It's ironic but I find it somewhat appealing

[BTH K10A]

An unusual take on the OB

http://oswaldsmillaudio.com/ironic

[Macca]

Made with a 3d printer. 104dB. Certainly an interesting concept and they look pretty cool:

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac233/Macca_photos_2009/ironic.jpg (http://s903.photobucket.com/user/Macca_photos_2009/media/ironic.jpg.html)

[newton]

dont like this though,ouch The Ironic, edition of 10, available for $95,000

[Ali Tait]

Wow, amazing lookng things. Amazing price too of course.

[Spectral Morn]

They remind me of the manifestation of the Guardian, in the Space 1999 story the Guardian of Piri.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WOUKPqvJsKg/T3Od8NxkY_I/AAAAAAAAKh8/-lBhmjQnQV8/s1600/guardian1975.jpg

[struth]

They are hideous

[Arkless Electronics]

Awful! I would expect awful sound as well..... 1930's juke box speaker eh? 'fraid I can't take seriously all this "stuff from 1930 made without modern materials, research and CAD beats modern stuff" BOLLOCKS is all I've got to say on that one.

[walpurgis]

No thanks!

[BTH K10A]

Awful! I would expect awful sound as well..... 1930's juke box speaker eh? 'fraid I can't take seriously all this "stuff from 1930 made without modern materials, research and CAD beats modern stuff" BOLLOCKS is all I've got to say on that one.

It depends who made it ;) Modern materials, research and CAD is no guarantee of quality reproduction.

Unlimited budget combined with a level of technical understanding achieved through empirical knowledge has resulted in products from the 1930"s (and later) that are not commercially viable to produce for todays mainstream manufacturers. Granted There are Chinese clone available but even they cost a small fortune.

As far as SQ goes, this dutch guys blog sum relays his empirical experience

http://audio-life.nl/blog/western-electric-gip-laboratory

btw some of the early juke boxes and radios had some very high quality speakers installed in them.

[Pete The Cat]

SWMBO would point out that they'll be impossible to keep dusted...

Pete

[Barry]

It looks like a 3D advertisement for Aero.

[anthonyTD]

I wonder what drive unit they use,
Not a $45,000 dollar one for sure!
Still,,, unusual, and interesting concept.
A...

[Macca]

I wonder what drive unit they use,
Not a $45,000 dollar one for sure!
Still,,, unusual, and interesting concept.
A...

The unique combination of transducers used in the Ironic- a fifteen inch electrodynamic or field coil woofer used in Juke Boxes from the 1930's, of which we have 20 restored examples, and the bleeding edge custom ribbon tweeter, which is 110db at 10khz, 1m, combine to make an open baffle speaker of unprecedented efficiency, at least 104db across the majority of its passband

[Marco]

It depends who made it ;) Modern materials, research and CAD is no guarantee of quality reproduction.

Unlimited budget combined with a level of technical understanding achieved through empirical knowledge has resulted in products from the 1930"s (and later) that are not commercially viable to produce for todays mainstream manufacturers. Granted There are Chinese clone available but even they cost a small fortune.

As far as SQ goes, this dutch guys blog sum relays his empirical experience

http://audio-life.nl/blog/western-electric-gip-laboratory

btw some of the early juke boxes and radios had some very high quality speakers installed in them.

Hear, hear, Andy! :exactly:

Not really the 'bubbly' speakers in question, although they look quite cool in a 1970s sci-fi sense, but I rather like some of the 'quirky' products Oswaldsmill sell - certainly far more interesting than the boring, ten-a-penny mainstream stuff one usually finds at hi-fi shows, or in your average dealers.

Marco.

[Puffin]

These are the one's to keep Swimbo happy! Just tell her they give you the horn.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i239/saxonsex/kleinhorn2_2_zpswdlnlpzg.png

[struth]

Neighbours would love those.... As would the council:lol:

[BTH K10A]

Hear, hear, Andy! :exactly:

Not really the 'bubbly' speakers in question, although they look quite cool in a 1970s sci-fi sense, but I rather like some of the 'quirky' products Oswaldsmill sell - certainly far more interesting than the boring, ten-a-penny mainstream stuff one usually finds at hi-fi shows, or in your average dealers.

Marco.


Yes, whilst the bespoke OMA products are out of reach for most of us, the philosophy is sound and with a little effort, space, skill and imagination similar can be constructed at home as Speedysteve has proved with his great setup.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRRMSNw9MMQ


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AAPqcdLQmM

[Marco]

Excellent stuff, Andy. It's always nice seeing someone genuinely enthusing about their audio passions... I do agree with a lot of what the bloke says, especially about the compromises with making things smaller and smaller, and that the 'latest and greatest' in technology or equipment isn't automatically the best!

Oswaldsmill Audio sell some superb products, and I do enjoy horns done well. Trouble is, so often when one hears them in inferior set ups, they're done badly, and significant coloration abounds... Done well, however, the sheer (frightening) dynamics, presence, effortless scale and realism with big horns, especially when reproducing brass instruments, is breathtaking - and totally unequalled by conventional speakers.

If only companies of that level of bespoke expertise would exhibit at UK hi-fi shows, and reproduce recorded music to the level that makes it genuinely sound like a live performance, instead of the hopeless idiots we get here, at the likes of the Bristol show, who can't even demonstrate a Technics SL-1200 properly!! :doh: :rolleyes:

For me, genuinely serious (commercial) hi-fi shows simply don't happen in the UK. The likes of Munich is where it's at, which is somewhere I intend to visit some point soon :cool:

Marco.