In the rarefied world of high-fidelity audio, the "listening room" has evolved from a hobbyist’s basement sanctuary into a curated gallery space. At the center of this shift is Devon Turnbull, the multidisciplinary artist known as Ojas, whose minimalist, horn-loaded speakers have become status symbols for a new generation of audiophiles. To mark its 80th anniversary, the legacy American brand Klipsch has partnered with Turnbull to debut the kO-R2, a limited-edition loudspeaker that premiered this month at Milan Design Week.
The kO-R2 is less a piece of consumer electronics than an exercise in acoustic architecture. Handcrafted in Hope, Arkansas—Klipsch’s manufacturing base since 1946—the speaker features a two-way sectoral design housed in Baltic birch cabinetry. Its most striking feature is the Ojas 1506 multisectoral horn, a heavy cast-aluminum component finished in flat black powder coat. The design draws a direct line to the mid-century industrialism of Western Electric and Altec, stripping the audio experience down to its geometric essentials.
The choice of venue for the debut—Milan’s Fondazione Luigi Rovati—underscores the speaker's positioning as a sculptural object. By placing the kO-R2 within a museum context, Klipsch and Ojas are making a claim for the permanence of analog craftsmanship in an increasingly ephemeral digital landscape. While the speakers will see a wider release in June, the current exhibition emphasizes the emotional weight of high-fidelity sound, presented as a deliberate, slow-consumption alternative to the convenience of modern streaming.
With reporting from Hypebeast.
Source · Hypebeast
