he recent meeting of Cracow Sonic Society that hosted Raveen Bawa, the export chief of dCS, who presented Vivaldi system, was sort of revelation for all of us. First of all because of the result of comparison between top of the line dCs setup and top of the line CD player, Ancient Audio's Lektor Grand SE (see HERE). For the first time we witnessed a digital source outperforming significantly our „large” Lektor. And we had heard many wonderful sources including top turntables (see HERE) and reel-to-reel tape recorders (see HERE).
It's been years now and I still can't figure out how was it even possible to create such a top performing CD player, as Lektor Grand, in a country without any high-end traditions. This shouldn't have happened but somehow it did. There were few elements that made creation of that device, as well as less expensive but not much worse in terms of performance Lektor AIR V-edition, possible. First one was a guy who new a thing or two about digital technique, second was another guy who listened and heard differences, and third was a bunch of guys who encouraged those two. This has been working as a self-adjusting mechanism. I am pretty sure that this duel lost against dCs will (or already has) set this mechanism back in motion and the result might amaze us once more.

The creative process followed two main assumptions. Lektor was supposed to outperform the best competitors on the market but it was also supposed to reproduce live performance in the best possible manner. To put these two assumptions into effect man people responsible had to do a lot of „training”, or „exposure” to both, live acoustic music and the best CD Players.
There is a space where these both world collide. Do you remember Jürgen Straussman? If you don't let me encourage you to read my text (see HERE). A pianist, electronic, software developer, who plays at home both Steinway piano, and one of two (different) pieces of Hammond B3. So he has a chance to experience at home, to compare sound of acoustic instrument and probably the best ever created electronic version of piano. The sound of former is passively amplified, the sound of latter actively and it is reproduced by Lesli speakers.

There is a group of instruments though that combines both these methods and electric pianos are among them. I am pretty sure that most of you saw it at least on TV while watching some concerts – they usually use such pianos made by Yamaha. Such an instrument looks like a smaller version of a piano – it sports a keyboard, a soundboard and a lid above it. But, in the version I'm talking about, under a lid there are no steel strings nor hammers, but speakers. The simplest electric pianos don't even sport this part, and they send out a signal via output, just like any other source like, for example, CD player. So there are two elements that decide about final sound – quality of an instrument and quality of an amplification. When it comes to electric pianos with soundboards both elements come together and they are suppose to deliver sound a similar to an acoustic piano as possible. Jarek Waszczyszyn knows about creating such, live-like sound, more than most people. So when asked to design and manufacture an amplifier for an electric piano he agreed at once. Or at least that's how I think it happened.
When working on this project he had to face several issues, and the biggest one was a question of how to reproduce a full range sound out of a small driver and how to achieve that with as few coloration as possible. In course of his experiments he selected a few different drivers suitable for the job and developed an analogue amplification and correction system for those particular drivers. As you have probably guessed already at this point he was almost ready to build his own active speakers.

In fact that is a story of how Studio Oslo speakers came to life (see HERE). They sport a single, wide-range driver, a Dayton Audio RS100-4, driven by a Philips TDA8566Q amplifying circuit, and they generated a large, spacy sound that lacked nothing in particular and looked really cute.
At the same time Jarek was working on a few more projects and one of them has already reached its final stage. It is called a Master Oslo. The name suggests that it might be intended for mastering studios. Well, that fact is, that this Ancient Audio all time bestseller is used mostly in home recording and mastering studios and during away sessions. They deliver a sound that is such a good reproduction of real instruments that it is more useful as a tool for professionals rather than as an expensive desktop speaker.
A driver they sport is slightly bigger than in previous model (100 mm vs 115 mm), and an analogue „processor” that corrects driver's errors works now even better. And an amplifier almost doubles an output power (30 W vs 50 W). These speakers are still tiny and still have their cute look. Since a bass-reflex port shots downwards manufacturer equipped speakers with precisely designed plinths that keep proper distance to b-r's exhaust. Master Oslo sport additionally XLR inputs, even though they sport an unbalanced amplifier.

Additional, 400mm stands are optional. Who needs them? They will come handy if you use them as desktop speakers, placing them on both sides of your screen. They are tilted backwards so that the axis of driver is lined up with listeners ears. Many users take these speakers with for their vacation and use them with their iPod/iPad. Some use them in the same way at homes instead of classic amplifiers and speakers. The former might be interested in purchasing and using a very nice travel case made by Barczak Cases, the latter could use optional stands.

