Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder. I on the other hand, would avoid OMA gear - tons of better stuff out there at a lesser price. Way overpriced.
If I could afford, I’d purchase 100% Oswald Mills Audio gear
This even without hearing it. The pieces are so beautiful I don’t see how they could not sound fabulous. The Sp10s look like they are built like a tank. I’d even buy their equipment racks. Maybe someday or maybe I’ll purchase something from their sister company Fleetwood sound.
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Not for me, however I do know: Liking something, every time you see it, every time you touch it, turn it on, is part of the magic for many. I designed Corporate Office Space, and helped many executives put systems together for their offices, and residences. You realize this when they dart over there, while talking over here, in a showroom with whatever catches their fancy. Another realization: they rarely play those systems. |
I find OMA to be an interesting “manufacturer”. Having never heard any of their gear, I can obviously not comment beyond their aesthetic sensibility and the mythology they have manufactured for themselves. Industrial design is not everyone’s cup of tea, nor are doilies. Having spent my life in the arts, I lean towards challenging designs. I find traditional design to be rather boring. Was at the retirement party for the president of a large retailer. While speaking he said a phrase that has stuck with me. He had a definition for giving someone good value, and that was not overcharging for quality. Would love to spend some time with OMA’s gear and see if their “form follows function” approach actually pays off, or if they are just capitalizing on audio mythology of a bygone era. |
Steve Guttenberg was there and made a video in 2020. Then he made another video with audiophile who actually owns their small speakers and prefer them to many well known speakers he owned. Everything in High-End is expensive, very few modern high-end units are beautiful and expensive, they are normally ugly and expensive. OMA Producs are definitely not ugly, they are different from any other manufacturers, they are trying to make something unique, his design is retro futurism. Their new turntable looks like something from the 1920s, this is not like your Rega or Pro-Ject. Unique things made by qualified designers are normally expensive, but some people are happy to pay extra for unique design for their interior. This is a part of luxury life style. They are in NY after all. |
@oldhvymec I bought a house for 39k 30 years ago and was just offered 345K. While that may sound like a great ROI if you had put the same $39K into the S&P500 30 years ago and just let it sit you’d have close to $900K on your investment and you would have paid 0% interest along the way. I'm guessing you paid some mortgage interest over the years. Slightly off topic but not really - as the point is that we should never categorize our audio hobby as an investment in anything but our enjoyment value. |
I simply wonder how many layers this onion has, I've been reading for 50 years that this piece or that piece "peeled back another layer" or "lifted a veil". How many veils are there anyway? I've heard of seven but it has never been my pleasure to investigate. That TT is simply an engineering exercise, and yes they will sell a few probably to persons who will not actually appreciate it. Think I'd rather spend $50k on a TT and pre. And still have over $300K to buy vinyl, that's a lot of vinyl! None of which is gonna happen... Regards, barts |
This is Richard Krebs’ turntable wearing a new dress. The new dress is made of cast iron. Powerful motors require powerful magnets. I am curious what happens to the magnetic field in this situation. I hope Richard and Frank Schroeder are getting a piece of this action. I actually like the looks, but OMA, not so much. Glad there is “nano”-something here; otherwise it wouldn’t be worth the retail cost. |
i think one has to approach OMA products ignoring the price. maybe you buy them because you have to have their performance. .........or your interior designer says that the OMA product would look perfect in your Palm Beach bungalow. .........but unfortunately some will end up buying them mostly because of the price. that is sad. from what i have read and heard from some who heard it, the new OMA K3 tt does not have a presentation that would appeal to me. i prefer tt’s that expand and deliver the full note and pull me into the music. so it’s price is irrelevant.....to me. i do mostly like how it looks. but that has little value to me personally for hifi gear. i absolutely respect the OMA K3 as a product that accomplished what was intended. and it will be the answer for some. whether it’s because of how it sounds, or looks, or what it costs. |
I am sorry, but if an AUDIOPHILES can spend $129 000 on "ultimate" turntable like this (which is IMO the winner of the world's ugliest turntables contest for insane price) then what's wrong with OMA Direct Drive turntable for double price? Again, 99% of audiophile turntables looks just like this one from Triangle Art. Anyone complained ? OMA is not a typical High-End manufacturer and they always tried to be different, their stuff is just different and people with a good taste appreciate it. Audiophiles made this industry the way it is today where $3k for a meter of speaker cable is not even the highest price. $20k cartridge is not the highest priced cartridge. What else, you name it .... |
If a Porsche 911 turbo still handled and drove the same but looked like a lada would you still pay the Porsche price, or if a Ferrari looked the same but drove and handled like a Pinto but cost Ferrari dollars would you still buy it.... Spending 360 thousand US it should look , feel and play the part. I find much of their stuff plain ugly and that turntable...looks like a hat rack for the band Devo....outright fn ugly... PS... the Links Chakster provided , those tables I find a different king of Ugly... garrish bling makes them look cheap.. |
