OMA K3 $360K TURNTABLE

[Doodski]

But that CD player would not be strikingly ugly. For that, you must pay.

The platter base and platter with that tonearm base is ugly but I like the tonearm even if it has no head shell handle for lifting and such.

 

[Anton D]

They say it's the most powerful motor in any turntable

Fascinating, I apologize for being mysterious....it's a Technics.

(I'm pretty sure.)

 

[antcollinet]

Looks like a cargo ship. And not even a pretty one. I keep looking for the rust stains down the side.

If I was paying that much for .... well, anything. I'd expect it to look a hell of a lot better than that. Becasue what else am I paying for. Surely not SOTA audio.

 

[antcollinet]

The platter base and platter with that tonearm base is ugly but I like the tonearm even if it has no head shell handle for lifting and such.

What? It looks like a derrick crane.

 

[Pearljam5000]

Fascinating, I apologize for being mysterious....it's a Technics.

(I'm pretty sure.)

 

[Doodski]

What? It looks like a derrick crane.

It looks engineered and I like the casting and detail of it. It would be difficult to make. It does look like a derrick crane...Lol. Definitely not a Thorens in the style dept but it's kinda neat.

 

[drewdawg999]

View attachment 319373

Think there's a mixup, OMA makes a plinth for the Technics SP10 that actually looks pretty nice. Still too rich and heavy for my blood, but a $20K table plus a Shroeder arm would be pretty sweet.

 

[MattHooper]

More click-bait red meat for ASR? Oh @Pearljam5000 you naughty fella!

 

[Chrispy]

More click-bait red meat for ASR? Oh @Pearljam5000 you naughty fella!

Well, perhaps a bit of a counterbalance to the myriad posts along the lines of "we don't need no stinkin' measurements" increase here?

 

[Pearljam5000]

More click-bait red meat for ASR? Oh @Pearljam5000 you naughty fella!

Actually I was just curious to see what ASR members more knowledgeable than me think of it.

 

[NoMoFoNo]

The high-end turntable thing is gross, as in every time I interact with a phono-adoring 'audiophile' I feel like I need a shower. There is something unctuous and supercilious about the people who inhabit that realm.

 

[MattHooper]

Well, perhaps a bit of a counterbalance to the myriad posts along the lines of "we don't need no stinkin' measurements" increase here?

Yes, this forum is seriously overwhelmed by the anti-measurement crowd!

 

[Chrispy]

Yes, this forum is seriously overwhelmed by the anti-measurement crowd!

Not overwhelmed perhaps but annoyingly and persistently angled as such....mostly without much merit for the point in question.

 

[Steven Holt]

Well folks, y'know....they only have to sell one.

 

[MattHooper]

Not overwhelmed perhaps but annoyingly and persistently angled as such....mostly without much merit for the point in question.

Yes, I agree.

 

[MattHooper]

Actually I was just curious to see what ASR members more knowledgeable than me think of it.

You couldn't guess? You could have bet your life savings on what ASR thinks of such things

No harm, I'm just teasing. That's part of why people are here, to share gripes about the silliness in high end audio. I appreciate that aspect too.
Generally speaking products like this turntable are derided in most audio forums. To begin with, I think it looks terrible.
Even if I had so much money I wouldn't blink at the cost, I'd never let it through my door. And it's hard to imagine all the purportedly heroic efforts at reducing vibrations
were necessary. Like so many flagship turntables, even if the engineering principles were sound, given the medium, it seems ridiculously over-engineered.

 

[JP]

That's two things we agree on in as many weeks. The world's gonna end.

 

[LouB]

The only reason I looked at this thread was to see why someone posted about a $360.00 turntable, when I realized it's 360K I'm now leaving this thread. Speechless is what I am.

 

[DonR]

You could get a couple of parking spaces in Whistler Village for that money!

 

[antcollinet]

So I think this is an opportunity to bring in a total and complete contrast into the "high end" turntable design philosophy - without starting YATT** to discuss it.

Rega's approach to (their) high end turntables is to go in totally the opposite direction with the Naiad, and construct them from spider web and soot. Admittedly this is still less than 10% of the cost of the OMA. I think when it was first "released" it was buyable for around £30K - but on a build to order and when we can find the man power to built it basis - and there doesn't seem to be a way to order one now. So perhaps more a concept turntable than an actual product.

The Rega Naiad Turntable – a product unlike any other

A product unlike any other, created to push Rega’s philosophies to the extreme and prove beyond doubt that our lifelong mantra of ultra-light weight, high rigidity plinths and the use of key materials in key areas are paramount in constructing any serious performance turntable.

www.rega.co.uk

The design goal appears to be "lightweight but incredibly rigid" rather than "A few kg heavier than a chieftain tank" A philosophy common to all Rega TT with their foam cored plinths, including their current top of the range NAIA which is I think the productionised version of the Naiad - and at a positively cheap £12,500 with cartridge.

So the question is for anyone with mechanical design know how - how do the two approaches compare for (in the words of Roy Gandy) a vibration measuring machine?

EDIT- ooh - and would anyone be able to tell the difference between the £12,500 Naia, and the £360K K3 in a blind test?



**yet another turntable thread