Sweden; Popularly famous for Volvo, ABBA, and Ikea. Fun fact: it’s home to the longest urban underground art gallery in the world. Did I mention Spotify, the biggest streaming platform? Yep, Swedish. Alfred Nobel? Ingmar Bergman? Saga Norén (IYKYK)? Yeah, all Swedes. Oh, let’s not forget those delicious meatballs in mushroom cream sauce. Talking loudspeaker design, Sweden has yet another notorious child via the specialist simply known as Marten. Marten has steadily escalated its endeavours, becoming a high ranking global player in the high-end space. Plus, the company recently acquired fellow Swede Jorma Audio, a cable manufacturer with its own successful track record. Marten and Jorma Audio already had a proven symbiotic relationship through product synergies; now, it’s a cemented partnership. We visited Marten HQ recently and were struck by the dynamic ‘Band of Brothers’ leadership and the dedication of the company’s workforce. The formula, evidently, is a winner… read on.
För Sverige, i tiden
A two hour flight from southern Germany to our destination had Australian distributor Boris Granovsky, from Absolute Hi End, and I land in Gothenburg, Sweden. The efficient and well laid-out airport provided strong hints of our location; there was corporate iconography throughout the terminal… Gothenburg is Volvo and Polestar HQ. Massive super high quality video screens reinforced the presence of static latest-model car displays – mainly EVs, actually. The Nordic countries are way ahead when it comes to EV take-up, something which our ride from airport to hotel confirmed. I don’t know the stats, but there was a clear prevalence of EVs and hybrid cars on the road.
Marten Global Sales Manager Martin Dunhoff.
Marten was co-founded by brothers Jörgen and Leif Olofsson, with the former being company CEO and the latter Chief Designer. Yet another brother, Lars Olofsson, is Design Director. Our guide throughout the tour was Global Sales Manager Martin Dunhoff, who joined the company relatively recently. Dunhoff comes from a lengthy career with global audio companies and is a key addition to Marten’s corporate leadership.
Yours truly at Marten HQ entrance.
The first stop in a small industrial complex, Marten’s corporate and administrative headquarters are housed in a modern building, which was fully refurbished in 2018. Here, Marten also runs Jorma Audio (acquired in 2016), Klarsund, the official distribution company for Marten and Jorma Audio in Scandinavia. Klarsund also represents Antipodes, Audia Flight, Aurora Sound, DS Audio, Engström, Halcro, Keces Audio, MSB Technology, Reed, TechDAS, The Wand and more. So, yeah, a very strong, and even complimentary, product line-up as far as distribution across Sweden and the rest of Scandinavia.
The admin HQ entrance opens to a large foyer which has been subdivided into two halves. The smaller 20 m² section serves as a demonstration room for small to mid-sized systems (yet another similarly-dimensioned demonstration room is located nearby) while the larger half is a lounge area where a sampling of Marten’s speakers are on static display. There, Marten’s first ever product, the small Mingus 2-way floorstander from back in 1998, stands proudly to the right hand side of the main entranceway, symbolising Marten’s own entry-point into the high-end.
It should be mentioned that the acoustics in both the rooms are very good despite only the ceiling receiving some panel treatment. Also taking pride of place in the main lounge area is a large piano in a Nordic-toned light wood finish which is a near-match to one of Marten’s own cabinet veneer offerings.
Yet another cool surprise (which could have been oh-so-much cooler under non-post-Munich circumstances as you can read below), was awaiting just down the corridor. There, through a doorway was Marten’s main listening and auditioning room. It’s a large space and it’s fully treated with acoustic panelling and Helmholtz resonators which provide an immediately noticeable… calmness.
The room just sounds right, you hear it in voices, as you converse. Here, Marten exhibits its flagship Coltrane Supreme 2 with Jorma Audio’s best cabling, including the brand new top-tier Paragon line. Support comes via an eclectic mix of electronics (representations of Klarsund) featuring Antipodes Oladra, TechDAS, MSB Technology, including the M500 monoblocks, in addition to Engström ERIC monoblocks.
