IKEA's FREKVENS Series to Offer a Turntable and More

IKEA's FREKVENS Series to Offer a Turntable and More​

(IKEA)(March 5, 2018) Here’s a name that we don’t often associate with audio: IKEA. Outside of the company’s popular Kallax cubed shelving unit – which is something of utter fame amongst the vinyl collecting community – and other offerings that adequately house equipment and media, IKEA is a lifestyle furniture manufacturer.

Right?

Last summer, IKEA announced it was collaborating with Teenage Engineering to create a new product line called FREKVENS (translation: frequency). According to company research, IKEA says that over half of its Millennial customer base “said that they play music to get a ‘homey feeling’.” That’s a sentiment that importantly ties music to the home. The company also says that “spontaneity” is a key attribute shared by younger people. Pull those two together and IKEA feels there’s a clear need for “party gear” that’s mobile and simple to deploy.

The FREKVENS series is billed to offer some 22 items, including an electronic choir, party lighting, and – most interestingly – a turntable. Yes, IKEA appears to be ready to ride the recent vinyl renaissance, somehow tying the format into a player that’s designed to “bring the party with you.”

(IKEA)Last year, IKEA released an image of their products being used at music festival in Copenhagen. More recently, its Instagram feed produced a picture of the pending collection’s prototypes. And while a true turntable is notably absent, there’s plenty of hints of music and festivity. The image shows brightly colored speakers attached to a central audio unit, an LED light box, a faux spotlight, and portable speaker units. It’s a group of products that IKEA says will be widely usable by a broad range of consumers, even those that aren’t tech savvy.

Perhaps the company will revive the infamous “Color Organ” boxes the world endured during the 1970s? We’ll have to wait several more months before finding out; IKEA’s FREKVENS products are due to hit store shelves by February 2019.

 

[Jeff S]

IKEA certainly puts an interesting spin on anything they touch. Not necessarily my cop of tea, but I am sure they can pull it off in those massive stores. When you shop in one, you get sucked in like being in an amusement park. Then you buy, buy, buy. Sorry, just had a flashback.

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the news. Never realized IKEA was into music. I agree with Jeff S, once you go to their store, they make it like a maze, where you are forced to go thru everything to get you to buy something.

 

[Todd Anderson]

IKEA certainly puts an interesting spin on anything they touch. Not necessarily my cop of tea, but I am sure they can pull it off in those massive stores. When you shop in one, you get sucked in like being in an amusement park. Then you buy, buy, buy. Sorry, just had a flashback.

The stores are built to be a maze, trapping you into walking through every single section of the store. I find it all too overwhelming.

I’m curious as to why companies aren’t pushing physical CD players. The media is certainly cheaper.

While I’m not a buyer, I’m curious to see what IKEA issues. It looks like they might have some sort of digital mixer in the works.

 

[Matthew J Poes]

This is interesting news.

So we live right next to an Ikea and have an Ikea house. While not obvious there are numerous short cuts to reduce the amount of maze you have to go through. Still not quite as easy to navigate as say a target, but not as horrific as walking the entire store. We sometimes run in quickly just to pick up some lights or shelves.

 

[Todd Anderson]

Here are some sketches they've released. It's definitely a curious collection...

 

[Matthew J Poes]

That is interesting to say the least.

I'll be curious how feature rich these devices turn out to be and how completive the sound is. Their smart bulbs are actually really well designed and priced competitively. The same may be true here.