The Ohm Walsh 2 challenges everything you expect from a traditional loudspeaker. Designed for listeners seeking something beyond the ordinary, the Walsh 2 offers an experience that's as engaging as it is unconventional. It wasn't the only speaker from the "Walsh" line, but it was by far the most popular.
But what exactly is it that makes the Ohm Walsh 2 stand apart from conventional loudspeakers?
Let's find out.
First, a bit of background. Omnidirectional sound refers to a speaker that radiates audio evenly in all directions (360°) rather than projecting it primarily forward like a conventional box speaker. In designs like the Ohm Walsh 2, the driver fires downward into a specially shaped can, which disperses sound outward and around the room.
This creates a more room-filling, spacious presentation, with less of a “sweet spot” and a more natural sense of ambience, which is closer to how sound behaves in a live environment. The tradeoff is that you get more interaction with the room (walls, reflections), so placement and room acoustics play a bigger role in the final sound.
The Ohm Walsh 2 speakers were built with one idea in mind: perfect sound dispersion. Their goal was for the listener to be able to sit anywhere in the room and still hear everything correctly. They accomplished this with an incredible feat of engineering that went above and beyond your standard “woofer plus tweeter” combination.
Instead, if you open up the top of the cabinet and take a peek inside, you would see Ohm’s one-of-a-kind Walsh driver (down-firing, rather than your standard front-firing) that handles most of the frequency range, along with a separate conventional tweeter to cover the highest frequencies.
It’s that Walsh driver that’s the unique part. The cone is inverted and operates in a bending-wave mode, which radiates sound around the speaker in a 360° pattern. This driver alone is able to handle the frequencies from low, deep bass through most of the higher treble sounds, eliminating the need for a midrange driver. Then, where the Walsh driver becomes less efficient or directional, the tweeter takes over and supplements the sounds with upper highs.
It’s this hybrid approach that gives the Walsh 2 its distinctive omnidirectional sound and coherence, compared to typical forward-firing multi-driver speakers.
The outside of this speaker is just as unique and beautiful as the inside. It’s a compact floor-standing speaker: it may sound like it takes up the entire room space, but the base doesn’t even take up a full square foot. It measures 11.5 by 11.5 inches, with it tapering off into a gentle pyramid shape towards the top, which measures 9.5 by 9.5 inches.
The main enclosure is veneered walnut, giving it a gleaming, natural look. The top section, containing the drivers, is covered by a dark brown cloth grille in the shape of a cube. The grille is removable, and underneath it is the transparent circular metal grille. This is a non-removable cage that’s there to protect the drivers. The two cherries on top sit at the upper corners: one is the small black plate stamped with “Ohm” in white text, and the other is the white plate stamped with “Walsh 2” in black text.
All together, the effect is eye-catching: reliably vintage yet uncommon.
FERROFLUID DRIVERS
Ferrofluid, known as “the magnetic liquid,” is incredible in that it acts as a liquid when there is no magnet present, but then turns into a solid in the presence of a magnetic field. This makes it ideal for heat dissipation and power handling. This is because ferrofluid cools down speaker coils, removing excess heat and ensuring maximum speaker reliability. It also dampens vibrations of the driver, so you get less distortion even at more power.
PROTECTION CIRCUITS
Specially designed protection circuits provide increased reliability in case the amplifier ever overloads. The built-in thermo-guard device momentarily shuts the speaker down when it’s driven beyond its capacity, protecting the driver. The use of a thermo-guard also provides high-performance heat and sound insulation, designed to protect, which assures a long life span.
SUB BASS ACTIVATOR
The sub-bass activator is a passive circuit built into the speaker’s crossover. It largely controls the lower frequencies by boosting output around the cabinet’s tuning frequency while filtering out deeper frequencies that the woofer can’t efficiently reproduce. This means you get the impression of a deeper, fuller bass from the Walsh 2’s more compact enclosure. Basically, it acts like a built-in bass contour and protection filter, which improves sound quality and durability.
So. Omnidirectional sound. A speaker that’s built differently inside and out. Special features and specifications that aren’t to be sniffed at. But what does this all mean?
Well, when it comes to the Ohm Walsh 2, it means a total immersion of sound. Full-room stereo imaging. An incredible sense of spaciousness. The Walsh 2 really takes musical honesty to the next level. You get smooth, room-filling sound dispersion that’s balanced and completely neutral. It removes all walls between you and your music.
Thanks for reading! If you’re interested in owning a pair of these one-of-a-kind speakers, we have them. You can stalk them on our website here.
Have a great day!
https://spencertified.com/collections/all-electronics-refurbished-vintage-audio-video-stereo-gear/products/ohm-walsh-2-floor-standing-speakers-omni-directional-2-way-vintage-hi-fi-pair
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