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Do you ever catch yourself thinking that everything used to be better? If we’re honest, it’s often nostalgia – that rose-tinted haze of emotions and memories – that makes the past seem more appealing than it really was. But sometimes, just sometimes, things truly were better. Or at least more beautiful and impressive.  

Take audio equipment, for example. These days, we’re surrounded by compact, app-controlled, “smart” speakers delivering digitally “optimised” sound. Sure, it’s amazing what these pint-sized gadgets can produce in terms of sound volume, but let’s face it: HomePods, Sonos Ones, and Ikea Symfonisks are more about booming bass for the casual MP3 listener than delivering the kind of sound that gets audiophiles genuinely excited.  

Sure to make HiFi enthusiasts‘ hearts race: A complete, well-preserved Sansui ‘Intelligent Super Compo’ with restored speaker grilles.

No wonder, then, that those of us old enough to remember can’t help but feel a pang of joy when we see a proper vintage HiFi system with its classic tower of components and serious speakers

Let’s be honest: have you ever listened to music from a recording that truly captures the spatial depth and precision of a live concert? In today’s world of immersive audio and Dolby Surround, that might sound like an odd question. But think about it—this isn’t about digital tweaks that “optimise” sound and put you in the middle of the stage, where, frankly, the audience would never sit. The real question is: how do you recreate the sound from the front row, where every detail is razor-sharp, and the soundstage feels genuinely three-dimensional?

Most audio purists will agree that traditional speakers just can’t get you there. Speaker cabinets always influence the sound, and conventional speakers are unidirectional: They project sound mostly forward, making the listening experience a bit flat. The room doesn’t “breathe”, and even with perfect phase alignment, there’s usually only one “sweet spot” where everything sounds just right—the much-quoted apex of the stereo triangle.

The advantages of planar speaker

We first reported on the HornAudio system back in 2022. Since then, this extraordinary active system has brought the principles of professional sound reinforcement technology to a high-end level in more and more living rooms and public spaces – and at an amazingly affordable price.


Satellites of the HornAudio SoRi 2 system with front covering from Akustikstoff.com

The story of the system's origins begins with the coronavirus pandemic: the almost complete collapse of the event business initially heralded difficult economic times for the Dutch band Rapalje. However, founding member Maceál, also a manufacturer and distributor of professional PA systems in his hometown of Groningen and far beyond with his company HornAudio, as well as a sought-after expert for all questions relating to sound reinforcement technology, used t

Remember that holiday in your favourite country, where almost everything was perfect? Even the simplest dishes were at least twice as delicious as usual, right

No wonder. We know from numerous scientific studies that an experience such as a meal is always influenced by all our senses, especially visual perception. “You eat with your eyes, “ as a German proverb goes, meaning that food is more enjoyable when it is attractively presented and served in an appealing setting. 

It’s all about the setting – even when it comes to listening pleasure
And guess what: The same applies to our listening experience. Strangely enough, things sound subjectively better to a certain extent in an acoustically-questionable but impressively furnished baroque hall that smells of precious wood and fresh roses than in an acoustically optimised, but smelly and shabbily furnished room. 

Believe it or not, perfect musical enjoyment is not so far from the perfect dinner: every detail matters. Needless to say that the performance of each element in the audio signal chain needs to be flawless, but the aesthetics of your setup and eve

Do you like buying a pig in a poke? We don't - and we don't expect you to either. Because just like us, you have probably already learnt that nothing beats personal experience with a product. In other words, touching, trying out and experiencing. No matter how pretty the photos in an online shop and how tempting the product descriptions. And there are many goodreasons for a certain degree of caution, especially with a product such as loudspeaker fabric.

Although "ordering on approval" has become almost commonplace for many of us thanks to Amazon and similar mass suppliers of all sorts of things, it's still frustrating every time a product doesn't meet our expectations. What's more, every return requires an annoying trip to the nearest post office, whose opening hours don't fit in with our personal daily routines. Added to this is the extremely

You have received your package from akustikstoff.com and are now holding a beautiful piece of fabric in the colour of your choice in your hands. Now it's time to install it (you can find out the best way to do this in our tutorials here). But obviously the speaker fabric has two different sides and you are wondering which side of the fabric should face outwards.

