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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

ABBEY ROAD. The world's most photographed pedestrian crossing for 50 years.

Frederick Rickmann

ABBEY ROAD. The world's most photographed pedestrian crossing for 50 years.

On the 8th August 1969 the BEATLES released their ABBEY ROAD album. The cover showed the group crossing the road outside the Abbey Road recording studios in London. It was in fact the last album made by the group together so it marked the end of a revolutionary era of change and originality in music. I bought the LP when it was released in 1969. At the time I was well into studying architecture and design. It is still in my collection of great music, 50 years on. And it can s

....a G-string on AIR

....a G-string on AIR

If you want to hear this wonderful music as Johann Sebastian Bach intended then you need to hear it on an AIR from STEENSSEN. Bach originally composed his famous "air" as the second movement of a larger piece - his "Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068". This second part was to be played only by the violins. Later, in the 1800's, a musician called August Wilhelmj rearranged the second movement. On the score he wrote "auf der G-Saite" (on the G string) for the solo violin, which g

Clean AIR - a fresh generation

Frederick Rickmann

Clean AIR - a fresh generation

There is a fresh mindset for the new generation. We want a clean planet. We want clean health. We want a clean lifestyle. There is not much doubt that we need to transform our cities for the climate challenges. At the same time, we need the health issues brought under control. These actions demand a broad fellowship and sense of community - and that translates into much greater equality in society. But how does that translate into real action at the individual level? In STEEN

MAGIC COLOUR in EARLY AUTUMN

MAGIC COLOUR in EARLY AUTUMN

If you live in a temperate climate like Europe, where STEENSSEN comes from, then you know the tricks that nature plays at this time of year. After the warmth and comfort of summer, the weather gets colder, the days get darker and the rain pours in from the west. At this moment, nature seems to compensate with a smile. All around, the trees and bushes change from a tired dark green to a blaze of colour. Yellow, gold, orange and deep red fill the cities and landscape with a kal

Are you delaying priorities?

Frederick Rickmann

Are you delaying priorities?

人生真正重要的事情往往被瑣事絆住直到再也無法回頭那一刻家中六個小孩都和父母同住的二十幾年間，正值青少年的我們對任何音樂、樂器的喜愛已經到了狂熱的地步，我們常要父母一起聽音樂，先父總是說：「等我老了有空…」直到2003年64歲離開我們，留下一堆「等我有空」的待辦事項。因此隔年我帶著媽媽出國旅行散心，接著幾年還和妹妹帶著媽媽、奶奶去高雄探訪與奶奶情同姐妹的姑婆，完成長輩掛念的待辦事項。奶奶94歲健康往生，沒有留下遺憾，成為晚輩的典範。人生真正重要的事情往往被瑣事絆住，直到再也無法回頭那一刻。在這失速的年代，每個人從出生的那一刻起便被時間催促著向前跑，忙碌成為口頭禪，什麼都要快、快、快，好像從未空閒過，是不是能夠，不論你是一個人還是一群人，放下手邊的事坐下來或躺下來聽個音樂、唱唱歌把最重要的自己和人生順序找回來？聲音具有不可思議的能量，不要再等了，找機會慢下來觀照內心，享受宇宙恩典。附註：本文雖已於兩年前發表，有鑑於2020年初武漢肺炎COVID-19造成全球感染，各國進行邊境管制、在家上班等措施，這種恐慌在心理、生理及經濟層面對人類的影響

Dark Side of the Moon

Dark Side of the Moon

In January 2019, a robotic rover called Chang'e 4 (嫦娥四號) soft-landed on the side of the moon that we cannot see from earth. An accompanying satellite is already orbiting the moon and it will allow communication between ground control in China and the rover on the far side of the moon. What seems to be a neat bit of tech has in fact a huge chunk of rock music associated with it. In the early 70's the rock band Pink Floyd launched the album called "Dark Side of the Moon". A hug

Switch Between the Past and the Future

Switch Between the Past and the Future

While everything seems to be getting more and more digital, it is a wonderful paradox that more LP's are being produced than ever before. Somehow the qualities of tone and the colour of the music from the older technology of the LP era is really appealing. But the big question is how do you connect your LP turntable to the technology of today. The perfect answer is the latest sound centres like STEENSSEN ACTION. Plug in your turntable to the AUX connectors and you are flying.