Marten’s Coltrane Quintet debut back at High End Munich 2024, amplification support by Halcro.
The amplification battalion has been recently further reinforced by the acquisition of a pair of Eclipse monoblocks from Australia’s own Halcro. At the time of our visit, the Aussies were still on their way back from High End Munich where they were in operation as the amplification of choice for Marten’s new Coltrane Quintet debut. That delicious in-transit stash could quite possibly also include a near-ready prototype, the imminent Halcro Equinox preamplifier. I’ve received some pre-Munich images of Equinox and it promises to be rather spesh.
Martin Dunhoff provided an interesting insight (for further details on the new Coltrane Quintet and Dunhoff’s comments on Marten in general watch the SoundStage! Talks video interview here). In response to my question about reaching a final loudspeaker performance within the context of this excellent auditioning room and then its transference to more real world scenarios, Dunhoff said, “Yes, for example, with the Coltrane Quintet project we introduced in Munich, it was one of those speakers which we were so surprised with its amazing bass performance… So yes, we had evidence of how marvellous it performed in this controlled environment, but we took it into a ‘real world’ room and found the bass to be a little too strong. So, we made the necessary crossover adjustments to rectify that.”
Back to Marten’s demonstration room. Heartbreaker: due to several other components also not yet back from HEM, this potentially sublime system was inoperable, so we were actually not able to audition it. Out of action. Total bummer. Alas, maybe in a future visit…
I should mention here too, that the auditioning room also serves as a recording venue for Marten’s own ‘Supreme Sessions’ music productions under the ‘Marten Recordings’ label. Supreme Sessions titles are produced by the Olofsson brothers and recorded in high-resolution formats, while the LPs are pressed at Spinroad Vinyl, Sweden’s last vinyl production facility. As part of my music catalogue for reviewing, I actually have Supreme Sessions volumes 1 and 2 on LP, and the first also on CD. So, I can attest to the production quality of these recordings – they sound outstanding while the music is performed by excellent professional jazz musicians.
To facilitate the process, the piano, which normally lives outside in the lounge area, is simply wheeled in, with the room being spacious enough to accommodate additional musicians as well as the appropriate recording equipment. Music is actually in the blood of the Olofsson brothers. They’re musicians and, in fact, Jörgen’s spacious office is not only peppered with computers and testing equipment, but also with a drum kit, several guitars, and other instruments.
The offices of the various administration and design personnel are lined up in a row flanking a common kitchen area. There’s a good vibe throughout this entire building. It was hard to put my finger on it, and I should point out that my travel companion also felt this, but there was a calmness and friendliness about the place… could it be the warmth of Nordic wood, the openness of the communal space, and the expanse of the environment which permeates through the ambience? I don’t know, but the place felt like it motivated congenial… creativity.
Another section of the building is dedicated to Jorma Audio assembly, testing, and cable burn-in. There, in a number of smaller rooms, were large rolls of the various cable types and a parts store for all connector types. Also kept there are Jorma’s trademark wooden styling collars which are a recognisable adornment for the company’s cable products. The handcrafted wooden blocks feature quite an exacting building process requiring a seamless fit-and-finish, precise colour and grain matching, bespoke metal plaque attachment, and more.
Regarding Jorma, Dunhoff further explained, “since we took over Jorma Audio, it was very important for us to retain the original team. They do some of the manufacturing processes in their own environment across Sweden and we do the final assembly and burn-in here. This means we can operate more efficiently in a smaller area. We have various specialists who concentrate only on AC power cable, or speaker cable, etc. Once assembled the cables go to our burn-in room where the process takes seven full days. Not a single Jorma cable leaves the factory without the full seven days burn-in. By the way, about 30% of the cables we produce are custom lengths”.
