NY Times visits Ojas

[fpitas]

Altec... oddly enough... tended not to know how to implement the best possible crossovers for their drivers.

Jeff Markwart’s Corner – Great Plains Audio

... and of course the Mastering Labs (Doug Sax) XOs for Duplexes.

Yeah. When asked about the old Altecs, Greg Timbers made a sort-of reference to that in an interview. Horn crossovers are quite a challenge. I don't think I'd bother with horns without the help of powerful, clean sounding DSP for EQ, crossover, and delay.

 

[mctron]

Did anyone go hear this setup for themselves?

 

[egbx]

I just did at the SF MOMA. Totally worth it. Big system in a good sized room, with appropriate acoustic treatment, not the typical super-live echoey museum space.

This guy is doing many things right, the system sounds really good. Special I would say. Nitpicking, I think it may be a little lean in the top octave but it could also be the material, none of which I was familiar with. But the way it delivers the music in the room is just really present, in a beautiful way. Coherent in spades, across the range and down to really low LF. Very neutral. Effortless.

Of note is that Turnbull is using cool, eclectic, fantastic music. No “audiophile” recordings, just some great music that I was happy to enjoy as such and not as “audio”. He played some Daniel Lanois on CD, and this on vinyl:

Kahil El'Zabar's 'Spirit Groove' ft. David Murray, by Kahil El'Zabar's Spirit Groove

8 track album

spiritgroove.bandcamp.com

I found his music choices wonderful. I wish I’d stayed all day listening to great music on a great system, with many people in the room clearly affected in much the same way.

I’m a sound engineer and have been around live music professionally for over 40 years. Worked with high-end audio back before it turned completely insane. I think the OJAS system is well engineered and worth a trip to enjoy. If I had the money and space I’d be interested in replicating a system like that.

Sorry to revive an old thread , but I think some people could enjoy this and also the exhibit at the museum with some fun gear from the past. The emphasis is on design, not so much performance. Still, it was a kid in a candy store day.

Art of Noise

A multi-sensory exploration of how design has changed the way we’ve experienced music over the past 100 years.

www.sfmoma.org

 

[MattHooper]

View attachment 376468I just did at the SF MOMA. Totally worth it. Big system in a good sized room, with appropriate acoustic treatment, not the typical super-live echoey museum space.

This guy is doing many things right, the system sounds really good. Special I would say. Nitpicking, I think it may be a little lean in the top octave but it could also be the material, none of which I was familiar with. But the way it delivers the music in the room is just really present, in a beautiful way. Coherent in spades, across the range and down to really low LF. Very neutral. Effortless.

Of note is that Turnbull is using cool, eclectic, fantastic music. No “audiophile” recordings, just some great music that I was happy to enjoy as such and not as “audio”. He played some Daniel Lanois on CD, and this on vinyl:

Kahil El'Zabar's 'Spirit Groove' ft. David Murray, by Kahil El'Zabar's Spirit Groove

8 track album

spiritgroove.bandcamp.com

I found his music choices wonderful. I wish I’d stayed all day listening to great music on a great system, with many people in the room clearly affected in much the same way.

I’m a sound engineer and have been around live music professionally for over 40 years. Worked with high-end audio back before it turned completely insane. I think the OJAS system is well engineered and worth a trip to enjoy. If I had the money and space I’d be interested in replicating a system like that.

Sorry to revive an old thread , but I think some people could enjoy this and also the exhibit at the museum with some fun gear from the past. The emphasis is on design, not so much performance. Still, it was a kid in a candy store day.

Art of Noise

A multi-sensory exploration of how design has changed the way we’ve experienced music over the past 100 years.

www.sfmoma.org

Cool. Thanks for the report. I’d love to hear that system.

 

[DonR]

View attachment 376468I just did at the SF MOMA. Totally worth it. Big system in a good sized room, with appropriate acoustic treatment, not the typical super-live echoey museum space.

This guy is doing many things right, the system sounds really good. Special I would say. Nitpicking, I think it may be a little lean in the top octave but it could also be the material, none of which I was familiar with. But the way it delivers the music in the room is just really present, in a beautiful way. Coherent in spades, across the range and down to really low LF. Very neutral. Effortless.

Of note is that Turnbull is using cool, eclectic, fantastic music. No “audiophile” recordings, just some great music that I was happy to enjoy as such and not as “audio”. He played some Daniel Lanois on CD, and this on vinyl:

Kahil El'Zabar's 'Spirit Groove' ft. David Murray, by Kahil El'Zabar's Spirit Groove

8 track album

spiritgroove.bandcamp.com

I found his music choices wonderful. I wish I’d stayed all day listening to great music on a great system, with many people in the room clearly affected in much the same way.

I’m a sound engineer and have been around live music professionally for over 40 years. Worked with high-end audio back before it turned completely insane. I think the OJAS system is well engineered and worth a trip to enjoy. If I had the money and space I’d be interested in replicating a system like that.

