MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER


A Danish institution, Vifa has been creating striking, cutting-edge sound technology for more than 80 years


Most iconic brands have a compelling backstory. And Vifa Denmark is no exception. In 1933, a professional auto mechanic and amateur sound obsessive from Videbaek, Denmark called Nils Madsen crawled out from under his truck and started tinkering with loudspeakers on his kitchen table, studying the recently developed stereo technology. His hobby soon became a vocation and, over the subsequent decades, Nils was rewarded for following his heart. By the 1950s, his company, Vifa, had become one of the most trusted and admired makers of speaker components in the world, renowned for its refusal to compromise on quality in search of mass-market appeal.


FOUNDING PRINCIPLES More than eight decades on from Nils’s early developments, Vifa is still spreading its wings, although the early spirit remains. “The guiding principle is that things should


work,” says the company’s Managing Director Michael Sorensen. “Whatever we make needs to fulfil its function. And everything we make should be nice to look at, because we are all influenced by the aesthetics of what’s around us.” Vifa’s new range of wireless, Bluetooth- enabled and WiFi-networked speakers perfectly embody this mission statement. The company


will always remain committed to top-quality hi-fi equipment, but these units represent the company’s first foray into the high-end consumer electronics market. They maintain Vifa’s state- of-the-art functionality while incorporating spectacular aesthetic form. The various breakthroughs in design and


performance haven’t come easily, with Vifa’s current range representing the culmination of years of research and development. For instance, the fabric covering the speakers comes courtesy of Kvadrat, a Danish textile supplier best known for seating and interiors. “Perfecting the fabric alone was a very long


process,” says Michael. “You need a texture in the weaving that will let the sound pass through without disturbance. We took an existent fabric and removed some threads. The idea was that we wanted a very tight look so that you couldn’t see through to the parts behind it. So we took an existing Kvadrat fabric design and customised it for acoustic transparency and visual blocking.”


POWER AND BEAUTY As part of Vifa’s attention to detail, the next step was to explore the findings of a market research concept known as Female Interaction, something that considers the emotional reactions that underpin aesthetics and function.


AMBIANCE 299


“ JUST BECAUSE SOMETHING IS SMALL, THERE’S NO REASON TO COMPROMISE ON ITS STRENGTH AND POWER”


“When you enter a home, you sense the


personal atmosphere of a place and the things that are in it,” says Michael. “Women have a large say in this. The key to design is to create something that appeals to women but doesn’t scare the men away. Just because something is small and neat, there’s no reason to compromise on its strength and power. You can have both.” This goes back to Vifa’s central purpose, which is superior sound. It’s why Vifa’s speaker components have become a byword for quality and reliability. “Like the finest motor cars, Vifa concentrates on craftsmanship,” says Michael. “It requires very precise knowledge about one thing. You do one thing and you do it extremely well. If something isn’t good enough, it won’t be allowed through. It’s continuing to always do the best possible job because it gives your products the sense of something genuine and long-lasting. It’s respectful to your customer.” It’s an ethos that Nils Madsen would recognise


with pride. “Finally,” says Michael, “it comes from a love of music. The speakers look great but what’s inside is just as important.” www.vifa.dk


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