The history of Audiopoli

Audiopoli was founded in the autumn of 1997. In the early days the idea was to bring like-minded students of technology together, and the activities consisted mostly of movie nights, for which top-of-the-line equipment was borrowed from partners. Movie nights were held at Smökki among other places, and the longest movie marathons ran for over 70 hours. The traditional loudspeaker projects soon joined the picture as well. Well over a hundred Audiopoli 1.0 bookshelf speakers were built over the course of a couple of years.

Alongside the hi-fi hobby, Audiopoli made a name for itself in other pursuits too. The boldest prank ideas in Otaniemi were born among the Audiopoli crowd. After winning the Otaniemi prank competition, Audiopoli went on to the national competition organised by TEK, appearing there in 2000 as the Trawled Saimaa Ringed Seals, among other things. For a couple of years the Audiopoli board even had a dedicated prank officer. Dozens of ideas piled up over the years, and the best ones are still waiting to be carried out.

At some point organising movie nights started to become a chore because of all the equipment hauling, and the idea of Kinopoli was born. During 2003 a 20-seat cinema was built in the basement of OK20. Ever since it was completed, the cinema has also been rented out at modest prices to other associations and groups of friends. Audiopoli's activities came to centre largely on Kinopoli.

After the turn of the millennium, loudspeaker projects became an annual autumn tradition. In addition to the Audiopoli 1.0 bookshelf speaker, the Proac 2.5 floorstander project – organised twice – proved popular. Kinopoli's enormous main speakers (the "Cows") were the product of a slightly more unusual project. Over Audiopoli's first 10 years, more than 400 loudspeakers were built.

The anniversary year 2007

In the spring of 2007 Kinopoli was given a fresh start in a renovation carried out together with the Ecophon Group, and in the autumn the theatre's web-based booking system was introduced. The number of bookings shot up, and the rental income secured the association's finances for years to come.

Audiopoli turned ten that same autumn, and the anniversary year became the most active in its history so far. The anniversary ball was held on 5 October 2007: the evening began with cocktails in the freshly renovated Kinopoli and continued as a formal dinner in Otakaari 20. Everyone who had been involved in the association's activities over the years was invited, and the first badges of honour in the association's history were awarded during the evening. In the autumn speaker project the first batch of Aniversarios was built – 148 speakers.

Record years 2008–2012

2008 became the most eventful year in the association's history to date. In April the TEH Subi, over 1,500 litres of subwoofer, was built over a single weekend, and in the autumn over 200 Aniversarios were completed – still the record for the association's speaker projects. The Hifimaailma magazine wrote about both the subwoofer and the speaker project.

An association poster from 2008

In 2009 the bylaws were polished into shape and the association was entered in the Finnish Trade Register as an official registered association. Registration clarified the questions of liability that came with activities that had grown large. In the spring a weekend-long excursion was made to Finnish loudspeaker manufacturers around the country, and the magazine articles written about the trip brought the association visibility among enthusiasts.

At the same time the association's own development projects were growing. The Anni bass stands were shown as prototypes at the hi-fi show in 2010, and the design of Kinopoli's new main speakers, the NuCau, began in the spring of 2011. The speakers were finished just barely in time for HifiExpo in November 2012. The same year about 140 Aniversarios were built, along with 21 aluminium-cased Annis as a special project.

Kinopoli grows 2013–2017

Kinopoli was developed throughout the decade: the theatre gained anamorphic projection, a Dolby Atmos sound system and a 4K projector. Audiopoli's own handiwork showed here too, as a new centre speaker built on the NuCau specification was made for the theatre in 2015. That same year a floor speaker project was organised, in which members built three-way floorstanding speakers.

In the middle of the decade the activities expanded between associations as well: shared series and movie marathons were organised in Kinopoli with other Otaniemi associations, and the Aalto University Department of Film started holding courses in the theatre. Kinopoli's occupancy stayed high. During the spring and autumn terms there were bookings for almost every day.

Audiopoli's 20th anniversary was celebrated on 18 November 2017. Founding members of the association were present. During the evening presentations on the association's history were given, songs were sung, live cello and violin music was heard, and two new honorary memberships were granted. That same autumn the V&V listening event was held for the tenth time.

A new generation 2018–2022

In 2018 a refrigerator left over from a Kinopoli renovation was turned into ReFi (Refrigerated Fidelity), a loudspeaker for the association's promotional use. ReFi toured outdoor events for a few years and caused well-deserved confusion.

2019 was a year of growth: the membership tripled. In October a busload of Audiopoli members made an excursion to the factories of two Finnish loudspeaker manufacturers, and the floor speaker was built again in the spring.

The pandemic years 2020 and 2021 closed Kinopoli for long stretches, but the activities continued in other forms. A new batch of Aniversarios was built, and the association's experimenters worked on improved Anni prototypes. During Vappu 2021 Audiopoli took part in a student radio broadcast with a remote version of the V&V listening event, and in a livestream unique Aniversarios were painted according to viewers' requests. In the summer temporary PA speakers were built, and they were used to play outdoor events together with AaltoDJ – the orientation week event at Alvari Square drew up to about 500 participants. The experience led to a bigger undertaking later that year: a PA set shared with AaltoDJ.

In 2022 activities returned to normal and 19 events were organised. The PA set was finished and put straight to work when the first Ylikulku rave was held together with AaltoDJ, drawing hundreds of dancers to Smökki. Audiopoli's 25th anniversary was celebrated on 24 September 2022 at the Alberga manor.

Kinopoli 4.0 and the present day

2023 was again a year of big projects. In the spring the Protone, a two-way active loudspeaker, was finalised and built – 25 pairs in total. The whole summer went into renovating Kinopoli: the theatre was stripped and rebuilt from floor to ceiling, an entirely new crossover was designed for the NuCau, and the TEH Subi gave way to Subi 4.0. The renewed theatre had its formal opening on 29 September 2023.

That same autumn the association took the Protones to the hi-fi show in a listening room of its own, and made an excursion of fifty people to Genelec's demo facility.

Today Audiopoli organises movie and listening nights, excursions, speaker-building projects among other events. Kinopoli seats 18 and can be booked all year round.

Read more about the history of Kinopoli.