runs the business today. Four of the five companies still exist today (only QSR, which was merged into Scan-Speak, doesn’t exist anymore) – impressively all manufacturing transducers of the highest quality, and a testimony to the entrepreneurship of Ejvind Skaaning. In 1998 TacT was founded by Peter Lyngdorf. The first product was the Millennium amplifier, a fully digital amplifier for the high-end audio market, based on Toccata “Equibit” technology (Toccata Technology is founded by Lars Risbo, following his PhD from Denmark’s Technical University (DTU), later sold to Texas Instruments). TacT also developed some room correction hardware. This company was later converted into Lyngdorf Audio (2005), where electronics as well as speakers are made. In later years this was paralleled with Steinway-Lyngdorf (2007) with increased focus on loudspeakers and installation business. Closing remarks From here on, it is appropriate to let the companies tell their own stories, and I will not delve further down into much of what happened to e.g. Dantax, DALI, etc. We continue with companies that are no more, and with closing remarks on the others. Scan-Speak was purchased by Vifa (from Dantax) and moved to Videbæk in 1991. Later the company changed its name to Vifa-Speak, but the speaker brands Vifa and Scan-Speak coexisted. In 1991, Vifa was back to 200 employees, which is similar to the hey-days in the early 1970s. After that, Vifa ran into some years with minor trouble, where Vifa did not make that much money and one year Vifa had to write off a loss, and Nesdam was forced by the investors to retire in 1995. In retrospect, the loss was insignificant compared to what was coming later on. In 2000 Danish Sound Technology (DST) was formed by Vifa-Speak taking over all stocks in Peerless. Peerless had not been profitable for 20 years and in retrospect this was a very bad decision by Vifa management. In 2000 a manufacturing facility was established in PanYu, China. To finance all this, Vifa was forced to sell their buildings and instead make a rental agreement with the new owners, which all-in-all destabilised the otherwise solid economy in Vifa (now DST). DST was battling to finance the cost of their production sites and upkeep of the businesses. For one they sell their Vifa brand to Chinese investors (GGEC) and therefore GGEC were allowed to use the brand for business not related to transducers. DST was looking for investors, and in 2005 DST was sold to Tymphany. Hereafter
Vifa and Peerless transducer products (and brands) were transferred to China. The part of Vifa owned by GGEC is still active in Denmark under the company name Vifa Denmark A/S. The company is allowed to make system designs and they are today actively pursuing the design and production of post-Hi-Fi modern lifestyle products, like advanced radios and sound bars. In 2008 Scan-Speak remained in Videbæk, while Tymphany China (incl. Peerless and Vifa) were sold to a group of managers situated in China. At this point in time Scan-Speak was part of the remaining Tymphany Denmark A/S. It was sold to the management in April 2009. Tymphany Denmark A/S filed for bankruptcy in the fall of 2009. Scan-Speak continues doing business, now based at the same facilities as Vifa was located since 1947. As you can see from all the business surrounding loudspeakers in Denmark, financial instability and hard times cannot keep the industry down. The Danish nation, however small it may seem, is simply a melting pot for loudspeakers. Danish electro acoustics Although this chapter is focusing on the good-old loudspeaker industry in Denmark, as closing remarks, I cannot help but think electro-acoustic in general. I should mention that SONION in Horsens was originally Kirk Acoustics. Kirk was founded in 1892 by Emil Møller and it merged with Niels Geertsen’s electromechanical factory in 1917. They were famous for their high-quality telephones and the speakers for the telephones were made in-house. During later years the production lines would be made in Horsens, Denmark, and then exported to China where they manufactured millions of small loudspeakers for cell phones. Some as low in cost as 0.01 EUR (one euro-cent). I feel obligated to mention that Den-
About the author —
Claus Futtrup was born in Herning, Denmark, in 1971. He received his M.Sc. in mechanical engineering in 1997 from Aalborg University. His special field is material science; steel and other metals, ceramics, rubber, plastics, and composites in regard to design parameters, process engineering, and chemical and environment issues. During his career, he has worked for several loudspeaker companies. From 1997 to 2006, he worked at Dynaudio A/S first as an R&D Engineer, designing
mark is also famous for its microphones. Brüel & Kjær started with measurement microphones way back, development was pioneered by Gunnar Rasmussen. When he was asked to retire from B&K, he decided to start a new microphone business, GRAS, 1994, with his wife Hanna Hertz. Today the business is run by his two sons. As such we have not one, but two of the world leading manufacturers of measurement microphones, both located in the Greater Copenhagen area. Other microphone manufacturers exist in Denmark, for example DPA, they make e.g. recording microphones suitable for certain instruments and small body worn microphones. Denmark is also known for hearing aids, which is a tiny loudspeaker. Due to space requirements it is not based on the moving coil principle, but the balanced armature principle. In fact, three of the top-6 companies in the world are located in the Greater Copenhagen area. These are Oticon (founded 1906), GN ReSound (founded 1943), and Widex (founded 1956). The other three major players on the market are Starkey (US based), Phonak (Swiss based) and Siemens (German based). Although one should think that the loudspeaker, microphone, and hearing aid industries could benefit from synergies, they seem to live in completely separate bubbles. The audio and electronics industry in general is the 4th largest exporting industry in Denmark. The top-3 is the oil and energy sector (e.g. windmills), farming, and the medical and pharmaceutical industry. This history section represents the author’s best effort in compiling a correct historical description/narrative. Errors, and not least omissions, may apply for which I am truly sorry.
loudspeaker boxes and later as a System Engineer for automotive. From 2006 to 2008, he was employed as a Transducer Design Engineer at Tymphany Denmark and, in 2008-2013 he was R&D Manager at ScanSpeak. In 2013, he started working as Technical Sales Manager for SEAS, Norway, and in 2015 he was promoted to Chief Technical Officer. Claus Futtrup has authored a number of AES papers, most of them published in the Journal (JAES), one was presented in
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London in May 2011. Due to his comprehensive technical and historical knowledge about loudspeakers he is often invited as a guest speaker at various events. In 2013 he was speaker at the Danish Electroacoustic Society (DEF)’s meeting. In October 2015 he held a speech at the Norwegian Acoustical Society’s meeting in Trondheim. In January 2016 he is invited to give a speech at the AISE (ALMA International Symposium and Expo) in Las Vegas.
The Danish loudspeaker 100 year anniversary — 29