About
Built around
a listening room.
Oto Audio was founded in 2012 by Ines Vermeulen and Tomasz Wójcik, in a former print shop at Pelgrimsgang 14. The shop is built around the listening room.
Oto Audio — about
Since 2012
Opened in a former print shop.
Oto Audio opened in 2012 at Pelgrimsgang 14, 3011 Rotterdam. The building had been a print shop. Ines Vermeulen and Tomasz Wójcik took it on so the shop and the listening room would be the same place. Ines is founder and buyer, and she has hosted the listening room since 2012. Tomasz is co-founder and bench technician. He designs the A10 and the A40.
The room is still the reason to come in. It is 28 m², with treated walls, two speaker pairs and all three headphones ready. Hours are Tuesday to Friday, 11:00–19:00, and Saturday, 10:00–17:00. The room is closed Sunday and Monday. A listening hour is 60 minutes, free, by appointment. Walk-ins are welcome when the room is free.
The shop, Pelgrimsgang 14 — the counter and the listening room share a door
The range
Why the house range is eight.
The house range is eight products, and most of what we sell you can hear first. Three headphones, two amplifiers, one DAC, two speaker pairs. That is small enough to keep in one room and to describe without a catalogue of borrowed claims.
The headphones are the H1 Open at €349, the H2 Closed at €299 and the P7 Planar at €890. The amplifiers are the A10 at €420 and the A40 at €1,290. The DAC is the D2 at €260. The speakers are the S5 at €780 a pair and the S8 at €2,150 a pair. Tomasz designs the two amplifiers. The rest of the range is chosen and tuned to sit with them, which is why the comparison tables keep naming the same partners: P7 with the A10 or the A40, S5 and S8 with the A40, D2 in front of either amplifier.
How we tune
Listening, then measuring.
We tune by listening first, then measuring. The listening happens in the room, at a matched volume, on the same tracks, and the note we keep for the shop is a phrase a customer can use. Airy and wide, light bass. Close and warm, firm bass. Even and detailed, deep bass. Quiet and controlled. Relaxed and full. Neutral, low noise. Open midrange. Full range, easy bass.
Measurement comes after that, and it is how the published figures stay fixed: driver size, impedance, weight, power, sensitivity, room size. We do not replace the words with the numbers. The H2 can measure one way and still be the headphone that keeps sound in. The S5 can be the right pair because the room is 14 m², inside its 10–20 m² span, even when someone prefers the deeper sound of the S8 on paper.
The same order is what a visitor gets. You hear the difference. The table is there when you want the ohms, the watts and the grams.
In four numbers
Small on purpose.
2012
opened, in a former print shop
7
people
8
house products
60
-minute listening hour
The people
Seven people, one counter.
Ines Vermeulen
Founder, buyer, host of the listening room
Hosts the hour in the room, as she has since 2012.
Tomasz Wójcik
Co-founder, bench technician
Designs the A10 and the A40.
Amara Nwosu
Headphone specialist
Questions about the H1, the H2 and the P7.
Lucas Moreau
Speaker placement visits
Rotterdam area, about 2 hours, €120.
Daniel Reyes
Digital: DACs and streaming set-ups
Takes the D2 and what goes in front of it.
Sofie Brandt
Repairs, re-cabling and pads
Re-cabling €45, fitting €15.
Yara Haddad
Orders, shipping and returns
Writes the return labels.
Visit
The counter is the place to start if you would rather not book and the room happens to be free.