"The third reason for the Vintage Oslo was the ongoing pandemic lock-down. Many people spend more time at their computer desk now, even orthodox audiophiles. Music was, is and will continue to be a very important human need. That becomes even more so when we spend so much time on the computer trying to stay connected. Shouldn't we now enjoy music in the best possible way? I provided test samples of the Vintage Oslo to my friends of our regional Krakow Sonic Society where we typically focus on just the most elite of products. Even for these die-hard owners of very upscale systems, my small speakers created a lot of satisfaction. Their impressions can be found here."
"Finally there was this kind of nostalgia. Personally I'm old school to love classic designs. Looking at a Mini or Fiat 500 automobile, a Leica CL camera or Tivoli Radio One, I touch times long past when products were still created by skilled craftsmen one manual step at a time. Simultaneously I want modern tech inside and an easy trouble-free experience."
"The same trend is apparent in our modern media marts. We see many imitations of the classics made of nasty plastics which sound just tragic. They're cheap uninspired copies, not originals like a Fiat 500, Mini – or Vintage Oslo."
"Though made in 2020, this is still a true hand-crafted product of mainly Polish parts. As the most important contributor to the classic DNA, the cabinet is built 1950's style. We asked Szymon Nowak of the Aions speaker house to supervise our production so every box is made with personal attention by people who know traditional woodworking and hifi production."
Jarek on a synthesizer outputting to the Vintage Oslo.
September 29th. "The samples should have been with you a month ago, sorry. I was simply held up by their AK4556 chip. Asahi Kasei made some strange moves recently. This chip had suddenly disappeared from all distributor stocks. I was told that without any warning it had been discontinued. So I redesigned my electronics around Crystal Semiconductor's CS4270 codex. It's a more expensive part and perhaps a bit quieter but still needed a revised PCB. Yesterday the new speakers played for the first time. The sound is very similar to the AKM chip. A slightly lower noise floor might be the one difference. Now AKM suddenly announced resumed production of the AK4556. Apparently it was too popular in home/pro applications. Despite being older, it'll soon be available again. For the Vintage Oslo, I've simply switched permanently to Crystal, my favorite brand."
"Of course the most important element is my digital speaker processor chip. In these photos you see my custom tool to program it. The speakers are playing very well. You know my listening room, it's 27m². Today I played these tiny desktop speakers from the same distance as I use for my floorstanders. Vintage Oslo with its now more advanced A/D and D/A chip plus some extra processor software tuning creates the impression of big speakers, of course at moderate sound levels. I made extra speaker cable to place them wide. I will put it in the box together with the Bluetooth receiver. Because I never have opportunity to showcase what my chip actually does versus a bypass, would you mind if I installed a switch that allows you to deactivate it? This would be just for the review and obviously isn't standard."
That was a terrific idea. Needless to say, I said tak prosze. Google Translator claims that's yes please. "Okay, now your speaker has an extra silver switch. Up is processor on, down is processor off. This new series with the Crystal converters has serial numbers starting with 'B'."
