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What is ARSA 3D sound and how does it improve the quality of sound?

What is ARSA 3D sound and how does it improve the quality of sound?

ARSA - Ambient Responsive Sonic Architecture is an acoustic system developed by STEENSSEN where the architecture of the internal structure of the cabinets and the array of driver units gives a time-lapse dispersal of the sound you are listening to so that you get a more natural surround effect when listening. ARSA also takes into account that you may be using a flat tv screen above the unit so that sound waves travel up behind the tv and reach your ears giving a deeper and mo

You, me and the planet

Frederick Rickmann

You, me and the planet

One of the striking things about these present times is that the pandemic has made us realize that individually we are important. Everyone. Keeping distance, using protection, washing hands and being aware of others are all things that we can do as persons. And our behaviour individually creates a solution that brings benefits to the entire community and indeed the whole planet. This strong sense of individual action in response to the Corona virus is in contrast to how we be

Tweets about tweeters

Frederick Rickmann

Tweets about tweeters

Several STEENSSEN followers have raised the interesting question that there doesn't appear to be tweeter drivers included in the new NEO series. A tweeter is the speaker unit that produces high pitch tones, tones like a high guitar riff, violin tones and sounds link bird songs. Tweeters are very normal in high quality hifi products and so the question is quite natural for STEENSSEN's new product line. Without disclosing too many confidential details at this stage, we can reve

Corona and the Climate

Frederick Rickmann

Corona and the Climate

Through the thick fog of today's politics and the blurry picture of fake and real news there is a golden thread emerging. You could almost say that it’s could even be a sign of better things to come. The pandemic we are dealing with right now, and the climate challenge we are beginning to fix, seem to share very similar solutions. Well of course a planetary virus and global warming are nothing like the same issue. But what they do have in common is that they force us to rethi

...For the times they are a-changin'

Frederick Rickmann

...For the times they are a-changin'

Bob Dylan didn't get the Nobel Prize for literature just because he wrote catchy song lyrics. He was awarded the international accolade because he could express the spirit of a generation. He is still doing so. The "wheel is still in spin" for COVID-19, the global climate and for righting the inequalities that still separate people. The times, they still have to change. More so than ever. The way we do things, the way we make the products that surround us and they way we thin

Black and White

Frederick Rickmann

Black and White

For thousands of years, the art of lacquer has been perfected in Japan and in the Orient. Originally the oil from the Urushi tree (漆の木) was used to create this magical and yet robust natural finish. Now other methods are used, but the craft of lacquering is still a well-honed art form, that is difficult to achieve in Europe. Fast forwarding now to the 21st century, the AIR audio system from STEENSSEN uses this very sustainable technique to add beauty to sound. The deep gloss

Thinking outside the box - inside the box

Frederick Rickmann

Thinking outside the box - inside the box

The new NEO series of sound centres is taking giant steps in development and perfecting that special brand of STEENSSEN sound that is proving to be so appealing. Innovation and new thinking demand that you have to explore new avenues of design and unique ways of using combining tech with nature and the physics of sound. Even the simplicity of the STEENSSENs cabinets are undergoing "ingenuity tests". Nothing is taken for granted. The idea that "we did it last time and it worke

"Hifi is the male equivalent of anti-wrinkle cream"

Frederick Rickmann

"Hifi is the male equivalent of anti-wrinkle cream"

The quotation marks in the title are because I have to admit that I stole the line from an article by Jonathan Margolis in the Guardian. See it here Actually is it his wife who said that because she meant that both serious hifi and anti-wrinkle cream were based on very "dubious claims, expensive prices - and results which are only apparent to the buyer." Actually the beauty of that idea is not that both are expensive indulges but they both represent the fact that people to wa

AIR is clever - because it isn't smart

Frederick Rickmann

AIR is clever - because it isn't smart

Online security and lack of data privacy are fast raising serious issues. As more of our digital devices become interlinked through smart phones and online services, the threats to our privacy are mushrooming. When designing AIR we looked at this issue in detail. Our solution was to simplify rather than to pump up the complexity. Amazon's Alexa voice assistant and Apple's Siri are already the subject of negative controversy about the way they form gateways through which every

Round sound from a rectangle

Frederick Rickmann

Round sound from a rectangle

This is a fairly tech kind of blog. However the point in technology is that it has to have a purpose, a reason. This is specially true of hifi sound. So the real starting point of this blog is cultural. It is a guitar riff, the middle tones of a Mozart piano, the voice of Adele, the script of an e-book spoken by the human voice. One of the striking audio systems from STEENSSEN is called AIR. It concentrates on delivering the treble and mid-tones of all the above. It does so t

Review on STEENSSEN TT GRAND by Hifi.nl

Review on STEENSSEN TT GRAND by Hifi.nl

Author: Quintijn Bulterman Published on November 14, 2019 Denmark is a country that we know well at HiFi.nl as a kind of audio Walhalla, with great brands such as DALI, Densen, Bang & Olufsen and Davone. One brand is better known than the other. We can now also add Steenssen to this list. We received the TT Grand loudspeaker from this young Danish manufacturer. What should we think of an audio device that does not actually fit in the box of soundbar? And that in proportion to

Danish design doesn’t have to be expensive. It just has to be good.

