OMA K3 Turntable - Part 4 : The Tone Arm

K3 has been a seven year project to create and redefine state of the art for vinyl playback. We wanted to set a new mark for the turntable, forming an international collaboration with the world's top experts in direct drive turntable design, motor control, and tonearm technology.
This is the fourth video, on the Schröder tonearm. More will be coming, including a big one at OK Foundry (big shout out to Jamie and crew in Richmond for all their incredible work!).
You can read up on our K3 turntable at oswaldsmillaudio.com/k3.

[@R.J.1]

Happy to see Jay Leno's stylist has moved on. Wow, really wonderful stuff. It's beautiful art, and a bonus it serves a purpose of music. The only thing I could afford in that room is maybe the old cast iron radiator for heat.

[@mrfrosty3]

This is both beautiful and fun looking. It makes me happy that it exists.

[@costelloandsilke7321]

The Roksan Artemiz had an underslung decoupled counterweight - a couple of decades ago. Not quite as elegantly executed, but similar in principle. The arm might have a bayonet mount but in in terms of what is being demonstrated in the video regarding VTA adjustment, the relevant piece on camera lens technology is a helicoid.

[@carlos2bass]

Yep, the intelligent counterweight, was also on my Roksan Tabriz Zi tonearm that I regret selling…

[@ryandouglas4553]

Stunning art. Thanks for sharing. Aspirational equipment for sure!

[@axelwunsch2366]

very interesting device and great explanation about it 👍 I'm looking forward to hearing the record player at the fair in Munich.

[@crimsonghost6454]

Very interesting and very cool. I could listen to you talk for hours so feel free to make longer videos. I would love to see the other tables mentioned in this video. It is very true when people say that they don't make it like they used to. It is rare for anything made today to be made or built like things from decades ago but this turntable is in a league of its own. Its functional art and a new standard.

[@oswaldsmillaudio]

Thank you...!

[@brianpercival1829]

Those screws around the turntable remind me of balance screws on a watch balance wheel. Your watch has the silimilar design for adjusting time speed up and down.

[@Audiofreak71]

Ortofon had been using SLM technology on their carts for some time I own an A90 and Verismo and they are work of art imo. Great video and Thanks for sharing 👍

[@ianmedium]

I really love that you share the credits. Thank you Jonathan, the turntable is a tour de force and thank you for showing your UFO, a Rare piece indeed !

[@oswaldsmillaudio]

Thanks so much, Ian!

[@idus]

I could cast it. 3D print with pla. Surround with a jewelers casting plaster. Burn out the pla. Replace with metal of choice. Some post processing required for a polished look however very possible to cast. Beautiful piece you have. I enjoy all you talk about. It’s a passion of mine to have great sound. One day Ill have an oma system.

[@mazeanalog-oy2zp]

Exactly, lost wax. It wouldn't be easy but possible.

[@mdavisyates]

Aa a hobby maker myself, it is hard to listen to process explanations sometimes. Especially when standard ones are explained with a bit of "mystical hyperbole". That said I definitely love hearing Johnathan talk about OMA's products. You get a sense of his passion and after a while I also realize that everyone isn't in the know!

[@JerseyPB]

Love it. Thanks for sharing.

[@oswaldsmillaudio]

Thank you, Paul!

[@martinreynolds7025]

Great Watch

[@AncientEgyptArchitecture]

As a 3d print Maker I instantly recognized the tonearm for what it was. But this got me to thinking, ( and please don't be too hard on me due to my vast ignorance ) would it be possible / beneficial to create other portions of the turntable as SLS ( actually, I must correct you, the term for the process is Selective Laser Sintering ) fabrications, as a shortcut to avoid the need for some machining steps and also perhaps as a means to vary density/material use more directly and arrive at a 'unified' design that would require less post-work? Just a thought. Cheers!

[@martinreynolds7025]

Great taste have one in the safe.

[@martinreynolds7025]

WEll done.

[@martinreynolds7025]

Very interesting Skelital Engineering is amazing as is Metal Printing and Sound is so human our bodies are designed to Vibrate that' how we experience our world.

[@LeonFleisherFan]

Most impressive! What watch is it, by the way?

[@martinreynolds7025]

1955 Rolex Precision 9083 UFO Stainless

[@user-bz6xs2st8y]

👍👍👍

[@Balooba11]

Rega arm lift?

[@fredfungalspore]

Nice Roman sandals...

[@ianmedium]

Birkenstocks

[@markushelle142]

I have a Micro Seiki Player. SME 3012R. Ortofon SPU. So what you wanna sell me?

[@Badassvidsz]

So what you imply is that your M.SEIKI is better than this ??

[@michaelbradley7595]

The absurdity of needing this much bizarrely exotic and outrageously expensive equipment just to play music with a potentially outdated technology is beyond the pale of normal reality. It is a total audio fetish.

[@pablomauro2262]

No sirve

[@gaborozorai3714]

In spite of the fact that I deem the design of this turntable to be virtually irrelevant - in the sense that the technology will never trickle down to products that can actually be enjoyed by more than a handful of people, it just being a grand exercise in over-engineered elitism - I would be interested in how it's made. However, the stratospheric level of smugness radiated by the speech and body language in all of these videos, the way that other designs are so haughtily dismissed (see in an earlier video: " belt drive TT's are a joke") just make them unbearable to watch.

[@user-zm4yg9xv8q]

The Bamboo Tonearem!

[@user-zm4yg9xv8q]

If you vacuum dried it and sealed it, the lightweight factor could not be beat. Just a stick of bamboo with whipped ends. Makes perfect sense.

[@user-zm4yg9xv8q]

And if you flame darkened it or torified it, the look is really the best. There is the evolutionary standard to it, Its the king of grass, which makes it special.

[@user-zm4yg9xv8q]

Reference for art deco design. Takes alot to get there, time and iterations. I like the tonearm, but it needs more of a mellow color to complement the rest of it. What if you incorporated investment casting and MAGNESIUM??? Magnesium does take special considerations, but it is a good material. I think its damped well, strong, tensile, almost fibrous. It is also a gorgeous color. It would complement all of your equipment, to have brackets, housings, or critical componnets made of this stuff. Its specialized, maybe its a bit departed from the traditional material and manufacturing methods you prefer. But, it does have that myrr factor the rest of your products have, and its lightweight which is an advantage. I dont know how it "sounds" But to me, it definetly resembles more of a cast iorn type quality compared to aluminum. It would be nice even just hard anodize the tonearm, again, it would change characteristics obviously.