If I could afford, I’d purchase 100% Oswald Mills Audio gear

I don’t know anything at all about their speakers, but most of the other products they sell are not “made“ by OMA. They are made (designed and built) by other entrepreneurs and sold through OMA. Usually OMA adds some exterior design elements to identify the product as their own. There is nothing wrong with doing this, but please don’t anoint Jonathan Weiss as a genius anytime soon.He may be a genius at marketing.

If anything made for OMA by specialists in speaker design, amps, suts, turntables ... it was made because of Jonathan who is a founder of the OMA company. It’s his company and their products made in a way he want them to be made. This company has it’s own style, every company should have it, they are not copy other manufacturers, they do their own stuff. And they have professional designer with a certain vision of production line, this vision is way different from poorly designed modern high-end audio gear from many other manufacturers. They have beautiful showroom open for everyone.

It’s clearly not my niche of equipment, but as a business model I like the way they are doing their business, everyone can recognize OMA products and even haters discuss their products everywhere. The fact that they can sell for very high prices is a sign of success too. They have their own followers (audiophiles), none audiophiles are crazy about design of these retro looking horns and stuff. This is all good.

Long time ago they made amazing plinth for vintage Technics turntables (I wish to have one), their old and new plinths are better than the original plinths made by Technics. They did the same for Garrard and others.

Their OMA/SoundSmith cartridge looks better than original SoundSmith design.

What else? This new turntable reminds me cutting lathe a bit. Final product is much better than prototype.

Casting process from OMA instagram page uploaded by someone on another forum, more - images - here.

Personally I like my Luxman DDs better, but I respect what they are doing, I’m not gonna buy anything, so I don’t care about their prices.

A few years ago, they were selling the Saskia turntable, made of slate and idler-driven.  The Saskia was conceived of and built by Win Tinnon of North Carolina, based on his love for the Lenco; no part of it was made by OMA.  Win built every one of them from the ground up. Now they are selling this new direct drive.  It is the product of years of work by Richard Krebs, who lives in New Zealand, not Pennsylvania.  Richard is collaborating with OMA to market his product in the US, although in this case it seems OMA has a lot to do with the cast iron plinth.  OMA themselves admit that the tonearm is built by Frank Schroeder, who to my knowledge lives in Germany.  OMA was not the first to think of shedding the chassis of the SP10 Mk3 and mounting the motor/platter assembly directly into a high mass plinth.  For this, credit Steve Dobbins and/or some others who came before Steve.  OMA took the idea and executed it in a slate slab.  For that matter, OMA were not the first to use slate for a plinth, although they like to take credit for that idea too. The concept goes back to internet conversations that took place in the early 1990s.  I am not saying there is anything wrong with any of this; Richard Krebs, Win Tinnon, and Frank Schroeder cast their lots with OMA of their own free will.  OMA market high quality products, and buyers pay a premium for what they sell. I am only arguing about careless use of the word "genius". 

Who the *&$£ is Oswald Mills?
Do they know anything about engineering?
Or it just more bling?
Beware.  They make speakers, amps, the whole gamut.  Experts at everything.
I recommend full scientific tests (on the turntable, not on Oswald).
And great care when considering punting big money on bling.

There is far too much bling in today's turntables.  And far too little plain, honest, down to earth good engineering.  Not everything new is better.

Note.  Fremer likes it.

Quote
"I am only arguing about careless use of the word "genius". "
................................
I can relate to that statement.
Marketing opportunist imo is more accurate.

I’d say that the Krebs TT represents a lot of “plain, honest, down to earth good engineering “ and very little bling. That’s why some others find it ugly. The problem is cost.

Meanwhile those huge and beautiful $280k OMA Imperia horn speakers just received The Golden Ear Award from The Absolute Sound Magazine (2021).


What are you gonna say now?

P.S. OMA K3 turntable is on the cover of Stereophile (issue 478) , I hope you can buy and read.

Regarding its unusual design I do not see any single negative comment on their instagram, so I think their marketing strategy is just right, people love it, except for some old audiogonners as usual.

Interesting part in their press release about OMA new DD motor:

"We hope to offer a stand alone version of our motor in the future to replace Neumann cutting lathe motors (Lyrec, Panasonic SP-02) for record cutting engineers. This motor, comprising a huge 25mm main bearing spindle riding in a pressurized oil column with an inverted bearing is accurate to molecular tolerances. The design of K3’s mechanicals is the work of a team led by Richard Krebs in New Zealand, the worlds foremost authority on direct drive turntable technology...

Bucknell University’s Engineering and Physics departments did extensive FEA and other analysis of the platter and chassis design (and gave OMA their award for most innovative product of 2019.). " read more.

