Posted on

Parker Trio review in Hifi Advice

Sitting proudly in the middle of our product range, Parker offers hallmark Marten sound. The series has been one of our great success stories, with continued interest since their release in 2020. 

This week saw yet another review of our trusty Parker Trio, this time by Hifi Advice in The Netherlands. The first part of the review includes a great introduction to our brand, the Parker series and a thorough technical breakdown of the Parker Trio.

“The Parker series is designed to elevate the performance of loudspeakers in its class to a whole new level. Based on what I heard, the Parker series may well represent the sweet spot for the brand in terms of value for money.”

This review shows a great empathy and understanding for what we are trying to achieve. We’re always happy when our work resonates with listeners out there.

“The Parker Trios have a wonderful cleanness and purity with excellent detail retrieval, yet they are sweet and sound remarkably lush. These speakers are precise but with a relaxed musicality-first approach. ”

“Imaging is rock-solid while the soundstage hangs airily and entirely freely all around the speakers. The overall presentation is relaxed but not slow.”

Many thanks to Christiaan Punter of Hifi Advice and Hans Van Put of HVP Audio for his continued support.

Read the full review

Posted on

Marten in Munich • Part Two

Working with the right people is one of the pillars of our company’s approach. Finding partners that you can trust is not only good for growth, but ensures that the job gets done right.

“If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself."

Henry Ford

At High End Munich 2023 our speakers were represented in four rooms, including our own. Our new model Mingus Septet was playing in the Jorma & Engström room; the former, our sibling cable company and the latter, long-term collaborator and manufacturer of desirable electronics. Mingus Orchestra held court in the My Sound room, powered by a suite of sophisticated MSB Technology electronics and connected by Ikigai cables. And Coltrane 3 was on static display in the room of IsoAcoustics: a company who need no introduction for their sound isolation technology.

We have worked with many of these partners for years, and trust in a mutual understanding, support and care for each other’s offerings.

Jorma & Engström room • with Mingus Septet

Thanks to Timo from Engström for a great collaboration. And thanks to Bernt and Nicklas from Jorma for all their hard work.

My Sound room • with Mingus Orchestra and MSB Technology

Thanks to Frank and Martine for your continued support.

IsoAcoustics room • with Coltrane 3

Thanks to Dave, Paul and Sean Morrison for a wonderful collaboration.

Posted on

Marten in Munich • Part One

High End Munich is the perfect place for us to showcase new products. With over twenty thousand people in attendance this year—almost half of them trade visitors—there was no better time for us to premier a new model.

Mingus Septet was designed and built in the year running up to the show, but incorporates years of R&D into creating new drivers. It’s the first of our speakers to use custom diamond and beryllium drivers. Even we were surprised at early-listenings for the prototype. Installing a speaker always presents challenges, with many factors from room dynamics to crowd flow to consider, a brand new speaker brings more unknowns. With a combination of experience and a little faith, we set-up the system in two days. In our opinion, the sound was beyond expectations—that is perhaps easy for us to say, but our sentiment was shared by visitors to the room.

Our latest model found a receptive audience in the busy show environment, with many people offering a knowing nod and smile after listening, and some taking the time to tell us how good Mingus Septet sounded. Getting feedback is one of the reasons that we like to show to such a large audience, and when it’s positive, that’s all the better.

Of course, a speaker can only perform well when it’s set-up in a good system. To maximise the performance of Mingus Septet we employed a fantastic array of components for the system from MSB, Antipodes, TechDAS, Reed, DS Audio and naturally, Jorma. Full system details here

High End Munich is a great opportunity for us to meet people. Many of our partners were there and it was good to catch-up with journalists and the general public alike. And with most of our distributors flying in from all over the world, we had our largest group meeting to date, where industry cognoscenti Michael Fremer played some lacquer masters for music that he is planning to release this year.

We pride ourselves on creating an environment that works acoustically and is a welcoming place for our visitors. It takes months of planning, lots of design, many many meetings, and a lot of labour to get this to happen. This year, we drove eighteen palettes by truck from Sweden to the Bavarian capital. We would like to thank our talented and hard-working team, Bernt, Jonas, Kristian, Mikael, Nicklas and Rune.

There are many more people to thank, but we’ll cover those in part two of our show report where we take you to the rooms from Jorma & Engström, MSB and IsoAcoustics.

Posted on

High End Munich 2023

This year at High End Munich 2023, we are proud to present the world premier of Mingus Septet. We are exceptionally happy with this model and can’t wait to return to our favourite international show.

Mingus Septet will be demo’d in two rooms during the event: the Marten room (F119) and the Jorma & Engström room (F219). We will also being showing Mingus Orchestra with MSB and a static display of Coltrane 3  in the IsoAcoustics room.

