Scan Magazine
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Made in Norway
NNNN: Innovative audio technology meets Nordic design Nowadays, streaming platforms mean that access to endless music is only a simple tap away. Yet, headphones and plastic speakers are a far cry from the immersive experience of live music. In Norway, NNNN is bucking the trend by reviving the quality of the horn speaker, reinterpreting it for modern-day scenarios and designing speakers that enable music experiences very much out of the ordinary. By Celina Tran
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Photos: NNNN
Audio quality is about more than just music. In the new technological world, most of us have come to rely on high-quality audio. The pandemic meant that millions of people saw their workspaces turn into home offices, with video conferences and phone calls being their main interaction with the outside world.
tion wouldn’t happen without audio,” says Torkel Mellingen, CEO and co-founder of NNNN. “Whether it is a music stage, a club, a bar or even your favourite restaurant, or an important corporate presentation, we develop technology that enables experiences.”
“Some might think that the video is the most important part of a video conference, but we all know that the conversa-
NNNN blossomed from an idea that had no intention of becoming what it presently is. As Mellingen was about to
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Issue 140
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March 2022
The journey
leave his role as VP of Design at Cisco, a company developing video conferencing systems, he asked a colleague from the audio department for sound system recommendations for his living room. Rune Skramstad, CTO and co-founder of NNNN, after seeing a sketch of Mellingen’s living room, suggested a custom sound system. A few months of brainstorming and sketches later, Mellingen and Skramstad debuted their first piece of work together over some pizza and beer. “Rune has been designing speakers since the young age of ten, which is incredibly impressive,” Mellingen praises his friend and co-worker. “He jumped at the opportunity to drag me down his little audio rabbit hole. Shortly after the first
