receiver for Ohm Walsh speakers

[Alessio]

I need help choosing a receiver for a pair of Ohm Walsh 100 MK-2. I intend to add on a center channel speaker and two rear speakers at a later date so I need a receiver I can build on.

The Ohm Walsh speakers have a 6 ohm impedance and I have heard/read that some of the mass market receivers are not comfortable at the lower impedance.

Does anybody have recommendations on a receiver that has a high dynamic range into low impedance and that would be happy with a 6 ohm load?

Ideally, I would like to keep the cost at or below $1000.

 

[drogulus]

The Walsh drivers are somewhat power hungry,so the ideal receivers are more than your budget allows. If that is a hard limit, I'd look at NAD, and add more power later.

 

[Alessio]

The Walsh drivers are somewhat power hungry,so the ideal receivers are more than your budget allows. If that is a hard limit, I'd look at NAD, and add more power later.

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The $1000 is not a hard ceiling but I was hoping to stay around that range. I am sort of a newbie at this so I would appreciate any suggestions from the people out there that have more experience (especially if they have experience with the Ohm Walsh speakers)

 

[drogulus]

Back in the late '70s, I had a pair of Ohm Fs, best speakers I've ever owned by far. They were powered by a McIntosh 125 wpc amp. Plenty of power, you would think, but somehow the speakers never would get loud. Partly it was just they sounded so good, you always wanted to turn them up! Whatever the reason, they would only go so far, then level off.

I don't think the current Walsh speakers are that difficult. They have a separate tweeter, a ported cabinet, altogether a more practical design than the F.

I think if you look around you can find the NAD T763 for just over $1000. You might also investigate Harman Kardon. What you're looking for is a high current design that will deliver its' rated power into low impedance loads.

 

[Alessio]

Thanks for your coments, they are helpful.

I have found an Arcam avr 200 for right around my price range. I think I will give it a try and see what happens

 

[drogulus]

Alessio,

Here's an Arcam you might want to look at.

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

I need help choosing a receiver for a pair of Ohm Walsh 100 MK-2. I intend to add on a center channel speaker and two rear speakers at a later date so I need a receiver I can build on.

The Ohm Walsh speakers have a 6 ohm impedance and I have heard/read that some of the mass market receivers are not comfortable at the lower impedance.

Does anybody have recommendations on a receiver that has a high dynamic range into low impedance and that would be happy with a 6 ohm load?

Ideally, I would like to keep the cost at or below $1000.

Why not consider a modest 7.1 receiver and a separate amp? There are plenty of good 2 channel amps on ebay for under $300, and you can find a great receiver for $700 or less. My Denon 3805 works hard to drive my 7 Polks. I'd think it would melt down if I tried running it with your Ohms plus another 5 speakers!

 

[Alessio]

Buckeyefan,

Thanks for the suggestion! The thought had crossed my mind but for some reason I didn't give it too much thought.

You guys have given me some good suggestions. I was also reading somebody's question about running 4 ohm speakers with the yamaha 1500 and I saw that there was one person using the yammie 1400 and an adcom multichannel amp.

I will look into this some more.

Thanks again!

 

[warnerwh]

Those speakers are do take alot of power. Even 200wpc is barely enough to get much volume from them. I'd definitely get an separate power amp with a strong power supply for them. Parasound, Rotel and Adcom are all available for 6-700 used that would work. It's better to have all the power you can afford and most receivers just don't have the power supplies that a good stereo power amp does. I had a friend with those who owned them for alot of years and ran 200wpc and the needles would be pegged and the volume was still not that much. They do sound very good however.

 

[Alessio]

Warnerwh,

What size room did your friend have that these speakers couldn't get loud enough? My room is relatively small 14wx24lx8h.

 

[cornelius]

Depending on room size, you should be able to get reasonable levels starting with about 50 Watts. I would suggest atleast $1000 for amplification to be in the same league as the Ohms. I'm driving a pair of MicroWalsh Talls with a 100 watt McIntosh Integrated and although the volume control is now a little more clockwise, I have no volume problems. I don't know much about recievers but my experience with Arcam integrateds tells me that an Arcam Reciever would probably mate well with the Ohms. You can always call John Strohbeen over at Ohm and ask him for advice.

 

[warnerwh]

Warnerwh,

What size room did your friend have that these speakers couldn't get loud enough? My room is relatively small 14wx24lx8h.

Your room is probably a little smaller. Don't know exact dimensions but it's not alot different. His room was a typical living room with hardwood floors and a rug. Depends on what you listen to also. If you like it loud or home theater I personally recommend at least 200wpc. If you do some research you'll find amplifier power gets eaten up very quickly. For a 3db increase in volume you have to double the power. 3db is very little and is not much more than noticeable. On the other hand if you don't have enough power you could end up clipping the amp regularly which will make the bass sound loose and mushy. It's better to have too much than too little when it comes to amplifier power. I don't follow receivers and am into high end audio so don't know what receivers may do what you want. You may want to get a receiver with pre outs and an separate amp and call Ohm for recommendations.