OMA on the JBL acoustic lens

At the OMA mill headquarters Jonathan talks about this 1950's JBL acoustic lens.

[@jimmyjams1974]

This is really cool. I love stuff like this.

[@QoraxAudio]

I think OMA should take part in an exposition of a museum on conceptual art/applied art, because the things he has definitely are of very high artistic value!

[@greggb681]

3:36 I love Jonathan and his brutal honesty 😂 👏

[@brunorivademar5356]

What an absolutely beautiful piece!!

[@TheAlberto6842]

E bay sux .... very cool video! I'm excited there is/are more of myself that have the passion , the love , the lifestyle for the a time passed when true representation of musical playback was taken seriously... Bravo Jonathan!

[@wayneblackwood8832]

Jonathan is amazing and very passionate about his craft. And yeah, brutally honest. Exactly how it should be.

[@tommygun5vsrocky]

DCM loudspeaker TimeFrame speakers and Timewindow Speakers used acoustic lens I believe from 1970 to 1996. The acoustic lens DCM used was put over there 6 1/2 mid range then a Tweeter in the middle of the Acoustic lens which made a coaxial driver design. So you can still find some Acoustic lens designs out there and you are right it is a rare design not sure why because it works well maybe it's do to high manufacturing cost and time. Nice video

[@markowen4326]

Love the 16" Gray tonearms at the end.

[@Justas-M]

I love my JBL. Amazing piece of history. I like your approach to audio, I have a feeling all the best natural sounding equipment was already produced 50 or more years ago and your brand is doing a fantastic job putting those designs into a contemporary form.

[@oswaldsmillaudio]

Thank you very much!

[@samuelsalins8309]

Very interesting 🔉🎵

[@samjhssam8655]

With the advent of highly advanced Digital 3d printing...it can now be easily replicated down to it's original micromily detailed design and can even be calibrated to even make it better sounding having the best audio laboratories and audio engineers around

[@tee-jaythestereo-bargainph2120]

Thanks for the video very interesting

[@bobsmoot8454]

The 36 inch horizontal lens is really huge, the Asian hifinguys love the JBL lens stuff because it works

[@bigblueocean]

Fascinating. Please cover your thoughts on amplifiers and your own range.

[@stevejohnson1321]

Actually I started seeing and hearing midrange lens in disco establishments starting in 1979. They were styled nothing like this and a lot less complex, but were around. Also not sure they were sonically accurate, but a very sweet sound -- especially after two servings of sangria..

[@robertoalvarez3533]

I love this man, they don’t do them like that anymore.

[@19brendan80]

Stromberg-Carlson also used perforated stacked lens in the horn on their 1959 coaxial driver (RF-475)

[@artyfhartie2269]

Just imagine how many of them got sent to landfills when many movie theatres were being torn down in the US.

[@PrinceWesterburg]

I want to see waterfall charts and plots vs efficiency as this would pretty much absorb sound. Its more likely, as you say, to diffuse the sound wider and get better spread in smaller auditoriums but steel is resonant and there's nothing that special about perforated steel. If they'd used brass or aluminium with more deliberately placed perforations then it would make more sense, however, we are so luxuriated in CNC drilling today that maybe this was the best they coudl economically do at the time?

[@johnsimmons5056]

So cool

[@d3tach3d]

good lord baby jesus in a basket of angel feathers 😮😮 why doesnt audio companies use amazing techniques like this these days? Im tired and bored of the million different 2-way speaker designs. Sure, they work, but stuff like is just isnt seen unless its seen for 100k or some Bespoke pair an engineer made I would assume. Id love to see just a DIY Kit or even Plans, that you can 3D Print the Lenses with. The Speaker Nutjob in me wants to have this in a 6.5" - 8" Bookshelf. Man, my curiosity is is driving me nuts. Again. 3D Printing can make this happen and im sure theres software that can make the right discs. SOMEBODY MAKE THIS HAPPEN!

