Those Torqueo tables are beautifulThey have a Rek-o-Kut vibe.
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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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. |
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". |
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