Soundstage, Tonal Balance, Easy Placement, Looks (Small, well-made, nice finish). Factory-direct lifetime service.

Image height may be a little too low if you're close.

These are great speakers. The Walshes are often known for the their soundstage, and these speakers disappear better than most speakers at any price. Compared to some more expensive speakers, the Ohms don't image quite as succinctly, but I'll forgo some overdone slicing and dicing of the mix/performance for the nice open sound (there's still some detail in there). Although the soundstage is the big difference vs. most other designs, it's the the tonal balance that was the biggest surprise. The tweeter doesn't come in until 8K so the mids have such a smooth and natural sound (no hyped frequencies). In my room, I'm directly comparing to a pair of psb Image 4t floorstanders and Sequerra Met 7 MkIV Studio Monitors. The Ohms are closer in sound to the monitors but with much more bass. The psbs, sound bright, compressed and the bass is boomy. The bass response on the Ohms is excellent, it's detailed, and only gets a little overwhelmed in a very few low-mid situations. Overall, these seem like a great way to get the clean and accurate sound of mini monitors, but with the nice clean bass of a more expensive floorstander. Equipment used: McIntosh MA-6200 Inegrated Sony DVP-NS500V SACD Player Rega Planar 2 Turntable Analysis Plus Oval One/Oval 12 cables

Similar Products Used:

Meadowlark Audio Kestrel and Swift, Vandersteen 1C, Totem Hawk and Arro, Proac Studio 100 and Tablette 2000, B&W 705, Audio Physic Yarra, Dynaudio 42 and 62, Red Rose Music Spirit

These speakers sound good with everything from classical to country and western to rap. I imagine their size would make them great for home theater as the stereo image appears a foot or two above the speakers, which would be exactly where the screen of most projection sets would be. I am using them in a stereo steup, however. Compared to older Ohm Walshes, they seem to be much easier to drive. An $300 65 watt Onkyo does a fine job. It used to take a lot more juice than that to work a pair of Ohms and make them sound great. Of course, imaging is top-notch.

Short height means they are best listened to while seated, or from a distance while standing. The lower stereo image is only noticeable when you stand in close proximity to the speakers. If you are close to the speakers when you listen and like a stereo image that is higher, you should probably get the taller version of the speaker.

I have been using the Short MicroWalshes in my home office, a fairly long room. They are at the opposite end of the long size. The small size makes them extremely inobtrusive. The sound, however gets them noticed! They sound is unbelievably full and balanced from top to bottom, as well as crisp and defined. They become noticeably better after about ten hours of break-in. As they break in, they sound smoother and warmer. Of all the speakers I have tried (PSB, Monitor, Polk) the Ohms sound more like music than a speaker. They do not have a real sonic signature of their own. With a four-month home trial, you really can't make a wrong move with these. If anyone ever returns a pair of these, I want to know what they are getting that sounds as good for $750!

Similar Products Used:

Various PSB and Monitor models, older Ohm speakers.