I just watched Johnathan's talk about his new K5 table. It does look like a nice well engineered table. I sure do not like the fact that he says belt drive is a terrible way of designing a table. It's also interesting how he prides himself on the authority of everything and still makes speakers with conventional wood cabinets that resonates.
OMA on turntables
- Thread starter Jeffy
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That was punishing to watch; i couldn't make it past 11:00. I think Johnathon likes the sound of his own voice. Six minutes of that monotone delivery before he even mentioned anything about the K5, then no real details. You could condense the 14 min video down to 5 seconds: The K5 is a cheaper version of the K3. Done. Thanks for watching.
i cannot stand him, arrogant and condenscending immediately comes to mind.
Not to mention “grossly overpriced”
I find the references to Bucknell’s approval humorous. Those awards are given to undergraduate student projects that have come in for the capstone design course. Bucknell is a good undergraduate engineering program, but the context of the awards isn’t relevant to commercially offered high end audio.
LOL. one drug dealer tells you to stay away from another drug dealer.
Completely AGREE. I have been saying the same for years. I hate to speak negatively of others, but it's a fact in this case and caveat emptor could not be more applicable.
As far as the product itself, it's an mix of oddities: They tried to emulate the look of a cutting lathe, and they chose a high torque motor because cutting lathes use them... but then why no vacuum hold down?
Personally, I think the cutting lathe emulation is nonsense: the act of cutting a record is completely different than the act of playing it back. To a lay person it may seem like it makes sense since the way the record was cut should be the way it's read; but it actually doesn't make sense. A high torque motor is more difficult to speed control. You do not need anywhere the torque required for cutting for reading the grooves, so why get the drawbacks of a high torque motor?
Also, he's completely wrong about "belt drive being sh~t!". There are many great belt drive tables. He knows about 20% of the solution and unfortunately is too obtuse and full of himself to know what he doesn't know, admit it, and learn it.
And he makes cast iron seem like a high tech material, because of the ~20 odd molds he had to scrap and the difficulty in CNC machining. I owned a precision machine shop. Iron is NOT difficult to machine and there are many reasons why no other TT is made from iron. It's a terrible material for resonance, for example.
I know Fremer has a K3 but it was a heavily discounted prototype, and the two men have had a falling out since the transaction. I don't know if Fremer regrets getting one; but I would not be surprised if he unloads it in the near future.
Note to future entrepreneurs in this industry: if you get the most influential reviewer to own/promote your product, do not piss him off!
Actually have no idea why Weiss is heavily promoting $100K++ products on social media all of a sudden. As if someone is going to be influenced by his videos at this price point. He also disdains the audiophile community and has openly said so (something about 'we ask too many questions'), so it's a bizarre move to be putting out these videos, which will only invite criticism. I guess his traditional channels of promotion through architectural magazines and to his musical 'friends' have panned out.
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I have enough fears about oncoming tinnitus in my grand old age without bringing it voluntarily into my world listening to Weiss drone on.
Belt drive is $hit, cutting lathes are where it's at, audiophiles are scum.
I'm impressed by one thing, his sheer chutzpah in insulting the group you'd think he'd most be in favour of currying favour with.
To sell $100-350k TTs that by definition have a small market, and then screen off a big part of that market.
Maybe his cojones are made of the same iron.
Belt drive is $hit, cutting lathes are where it's at, audiophiles are scum.
I'm impressed by one thing, his sheer chutzpah in insulting the group you'd think he'd most be in favour of currying favour with.
To sell $100-350k TTs that by definition have a small market, and then screen off a big part of that market.
Maybe his cojones are made of the same iron.
Absolutely. But if you're gonna do social media, videos, don't piss off the viewer. Or maybe that's all part of the plan.
I see it, moan about him to my non audiofool friend down the pub, the next day he puts down 100 large on a K5.
Genius.
No such thing as bad publicity.
I do give him credit for the chutzpah, and launching an entire line of not unattractive products.
Some elements of the products make sense, for sure. For instance, he did a lot for the field coil driver and horn market by bringing to light how great some of the vintage drivers were (e.g., RCA 1428/1443).
I don’t understand why more high-end ($100k+) speakers don’t use field coils. Cost is not as much of an object, and I haven’t heard anyone who has heard FC drivers say they prefer permanent magnet counterparts. (But this is another topic!)
Some elements of the products make sense, for sure. For instance, he did a lot for the field coil driver and horn market by bringing to light how great some of the vintage drivers were (e.g., RCA 1428/1443).
I don’t understand why more high-end ($100k+) speakers don’t use field coils. Cost is not as much of an object, and I haven’t heard anyone who has heard FC drivers say they prefer permanent magnet counterparts. (But this is another topic!)
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