COMPCOMPANY
SWEDEN
LAB.GRUPPEN
Lab.gruppen headquarters in Kungsbacka
Lab.gruppen was founded in 1979 by Kenneth Andersson and
Dan Bävholm and it was the first company to manufacture a
switch mode amplifier. Founder Kenneth’s son, Martin, was my
chaperone for the day, showing me around the sites of Lab.
gruppen.
Standing outside Lab.gruppen headquarters in Kungsbacka,
there is nothing immediately obvious to make this HQ stand
out from any other. However, once inside, you discover a whole
world revolving around amplifiers and loudspeaker management
systems. Every aspect of Lab.gruppen is done under one roof,
aside from a couple of metal components which are made at a
factory 2km down the road, everything from the research and
design, the suppliers, the manufacturing, the testing, the sales, the
service and the aftercare are all run from just one building.
Lab.gruppen’s first amplifier was the SS 300, and its come a long
way since then. Some of it’s most memorable breakthroughs
include: the LAB Series; the SS 1300, the first amplifier to have a
switch mode power supply; the Class TD amplifiers, which remain
Jessica Andersson and Martin Andersson (no relation)
a strong foundation in the company to the present day; and the fp at Lab.gruppen HQ
Series. In the last decade Lab.gruppen was purchased by the TGI
Group (which was later acquired by the TC Group) - this decision
was made with the aim of growth in mind. And this is just one
example of Lab.gruppen making a good choice at exactly the right
time. Most recently Lab.gruppen have introduced the fp+ Series,
and the PLM Series, powered loudspeaker management systems
Whilst the acquistion of Dolby Lake processor technology and the
Lake brand was announced early in 2009.
To keep this company running successfully, and on schedule with
BELOW TOP: Lab.gruppen technicians make all products by hand.
BELOW BOTTOM: A one-stop-shop, Lab.gruppen have practically
everything to operate all under one roof.
customer demands, Lab.gruppen prides itself on reliable, quality
products, and in order to sustain these high standards, the best
components must be used. One component in particular is vital
to the manufacturing of Lab.gruppen amplifiers, this is the copper
cooling element. When the company who made this component
declared it was going to stop producing the product a few years
ago, Lab.gruppen actually bought the machine itself so that it could
continue to supply its customers with the same high-spec products
they’ve grown to recognise over the years.
All Lab.gruppen products are made and assembled by hand. Once
built, the products go through rigorous testing, which includes heat
tests of up to 40º, and if any faults are detected, they are fixed by
hand and then re-tested.
Lab.gruppen control quality assurance by having constant checks
on all altered models so that customers are kept up to date with
the latest developments. Lab.gruppen is so proud of its quality, in
fact, that it is sure there are people still using some older models
and so it still has spare parts for these older models on site.
It seems the possibilities are endless for the future of Lab.gruppen,
however, Head of Research and Technology Fredrik Kihiberg
shared his insight: “I think the industry is going to start going down
the route of integration. We’ll begin to see more collaboration
products like Lab.gruppen’s PLM Series.”
084 January / February 2010
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