Sorry to revive an old thread , but I think some people could enjoy this and also the exhibit at the museum with some fun gear from the past. The emphasis is on design, not so much performance. Still, it was a kid in a candy store day.

Art of Noise

A multi-sensory exploration of how design has changed the way we’ve experienced music over the past 100 years.

www.sfmoma.org

How directional were the mains? I would expect the horns to have decent directivity.

 

[Snarfie]

Fascinating. Lots of interesting stuff for sale. I’m way too old and not hip enough to know what’s cool — but I bet those items are must have for the NY hipster. Some of the Nikes are modded very cool, as is the simple tri-path amp.

I didn’t see the price as it’s sold out. Guessing $400-$500?

Also — it seems like it might be a good investment to buy anything by this guy. He’s sort of a Andy Warhol present times. Wish I had some money for some new snowboard bindings.

Did saw some interviews with Steve Guthenburg my impression was this Ojas is only hyping his brand by notifing everybody i'm Sold Out (for almost 1 year most products) that good i am in hyping realy pathetic. Are there people who got a Ojas product in a timely manner.? Even his shirts are sold out come on can't be.

 

[egbx]

How directional were the mains? I would expect the horns to have decent directivity.

They were not beamy. Sitting off-center (in front of the L speaker) you could still hear the R channel well. Imaging improved when sitting closer to the center line, of course. But it was enjoyable even way off-center. With the room as dead as it was, I think the horn coverage was very wide over a substantial freq range (because you don’t have the highs “filling in” from room reflections).

The system was more like a well-sorted PA rig, meaning good coverage for a large audience area, than an “audiophile” system where the sweet spot is good, to the expense of everywhere else.

The transition from the LF section to the horns was completely seamless. Midrange was sweet, natural and present. Horns done well, for sure.

The sub integration was also superb.

 

[L0rdGwyn]

Did saw some interviews with Steve Guthenburg my impression was this Ojas is only hyping his brand by notifing everybody i'm Sold Out (for almost 1 year most products) that good i am in hyping realy pathetic. Are there people who got a Ojas product in a timely manner.? Even his shirts are sold out come on can't be.

Have you considered the possibility that your impressions were wrong, and that his products at the time of the interview were just sold out?

 

[Snarfie]

Have you considered the possibility that your impressions were wrong, and that his products at the time of the interview were just sold out?

Was looking some hours ago still sold out you could not order anything or the website or is it bad communicating with Chrome or Firefox did try both. But come on his shirts are stll not available. His product will be fine but i really got the impression he is hyping his product ( with is his good right) also with nothing to do with audio but thought art mentioning in one of the Guthenburg interviews. Making his product expensive than it is. I really don't trust such approach but ok that is my subjective opinion. I also hope he is mentioning to his new customers that listening to his products at his place is done in a accoustical treathed room what i can read here above.

 

[kemmler3D]

Interest

View attachment 376468I just did at the SF MOMA. Totally worth it. Big system in a good sized room, with appropriate acoustic treatment, not the typical super-live echoey museum space.

This guy is doing many things right, the system sounds really good. Special I would say. Nitpicking, I think it may be a little lean in the top octave but it could also be the material, none of which I was familiar with. But the way it delivers the music in the room is just really present, in a beautiful way. Coherent in spades, across the range and down to really low LF. Very neutral. Effortless.

Of note is that Turnbull is using cool, eclectic, fantastic music. No “audiophile” recordings, just some great music that I was happy to enjoy as such and not as “audio”. He played some Daniel Lanois on CD, and this on vinyl:

Kahil El'Zabar's 'Spirit Groove' ft. David Murray, by Kahil El'Zabar's Spirit Groove

8 track album

spiritgroove.bandcamp.com

I found his music choices wonderful. I wish I’d stayed all day listening to great music on a great system, with many people in the room clearly affected in much the same way.

I’m a sound engineer and have been around live music professionally for over 40 years. Worked with high-end audio back before it turned completely insane. I think the OJAS system is well engineered and worth a trip to enjoy. If I had the money and space I’d be interested in replicating a system like that.

Sorry to revive an old thread , but I think some people could enjoy this and also the exhibit at the museum with some fun gear from the past. The emphasis is on design, not so much performance. Still, it was a kid in a candy store day.

Art of Noise

A multi-sensory exploration of how design has changed the way we’ve experienced music over the past 100 years.

www.sfmoma.org

Interesting, I'm hoping to check it out this weekend. By the look of them, the design choices seem questionable, but I haven't seen anyone give his speakers a bad review per se.

 

[L0rdGwyn]

Was looking some hours ago still sold out you could not order anything or the website is really bad communicating with Chrome or Firefox. But come on his shirts are stll not available. His product will be fine but i really got the impression he is hyping his product ( with is his good right) also with nothing to do with audio but thought art mentioning in one of the Guthenburg interviews. I really don't trust such approach but ok that is my subjective opinion.