Frederick Rickmann

Danish design doesn’t have to be expensive. It just has to be good.

Author: Struer - City of Sound Published on: 2 January 2020 Frederick Rickmann is a man with a plan. He set out on a mission to show the world what Danish design can be, now he wants to give people good sound quality at an affordable price, and he wants to do it all in Struer. He looks busy as he extends his right arm in order to shake hands while still partly glancing at the phone in his left hand. It might not be so strange if you take his background into account, though. A

What do Dua Lipa and Mozart have in common?

Frederick Rickmann

What do Dua Lipa and Mozart have in common?

Two completely different types of music from totally different centuries have something fascinating in common. Both sound totally amazing on the sonic "landscape" you get from the ACTION audio system. Actually what these two share are a mix of tones that reach all the way from accurate high tones, through middle frequencies and down into a rich bass. Think about the piano, cello and violin music of Mozart's compositions in Vienna and Salzburg and you experience a full range o

AIR and Hawkings Black

Frederick Rickmann

AIR and Hawkings Black

The brilliant British scientist, the late Stephen Hawking, is not immediately the person you would associate with a hifi system. Yet when we were designing the AIR audio system we wanted a dark finish that was neutral and non-reflective for the main part. For the front baffle we wanted a finish that was light and reflective. Stephen Hawking's early work was with "Black Holes" in space. A black hole is like a collapsed star which has such strong gravitational field that nothin

AIR - real craftsmanship

AIR - real craftsmanship

Seeing the AIR audio system for the first time, most people assume that the shape could only be made in plastic. But that isn't the case. Plastic and good sound just don't go well together. On the other hand, wood is one of the most perfect materials for good acoustics. What we decided to do with AIR was to design a brilliant system in wood - and keep it as sustainable as possible. To do that we had to engage some of the most innovative production techniques and some pretty c

AIR forth ONE

Frederick Rickmann

AIR forth ONE

Yes, sorry about the title. It is a light play of words and nothing at all to do with the name of any presidential aircraft. Or perhaps it does actually. The audio system called AIR is actually designed to make the sound of the human voice sound very clear. Whether AIR is used with your tv or as a stand-alone cordless stereo speaker playing e-books and podcasts, the same applies. AIR is magnificent is giving crystal clear speech and tones like from a piano, violin or guitar.

A talk from the founder of STEENSSEN, Frederick Rickmann

A talk from the founder of STEENSSEN, Frederick Rickmann

STEENSSEN products are built solidly on my three decades of designing loudspeakers and hifi electronics. My design company - DNgroup have designed series after series of speakers for Dynaudio, DALI, Scansound Podspeakers, Coin Audio, JS Speakers in Asian - and through them to Sony, and so on. However many speaker systems have traditionally been separate from television. Stereo has been the main way forward and still is for the nerds. STEENSSEN products start at a different pl

AIR your views - hear the truth

Frederick Rickmann

AIR your views - hear the truth

Listening is the very essence of what we do. If you think about it, a good loudspeaker is not about just producing sounds, its about how we listen to it. At STEENSSEN we have also been listening to the people who have bought our products. And to be honest, no amount of market research could give the super feedback and inspiration that we have received. So with a nod of thanks, its worth noting who listens to AIR. What we found was a bit unexpected. Mostly people chose AIR bec

Pilot the 4th Dimension

Frederick Rickmann

Pilot the 4th Dimension

The shape of a tv screen now is more or less just like a sheet of black glass. It has length and height, but the thickness now is down to just a few millimetres. Actually is a most elegant product. Starting from about now with 8K screens, the sharpness and definition on the screen is getting very close to photographic quality. You remember when photographs used to be on paper? The slimline shape of the tv is also its weakness. A sheet of glass doesn't sound good. While HBO, V

Green AIR

Frederick Rickmann

Green AIR

It is no bad thing that life will NOT go back to being normal again. Normal was a time of pollution, stressful lifestyles, obesity, climate change and pandemics. Most people today are looking forward to new thinking on how to bring back healthy living, sustainable materials, non-carbon energy and a healthier future across the planet. Part of the solution lies in making reusable, repairable and renewable products. In this, the AIR audio system is one step ahead. AIR contains p

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