Thanks for the update. I'll look forward to your designs in the upcoming months. In the meantime, it will give me some time to build my push/pull 300B amp. Unfortunately, after listening to the Okara's, and Borealis (at a friends) and comparing these to some of the best using similar dynamic based drivers, I feel too afraid to purchase from other manufacturers. You are one of the few (very few!) who still publishes measurements as well as having a good set of ears.

Best,

Anand.

Just wanted to let you know how much I enjoy my Okara II I built. They finally broke in a few days ago and I had occasion to listen in a 10 x 10 dedicated room. I didn't want to ever leave! I just sat there transfixed listening to one CD after another. They play loud and strong with impact but tremendous detail. I powered them with a Bryston 4B-ST and they took everything I could throw at them.

I just got back from CES and you should be showing them off. You need to quit hunting and fishing up there and have your cabinet guy start cranking out enclosures you could build and sell as complete units.

All the kidding aside, thanks for a wonderful product.

Hello (George?)

I wanted to send you some feed back on the Okara Ikema kits. I currently have about 80 hours or so on them and unfortantually do not have stands ready. I have them sitting way to high, about 42" at the base, angled down and turned in. Even in this configuration the sound stage, accuracy, smoothness and dynamics are far superior to my ………………… I have been listening for hours and just loving it! Track 2 of When Harry Met Sally is amazing....You are busy, so needless to say I am pleased.

I currently have my pre and amp in the rear with a 45' speaker run I am considering moving the amp to the front of the room just to get closer to get the most I can out of the system. But then I have to make longer interconnects....such problems...

Again, Thank you

I completed the Okara II's 3 weeks ago, and they are amazing! Even though
there is very little info below 60 Hz, they can play at very respectable
levels in my 3500 cu ft room, and are a pleasure to listen to.
-Bill F.

We are very satisfied customers. Everything went fine. I built them as floorstanders. Tweeters at 34 1/4". The tweeter height of the Rythms will be the same.

They are single-wired for now. I set the Okaras up in front of my old mains and they sounded so good that I retired the old mains to a shelf in the basement right away. I have to work out their relationship to the subwoofer but so far they sound great. There is a low frequency boost on a couple of songs in which there is a drone that is probably a room and/or placement problem with the sub.

The soundstage was immediately apparent and the speakers disappeared with respect to the vocalists without any tinkering on my part. I set them at about 100" apart, I measured later, without any forethought. I just wanted to hear them. They have a clearance of about 40" directly behind but only 24" to walls on either side. I toed them in to an isosceles triangle sweet spot and that's it. The vocalists float above and directly centered at about 6ft off the floor maybe a little behind the speakers. VERY COOL. We listened to them from about 2pm Sunday till 1am Monday, did not get ear fatigue. Some of the female vocalists were very life like, Most notably Mary Chapin Carpenter and Shawn Colvin. For small speakers they can rock too as evidenced by Heart's Little Queen (Barracuda), Fleet/Mac's Mystery to Me and the Stones CD's.

I put about 12lbs. of sand in the base of each cabinet in double freezer bags. I would say the speakers weigh about 60lbs each total. They weigh considerably more than the 50lb bag of sand I just hefted into the trunk of my car. The mechanical contact through a 3/4' plinth 7/8" larger than the base of the cabinets. I used no screws except to mount the drivers, cups and ports. Will start the Rhythms tonight.

Bill

All in all an incredibly great little speaker! I do not keep the grills on permanently, only when we have company that does not know how to keep their hand to themselves. In the living room setup they are limited by placement but in my dedicated room they have put ………'s and a few ……… monitors to shame. I would not hesitate to say that the Upgraded Okara II would give the ……'s a run for the money. The Okara II sound stage is wide and deep. Voices are just as they should be, natural, lifelike and palpable. The 9500 tweeter is amazing! I recorded my son playing the violin and it is uncanny how the speaker can reproduce the slightest nuances that are present when hearing the violin live. I'm in the process of building two Poseidon subs to mate with the Okaras, I'll call them my Studio killers!

 P.S. I absolutely love my Okara II's and Posiden sub. What a terrific combination.

 George,

My Poseidon and two Okara's have been up and running for a couple months now. They sound really great together. Those little Okara's have a much smoother sound than my old Klipsch speakers. Female vocals are unlike anything I've heard. It sounds like they're really in my living room! Great job on the Okara's. It used to be that I had to stop listening to my music after an hour or so because of listening fatigue. The Okara's are so smooth that I can now sit and listen for several hours at a time. Actually I am now having a problem with wife fatigue. She gets tired of seeing me sitting around listening to my stereo all evening.