Chakster, Either you do not understand English as well as you write in English (which is very well) or you just don't want to "hear" anyone else's opinion.  I said first of all that I know nothing about OMA loudspeakers.  However, in this case, it is well and good that an OMA speaker received an award from AS; that information does not say anything about who conceived, designed, and built them.  And I did also say that OMA sell high quality products.  OMA is a successful business for that reason, and I wish them continued success in this difficult market for high end audio.


In the case of the above quote about a putative cutting lathe motor, note use of the words "our motor".  Richard Krebs' group developed that motor.  It's a small thing, and I guess I am making too big a deal of it, but there is a history.....

I was not aware that the Bucknell University physics and chemistry departments gave out annual awards to audio companies.  That is surprising and remarkable.

Lewm, I prefer to post links, people can read, Mr. Richard Krebs has been mentioned in OMA press release for K3 turntable on OMA website (see my previous posts):

“The design of K3’s mechanicals is the work of a team led by Richard Krebs in New Zealand, the worlds foremost authority on direct drive turntable technology... ”


I’m sure Mr. Krebs could chime in and tell us more about this project. It would be nice. He’s an a’gon member for a long time.

If Jonathan can invite many professionals in different fields (speakers, amps, turntables, tonearms… ) to create something new and/or unique then he’s a good businessman, but he’s an audiophile and collector of vintage analog gear.

All those people like Mr.Krebs , Herr Schröder and others must be happy and proud of the final product under OMA brand. This is amazing and I’m glad it’s not a one man show, but a collective of experts, I’m sure it’s a lot of work and experts are not cheap (their time cost money).

I haven’t heard any of their gear. It may sound great, but its being marketed like a lifestyle product. Kind of like Bose for the nostalgic, wealthy, or aspirational audiophile.  Harkening back to a golden glowing, transistorless, horn-filled past (50s?, 30s?) that probably didn’t sound as great as we might imagine.

If it improves your hearing, you've got more dollars than cents (sic) and flaunting turns you on, then why not?

Harkening back to a golden glowing, transistorless, horn-filled past (50s?, 30s?) that probably didn’t sound as great as we might imagine.

I think you have no idea what you are talking about.

At the moment I have RCA 45 globe tubes from 1930s in my modern Yamamoto triode amp and it’s pure magic! Next to it I got modern JFET amp from Nelson Pass, so I can compare tubes vs. solid state.

I’m not a horn guy, but I can dig why people are still using an old Western Electric, Altec full range speakers (upgraded with modern parts) with vintage tube gear. Those are amazing! I love my Tannoy.

How can you compare Bose to OMA? The concept is completely different and they explained many times in the interviews like this. You’d better made an appointment if you are in NYC to visit OMA showroom and to listen what they got. They are also on various audioshows with smaller $10k speaker (Fleetwood Sound) and if you can’t visit you can find videos on youtube. OMA small speakers demo here.

I would like to hear their stuff.  If it sounds good, then the price is something each prospective customer has to decide whether or not to pay and it is not for others to decide whether it is ridiculous.  Small production products of proprietary design are necessarily costly. The designs are old school.  I’ve heard a number of modern builds using old designs and vintage parts and they can be terrific sounding.

A friend heard OMA speaker and did not like them.  But, I still would like to hear them myself.

It's all relative, crazy ugly to me. Even if I heard it and it sounded wonderful, I would have to do some deep soul searching to put that gear in my house.

The more I read the more I like. The prototypes platter looks nicer to me with the greenish lights rather than what appears to be  orange dots on the finished plinth.  The caged style Tone arm almost has to be built like that to favor the plinth! How else could it be built to match the plinth? What a work of engineering how the direct drive is built.  I'm on your side chalkster  

He has some really interesting stuff, and his decision that he would rather sell one thing at $100K rather than ten things at $10K seems to be pretty common these days.  I'm interested in the Fleetwood DeVille's, but I have to admit that his decision to take the price from $9,600 to $12,600 almost immediately after getting CBS Sunday Morning to come out and do a story on him gave me pause.  The product is about two or three years old and get's a 30% jump after some national publicity.   

Queue some dope to come in and cite the cost of lumber.  If you just look at his options and the price jumps (like $6K from the basic DeVille's to ones wrapped in less leather than would go on a very small ottoman) it's very clear that he's not interested in selling to audiophiles, but rather folks who want unique and will pay for it.   Good for him if he can make it work.

With ultra high end Audio, 👁 candy. Is part of the purchase .
personally I care more about what’s under the hood as far as parts 
quality . For Turntables I find these with counter rotating platters 
for lowest noise very cool 😎 under I see the $$ price tags .
nice build quality without the fare fare far more cost effective .

A general rhetorical query:

Why do so many here and elsewhere assume that those with six or seven figures to spend on audio gear are deaf, non-audio lovers....unable to discern good sound from bad?  The inference seems to be that only idiots who were somehow lucky enough to find a satchel of cash by the side of the road are stupid enough to stagger into Oswald's studio and hand them the satchel for something....anything.

