#103

I received bigger speaker with woofer today. Planning to use it as designated speaker for my modular system and garden speaker and after little testing it seems it will fit nicely in such scenario. The only thing that concerns me there is a little hiss present when volume is greater than zero. Anyone else noticed such thing? It might be something with grounding, but unfortunately I don’t have battery to check it using other power source. But my other speakers are dead silent when nothing is playing.

#104

Alright. I’m not trying to spoil anyone’s fun but maybe I’ll save some folks a trip. I got a chance to spend 20 minutes testing out the 20x30 with sub and I have to say this things sounds terrible. Mushy, dull, just unpleasant. Side by side with the other ikea line synfonik, no contest. The frekvens costs more and sounds worse. I wanted to like it. I was ready buy but damn, a generic amazon unit with slightly nicer design. Such a disappointment. Ymmv

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#105

@Quesja, were you testing it out at the store or at someone’s house?

From my experience, when I heard it in the giant noisy store I wasn’t impressed at all but I took a chance on it. In my living room it sounds beautiful. Much better than the unit it replaced but that’s just my opinion.

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#106

It was in the store, but it was virtually empty in that section and not noisy. Out of curiosity, are you using it for recorded music or as a synth speaker? My test was only recorded music via line in and Bluetooth. I was legitimately shocked at how poor the soundstage was. I tried with the sub and without. Low volume and high. I was close and I was half an aisle over. I took it off the shelf and put it on the floor. As I said, I wanted to buy it. I went there to buy it. It’s also $200 CAD.

Have you happened to try the other IKEA line? The partnership with Sonos

#107

I have the Symfonisk (Ikea Sonos) and it sounds no better than the Frekvens. Maybe you had a bad unit?

#108

Interesting.

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#109

frekvens realizations…
speakers got an audio out
means bluetooth connection
to another system :slight_smile:

#110

«How to» on the CV hack:

Question, the spotlights: Do they just pulse when hit with a high enough transient, or do they grdually fade up/down with volume?

#111

I believe using the analog audio-in/out bypasses the bluetooth pairing, or vice-versa.

It would be great if it worked simultaneously. Can someone do a quick test?

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#112

Perhaps. I gotta go back this week so I’ll see about opening a box.

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#113

Dropping this for interests: http://kempbros.github.io/frekvens/FREKVENS_6x10_Teardown/

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#114

What’s that tape player thing I can see in the frekvens hacks? Anybody know something about this?

#115

Pretty sure that’s a 3D printed decoration.

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#117

Yes, correct - analog audio-in/out bypasses the bluetooth pairing.
Only one works at a give time.

#118

Okay, not sure how I feel about this.

Ikea is a massive contributer to not only landfill, but a culture around the desire to by cheap, good looking, convenient products, at the cost of low quality and a short life span. This has affected the industry and the public’s expectations of the value of furniture that undermines those that create better, longer lasting products, which in turn makes those products less available, and less affordable. Sure, there are some decent basic items, but I’d say a good 75% of hard garbage furniture that I see around is Ikea, without exaggeration. It’s the fast fashion version of the furniture world. Mass produced furniture that isn’t really sustainable, and the labour going into it not really that ethical either (cheap products = cheap labour, pretty unanimous rule).

Now they’re going into producing party products? Cheap speakers and lights with some matching ancillaries, what’s not to like! Clever to team up with a cool company that has credibility like Teenage Engineering, as that’s what’s connected them directly to another market (many of you), but I can guarantee that most of these products will wind up in landfill within the next decade.

Ikea is a lot like Behringer… with less plagiarism (it’s still there tough), and a more family friendly CEO.

Just offering a different perspective here that hasn’t been addressed.

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#120

Of course Ikea is not the only one, but I also see a lot of that here.

Personally I’ve bought a few Ikea things and still have them, never threw anything away. I even bought some Ikea stuff second-hand! I guess it really depends on what your “strategy” is. If you take care to choose what you buy from them wisely and sparingly, avoid the really crappy/flimsy stuff (some of it is actually quite durable and made of actual wood) it can be ok I guess. Sometimes you really need something but the finances are low.

But I guess the majority of people don’t really invest that much thought in it. Probably the low cost makes it a common choice for temporary solutions and people don’t have that many regrets when trowing the stuff away, compared to more expensive furniture. At least that’s how I explain the big amount of Ikea in landfills to myself.

Now, I don’t know how this all relates to the Frekvens stuff. I guess it’s really a bit of brand loyality coming into play here. It affected me as well I have to admit. Not that I am a huge TE fan, but when I saw these speakers I had to think “cool”. They do look nice and seem cleverly designed, at least from a more aesthetic perspective.

I won’t expect them to be using high-quality parts and to be easily self-repairable. Not because it’s Ikea, but because that seems to be the overall industry standard.

I was wondering about it because, well, that’s kind of a weird one. Why would you have a 3D printed tape player decoration? This kind of feels like a big “look how retro I am, but I’m just into retro because it’s cool” sign to me. It really feels like an empty shell.

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#121

I agree that while their business model is based on instabuy/trash/repeat consumerism and leads to more wastefulness in western culture in general, but I have to point out that they (IKEA) also bring benefits to the less fortunate and poor countries and people, who are given an opportunity to affordable furniture that they wouldn’t otherwise have, maybe in a lifetime. Look at the hectic inaugurations of IKEA in India. In that regard, it’s nice that they exist on a massive scale.

On the other hand, I’m very much in agreement with @Puscha in the unethical drive of their products, particularly Frekvens. It feels like a cheap trick to get buzz and drive sales (why say it’s limited edition right from the start?) and I can’t see enough benefits or quality besides the minimal/retro aesthetics and gimmicks. So I’m out.

If I’m going to buy some speakers, I’ll do so from a brand that has interest in speakers/sound besides wanting to partner with a fashionable boutique and “get in on the action”. I’m looking at Teenage Engineering as well, I can’t tell if they’re a synthesizer company or design company or whatever. I know I’ve got more options and trust in dedicated brands. (proceeds to daydream about Genelec ones)

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#122

Well I’m loving mine so bought more. Didn’t feel the need to buy any cheap furniture with it to then throw it in the bin when I got home. So all is ok.

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#123

I bought the speaker/subwoofer combo and was quite underwhelmed. Did not sound good. I have a Bose Mini soundlink which just died a week ago - or the battery is kaputt, not sure. However, I was thinking the Frekvens speakers could replace that for listening to music in the kitchen. But the decrease in sound quality was just too stark. Maybe the comparison is unfair, as the Bose thing costs twice as much. But The Frekvens speker feels so much more uncomfortable.

For example I didn´t like that the subwoofer connects with two cables. The sound cable connection was weak, the cable provoked a hum that would go away if you turn the plug a bit clockwise or so. The volume button on the small speaker felt cheap.
The whole combo is really big. But the small Bose sounded bigger.

So I returned the speakers. Will buy something else. Recommendations?

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Speaker Preferences
#124

I like their canning jars:

You even can grow flowers inside…

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