This post is part of the Ray Tubes series For the Love of Audio. For an introduction to the series, and a list of everyone featured so far, check out the intro post.
Oslo Vacuum Lab (OVL) might not be a household name in audiophile circles. Look for it online and you'll find a modest presence: an Instagram with some striking product photography—the sort that piques your interest. It seems to be one of many companies making small-batch, bespoke tube amps. Look a little further, and you'll find clues that it's much more than that. It was founded in 2007. Its social media accounts are followed by a who's who of the audiophile industry. For almost two decades, OVL has quietly made some of the best tube amps in the business, and it's done so while keeping a low profile. I was intrigued by this philosophy, so I reached out to owner Hicham to find out more.
Hicham founded OVL as a passion project. Genuinely. As we spoke, it became clear that Hicham is driven by a clarity of purpose drawn from his passion for tube audio. OVL is his way of understanding tube audio holistically, as an intellectual pursuit, not just as an audiophile but as an engineer and designer. He brings his focus to bear on each aspect in turn: from the materials to the wiring to the electrical components. His standards are exacting. If that means years-long development cycles and tiny batch production, then that's just how it is.
Many amp designers turn to tube audio seeking the warm, authentic sound that's lost in solid-state audio. Hicham takes this pursuit of authenticity as the starting point of his design philosophy. OVL's amps are designed with the belief that every aspect should reflect its essential nature. This is obvious in the materials used—wood is not veneered, metal is not painted—but it goes beyond that, too. The metal components are polished to a mirror shine, making the amp complement any environment it's placed in. For Hicham, sound and aesthetics are two aspects of the tube audio whole. Even the switch is carefully chosen for its tactility, because he appreciates the satisfaction of such small details. Switching an amplifier on and preparing to listen to music is a part of the daily ritual of audiophiles everywhere. Hicham wants OVL's amplifiers to fit seamlessly—naturally—into that everyday life.
How does that philosophy fit with the need to find customers, I wondered? In a marketplace full of audio brands jostling for attention, OVL has no website and no sales platform. Instead, prospective customers—who often stumble across the company's amps by happenstance, or hear about them from friends—can contact Hicham directly. OVL amps are tailored based on conversations Hicham has directly with the client, through which he learns about their passions, their listening habits, and most importantly, what it is they want out of tube audio. By the time a customer is ready to place an order, Hicham knows their needs better than they do themselves.
Throughout our conversation, I was struck by Hicham's dedication to the ideal of tube audio as something that can be distilled to its simplest, purest form. It felt a little like talking to a sushi chef who'd spent his life perfecting his art. Any restaurant can dazzle with elaborate sushi rolls topped with unusual and exciting ingredients, but it takes someone special to bring out the essential nature of sushi—nothing but the simplest ingredients, prepared with grace by a master of his craft. Nothing extraneous. No wasted movements. That's what Hicham succeeds in doing.