Like alot of things in life, some things are worth it to some people. I've heard the Oswald gear briefly. It's very good.

People used to say the same thing about Air Tight, Audio Note, Kondo, Shindo, Lamm, DCS, MSB etc, etc. There aren't enough stupid and deaf people out there to keep these companies going so there is likely some innovation and superb craftsmanship taking place. Today is the golden age of our hobby, so much great gear being made today.

I think the Golden age of our hobby has long past from when it was more inclusive, and more populated people wise with music lovers first and foremost. It's very hard to argue with the scarcity of true quality pressings to buy/afford, yet here we are with turntables at 360, 000 US.
That's only Golden for the few since we are talking anologue.
We had great stuff back then and expensive stuff too. Just less of the uber stupid stuff.
Like it or not this current golden age by a huge vast majority now is a cell phone and good ear buds... 

We had our buds too...
We cleaned them using gatefold album covers...😊

Their Imperia speaker just got a Golden Ear award from TAS. That should count for something. I am now curious to hear their speakers even though I can't afford any of them.

https://oswaldsmillaudio.com/imperia

Hopefully, OWA expands their Fleetwood line to include more products

Thanks to chakster for a relevant post.

It's for rich cats with a ton of disposable income for the rest of us as  PT Barnum is credited with saying There is a sucker born every minute. One observation reading posts here for a year or so it is my belief the audiophile community is fertile ground for conmen. Also lets not forget there is the law of diminishing returns in play. Frankly, most of us older folk, our hearing is such that at some point spending larges sums improving your hearings frequency range might reap more benefit than plunking down more coin for more expensive gear.

Heck, I thought this thread was about Oswald the rabbit.  Boy, was I disappointed.

Pretty.........

Based on the lack of innovative technology you are paying more so for aesthetics than sound. Which is fine if that's what you want. Also, I'd love to see measurements on and off axis for the sea of metal circles speaker.

As somebody who owns Fleetwoods and has spent extensive time listening to other OMA gear, all I can say is that you owe yourself a listen. It is absolutely top notch in both performance and design. 
Is the industrial design for everybody? No. Can anybody fault them for their quality? No. 
OMA is world-class equipment that is beautifully made and designed by the preeminent experts in the world. Jonathan is a genius at getting the best people together to make the coolest stuff. 
Experiencing music played through their equipment is the closest thing I have ever felt compared to a “live” sound. I have happily owned the Fleetwood DeVille speakers for over a year now, and have absolutely zero interest in swapping them out for more of the same Harbeth/Wilson/Magico/B&W stuff that is most popular. The Fleetwoods are more timberally accurate, more immediate (but warm at the same time), and more enjoyable overall to listen to. 
If you want a Porsche Turbo S with a PDK because it does 0-60 in 2.1 seconds go buy it! Better yet, get a Tesla Plaid. But the Porsche sounds like a vacuum cleaner and the Tesla is a tatted up golf cart. They perform admirably but have little in the way of soul. 
This is the same as a pair of Wilsons or Magico. Boom Boom! Look how fast my car goes - it gets old after a few launches. The same with the big speakers - Boom Boom - look how loud i can play with my Arc Welder amps and big Corian (material X) speakers. For me, I did that, then it got old. 
If you want a Ferrari 500 Superamerica because it makes you feel special while you drive it, the OMA / Fleetwood line will appeal to you. Fleetwood and OMA are getting the credit they deserve in the audiophile press of late. 
Can everybody afford it? No. 
Should you hear it before you make up your mind? Yes. 
OMA is an amazing contribution to our mutually beloved hobby - I really hope more of us get the chance to experience what they have to offer. 

WOW  i GUESS if ITS that EXPENSIVE IT HAS TO BE GOOD  NO  SPEND 2K ON ROOM ACOUSTICS AND YOU ARE HALF WAY THIRE GREG USMC

Why would anyone assume someone who is willing to spend large $$$ on a system would not have dealt with room acoustics?

P.T. Barnum was right.

"All that glitters is not gold"    

No, the glittery stuff are diamonds. Gold is the shiny yellow stuff.

If one listens to appreciate the beauty of music, why not also appreciate the beauty of visual design? Assuming, of course, that the latter does not diminish the former.

I could never come close to affording even a knob on an OMA amplifier, but the design and execution of OMA products is stunning. If one can afford it, why not surround oneself with beauty in all its forms?

To use an automotive analogy, a 911 Turbo performs beautifully, but is in many ways mundane. You want performance combined with a truly special aesthetic? Try a recreation, like an Eagle E-Type Lightweight, or an Alfaholics GTA-R. They are the equivalent of OMA products.

Please don't compare HiFi's with automobiles. They are vastly different.
HiFi's are not to look at, they are for listening. 