This time around I thought I'd try Lee Taylor's Borealis and Okara II - C cabinets. My plan is to have a Borealis pair for my mains, Okara's for my center and surrounds and the Poseidon holding up the bottom end.

I'm buying Lee's floor-standing "Borealis" cabinet and his Okara II - C cabinet so I'd like to order the following:.....

-Chris D.

Hi Lee, Hi George. Happy New Year! I thought I would drop you a line and let you know that the Poseidon subwoofer was the icing on the cake. The DVD's and CD's sound amazing with the addition of the Poseidon's base. The action movies in particular make the room sound better than the movie theater.

We finally completed the system over the holidays. The entire setup consists of a NAD T752 receiver, AH NJOE TJOEB 4000 CD player with upsampler, an Aiwa DVD player, and a Panasonic VCR. Of course, the highlight of the system is George's fine Okara II version 9500 speakers consisting of front main, center, and Ikemo surrounds as well as the Poseidon subwoofer. The final touch was Lee's magnificent cabinet work. What a craftsman.

My old Energy speakers were impacted by the entertainment unit. As a result, the staging was affected. However, the Okara II main speakers image beautifully.

I am thrilled with every aspect of the system and I can listen to music for hours and not tire. I hear sounds that I never knew were on the discs. This system is giving me by far the best sound I ever heard in my room.

Best Regards,

Phil L.

Hi!

I recently completed my Ikemo Okara II speakers, and I have to tell you that
I am thrilled! Even though they are not set up even close to ideally, the
sound is amazing. My wife and I have been relistening to much of our music
collection as a new experience. they are a replacement for Dahlquist DQ20
A's, and they sound better. Thank you for an excellent product!

-David B.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just wanted to let you know how much I am enjoying my new center channel and matching Okara bookshelf speakers. Here's a couple pics of the center, I tried to match the facia to the tv. Only problem I ran into was having to set the unit back much more than I wanted to due to picture distortion in the tv. This was a fun project with great rewards. I really want to build the front main speakers now, but my Snells are like an old friend and it'll be hard to part with them. Thanks, Jim

 Hi George,

Here are a few pictures of my recently completed floor standing Okara II 9500. They are styled from a picture of the Lee Taylor cabinet and construction was based on the Eska Floor Standing drawings. Oak veneer sides and top, satin black front and back. I omitted the inset back and front but "faked" the reveal by cutting the slot on three sides after construction. They weigh in at 52 pounds each less sand bags and are 43-1/4" tall (less spikes). The pictures are taken outside as the light was better. As of right now I only have about 12 hours of playing time on them and they seem to get better dynamically as time passes, It could also be my ear getting accustom to now hearing details in my music that I had not herd with my old speakers. My wife was also impressed (not an easy task). Thanks for answering all my questions during construction. Now maybe I can talk the boss into the Vision Series. Thanks again.

Mike L.

well i've been listening to my Okara II-9500 Upgraded's for about 3 months now. I had wanted to wait before giving my opinion because anything 'new' and 'different' almost always sounds good, just the excitement of something new. Needless to say I loved it right right off the bat, phenomenal imaging and clarity, not too bright and a neutral mid-bass. i thought this would wear off after a few weeks of listening as I would likely become more critical and analytical about it's short comings. but after 4 months i love the speakers even more, they sound even better and i think partly because they're now broken in. these are the best bookshelves i've ever heard and the pricing point you have these at offers tremendous value. my bryston starts clipping before the okara's distort. i think im gonna need a 2nd bryston to bi-amp these puppies. Thanks again for an amazing product.


Thanks very much

-Ryan (from Toronto, Canada)

 Hi George

I have finished these little gems and am delighted with the results. I really appreciate your honest description of the sound and please know that I think you are conservative at least. I have read that they take a while to 'run in' so will have to use them heaps! I am especially impressed with the clarity of the voices, the solid stereo imaging and the fact that one can put them on a shelf.

I cut the oak into 1/8 inch planks then glued them into veneers before aopplying to the boxes.

thanks George,

 Hello George,

Everything went well. The instructions are very good.

The speakers are finished and I am very satisfied with the result. I think the sound quality comes close to my Dynaudio speakers which cost 5 times the price of the Okara II. I will compare them during the next week. I want to be sure that the Okara is broken in.