A few simple words…
JAROMIR WASZCZYSZYN | Ancient Audio - owner

I've started my work on high performance but tiny speakers two years ago. The first model, Studio Oslo, proved to be a great success. One could use them with a computer, TV, or a mobile phone and that worked very well. In fact last year this product was our bestseller. I assumed that Studio Oslo would be used as near field monitors, most likely in desktop systems. But their potential turned out to much more impressive, especially with subwoofer added. They did not so bad as a full range system too. One of the customers set some kind of record using them in a primary system in a living room, that combined with open kitchen was like 60 sqm big! Many customers and people from press asked me for a bigger version. Sooner or later some inspirations had to appear.
A first one was a test of a bamboo enclosure. Until that moment when I thought of bamboo what came to mind was for me was a fishing rod or the first airplanes – something very light and gentle. But in fact a pressed bamboo is a hard, rigid and nice looking material. Since it's a multilayer material it is not affected so much by changes of humidity as wood is. I could test it myself having made enclosures for a future, bigger model of speakers. I was truly excited examining first pair.


The design reminding me of famous monitor from 1950ties looked great – at least when I looked at it from a distance. But when I took a closer look I was disappointed. It was poorly made and the only proof I needed was a difference between front and back baffle width.




I received few enclosures manufactured using different techniques and all of them were very poorly made. Some of my friends told me I was lucky. Usually samples made but manufacturers present outstanding quality, than you place on order for a large lot and receive a container full of crap. Somehow I didn't feel lucky. So I gave up on this project despite nice performance and low production costs (price for one enclosure was only 3,75 $...).
Another inspiration came from a different project. People have been trying to create a digital piano that would sound like a real acoustic instrument for years. Despite great efforts and lot of money spent they came nowhere close to success and the sound of digital imitations of real instrument was still really poor. So people keep trying. One of the manufacturers got interested in my active speakers and asked if these could be used for his electric piano. There was a chance of success as the sound of the sound reproducing modules he used was pretty good. For this purpose Studio Oslo need a subwoofer support, but that made a design of an instrument much more complicated. A solution were two more powerful speakers. I needed a bigger widerange drivers than.


The final test was made in a location close to Italy. In a 100 sqm big room we have 3 concert pianos, couple smaller ones, and a digital one. Name of manufacturer and project itself are still confidential so I can't share these, nor any pictures. But what was really important was a result of that trial. In all cases our pianist preferred a sound of acoustic piano. It simply produced sound with its full body and a reproduction of such a complex acoustic setup is, at least for now, impossible. But all listeners, sitting in a distance between 5-9 meters preferred a sound a digital instrument, as it offered more interesting, better differentiated timbre and dynamics that was much more impressive than what an average acoustic piano could deliver. It was still not a Steinway model D or Fazioli F 308 kind of performance, but still probably the best one we had ever heard out of a digital instrument. This project is still under development as the final result is expected to be the best digital piano ever, so you have to wait for the final result.
The sound of piano is the most challenging, most difficult to reproduce because of its resolution, neutrality and dynamics throughout the whole range. In fact any speakers that could stand up to such requirements should be perfect for any music reproduction. But there is not that much of energy in the upper part of range when it comes to a piano, and the same could be told about a driver I used. It's true, that due to larger diameter, magnet and coil it reproduced much more energy in the sound than Studio Oslo did. However its limitations was treble. I realized that I needed a modified version of this driver that would better suit my needs. Soon I had a chance to examine another driver manufacturer from China. Nobody complained about my requirements, a lead time was quite short, full container order not required. This time I couldn't complain about quality either – after all this manufacturer provides a certain famous British loudspeaker manufacturer on daily basis...

