Leif Olofsson, Marten founder: Exclusive Interview for AT
Today it is the turn of Leif Mårten Olofsson, the current Chief Designer and founder of the Swedish company Marten. One of the companies that have been creating the best and most exclusive loudspeakers on the market since 1998. If you have never heard one of their speakers, at least have the pleasure of knowing a little more about their technology and how they are able to develop such exquisite products, and with that real sound.
To do so, I invite you to read the full interview…
Architecnología: What is special about Marten compared to other brands such as Bang & Olufsen and other competitors?
Leif Olofsson: Marten is more of a High-End brand and not a lifestyle brand such as Bang & Olufsen. One thing that also differentiates Marten form our competitors is that many claim to have a completely uncoloured sound when they in fact do not. Marten is very truthful to have a very transparent and un coloured sound..
AT: What are the most critical points in the design of a loudspeaker (isolation, cabinet resonance, distortion, transducer, materials,…)?
L.O.: Everything is important as the final result is as good as the weakest link.
AT: What differentiates Accuton Cells from others units? And why is the acoustic center so important?
L.O.: It’s very complicated to explain but please have a look at this video.
AT: Why do you use diamond for tweeters?
L.O.: It’s the most rigid and exceptional material for tweeter domes that gives extremely low distortion.
AT: Is the carbon fiber and wood finish simply aesthetic or does it also influence the sound?
L.O.: The carbon fibre is an extremely rigid material which makes for low distortion and in combination with wood it creates a lightweight yet distortion free cabinet. It does look good but form always follows function.
AT: Why don’t you produce headphones, sound bars, HomeCinema and other sound systems? Will you do it in the future?
L.O.: Marten is a High-End audio brand. We let other brands take care of this market.
AT: At the structural and technical level, what is the difference between a woofer and tweeter?
L.O.: Woofer needs to be bigger as it’s handling the bass and the tweeter needs to be smaller to handle the treble.
AT: Your sound is very impressive, without distorting, without modifying. What nuances differentiate your loudspeakers from the studio monitors? And Can your products be used as an alternative to studio monitors?
L.O.: Thank you.
Studio monitors are tuned to be overly sensitive to reveal flaws in the sound and they should also be hard waring so that you can easily unplug the and reconnect them to different types of equipment.
While our loudspeakers would work very well as studio monitors and some producers are actually using our loudspeakers for that it might often be more suitable with something more hard wearing.
AT: How do you achieve an exceptional sound in any type of room?
L.O.: Use the right size loudspeaker for the room size, good equipment, lots of adjustments and also make use of room acoustics.
AT: Thank you!