OMA is all about marketing. @chakster, I am really surprised that you are so enthralled by OMA's marketing BS. You are smarter than that.

Please do not judge HiFi gear by it's appearance. It should only be well made of durable materials and perform at a level consistent with it's price.
Nothing OMA makes performs at a level consistent with it's price. But I suppose that opinion would vary based on your ability to be able to afford it and I could not. I can only say that it is highly unlikely I would buy any of their equipment even if I could afford it as it does not meet my personal criteria. But, that is personal and other's will feel differently.

mijostyn

HiFi's are not to look at, they are for listening. OMA is all about marketing. @chakster, I am really surprised that you are so enthralled by OMA's marketing BS ...Please do not judge HiFi gear by it's appearance ...Nothing OMA makes performs at a level consistent with it's price. 

That's an interesting claim. Please tell us about the OMA components you've auditioned that led you to this rather absolute determination. Given that you insist that hi-fi gear should not be judged by appearance, you surely have heard this gear, right?

I second that point and question about what mijostyn has demoed. People love to give OMA a hard time because it is expensive. Having heard mostly all of it, I can tell you that for me, it is worth the asking price. 

In general, those who could care less about the visual aesthetics of an item in their home typically don’t need to announce it for it to be apparent. All things being equal, I personally opt for the more attractive (to my taste) item.

OMA is all about marketing. @chakster, I am really surprised that you are so enthralled by OMA’s marketing BS. You are smarter than that.

@mijostyn 

The whole High-End industry today is about marketing, but OMA can do it better than others, because 99,9% of modern High-End turntables look like this and it’s awful design! I think I will pay extra to get rid of stuff like this even if someone will bring it for free to my room. This is modern High-End reality, not OMA.

The OMA is almost completely different from any high-end store and I respect that. If they can sell their stuff for insane prices it’s fine, who cares?

I mean look at my virtual system (2017-2019), I’m definitely not an OMA gear buyer, but I like a mix of modern and vintage high-end. Long time ago I noticed their love for Technics SP-10 mkII which I owned for a long time. I realized that Jonathan is a collector of vintage audio gear, can't find his oldest video, but this is a new one about it.

I bought some nice stuff from OMA, Jonathan was a good seller, he personally replied to my emails, answered all my question, it was long time ago, but everything was nice and smooth, I bought a tonearm and MC cartridge from an OMA shop and received it my mail (overseas).

Selection of cartridges at their shop was nice (Miyajima, Ortofon SPU, SoundSmith...), selection of tonearms was nice too (Schick, Schroeder ... ), I remember those German Silvercore SUTs and some other stuff.

Instead of selling regular high-end BS they have been selling carefully selected stuff only. I really like this concept. I left no more than $3k at the OMA online shop and I was happy, later I sold everything after upgrading and did not lose any penny. Will I buy from OMA again? Probably not, I have my sources now, but I respect what they are doing.

$360,000 buy a  nice system for a $100k and a nice 911 turbo s with the quarter Million left. Enjoy stroking that tone arm. 

In thus price band its not likely to be an either/or decision tree.

@chakster, when the marketing is BS I look immediately the other way. There is not a think these people sell that is not a complete waste of money. There is far less expensive equipment that will perform better and last longer being sold by companies that do not have to resort to BS. Just my humble opinion. 

Actually, Mijo, the Krebs might be as good as or better than any turntable in the world regardless of price. The only reasonable  objections are to the  looks, for some, or to the price asked. So don’t buy one. 

"The only reasonable  objections are to the  looks, for some, or to the price asked. So don’t buy one."

That's reasonable. More reasoned than the silly ones over the top ranting praise for things they have never seen, heard and will definitely never own . All while spending frugal on mid fi vintage gear yet praising the complete extreme polar opposite...

$360,000 buy a nice system for a $100k and a nice 911 turbo s with the quarter Million left.

No, for $360k I could buy a TIME MACHINE to travel back to 1986 for Denon PD-100, Technics SP-10 mk3, Victor TT-101, Pioneer Exclussive turntables and a bunch of cartridges. 

I wouldn’t buy anything from any company who prices 98% of the world out of their “goods”. I’d sooner burn that place down than walk in the door.

You arent their target market. Dont buy one, dont get bent out shape because others do. Life is too short.

If you are on an audio forum debating the merit of a $400k turntable, I can promise, you are not their target audience. 

gochurchgo

I wouldn’t buy anything from any company who prices 98% of the world out of their “goods”. I’d sooner burn that place down than walk in the door.

Why so angry, @gochurchgo?

"If you are on an audio forum debating the merit of a $400k turntable, I can promise, you are not their target audience."

EXACTLY !!!

"A fisherman always spots another fisherman from afar"

Hi mijostyn

Cars are not to look at, they are for driving.