They'll find a buyer because they are fairly unique in that no other American brand makes a speaker like theirs. I also don't believe that the sale is just because they aren't doing well. John Strohbeen is getting old and probably wants to get some rest!
18 responses Add your response
@roxy54 yeah agree on all points. Will be interesting to see what happens. It’s not just the uniqueness of the product but the customer service including repairs upgrades and parts for most every model ever made over ~ 50 years or so. I don’t know of any other vendor who does that especially in this day and age. |
I had seen/read about the "Up for Sale" a couple of days ago, and figured there would be a thread on it at some point.
I am sure John is probably looking forward to spending a bit more time maybe with his other interests in art, etc., and not having to man the Ohm ship. Maybe he will still continue to have some input, who knows how the sale will go down.
I am certainly hoping the best for Ohm though, and maybe there will also be some improvements brought about along the way with the new owners too. Hopefully, they will retain what has made Ohm what it is in all the good ways too! |
If I could get my wish I’d vote for whoever owns KEF these days to acquire Ohm and use their proven R&D resources to take the Ohm products to the next level the same way they do with current KE products. I think Ohm speakers would supplement the existing KEF line very nicely! Many others too perhaps mainly because they are battle proven and completely unique and not just a new brand name for basically the same old box speaker design approach. Note: I run both smaller KEF meta (with subwoofer added) and larger full range Ohm speakers in my main system these days, each in a different room. KEF has creeped up in my speaker company rankings in recent years greatly. If Ohm went under and my current Ohms bite the dust someday before I do, KEF would likely be where I would look to for practical replacements.
|
I think its worth noting that John Strohbeen is a long proven business man with a lot of industry connections, not merely a MIT trained technical guy/engineer. HE started and owned Tech Hifi which had many outlets in teh Northeast for a number of years before getting out of that business and focusing on Ohm. So both my hope and prediction is that the sale goes to a company that can take what it buys and continue to move it forward. I have nothing but confidence that is what JS has in mind. We will see. @jstrohbeen if you are out there, maybe give us a sign?
|
@frazeur1 I’ve had my current Ohms since ~ 2008 and not looking to jinx anything but no doubt when the inevitable day comes where they need something, I will do whatever it takes to keep them going. |
When I went to buy my Ohm 1000s four or five years ago, I asked them about their business continuity plans since I knew John was getting up in years. I was told that Evan was the next generation of management. I last heard from Evan this past February, just a few months ago, when he answered a question I had. |
I’m interested to see how this pans out.
On one hand, OHM’s are a pretty unique product with a LARGE established customer base. So, from that perspective there is appeal.
From my own perspective, I think there probably is a lot that could be done to streamline and improve new product production, shipping, grills, and some additional standardization of quality. While I would HATE to see it, offshore production would always of course be an option.
But the flip side to that is that much of the established customer base is that because of the support for 50 year old products, that is VERY, VERY hard to maintain. I also get a feeling that OHM in many regards is mom and pop in it’s operations and so much of the magic is John, and what has been handed to Evan at this point. I know they want old parts back when you upgrade, and a big part of that is supporting the older products in one shape or another.
It’s a very unique sale/company even in the world of loudspeakers. Salk recently tried to sell his company for a pittance of a price also but the speaker business is hard, real hard particularly with US production and what I assume to be an aging primary customer base. I’d love to see someone take a shot here and move OHM forward in many ways that are needed, while somehow maintaining the unique product, and value proposition they have. Very unique opportunity within the speaker industry. |
There was a video tour of the Ohm shop in Brooklyn done several years back. The focus was on how small, meager and blue collar the shop was. Brooklyn is not a cheap place to do business but Ohm managed to deliver so much with so little, practically nothing on the grand scale of things. Amazing really. That was all John and his very tiny crew. Lots of personal know how seemed to go into John’s products. That is NOT something that is easily transferred and scaled up, but I am sure if he is in good health that JS is up to the task of planting the seed needed somewhere where things might really take off. Transfer of knowledge would seem to be the key. Also a willing buyer. I suspect that will be a matter of who makes the best offer rather than if. Hoping! We will see. |
Against the backdrop of potentially bad news for the Ohm brand, the comment from the author of the article that "Devore Fidelity...might be one of the few [high-end speaker manufacturers] actually growing in a shrinking market" was encouraging to read. As Devore is a privately held company, I suspect the author doesn't know this for sure, but it validates the general environmental sense that indeed Devore is growing. I hope this is true because in addition to being a happy Devore customer, I also appreciate the entrepreneurial story of the company John Devore built. If Ohm does indeed fade away, the founders of Ohm can always have the satisfaction of knowing they had a great company that built terrific products - and that others like Devore are following in their footsteps. |
John Henry Strohbeen III Received this email from Ohm Acoustics. Dear Audiophiles, Artists, Engineers, Designers, Friends, Contemporaries, and Associates of John Henry Strohbeen III, We are sad to share that John passed away recently in his adopted home town of Brooklyn, New York. He left too soon. He was an avid audiophile and engineer who was continuously working to innovate and improve his products, and he had unfinished designs on his desk, unwritten emails to send, and unknown listeners he looked forward to meeting. To those of you who knew him, and knew of his passion for perfection in loudspeakers, and his legendary role in the history of the development of high fidelity audio equipment in the United States, we know he will be missed, and we invite you to share your stories about John. You can go to Facebook and remember John to the world. https://www.facebook.com/groups/403631726459860 Did you call him on the phone and share your interests with him? Did you enjoy listening to his rumbling basso as he patiently explained the newest developments in the Walsh Technology? Perhaps you worked with him designing new speakers, or met him at a trade show. Maybe you bought an original pair of Ohm speakers from Tech Hi-Fi, and have loved them for years. Perhaps you recently found a pair of Ohm speakers at a yard sale, discovered John could repair them, and you were hooked on Hi-Fi when you learned how amazing his speakers could sound. Maybe you opted for an upgrade as you learned about sound stage and imaging, the watts of your amplifier, or the range of response, and you remember that it was John who opened your ears to the possibilities of HI-Fidelity reproduction. Share your experience, and help to keep John's memory alive. John is no longer with us, but his genius will stay with us in the beauty and precision of his wonderful loudspeakers.
There is much to know about John's life and work, and much was recorded in his newsletters and articles that are here on the Ohm Website: https://ohmspeaker.com/news/category/articles Explore them, and remember John. We at the Ohm Acoustics family appreciate all of the support shown by the thousands of happy listeners who enjoyed our Speakers. Some of us have been with Ohm for over 50 years, many have come and gone, and some have only just arrived, but all of us came to Ohm because of John Strohbeen, and were captured by his vision and entrepreneurial spirit. We too will miss him. Think of him the next time you enjoy a pair of Ohm speakers. Good listening! Ohm Acoustics |
Story: I bought a pair of Ohm F's in the early 70's. At the time they were $1000 a pair. Well I went into the Navy so they stayed at my Mom's place. When I finally got settled in Corpus Christi NAS. I brought them with me. I had a bad case of too much bass and blew both of them. I was going back to Ma on leave and brought them with me and had a friend along with with me hitching a ride to Long Island. So he helped me nav to Taaffe Place in Brooklyn. I parked my van and carried them upstairs. Since they were still under warranty I got a free ride. They took mine and gave me replacements. LOL they said the next time I blow them out of warranty it would be $500 for the repairs. I kept them another 2 years then sold them. If Subs were prevalent back then I would have bought one. I hope whoever purchases Ohm continues the Legacy. |