MARTEN
Atrium 4.1, room F119
Mingus Septet with

  • MSB Monoblock
  • MSB Reference Dac
  • MSB Reference Director
  • TechDas Turntable
  • Reed tonearm
  • DS Audio optical cartridge
  • DS Audio RIA Phono Amp
  • Jorma cables
  • Jorma Power Filter Reference

JORMA & ENGSTRÖM
Atrium 4.2, room F219
Mingus Septet with

  • Engström MONICA M-Phono
  • Engström ERIC Encore power amp
  • Jorma Statement Cables
  • Jorma Power Filter Reference
  • Solid Tech Balance furniture and accessories
  • Reed Muse 3C Turntable
  • Reed 5A and 2B Tonearms
  • Lyra Etna Lambda Cartridge
  • SMT Diffusors 
  • Degritter Mark 2 Ultra sonic record cleaner

MSB
Atrium 4.1, room E221
Mingus Orchestra with

  • MSB The Premier DAC
  • MSB Premier Digital Director
  • MSB M205 Mono Amp

ISOACOUSTICS
Atrium 4.2 room F210
Coltrane 3 (static display)

Download press release

New for 2023: Mingus Septet
Mingus Orchestra
Coltrane 3
Posted on

Parker Duo stands on top

Parker Duo has been unanimously voted as top stand speaker in a comparison test for Finnish magazine Hifimaailma.

Since its launch in 2020, Parker Duo has become renowned for its performance, even drawing comparison to floor-standers in its class. It was put to the test against stand speakers from B&W, Dynaudio, KEF, Perlisten and Taipuu, and was consistently placed in the top spot by all three judges. 

“Marten Parker Duo was only speaker which offered listening magic”

Mauri Eronen • Editor-in-chief, Hifimaailma

For our Finnish readers, you can find the full review here.

Posted on

High spirits at Marten HQ

When we opened a new production, it freed up space in our existing offices, allowing our employees more room to work, and in the case of last Wednesday, to play. 

Last week marked the completion of building work on our premises, so we threw a party to celebrate and bring our staff together – what a nice excuse to open some bubbly and listen to music.

These photos were taken by our long-standing friend Apexorca. Many thanks to him for these great images. You can see more photos from the party and the facility here

Coltrane Momento 2 in our main listening room
Our CEO Jörgen puts on a performance
Second listening room (the original Mingus model isn't connected)
Did Leif sneak off to work? 😉
Posted on

Coltrane 3 is coming to Chicago

As part of Axpona, we are coming to Chicago. The Windy City is one of the musical centres for blues in the United States, and we can’t wait to touch down. Coltrane 3 SE will be on show 14th April.

Our partners Vana Ltd have worked with Kyomi Audio to organise a special evening and an opportunity to hear one of our long-standing, and dare we say, classic models, Coltrane 3. Coltrane 3 SE (Statement Edition) features top of the line Jorma Statement internal wiring and enhanced crossover components.

For the occasion, our Chief Designer Leif Olofsson will be making the trip stateside.

For more info or to arrange a visit, contact Kyomi Audio.

Posted on

Oslo Hifi Show

Coltrane Momento 2 and Parker Trio Diamond are coming to Norway in March 2023.

We’re delighted to announce that our Norwegian cousins Mala Audio will be at the Oslo Hifi Show on 11-12th March.

The show will be hosted at the Scandic Asker Hotel in Norway. This international show is spread across 55 rooms on four floors and will feature artists, lectures, entertainment, food and drink, and a record fair.

Setup 1
Coltrane Momento 2
• Constellation Revelation
• Pictor Preamp and Taurus monoblocks
• TechDas Airforce 3 Premium turntable
• Acoustical Systems tonearm
• DS Audio optical cartridge
• Jorma cabling

Setup 2
Parker Trio Diamond
• Engstrøm Monica and Lars
• TechDas Airforce V Premium
• Jorma cabling

Find out more

Posted on

Mixing at Svenska Grammofon Studion

Since last year, we have been inviting artists to come and record for our next Supreme Sessions album. This week, we were in another studio in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Svenska Grammofon Studion is a well established recording studio for many Scandinavian artists and a broadcasting platform for the Swedish National Radio. The studio is expansive, with a vast array of recording equipment, from vintage to state-of-the art, and everything in between.

Perhaps the jewel in the crown, the Neve console formerly owned by Queen, has been used for recordings by The Rolling Stones, Michael Jackson, AC/DC, Miles Davis, Aretha Franklin, David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, Stevie Wonder and Jonny Cash. With such an esteemed history, it feels like an honour to mix Jazz tracks for our album here.

We installed Parker Duo for playback so we would know exactly what we would be listening to. This feedback loop between the recording and product, allowed us to make precise adjustments to the mix.

Many thanks to the team at Svenska Grammofon Studion for their commitment and work—we had a great time.