I’m an industrial designer. And, yes, beauty is totally in the eye of the beholder. I think OMA audio stuff looks very interesting...meaning novel...but man, at those prices...I want the speaker frames/armatures to be single-piece cast-iron beauties...not riveted or bolted together 1/4" plate. You are paying a lot for a bit of novelty. Riveting and bolting together is so much more convenient and cost effective. The harder you look at OMA details, the more it starts to let you down....especially at those prices. Here’s a high end furniture maker: BDDW. Now I think these turntables are much cooler. But that’s also just the industrial designer in me getting stroked by the novelty of it. https://www.dwell.com/article/bddws-handmade-record-players-76591ef0 Then there’s Fern and Robey https://www.fernandroby.com/products/audio Also lifestyle focused. Very nice eye-candy from a design perspective. But as much as the designer in me loves this novelty, I prefer my audio equipment to deal with the audio first. And of course, I’m not rich enough to get any of this high end stuff. The mass market stuff requires it to appeal to a wider audience. That’s why mid-priced premium stuff generally looks good. Same with cars. Go to the extreme high-end and stuff looks border-line gaudy. It’s ’perceived-value’ for someone with a lot of money. That’s the nature of the beast. As much as I love the look of belt drives more. The trained designer in me bought a Technics 1200G. Yes, there are much cooler looking turntables out there...but man, it delivers a lot for the price and I will go with dated yet classic approach if it delivers big time. That is beauty to me. But it’s also the most I could afford to buy as well. |
Most of the modern turntables that I like are based on vintage drives and vintage looking design, here is another example. I admire new designers who can make a beautiful things in a traditional way. This is from Italy. They are all very expensive. |
So many strong opinions based on very little experience. Interesting. It seems that those who have experience with OMA products have a very positive opinion overall. Any naysayers? Mikey Fremer reviewed their SUT manufactured by Consolidated of Berlin in Stereophile and gave it high praise. I bought one, silver wire version, paid something north of $5K for it, which is admittedly steep, but consider it one of the best SUTs, if not the very best, in my experience. I have no experience with other OMA products and agree that the turntable reviewed in the current Stereophile is not pretty, but I'd sure like to hear it. I am sure that it sounds really good. |
three_easy_payments
Slightly off topic but not really - as the point is that we should never categorize our audio hobby as an investment in anything but our enjoyment value. <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Well now that you bring it up. I'm quite the opposite. One way or the other what I have, has to be sold or my kids have to sell it. Most of my old Mac gear has gone up 5-10 fold at least, the same with the Thoren 121s and 124s. Were they an investment? The answer is yes. BUT I stumbled into it when I sold out and went overseas in the 70s. I tripled my money. I bought overseas and doubled my money again here in the states with Accuphase gear. I didn't mean to. I just did.. It's not that I don't like the gear mentioned in the thread, I love it. I say buy one of each, it's your money. I like the horns for sure, if not to just look at.. The TT and actual gear??? Really you like the way it looks? The Mona Lisa is pretty homely, ay? My mother would have said "Back that one in, son", "from the front, it's an assault". Crocheting away another bed spread Regards |
Basis in a New York minute. I think squeeze cast titanium with electron beam welding could be done for less….of course, it’s good enough for the F-22, maybe not a designer vinyl handbag. i would love to read a balanced review of tge silver wire sut including what you had before and what it was compared to… |
of course, the uber high end is fun… Remember taking a certain golf pro / course designer thru an executive jet on the line, the customer was USG, so he was unimpressed with the interior choices….until i mentioned you could load a John Deere Gator on the main deck… Suddenly that big ugly door…became essential….and yes, we put bad A exotic veneer on it….for $ Pretty is as pretty does… i believe is tge saying |
Those Torqueo tables are beautiful For sure, especially this model in my opinion, but many people on audiogon may think they are ugly too, because they have no taste at all as I can see. Looking at the system profiles you can understand what people like in their room and how they room actually looks, most of them don’t have to talk about design at all :)) |
This is what our @sbank posted in another thread about OMA products and I totally agree: I have no dog in this fight, but feel that the conspiracy theorists about OMA don’t know what they’re talking about. These guys have been building and selling extreme high end stuff for ages. Their Technics SP10 plinths are highly regarded. They have a novel approach. Those familiar with Fern & Roby, who are newbies by comparison, might appreciate see some similarities in concepts. And actual USER of OMA (Fleetwood Sound) speakers is happy, you will find his original post in the same thread, but i will post it below. All I have to say is that these are the finest speakers available in this size range for anything close to $10k. Good luck finding something for $30k that sounds as good. They play with delicacy, but can go deep and play loud - an extremely engaging sound, but one which has not once fatigued my ears (a huge problem for me with Focals and Wilsons I have owned). All of this AND a pretty small cabinet with a cool design with a high WAF. And if you want to see more users of OMA (Fleetwood Sound) products watch this. |