I see on his site his collaboration MC cartridge with Denon is in stock, as are his Cinemag MC SUTs, speaker plans, but no T-shirts or hats, just audio equipment unfortunately

 

[Snarfie]

I see on his site his collaboration MC cartridge with Denon is in stock, as are his Cinemag MC SUTs, speaker plans, but no T-shirts or hats, just audio equipment unfortunately

I'm looking now a yes you could order but serious some hours ago the link to orde was out of orde you could not buy anything even prices were not available or sold out mentioning. Did try 2 browsers The same during the steve guthenburg interview. Which make atleast for me a bad impression.

 

[egbx]

I'm looking now a yes you could order but serious some hours ago the link to orde was out of orde you could not buy anything even prices were not available or sold out mentioning. Did try 2 browsers The same during the steve guthenburg interview. Which make atleast for me a bad impression.

I have seen some of the YT videos and my impression is that this is as much a labor of love as a commercial enterprise. I did see in one video that he makes small manufacturing runs of the basic speakers (the ones with the JBL coax), and then they sell-out quickly. Probably not enough profit there to sustain a living in NYC. The pricing seems in line with the apparent quality of the cabinets and crossovers. I think this is an artisanal product, not something spit out from an assembly line. It can't be cheap. How much would you charge to do the same thing? I imagine his core business consists of one-off systems more similar in scope to the system at SF MOMA.

While the art/fashion angle eludes me a little, my subjective perception about the person, from an Audio perspective, is not of a quick-buck scam artist. There are no outlandish claims or lunatic-fringe aspects to the systems as far as I can see. There is obvious care of how the stuff looks and works, and it does not look out of place in a museum.

 

[Cbdb2]

I see on his site his collaboration MC cartridge with Denon is in stock, as are his Cinemag MC SUTs, speaker plans, but no T-shirts or hats, just audio equipment unfortunately

What collaboration? You mean Denon makes them and he puts his logo on them and sells them for 10 times the price ($7k for 2 $300 JBL ceiling speakers (Ive heard, not great he puts in boxes, ?

 

[L0rdGwyn]

What collaboration? You mean Denon makes them and he puts his logo on them?

I guess? I have no idea, I don't work for Denon.

 

[Cbdb2]

I have seen some of the YT videos and my impression is that this is as much a labor of love as a commercial enterprise. I did see in one video that he makes small manufacturing runs of the basic speakers (the ones with the JBL coax), and then they sell-out quickly. Probably not enough profit there to sustain a living in NYC. The pricing seems in line with the apparent quality of the cabinets and crossovers. I think this is an artisanal product, not something spit out from an assembly line. It can't be cheap. How much would you charge to do the same thing? I imagine his core business consists of one-off systems more similar in scope to the system at SF MOMA.

While the art/fashion angle eludes me a little, my subjective perception about the person, from an Audio perspective, is not of a quick-buck scam artist. There are no outlandish claims or lunatic-fringe aspects to the systems as far as I can see. There is obvious care of how the stuff looks and works, and it does not look out of place in a museum.

He makes the boxes, thats it, puts in bad JBLs (there designed for spl) puts his logo on it, calls it art and charges $6k for the boxes. A days labor (if your a lousy carpenter) and $200 worth of wood. How's that not enough profit?
This kind of "art" reminds of the doc about modern art, "Exit thru the Gift Shop". A very scathing expose.

 

[Monos]

The system was more like a well-sorted PA rig

Um... Why not just use a well-sorted pa rig?
Most museums already have quality pro audio on hand.

The spotlights on the speakers embody everything that's backwards with this audio culture imo.

 

[Dialectic]

Um... Why not just use a well-sorted pa rig?
Most museums already have quality pro audio on hand.

The spotlights on the speakers embody everything that's backwards with this audio culture imo.

They also illustrate the absurdity of the hipster aesthetic, which will not stand the test of time.

 

[Ron Texas]

The original article is now paywalled, at least for anyone who has visited The NY Times lately. This one is available: https://www.gq.com/story/devon-turnbull-ojas-sound-systems

Then there's the question, how do they measure? The cheap amplifiers are in line with the pro audio scene. That is the chip amps in pro audio actives measure well enough, but not superlatively. I guess it's just another audio fad.

 

[MattHooper]

Um... Why not just use a well-sorted pa rig?
Most museums already have quality pro audio on hand.

The spotlights on the speakers embody everything that's backwards with this audio culture imo.

I disagree. I think the system is a fun example of the different takes available for producing an audio experience. Its certainly a very different system than the average person, or even average audiophile possesses. And it’s gotten plenty of rave reviews, and seems to have drawn crowds. I think a couple of Neumann monitors would hardly have produced the same interest. I personally would much rather get a demo from that system, even if it’s not one that I would or could choose from my home.

People having fun with a retro Soundsystem isnt stopping the production of newer gear. it’s just another way of exploring sound reproduction. Its interesting to find out that older style gear most people don’t encounter is still capable of producing a compelling Sonic experience.