It took me a year to develop a better signal processor, enclosure and amplifier. The latter delivers 2 x 50 W of output power, which allows a 6 dB higher sound level than Studio Oslo had offered. A new signal processor combined with a paper cone is able to deliver better spacing, more details than a Dayton metal one could.
The enclosure was designed from a ground up and a special base for it too. This base solved a problem that some users of Studio Oslo complained that stability of speakers was not good enough. A heavy speaker cables were able to knock the previous model over if the user was not careful enough. This new concept of an enclosure takes that into account and is surely much more stable. The last thing to do was to chose a name for a new model. Since it's bigger, with more punchy bass, larger scale of sound it can be used for mastering purposes in small recording studio, hence MASTER OSLO. JW

Recordings used during test (a selection)

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CDs

• Black Sabbath, 13, Vertigo/Universal Music LLC (Japan) UICN-1034/5, 2 x SHM-CD (2013).
• Deep Purple, The Audio Fidelity Collection, Warner Bros./Audio Fidelity AFZB 019, “Limited Edition No. 0878”, 4 x gold-CD (1970, 1971, 1972, 1973/2013).
• Glen Gould, Bach: The Goldberg Variations, Sony BMG Music/Sony Classical/Zenph Studios 9703350-2, “Zenph Re-Performance”, SACD/CD (2007).
• John Coltrane Quartet, Ballads, Impulse!/Universal Music LLC (Japan) UCCU-40001, Platinum SHM-CD (2013).
• Oscar Peterson, Unmistakable, Sony Music/Zenph Studios 951702, “Zenph Re-Performance”, CD (2011).
• Perfect, Live, Savitor/Polskie Radio PRCD 1656, CD (1983/2013).
• Piotr Anderszewski, Piotr Anderszewski at Carnegie Hall, Virgin Classic 267291 2, 2 x CD (2009);
• Tangerine Dream, Phaedra, Virgin/EMI Music Japan VJCP-68867, CD (1974/2004).

Hi-res files

• Charlie Haden & Antonio Forcione, Heartplay, Naim Label, 24/96 FLAC, źródło: NaimLabel.
• Dead Can Dance, Anastasis, [PIAS] Entertainment Group, PIASR311CDX, "Special Edition Hardbound Box Set", CD+USB drive 24/44,1 WAV (2012);
• Depeche Mode, Delta Machine, Columbia Records/Sony Music Japan SICP-3783-4, FLAC 24/44,1, źródło: HDTracks (2013);
• Miles Davis, Kind of Blue, Columbia/Legacy/Sony Music Entertainment, FLAC 24/192, mono i stereo [źródło: HDTracks] (1959/2013).

Japanese versions of CDs & SACDs available at

If you read a review of Studio Oslo already you know that a key element to a review in such a case is proper methodology. Master Oslo, just like its predecessor, is a small, near field monitor. It means that a listener should sit around 1 meter from a speaker line. That's how I tested them at first. I used my PC and two portable file players as sources. The PC was my trusted HP Pavilion dv7 z Win8, 8 GB RAM, 128 SSD + 500 HDD, with JPLAY/foobar2000 player. Signal was sent via USB cable to external D/A converter. During previous test I used Hegel HD11, this time it was Hegel SUPER, that I reviewed for „EnjoyTheMusic.com” (polish version HERE). Also my primary portable player was a newer model – HiFiMan HM-901, with Chord iChord mini-jack/2 x RCA cable.
Following Jarek's advice, I listened also to a classic setup, with speakers placed on stands with signal delivered from Ancient Audio Lektor AIR V-Edition CD Player. In this way I could compare this listening session to the „desktop” one. I found out that in both cases a key element I had to take care of was to decouple speakers from whatever they were placed on. One could do it in many different ways but I chose the best one I know – I placed them on Acoustic Revive TB-38H platforms.

Listening to these speakers placed almost (bit closer then usually) as any other speakers I reviewed showed me a tendency that Jarek had mentioned before. Master Oslo deliver large and involving sound. I mean sound is larger than from many classic monitors. Especially when it comes to music that should be particularly challenging – to rock music. Child in Time Deep Purple, wonderfully remastered by Audio Fidelity moved much more air in my room that I could have expected. Knowing what Studio Oslo could do I realized that these were speakers different than any „regular” active mini-monitors. But even that knowledge left some room for me to be surprised again. There were large guitars and particularly dynamic drums and I particularly enjoyed a sound of cymbals. The whole presentation had a proper volume, was shown close to listeners position, but it was a clarity and intensity of cymbals that caught my ears. It was quite unexpected as the loudspeakers used a not so small widerange driver, and this kind of driver usually delivered at least a slightly rolled off treble, or – if manufacturer used some tricks to change that – there were at least some coloration. There might have been some here too, but I there were they were below my threshold. That threshold is not constant, it changes depending on product, but this time it nothing came even close to it. It was probably so, because sound was so rich, so dense that my attention was focused totally on that aspect. As the sound didn't present any signs of urgency it seemed very natural, which, by the way, was, again, rather unexpected.

