Klipsch Ojas KO-R1 Pewter Gray Loud Speaker Review

There are some speakers that are causing some controversy. They are a collab between two companies and we actually have them here in person and have experienced them for the last week.

And today I'm going to set the record straight.

What would be your one song to test speakers?

Man, that's a great question.

Street Spirit Fade out by Radiohead.

Yeah, I like to hear the little plucking.

The plucking definitely is there. The song Lost on youn on the.

Album Lost on youn by lp. Yeah, it's just got like a lot of that acoustic, like, resonance to it.

So Matt's test song is Armageddon Days.

By the the Correct from the album Mind Bomb.

Never heard that song before.

Fantastic album. It's really good. Super underrated.

Beethoven's Ninth.

Beethoven's Ninth.

And then you did My Girls by Animal Collective.

That's right.

Trying to read that without my glasses. On a scale 1 to 10, how would you rate these?

In an exciting fusion of art and acoustics, audio Brand Clips has partnered with renowned artist and designer Devin Turnbull, the visionary behind OGIS, to create this limited edition KO R1 loudspeaker. We are big fans of, of Klipsch and horn speakers here at the library. We have a set of Jubilees and I had a set of Klipsch horns at home for a long time before I got my Wilsons. And if you haven't seen the video of me going through my setup, we'll leave a link for you in the description. But it's, it's pretty cool. Now for these speakers, I also have asked my team to share their thoughts because it'll give you a wider perspective. We have some audio files here and they're, they're really smart and have some relevant insights that I thought you might appreciate. Now the Kailh R1 Colab is based on a previous clip speaker. It reimagines the classic heresy speaker that always has punched above its weight and is known for its dynamic sound and versatility. It's also the reason why a lot of people got into hi Fi because of its affordability.

Then you get Turnbull's signature minimalist lens. I first learned about Turnbull through following the late Virgil Abloh. At one point they released a kit as a collaboration where you could build your own speaker.

And I, I think that that was kind of as much a cool thing, but it was educational for a lot of people. The idea that you can make your own speaker, then you kind of understand how speakers function and it's that interaction between someone and their tools. It means more to you if you actually made it with your own hands, you put your energy to it and you understand kind of more what, you know, what a speaker does. I also saw that, that Turnbull famously showed one of his systems as an art piece, like an art installation at the, the Lyson Gallery in New York City. I think I'm saying that right, Lyson. It was an experience in performance art. The systems he builds are, are striking and I've, I've heard a couple of them in person. And he really has a signature sound that's hard to describe, but if you have to put it into words, the words that are available to us, I would say experience and horn speakers sums it up. And you, you might know that Virgil Abloh was a huge Marcel Duchamp fan. We have one of the largest collections of books on Marcel Duchamp here in the library, and I can only assume that he had an influence on Turnbull. If you watch Virgil's Harvard Design school lecture, he talks about Marcel Duchamp and how he influenced his work. It's Incredible. It's on YouTube. We'll leave a link for you in the description also. But my favorite part is at the end of the lecture where kids are throwing sneakers at him for him to sign them.

It's.

It's really funny, but it's a much must watch and amazing. So the K1 is more than just a speaker. It's a statement piece.

The.

The body is handcrafted in Hope, Arkansas by clips, but the horn was made by Turnbull and his team at. @ OGIS in Brooklyn, New York. And I'll say that collaboration has. Has magic. I think Turnbull was kind of a fan of clips beforehand. You can kind of tell there's. There's some mutual love there. But the K1 delivers an unparalleled audio experience. It's special visually and functionally, and it echoes the spirit of Marcel Duchamp and his readymades. Like taking everyday objects and transforming them into art. Like, like Duchamp, Turnbull elevates the functional object. The Clips.

