#113

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

2 Likes
#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.

1 Like
#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.

17 Likes
#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.

1 Like
#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)

1 Like
#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.

3 Likes
#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?

1 Like
Speaker Preferences
#124

I like their canning jars:

You even can grow flowers inside…

13 Likes
#125

I definitely don’t have luck with TE related products. The first frekvens speaker that I got had this hiss when not playing, it was not loud but I havn’t any noise problems with my other speakers so I sent it on warranty to Ikea and got it exchanged. The new one still has this hiss, but it looks like also subwoofer stops playing after a minute. Powering it off and on helps but again after one minute it stops playing. I checked it using bluetooth and jack connections and using audio from various devices :confused: I also tested it using various cables for speaker->subwoofer connection.
Has anyone encountered same problem? I am starting to get a little wary of products that have TE branding on them because mine OP-Z also had problems and had to be sent on warranty :frowning:

1 Like
#126

Did they produce the IKEA stuff? Or just design it?

#127

I have no idea, but still they decided to connect their brand to it and the speaker ain’t cheap (at least for me) so I would expect better. I will send it on a warranty and hopefully the third speaker will work correctly. Maybe I have especially bad luck but if someone has possibility to do so I would recommend checking it out in person before buying.
EDIT: I changed it to TE branding on them is this OK now?

#128

Here it goes…

6 Likes
#129

I returned it too. Got a 10x20 for my partner. I must say I was also quite disappointed by its sound. At more than double the size than my minirig, it’s seriously weak in every aspect. I’m generally not in love with ridiculously bass heavy boom boxes either, but the minirig has a built-in eq with the app. I’ll shut up comparing these two different devices now, but I just wanted to point out where I’m coming from. You could argue I should have gone with the subwoofer model yeah, but it was meant to move around the house a lot, for that it seemed way too oversized and heavy.
My partner also didn’t like how it sounded apart from the lack of bass (which was my main issue), so adding a subwoover likely wouldn’t have fixed this either.

My 2 cents on the 20x10:

Pros

  • Nice Design
  • Build quality
  • Encoder for volume

Cons

  • Sound (ymmv, since this is so related to your source audio and habits)
  • Gets grease spots very quickly (saying that as someone who is very ocd about washing hands before touching any gear)
#130

I picked up one of the small frekvens speakers, and tried connecting it with my pocket operators. With the PO-20 it worked fine, but with the PO-12 the output is barely audible (I can only hear it if I put my ear right next to the speaker). This is with the PO volume and speaker volume at max. So, I guess my PO-12 headphones/line out is shot. Any ideas if these are “fixable”?

#131

Has anyone got any experiences on how good the battery life of these speakers is? I’m thinking about getting the Speaker-Subwoofer-Combo mainly for portable use, such as road trips or festivals.
If the battery life isn’t complete garbage, it would be ideal for me, as I can stock up on a few Braunit and Enemy battery packs

#132

Woah, that’s real cool. Glad it’s so simple to rewire it.

#133

vocals through the frekvens


livecoding with orca
k-blamo at Uncoded Hack Night
Sura Korean BBQ
Long Beach, Calif.
1 Like
#134

I actually found out that one can replace the battery in the soundlink-mini. You get them for a couple of bucks online. Did that, Bose speaker works again, happy family dancing after dinner in the kitchen.
I kept the frekvens lamp, though.

1 Like