All That Jazz
The Marten loudspeaker assembly and production factory is a two minute drive down the road from admin HQ. As most of the personnel was on its way back from Munich, the factory had skeleton stuff at the time of our visit.
We first entered a large open space which was brimming with multiple rows of racking for component and parts bins, packaging, and a multitude of finished loudspeakers boxed-up and ready to ship around the globe. Beside the large cartons was a line-up of touring-style professional roadcases. Built in Sweden for Marten, the well-designed roadcases featured wheels, handles and other hardware which makes unpacking the heavier models a simple task, even for one person.
The main assembly area was producing Marten Parker Duo speakers at the time. Mikael Pettersson was overseeing staff members Anders Bäckström and Hampus Grankvist, with the former working on a crossover and the latter involved in the polishing process. Pettersson is in charge of ordering the over 1000 parts and components, sourced from a variety of suppliers, used throughout manufacturing. Marten speaker cabinets are built in Europe and the carbon fibre enclosures of the more upmarket models are built entirely in Sweden. The best veneers and wood types are selected for the cabinetry, including the top and front panels which are also available in paint gloss finishes.
Regarding the beauty of the Marten cabinets, Dunhoff told me, “We apply 20 layers of [finishing], with equal amount of lacquer on the front and the rear of the speaker. Between each layer, the speaker is sanded down, and so on for up to a week to achieve this quality level.” I’ve owned and also reviewed many speakers with gloss finishes and have developed microscopic eyes for ‘orange peel and/or waving’… I can spot those sorts of imperfections quite easily. In the case of the Marten speakers I examined through my visit, I can confirm that we’re talking mirror-like finishes here. This is by no means unique – many classy speaker systems may have equal levels of finish excellence – but you’d also be surprised how many top-end ones miss the mark.
The crossover network boards for one Mingus Septet Statement loudspeaker.
Anders Bäckström terminating Jorma cables on a crossover network.
We were shown the massive crossover system, laid out across a large bench, for a single Mingus Septet Statement model. Each driver has its own independent network module made up of very high quality capacitors, copper foil air core coils, custom made resistors, and more, while incorporating Statement level Jorma cabling. The layout of each module looked carefully thought out and extremely well put together.
Marten uses drivers from Germany’s Accuton. The drivers are made to Marten’s specifications and include a variety of materials deemed to suit each allotted task. There’s a mix of custom ceramic, diamond, beryllium, carbon fibre, and aluminium sandwich diaphragms used across the various models. A fully acoustically isolated room towards the rear of the factory is used for running the drivers for many hours prior to populating the cabinets.
While the factory was not a super busy hive of activity at the time of our visit, both Dunhoff and Pettersson told me that prior to High End Munich 2024, there was a concentrated production surge which saw a large quantity of product making its way out of the facility and, eventually, into listening rooms around the world.
Conclusion
I’ve had the privilege of visiting many factories in the high-end audio industry. Some niche-level-small and others seriously sizeable examples of modern audio manufacturing. All were dedicated to producing excellence within their individual means and scope. I’ve never left unimpressed.
We are in an industry driven by creative people who often are musicians. They are all passionate about music and its reproduction to its highest authenticity. Overwhelmingly, they are imaginative engineers dedicated to crafting products which enrich, and even progress, the status quo of the industry. Marten and its sister company Jorma Audio are yet another example of those pragmatic, and simultaneously lofty, aspirations.
Marten is a driven company, bringing to market significant high performance products which reflect both the ambitions and intelligence of their creators – be it at the conceptual desk, the testing bench, or the factory floor. From the Olofsson siblings, across all of Marten’s facets, that is the fruition of a creative Band of Brothers.
… Edgar Kramer
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Marten and Jorma Audio
Australian Distributor: Absolute Hi End
+61 488 777 999
www.absolutehiend.com
Marten AB
Flöjelbergsgatan 18
431 37 Mölndal
Gothenburg
Sweden
+46 31 207 200
www.marten.se