Heresy is kind of converted into an object of art. The Kor one, with its minimalist design and bespoke craftsmanship, challenges the conventional notions of both art and equipment. And I've read other people's reviews on these. And I'll say two things. None of the people reviewing them actually had the speakers in person. We've had them here for over a week. We've set them up and we've lived with them. We've been powering them with our Moon Ace integrated Amp and we use Kimber cables, and that's it. And I. I know most people are using tube amps with them, but this setup is familiar to me, and I. I will say that it's paired very, very well with these speakers. The. The one common critique that I read was that the bass was lacking and that you should pair them with a subwoofer. And so, you know, we. We listen to. To them for that in our review. But I'd say overwhelmingly, we all disagree. The. The bass on these has its own signature, and it's not wall shaking, but it's very clean and. And abundant. When we first unboxed them, it was funny. We hooked them up, and they weren't set up. They were just sitting side by side next to each other. We played the first song off the new Kendrick Lamar album Let me see what that is. Whacked out murals off of his album gnx. And we. We instantly all started to look each other and, you know, smile. It was clear that there was something special going on with the speakers. And then once we set them up properly, they became the place to hang out and be in. In the office every break or, you know, time that we. We could escape. We'd all rush in here and, you know, play this song, play that song. Let's hear this. And they've been incredible. I also say that they're really heavy. They're heavier than they look. The stands that they come with are stout. They were easy to set up. It took about 30 minutes. Each speaker also has a high gain control knob, and I played with that a little bit, and I get why it's there, because it's a horn speaker, but I found that it sounded best with that just in the neutral position. I don't think that it needed it, really. The speakers are limited to 100 pairs, so there's only 100 pair made. And they cost around $8,500 U.S. which I think is very fair for what they are and the collaboration. But in conclusion, this collaboration between clips and ogis is an experience and a testament to the power of creative synergy. I personally wish these sort of projects happen more often. The Kor 1s are incredible, and they kind of inspired me to think about designing a lake house around them. Maybe that's weird, but I have a lakehouse and it doesn't have a hi fi setup. And these kind of made me, you know, think about that. My personal score on a scale of 1 to 10 for these speakers as an audio file, as them being an art piece and an experience. I give them a nine, and I live by the premise that there's no such thing as a 10. But these come pretty close for. For what they are. And if you have a chance personally to experience them, I. I wouldn't sleep on it. They're really cool and they're. They're visually stunning also. So overall I love them and they'll be something that I'll treasure for a long.

Time.

So we've been experiencing them for a couple days. How would you.

Describe. There's like a sense of clarity with these. You know, I feel like lately, you know, I've been listening to music in my AirPods and it's kind of almost like I've forgotten what true music's supposed to sound.

Like. These sound hyper real to me. There's realism and these sound. I don't know. I've never heard anything this clear and this sharp and this precise before. It almost.

Sounds. Sound like they're in the.

Room. The high ends are really good and the bass is like just the minimum.

Amount. The thing that's crazy about like, nicer speakers, like these ones is it's not just like the stage is like left and right. It's also got like front and back. I don't know what you would call.

That. That's.

Soundstage. Is that soundstage? Okay. That plus just how crispy they are. Like they're extremely.

Crispy. Like being in the studio while it's being recorded, there's no separation between me and the song at.

All. Very.

Realistic. Incredibly.

Realistic. We were just listening to. I can't remember the name of the damn song. Rock with you. Thank you. We were just listening to Rock with youh and. And you can hear the separation of all the instruments. And then there's this loud clap, you know, that comes in and I felt like I was being smacked in the face. Like it was this loud, like, clap. And it just sounded so powerful. What really blows me away about these speakers is that there's so much punch, like fit in the small little speaker because we have these bigger speakers here. And I mean, they're loud. And when I look at these small speakers, I. I don't think of that sound coming out of that speaker, you know.

Doesn'T even need a sub or anything. It's just has like. It's just powerful enough, you know.

I think everybody agrees on and everybody notices right away with these. Is just all those distinctions, you know. Also it's. It's really pretty great. Kind of no matter where you're at.

Right. Like it's not as.

Directional.

Yeah. How would you describe these.

Speakers? Oh, they're mind blowing. Incredible. They're just so.

Balanced. Why do you think they say that females hear hi fi better than.

Males? It's just true. It's just.

True. But.

Why? Oh, it's like a superpower. It's like an extra sense we have.

Enhanced.

It almost makes me feel like I'm at a concert but in my home, you know, it's just pretty masterful. I feel like the. The voice specifically, I feel like you can really hear the clarity in the. In the.

Vocals. It's funny when we first plug.

In and you and I both smile.

The. I don't want to say the separation because I feel like everyone's already said that, but the separation is.

Crazy. You know, I don't do a lot of speaker testing in my day to day, but I think that if I was asked to gun to my head, that's a safe.

Bet. Just it might be a new.

Career. You.

Think? Might be a thing. People get paid to play video games. Why not? On a scale 1 to 10, how would you rate.

These? Like a 9 or a 10? Honestly, these are some of the best speakers I've ever.

Heard.

9.5. Without a.

Doubt. They're the best I've heard. So in my scale, they're a 10. And until I hear something better, they're a.

10. I think you have to be a 9 or above just because of the surprise.

Factor. How would you rate them on a scale 1 to.

10? I say they're a clean and easy.

10.

Nice. It almost escapes description how crisp and clean everything everybody else has been saying is spot.

On. Yeah. It almost betrays them trying to describe.

Them.

Right?

Yeah.

Yeah. You can't. It just, you know, the only way.

How would I even explain this? I think the only way somebody can understand how good these things are is sitting in front of.

Them. Yeah, I.

Agree. Can't be communicated.

Well. So.