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Ojas (Devon Turnbull) and Klipsch (Roy Delgado) Collaboration - Just Announced

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Travis

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Saw this in GQ Digital Ed:

www.gq.com

What It’s Like to Hear Some of the Best Music Ever Recorded Through Speakers Fit for a Shrine

One writer test-drives a limited-edition speaker—the product of a collaboration between Ojas and the venerable Klipsch Audio Technologies—and hears God in the details.
www.gq.com www.gq.com

Klipsch website page with the new information

www.klipsch.com

Klipsch + Ojas kO-R1 2-Way Multicell Loudspeaker | Klipsch

The limited edition Klipsch + Ojas kO-R1 combines a minimalist aesthetic, bespoke materials and advanced features for audiophile sound in a museum-worthy package. Shop now!
www.klipsch.com www.klipsch.com

There is a great video embedded in the page as you scroll down (typically speaker button muted) - a discussion between Roy Delgado and Devon Turnbull.

Travis
 
"Sandcast multicellular horn", eh? I wonder whether it rings (resonates) like some of the older cast horns.

Jim
 
That looks fetish-worthy for sure, good to see a hifi company reaching beyond the aging audiophile demographic. Though at 8500 USD (per pair, I assume), they're slightly more expensive than a pair of Genelec 8351Bs.
 
So they did reinvent the wheel of decades ago. That type of speakers is nice to listen to, but nothing new or groundbreaking or up to modern specs. Certainly with that lold multicell horn, they are just refering to Altec Lansing to sell. Altec Lansing was innovative 70 years ago and still sound good btw. But it won't replace a Neumann or Genelec speaker, or even come near it's neutrality.

And to be honest, i made a similar speaker myself for a friend, and and it's bigger and goes lower. It costed me about 1K on parts (and a lot of manual labour), They get wholesale prices (that are much lower than i pay) or make the parts themselves so 9K for a set is a bit much. They base themselves on the Altec 612A cabinet for bass and the 511B multicell horn for the tweeter, but with more moden drivers. It's really nothing new, just reinvent the old wheel and sell it with a lot of snake oil for way to much money.
 
Quite some information on Ojas here:

www.audiosciencereview.com

NY Times visits Ojas

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/25/style/devon-turnbull-ojas-speakers.html It had never occurred to me that inexpensive Dayton Class T am;plifiers repackaged in hammertone metal boxes, and JBL ceiling mount speakers mounted in plywood cabinets might be just the things to complement brutalist...
www.audiosciencereview.com www.audiosciencereview.com
 
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Waxx said:
So they did reinvent the wheel of decades ago. That type of speakers is nice to listen to, but nothing new or groundbreaking or up to modern specs. Certainly with that lold multicell horn, they are just refering to Altec Lansing to sell. Altec Lansing was innovative 70 years ago and still sound good btw. But it won't replace a Neumann or Genelec speaker, or even come near it's neutrality.

And to be honest, i made a similar speaker myself for a friend, and and it's bigger and goes lower. It costed me about 1K on parts (and a lot of manual labour), They get wholesale prices (that are much lower than i pay) or make the parts themselves so 9K for a set is a bit much. They base themselves on the Altec 612A cabinet for bass and the 511B multicell horn for the tweeter, but with more moden drivers. It's really nothing new, just reinvent the old wheel and sell it with a lot of snake oil for way to much money.
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I mostly agree with you, but take exception with two points.

A. Snake oil. I think they are honestly selling the system as it is with all of its warts and short comings. This is a far cry from some power conditioner that is supposed to take your system and "bring you closer to the musicians" or some other hogwash.

B. Too much money. They are making a limited run sand cast horn and producing a limited appeal primarily hand crafted product in the USA. The materials and labor costs can not be confused with a mass produced item manufactured in China. Is it expensive, heck yeah. Is it expensive to produce by these methods and in these numbers, I am afraid so.
 
Well it’s art isn’t it.
Keith
 
Mr. Widget said:
I mostly agree with you, but take exception with two points.

A. Snake oil. I think they are honestly selling the system as it is with all of its warts and short comings. This is a far cry from some power conditioner that is supposed to take your system and "bring you closer to the musicians" or some other hogwash.

B. Too much money. They are making a limited run sand cast horn and producing a limited appeal primarily hand crafted product in the USA. The materials and labor costs can not be confused with a mass produced item manufactured in China. Is it expensive, heck yeah. Is it expensive to produce by these methods and in these numbers, I am afraid so.
Click to expand...
That cabinet for the woofer is a very simple cabinet, and the horn is not that hard to make neighter. I know a guy who build handmade speakers in Belgium, and makes a way more complex system of better quality and sell it for a fraction of that price (about 2K) including amps and so, and still makes a profit. he builds them in small series. The drivers are cheaper, and the amp/dsp is a standard OEM module done right.

The Ojas/Kiplish speaker is in a modern woodshop with cnc build in a few hours, not days. The bass cabinet is a very simple reflex, and the horn is an existing design (Altec 511B) that needed no research and where the original detailed plans are for free on the internet (as all the copyrights are not valid anymore due to age). There is nothing special or exceptional on it but the hype and fashion. They don't use expensive drivers or high engineered cabinets at all.
 
Yes but if you paint all the equipment grey and wear a contrasting totally brown outfit then… art.
Keith
 
Purité Audio said:
Well it’s art isn’t it.
Keith
Click to expand...
It's that that you pay, and if they can sell it (they probally can), it's a valid bussiness. But to ASR standards, this is overhyped old obsolete tech not worth the price. I'll rather get the orinals for that price (and probally can find them cheaper) or build them myself for a fraction of the price. But it won't have the Ojas/Kiplish badge off coruse...
 
Art is really not unlike ‘boutique’ audio, you can sell any old crap to the gullible with a half-way convincing story.
Keith
 
I like the looks, sort of miniature old school cinema speakers, would buy them (for 10th of the price)
 
I am not against products like this. Distortion-free high spl and low extension still cost a lot and this seems like a good recipe for both. It won’t measure as neutral as an M2, but an M2 also costs northwards of 10k. I wouldn’t buy these Ojas speakers, but I can kind of see the appeal. Imo it also makes sense with regards to current market demands - not too cheap, not too expensive & supposed to appeal to an audience that’s into vintage legacy stuff, which is a big segment rn
 
holdingpants01 said:
I like the looks, sort of miniature old school cinema speakers, would buy them (for 10th of the price)
Click to expand...
A business case for Topping to get in for 1/10th of the price :facepalm:
 
Waxx said:
Certainly with that lold multicell horn, they are just refering to Altec Lansing to sell.
Click to expand...
Don't get me wrong, I am an Altec fanboy of mammoth proportions* -- but Altec was only a piece of a larger and even more fascinating tapestry going back to Bell Labs/Western Electric (ERPI) and the "talkies" -- to say nothing of RCA and Harry F Olson.
(there were others, of course -- the Shearer horn, e.g., and European companies/designs, too)
______________
* I mean this figuratively... my proportions are much less mammoth than they were, e.g., in the late 1970s. I've lost a lot of weight since then. :)
 
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Flaesh said:
Even the small 811B is 18"+ wide.
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... somewhere in my basement, a pair of Community BRH-90 horns is chuckling softly.



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for reference, that grey compression driver is a JBL 2441. :)
 
This is mostly what he is has been doing up to this point, commissioned speaker systems, in residential and commercial settings.

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