If you like to see a photo of the result, I have uploaded some photos of building. The last photo is the finished Okara next to the Dynaudio:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/williamvandieten/sets/170722/

Thanks.

(Eska)

.....As an aside, when I first started listening, the clarity of the D28 was stunning, but I felt the midrange, while great, was not quite as open as I had hoped for. I got a new dvd/cd player last week, an Arcam DV 89. Holy Sound System, Batman! I never would have believed it. I now am getting the sound I heard out of some $6000 Revels. I had no idea the player made that kind of difference. Like George Wallace said , "I was wrong". Amazing. I know that near wall placement is never going to stage like being out in the room, but you got this one really close. I can now hear all the sounds that I pick up in my Sennheiser 650 headphones. We're very close to the holy grail of sound. Just tell me what to do with the ports and crossover frequencies. I am running an Arcam 300 receiver, DV 89 player, and SVS Ultra subwoofer.

Back in the early 80's when I could still hear, I was blown away with Paul Simon's Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes, cut 5 on the Graceland album. I first heard it on a $40k system, probably Apogees and God knows what else. This is pretty damn close. And that in itself is a minor miracle. Dial me in with these, and when I move to California and get set up, we'll go for some biggies with ribbon drivers. I am finally excited again after 20 years of mediocre sound. Michael B.

 George,

Thanks for sending the tweeters. After installing both of them last
night the right side still did not work. I readied myself to start
tearing down the crossover and discovered that the + speaker wire was
not connected :-( , even though it appeared to be connected from 18"
away. Oh well, spares, center channel, etc., come to mind.

I have told you in the past how great the Rhythms' sound but while I was
waiting for the tweeters I listened to the Okaras alot. I connected one
of my sacd players to them and as good as they were....they sounded even
better. They are absolutely incredibly good. I have them in my living
room(16 x 22, wood floors, chairs in the way, 1' from the wall, crappy
components except cd player) and nothing should sound good in there but
they do. The only good setup thing is they're on stands tilted back
about 15-20 degrees.

I may not have built the Rhythm Signature Project if I would have built
the Okaras first and/or not heard Mark Hanson's Rhythms. After firing
them back up last night they were magic. The bass, the mids,
highs....with everything matched, perfect pairs/quads the sound was good
enough to make my wife ask if something was different, the real test.

When the weather turns, I will order the Manifests and reluctantly use
the Rhythms for rears........they're too good for that.

Larry

 

George,

It took longer than expected, but I am enjoying our new Eska speakers very much. I have attached a picture... :-) Thank you!

I love the clarity, fast response (articulation reproduction is
fabulous), and the superb mid/high end in general. Since it does so
much well (and is such an improvement over our previous Epos ES11s), I
feel a bit guilty wishing for a bit more bass extension for some of our
very big symphonic recordings and organ CDs that I am listening to for the first time in years. I know that I wrote that deep bass isn't that important (and it isn't), but I am so excited exploring our CD collection these days.

I don't have the option of speakers that require placement well into the room (which is why I picked the Eska in the first place), so I am contemplating adding a subwoofer. Do the Eska's mate well with the Poseidon? Is there any disadvantage to adding the Poseidon?

Thanks again.


-- Nathan

Hi,

I'm totally amazed of the sound those speakers are capable of.

I now send the LFE sound to the IKEMO instead of the sub, and those little speakers are simply incredible, I will start building right now building a Center monitor and surrounds as well.

I have good quality MP3 (I made myself from original disks), and now I can hear the difference between MP3 and originals.

Can you explain why I need to turn the volume higher to get the same sound level, than that of my old speakers.


Yves A

 George,

I can't tell you how much I have been enjoying my Eskas. My only regret
is that I didn't special order 8AWG coils etc. :-) I have decided
against a subwoofer, as I love the bass quality now (either I have grown
accustomed to it or the speakers have settled in a bit, or both).

You can't likely tell from the photo I sent, but I am finding NAIM a
great match. I was interested to read your comments about NAIM (after I
had purchased the speakers).

Also, I thought that I would share the reason that I finally decided to
buy from North Creek. It wasn't the reviews, or the technical
specifications, or the prices. It was the paragraph where you talk
about cooking and ingredients. Simple is better. Better ingredients
are better. And yes, there are distinct differences in, for example,
sea salt, which is why we always have 3-4 kinds. So I believe that
there are differences in resistors. :-)

Since your website changes a lot, have you considered either a) an RSS
feed (a BLOG would do) or b) a simple mailing list? I know that I check
back periodically, but I would love some form of notification when you
have new things to share. If you should ever wish to create a mailing
list (or some other web technology), I would be happy to assist (my day
job is in technology).