An impulse that lead to creating Master Oslo was an electric piano project. The ultimate goal of that project was to achieve a sound as resembling a sound of acoustic piano as possible. A large soundboard and a few speakers working inside are a move in the right direction. If the setup is done properly effects might be quite satisfactory. But let's not full ourselves – a single driver in a small enclosure is not able to do achieve the same effect as few of them in a large box. To confirmed that I listened to Piotr Anderszewski's recital in Carnegie Hall, and to two wonderful Zenph projects with Glen Gould and Oscar Peterson recordings mechanically replayed on Bösendorfer Imperial (with Stahnke Engineering 2 mechanics). These recordings showed me precisely what had to be sacrificed and what was preserved. It was a real piano that proved to me that Master Oslo did not deliver a large scale sound after all. And that the sound was a bit nasal. The longer I listened the better could I understand why those small setbacks could be omitted. But than I started to get closer and closer to the speakers and I realized that listening to them from a larger distance wasn't really what they were created for. When I got close enough sound wasn't nasal anymore, got richer, more weighty. Timbre got more interesting, planes more tangible. And during near-field listening they were also more resolving and offered a better selectivity.

At this point „Master” in their name become self-explanatory. Listening to the music via Master Oslo was easy. It was like listening via large headphones but without any problems can related. I mean there was a realistic spacing with rich, natural timbre. But what was most convincing about them was how resolving they were plus a fact that it came with hand-in-hand with selectivity too. Both Zenph recordings I mentioned earlier were recorded in two different ways – a classic one, with several microphones, but also using a binaural technique, using an „artificial head” - Neumann KU-100. The difference was not only about different presentation of space, it seemed rather like these were a two totally different performances. The binaural recording was shown like from a greater distance with a slight accent on a midrange. The classic recording was very dynamic, more distinct, shown up-close. And one more thing – a „head” had been place exactly where a musician would have sat, so it „heard” a right hand on the right side, while in a classic recording microphones where placed from soundboard's side which showed a right hand on the left side. That's what made these two different performances even though they were recorded at the same time and place.
Master Oslo despite being small and using inexpensive driver had no problem with clearly showing these differences between recordings. They put them in proper context and tried to present each recording in a „friendly” way, different for each of them. They never tried to make both recordings sound the same. What had surprised me before when listening Deep Purple, i.e. a vibrant, crisp treble, now wasn't so obvious anymore, at least until I specifically looked for it. Treble was also presented in a totally different way in a classic and binaural recordings. What was very important was a fact that treble was always a part of the whole range, it never tried to get ahead of the rest of the range. Such a good differentiation these speakers presented is always a basis for a realistic presentation, which in audio world leads us to high performance. If it is combined with proper tonality, you get a very good sound.

When listening to these speakers from up-close I also appreciated their bass performance. The resolution was good enough even though it didn't match what larger monitors with a high class amplification could deliver. A good example were Castle Richmond Anniversary with Clones Audio i25. It could seem, that the sound was somehow similar, but careful listening revealed differences and it was clear that a larger system had more to offer.
Master Oslo didn't give up that easy. Jarek equipped them with a powerful tool - an analogue „processor”, an active circuit taking care of proper linearity of the sound, allowing some „tuning” of speakers-amplifier setup. When listening to them I didn't really care about up- and downsides of the presentation. I accepted it as it was. Of course this wasn't a performance comparable with what high-end systems offered, but it was attractive enough even for „hard-head” audiophiles to truly enjoy the music.

Summary

This time I decided not to describe listening sessions with different sound source separately. A high end CD Player was clearly superior so it was an obvious choice. But in a real world a computer will most likely be a primary source for these speakers. Portable speakers like iPod Classic 160 Gb and HiFiMAN HM-901 sounded nice, but the presentation was not so emotional as with PC, and not so clear/pure either. And clarity is what I truly enjoyed when listening to Master Oslo, especially combined with density and coherence of the presentation. No crossover and a single driver give this design an edge over other, similar designs. Small, sleek, well equipped – Master Oslo are the best active desktop speakers I know. I remember perfectly a sound of small mastering monitors, Yamaha's for example, from many different studios and Ancient Audio speakers outperformed them totally offering a real sound reproduction.