ACTION - the invisible audio system

Frederick Rickmann

ACTION - the invisible audio system

It’s a great story. When we first took ACTION along to the photographers on location for the first photo shoots, the photographer said "You have to use a much smaller tv screen. With a normal sized screen, ACTION just disappears from view!!" Our reply was "That is exactly what we intended to do!!" When we started to design ACTION, our aim right from the start was to make an impossibly slimline audio system that was so slender, that it was almost just like a line beneath the t

What do ACTION and Buddhist monks have in common?

Frederick Rickmann

What do ACTION and Buddhist monks have in common?

The traditional material for casting bells is bronze. The metal is a mixture of copper and tin and it is used because of its durability and hardness in comparison to copper. It is also used because of its acoustic qualities in sound. The US Liberty Bells and the Great Bell of Big Ben in London are made from bronze. In Asia, Buddhist monks have made great use of the sound qualities of bronze in bells and also in there bowls and ceremonial cymbals and smaller bells. In ACTION S

ACTION - time traveller

Frederick Rickmann

ACTION - time traveller

Can you really have a timeless product that constantly needs to be updated? Technology right now, is changing and constantly introducing new standards. That in turn makes products obsolete even although they could have been used perfectly well for several years. In STEENSSEN we kind of designed that challenge out at the start. For instance ACTION is solidly crafted in natural materials and will easily give superb performance for well over ten years. But tech will change in th

Trust your own creativity

Frederick Rickmann

Trust your own creativity

It’s true, isn't it, that much of the automation and AI in our smart devices makes it easier for us to use them. On the other hand, it is also true that all those algorithms make us, the users, a good bit dumber. The assumption of many smart interface engineers is that ease of use is the same as making things idiot proof. But what that really does is to take the skills and human judgement away from the pleasure of using the product. The way we designed STEENSSEN products like

ACTION - for the planet

Frederick Rickmann

ACTION - for the planet

A plastic violin is a laughable instrument. No-one would take such a thing seriously. The reason is that all the musical instruments that involve strings and an acoustic chamber need to be made of a material that resonates well with sound. In other words, the actual material is an essential element in the sound produced. Guitars, violins, cellos and double basses are all the same in this respect. So too with STEENSSEN products like the ACTION audio system. ACTION is built in

ACTION - we can rock you

Frederick Rickmann

ACTION - we can rock you

It is one of those wonderful paradoxes that the newest technology is often tested in relation to the past. This is certainly true of the world of sound and hifi. One of the reasons for this is that CD's from the 80's are still the medium that delivers the best digital sound. In smart phones and tablets, the digital information that is streamed cordlessly is usually very diluted. In addition, the quality of the speakers in smart phones and tablets is hardly better than the old

Disney, Chaplin and sound

Frederick Rickmann

Disney, Chaplin and sound

Even from the very start of film-making, pioneers realized that sound was a completely essential part of the experience of watching a film. As early as 1940 Walt Disney was making cartoon films where classical music played by a full orchestra was an integral element in the film. Also before the technology of including sound in the film roll, music was used in all the so-called "silent movies". In every cinema, there was a live piano added the all-important soundtrack. Most pe

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

Cool AIR

Frederick Rickmann

Cool AIR

There is a basic truth, isn't there, that if you have to say that something is cool and trendy, then it isn't that anymore. Cool has to be cool without it being said. When something is cool there has to be an understated obviousness about it. You see it once - and that it’s it. That is the way it is. Fashionable is different from cool. Fashion is something that is applied and in fact has very little to do with style. Style in design is the effortless understanding of shape an

Hot AIR

Frederick Rickmann

Hot AIR

"Hot AIR" is a most appropriate description of the AIR audio system from STEENSSEN. The word "hot" carries many meanings with it and most of them are exactly right for AIR. For instance, it is a great selling product, so it is hot on the market. Although we have to admit that the people who buy AIR are not the ones we expected at first when AIR was still on the drawboard. The fact that hot air rises is also a great metaphor. We like the slowness and steadiness of hot air ball

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