All the best,


-- Nathan

 Hi George,

You CAN'T make a speaker that nice for $299. :) Got mine put together
finally, with a few touches to be worked out cosmetically. Pictures to
follow as soon as I get new batteries for the digital camera.

A few thoughts: use a table saw. I don't have one and mostly used a
router with a bearing bit and guide, but getting everything square made
up about 80% of the time involved. A table saw would have made things a
piece of cake. I used Baltic Birch for the entire box, no MDF but it's
very solid with no ringing. My original intent was to veneer it with
Maple - and did so where plywood seams show - and stain it light to go
with my Black Limba (Korina) fascia. The lady for whom they were made
requested they match her dark reddish Japanese Tansu, so I did that.
But she wanted the fascia stained and I love the natural look, so she
may use them in her office instead of the living room. I also gouged
(oops) the maple layer of my Limba/Maple fascia sandwich (no table saw),
so I touched that up and spray painted the edges of the back half of the
fascia black. It actually looks pretty good (flatter paint would
improve it though) with the fascia Limba and black, and the body antique
cherry, though up close you won't think Lee Taylor made it...

The liquid nails took forever to dry and I actually knocked one tweeter
board loose installing the bi-wire cup (Ok I was anxious and only waited
8 hours for the glue...) so I put the cups in "upside down" and the
wires seem to clear the board a bit better.

The sound is really nice. I'm amazed at the bass it can do without a
sub. While building it I thought I'd need a sub, but now not so sure.
Some of the things I really like include the excellent balance between
the woofer and tweeter. Chords and even the overtone balance on a
single note are really well done so the fundamental and overtones make a
really rich sound. The speed of the woofer also makes attacks the same
on all instruments so when everyone plays together, it sounds like it.
Bass articulation is clean, on one recording I noticed the bass player
was playing a clean triplet pattern that I hadn't noticed before.
Ambience, whether from the venue or the control board is full and
"natural". The overachieving tweeter is pretty smooth but if an
instrument "snarls", the tweeter can reproduce it. My only slight
negative is that some male voices sound like they are coming from inside
the box. Not all though, so it seems recording dependent. I also
didn't roundover the fascia, and that may be part of it. (The Limba has
a tendency to split along the figure in the grain, even from humidity
changes, so I left well enough alone. I also don't have a 1" roundover
bit, only 3/8" anyway.)

Anyway, you can see how really pleased I am with these little guys.
They really are high-end, but an extraordinary value. I'm seriously
considering building a bigger "full range" speaker like the Borealis.
Now that I know what your speakers sound like it takes away the
hesitation of buying on the Internet without being able to hear them
first.

Sorry for the long note, but thought I'd share my thoughts, and am
really enjoying these things!

Best Regards,
Rod
PS - do the more expensive versions really sound better? These things
are a huge surprise anyway...

..... she who had said, "I wouldn't know, I'm tone deaf" sat there with her eyes closed and a big smile on her face listening to the Makaha Sons of Ni'ihau last night and finally said "I don't remember that CD sounding like that, those speakers are better." :) Incidentally the soundstage was huge, so my thought that some male voices sounded "in the box" must only apply to certain poorly recorded material.

They really are amazing...
Rod

 George,
I have been meaning to drop you a line and compliment you you
on the Okara 11. I have been intrigued by your philosphy on cross
over design,with the emphasis on top quality
engineering,assembling and of course "tweaking" through
listening. Your design and build approach makes emminent sense,
and the "proof is in the pudding as they say". The Okara 11 is
easily the best small bookshelf speaker I have ever heard. I have
owned many including the British,American and Canadian designs
that are at the pinnacle of the big retail market speakers
(KEF,PSB,Legacy,etc.)
The difference is in your cross over quality; the others are good
designs and produce a satisfying sound but I believe your
understanding of the importance of everything... inductors and
overall component quality separates North Creek from all the other
commercial designs. You look at the crossover as an integral part
of your speaker. Often,commercial manufacturers look at the
crossover as an area to save money.
I will not ramble on reviewing the Okara's,that has been done
before,and very well I might add. My intention is simply to
compliment you on keeping your eye on the" audiophile ball" if you
will. The Okara reflects your dedication to producing the best..
Thank you.
Regards,
Jim G
Langley,B.C.
Canada