ability to "listen into" the music when I choose to do so and hear everything I can that's going on. And second, imaging and soundstage, which to me is one of the most exciting and pleasurable aspects of good audio. If this is all working right, my experience is one of being drawn into the music and wanting to listen and listen...

And no matter how much I've fiddled with the Ohm's, I can't quite get to that place. At least in my listening room, the Ohm's do their unique magic of "energizing" the room in a special way, and tonally they seem very on the money, but I still find placement of individual instruments/singers to be somewhat vague... to the extent that I sometimes feel like I'm struggling to make sense of what I'm hearing... and that's stressful, rather than enjoyable. Beyond that, I know that smallish monitors are known for their ability to image and throw a huge soundstage, which got me very curious about what a good pair of monitors would sound like in my room.

So I did lots of research and had it down to either the Sierra's or the Era D5's. Went with the Sierra's due to:


Great reviews.
Impressive posts by Dave F here and elsewhere. The guy is clearly passionate and ethical and cares about his customers.
Aesthetics (the Ohms aren't exactly pretty, although the newer models have made improvements there).
The Era's are totally built in China, under heaven knows what kind of working conditions. At least with the Ascends, I can assume that some of the people involved in their production -- Stateside -- have safe working conditions and health benefits! :D
I'm a "greenie" and the bamboo renewable resource thing appeals to me.
From what I've read, I'll not be even tempted to mess with a subwoofer in my room with the Sierra's. :D


I'm really looking forward to my audition period and I'll post my impressions as I have them.

Best regards to all.

DougMac
02-02-2010, 12:38 PM
Welcome! I look forward to reading your impressions.

Rebbi
02-02-2010, 12:54 PM
Welcome! I look forward to reading your impressions.

Thanks for being the first person to respond to my post, DougMac. I was beginning to think I'd already been banned from the forum for verbosity. :D

curtis
02-02-2010, 04:42 PM
Not sure how I missed your post, but like Doug, I look forward to what you think about the Sierras.

aggieactuary
02-05-2010, 10:42 AM
I'm waiting for a pair of Sierras as well. Do you have yours set up yet?

arkiedan
02-06-2010, 06:34 AM
I've had my Sierras for 4 months now and they just get better and better. I'm not particularly a "green" person but I do appreciate the solidity of the Sierras. Rap on the side. It's like rapping on a piece of granite. And, music, especially string, are amazing on these babies.

Enjoy!