[@chaseleim4773]

The metallic perforated disk resonates and make a higher pitch, the design make the sound wider, the Diaphragm itself without the horn probably has a low resonance, the disk are likely rising the resonance

[@kbtube8125]

the sound gets out first through the middle. it takes longer to weave it's way through the many layers of perforated discs setting up a 360 degree vertical dome of sound supposedly helping with dispersion. i can see phase issues with delayed sound bits showing up late from all the outer rings it must pass through. who knows. from the days of mono, probably not a big issue.

[@JerseyPB]

Amazing stuff, thanks for sharing. Have you ever seen Leslie horns used in commercial / studio situations? As a keyboard player I have a Leslie rotary cabinet for my Hammond organ live rig, which sounds awesome of course. I believe they make locomotive train, ship horns, light houses etc - did they do smaller applications too?

[@beornthebear.8220]

The only things I don't like about the old Leslies and Hammond C3d is moving them. in a low grind, they sound great.

[@JerseyPB]

@@beornthebear.8220 agreed - but the way they move air in the room, is special.

[@vortexan9804]

I had a pair (no drivers) labeled Ampex. Had less perf. plates than those though. So less dispersion probably. Have a few pairs of the serpentine horn/lenses.

[@michelesaul4589]

It would be interesting to see a set of measurements.

[@kfl611]

Looks like the jbl potato masher on steroids ! I like your space saver telephone ! I wanted to hear it being played !

[@bng2679]

I have the later JBL black version, I think they also act as a phase lens. Although I prefer my td4001 vs 375 . James. B. Lancing was really an audio genius. BTW China clone these 537-500 lens now, I have listened to the clones and couldn't tell the difference between the authentic one, problem is the clone are not cheap.

[@SonicPVC]

The lens is in a vortex/mandala sequence.

[@greencraig8570]

I know Reference 3A uses what they call an acoustic lens on some of their speakers.

[@jdrissel]

I have been thinking that 3d printing an acoustic lens is in reach of anyone like me that has the space for a printer and a test system. I heard a JBL speaker that used a connical horn with a lens and it did sound good. The lens was much simpler than this, but it worked well enough.

[@leandropaz2007]

Hello! I would like your help if possible. I have been looking for a long time to find the front part of my horn like the one in your video. I have the drive and the horn, the lens is missing with that part where the lens goes and the rear stand. Do you have these parts in your stock to sell, please? I have been searching for some time but without success.

[@Vu.c]

Jbl heritage things: real one it’s hard to find. Would you cast them a pair of jbl 537-500 ? I need it for my 375 drivers . It’s so good 😊

[@beornthebear.8220]

The lens is cool. I could guess what it was when I saw it.

[@Angu15h]

Consider making smaller rechargeable mobile Bluetooth/aux speakers with couple small horns and couple high efficiency subs (2-3 inches atleast) would appeal to a huge market for high end audio consumers, I'd invest in something like that. Something to put my gold aux cord to use, would upgrade the aux jacks for something like that

[@mitchellstrobbe7779]

Does anyone know the working principle behind the perforated disks lensing the sound waves? I would imagine it has something to do with the differing impedance of the air flowing through the disk and the free air in the conical cut out section, but on first inspection, I cannot really understand how it shapes the sound or even the dispersion pattern it is aiming to create.

[@JerseyPB]

Bang & Olufsen are introducing Acoustic Lens Technology on their flagship models. In conjunction with a Sausalito company I believe.

[@jdrissel]

The part with the holes slightly slows the sound waves down by making them go a little longer distance. With the arrangement that is used on this speaker it would appear that it would change the wave front to be more spherical. This should reduce beaming and broaden the frequency response. It probably also makes the frequency response at any particular location much closer to the overall power response, which is a very good thing.

[@samthompson1918]

Finding one of those "H" brackets that support the horn throat has been driving me insane...they just don't exist anymore 😅

[@guigui7783]

china makes them……and i think is not that hard to make yourself use 2 metal plate and drill some holes.

[@inherent777]

Hi, Johnathan! Please play the equipment you present no matter if it is OMA or old gear. Play them for us at least few seconds with some music.

[@oxiigen]

Yeah, we want to listen it on the smartphones!:P

[@MultiShawnt]

I just don't my pants!

[@jdtv...9134]

Talk is good but I want to hear them

[@roybatty-]

turn dat chit on tho

[@adissabovic]

BS!