Master Oslo loudspeakers are similar to the previous model Studio Oslo. At least when you look at them at first. There are the same „imperfections” like a cable running between two speakers taken by Jarek (I am 99% sure of that) from some garden lamp, or no descriptions of sockets and controls. But when you take a closer look you will find some improvements that make these speakers look somehow better than their predecessors, more handsome despite being bigger.
These are active speakers with a single wide-range driver, which means also they don't need any crossover. The amplifier module together with active circuit taking care of presentation's linearity are placed in one of speakers, the one with volume pot and red power on LED on the front. Speakers are slightly tilted backwards to ensure they are pointed at sitting close listener's ears. It is very important and it ensures a flat frequency response and no rolled off treble. Larger drivers have indigenous feature – the higher frequency the narrower soundwave beam. At few kHz it is already so narrow that it your ears are not in the axis you will hear significant treble roll off. Both speakers sport integrated bases, separated from main enclosure with small pieces of some material (I'm sure these came from the same garden, as the above mentioned lamp cable). These pieces help to keep speakers in proper position which is important as the port of bass-reflex is placed on the back of the speaker. Jarek offers also optional 40cm high stands, if you want to listen to Master Oslo same way as to any other speakers. These will cost you another 800 PLN.

A description of all connectors is placed on small piece of paper attached to the bottom of one of the basis. One will find out that there are three stereophonic inputs – two RCA sockets and one XLR – and two outputs – one with high-level signal for the second speaker, and one monophonic, low-level for optional subwoofer. Visitors of AudioShow 2013 could check out the sound of complete system, with subwoofer. An active subwoofer called Sub Oslo with cost you 2999 PLN. These two RCA inputs have different sensitivity – the upper one will suit better sources with lower output level like portable player, smartphones, TV sets and other alike. The lower one will accommodate „regular” source delivering 2 V signal , like most classic CD Players do. As there is only one XLR input it will accommodate any signal you deliver to it. I didn't find any input selector so I guess all inputs are active at all time. There are two knobs for treble and bass equalization. I did use the one for bass when performing a „regular” listening session, but I didn't need them when doing a near-field listening.
There is a radiator on the back baffle that helps TDA8947J – a power amplifier circuit to disperse heat. This circuit in soldered to a small circuit board that accommodates also the rest of circuits. Most of them were damped with some rubber-like substance to damp resonances but at the same time it makes it impossible to read any markings on the used elements. All I could see was that Jarek used some inexpensive, open potentiometers, and some nice passive elements like precise resistors and polypropylene capacitors.

A 115 mm driver, with paper cone was made by one of the Chinese manufacturers, that provides its drivers to half of world's loudspeakers manufacturers. It was placed inside MDF enclosure reinforced with a single, vertical enforcement inside. There is some damping material inside that look like artificial wool. The bass-reflex pipe is made of cardboard. Three standard finishes are: natural veneer (Masaccar Ebony), high gloss black and white. Custom finishes are optional – one can chose any color from RAL palette, or any (legal) veneer. Prices fro custom finish start from 300 PLN.
Speakers are powered by external, universal power supply. Unlike in case of most competitors this power supply sports a nice, aluminum casing. I know its shape very well – it look exactly as casings of iFi devices (see HERE). At least I know now where the British order casings for their products.

Additionally you can order great travel cases made of aluminum, plywood and Bakelite. It will set you back 800 PLN.

I really loved Master Oslo. I can tell you already that Jarek will prepare a special version for „High Fidelity's” 10-th anniversary. We are preparing a special contest for our Readers with special prices – 10 products made by Polish manufacturers especially for the occasion. So these will be a fantastic devices, each made only in one copy (!), that not only will offer lucky winners a great performance but will, hopefully, become a special memento.
At the moment I'm happy to tell you, that we have already few companies preparing their products, like: (already mentioned) Ancient Audio, Franz Audio Accessories (anti-vibration accessories), Abyssound (linear preamplifier), Ad Fontes (a first unit of a new turntable from series called „Szczeniak” - a „Puppy”) and Linear Audio Research (a new hybrid amplifier, and again the first unit will be our price!). We are waiting for information from other companies what exactly will they prepare for us.

Stay tuned – information about our contest will be announced in the next editorials. 10th anniversary of „High Fidelity” we will celebrate on May the 1st.