Things used to be simple, because until the 1970s, more or less coarsely woven materials or even braids were usually used to cover speakers. All these covers have an attractive front, but the back is usually rather unsightly. You may remember such materials from grandma's steam radio or vintage speakers. And if you make music, you will still come across such woven cover fabrics on the vast majority of instrument amplifiers and combos. It even makes sense to use them here, as these front coverings are relatively robust and therefore well suited to the rough and tumble of the stage.


A typical woven cover f

A few days ago, I once again found an incredibly cheap flight ticket promising to take me to the destination of my next dream vacation for a mere 29 euros from an airport near me. But, of course, upon closer inspection, it was anything but a bargain: Various service fees, flight safety charges, fuel surcharges, insurance costs, airport fees – and of course, hefty additional costs for any luggage larger than a lunchbox drove the actual ticket price up to a hefty triple-digit amount.

You’re wondering what this has to do with speaker fabric? Quite simply: as an operator of an online shop for speaker fabric, you can experience similar surprises on your shipping service providers‘ monthly invoices ­– with the fine but unpleasant difference that all additional costs are incurred long after the shipment has been dispatched. Once a package is on its way, there’s no turning back. Especially for deliveries abroad, this can quickly spoil your entire budgeting, with surcharges for islands, peculiar extra fees for deliveries to »remote areas«, or exorbitant return costs for undeliverable shipments. If a shipment is returned from a non-EU co

As a leading specialist in sound-transparent textiles, we are known for continuous innovation in the field of high-quality loudspeaker fabrics. Today we are introducing another ground-breaking development: the option to print your customised photos and images on our fabrics.

We have been continuously developing our extensive range of high-quality products for many years: our standard fabric has been joined by the water-repellent 2.0 fabric and the flame-retardant, M1-certified FR fabric, while the range of available colours has grown to 42.

This selection of colours and fabric qualities alone makes it possible to create exceptionally individual designs for speakers, AV furniture, absorbers, ceiling sails, recording studio equipment, home cinemas and many other applications.

However, we will soon be taking individual design options to a whole new level: by customising the fabrics, you can incorporate your style, personality and creativity into the design of your speakers and audio environments in a unique way. The possibilities are almost endless - in the hi-fi and high-end sector as well as in furniture construction, exhibition stand construction

A few years ago, I was in Malta at this time of year. One day I visited the Gaia Foundation and their Peace Grove above Għajn Tuffieħa Bay. It was a windy day, and the gentle rustling of leaves in the wind could be heard all around, while the bright, already somewhat warm sun made everything feel more alive. I noticed several beautiful olive trees standing in the midst of all the greenery. The vibrant green hue of the leaves caught my attention, and I couldn’t help but think how great this colour would look in our acoustic fabrics.

And now, it gives me great pleasure to announce the introduction of the new colour Olive to our extensive range of standard colours for acoustic fabrics. Olive is a warm, inviting colour that exudes a sense of calmness and serenity while adding new, spring-fresh Mediterranean accents.

Stage performers such as musicians, cabaret artists, readers, and lecturers are usually confronted with a fundamental question before any live performance: Will the PA system provided on site meet the requirements? At the end of the day, the PA system is key to the success of a live event – even in the long run. Poor sound prevents the proverbial spark from striking during the performance, no matter how hard an artist tries on stage. Much more serious, however, is the fact that audiences usually blame poor live sound on the artists themselves, which means that inadequate PA systems can be a real career obstacle.

To minimise this risk, most performing artists rely on a so-called tech rider, a contract addendum that specifies the required features and performance data of the PA system and the lighting equipment. But in daily practice, even precise specifications in a tech rider do not protect artists from unpleasant surprises, and hardly any artist will cancel a sho

Is your order from our online shop already on its way to you? If so, you will have received a shipment notification email with a tracking number. Use this number to actively track your shipment. It’s worth the effort.

Now and then we receive emails and calls from customers who report problems with the delivery of their shipment and ask us for help. Apart from a few exceptions, however, there is very little we can do in such cases. The parcel services’ operations are completely beyond our control, especially outside Germany. Nevertheless, there are several things you can do in advance to avoid much of the typical hassle with parcel services. 

This article illustrates how to set the course for the smooth delivery of your order. Let’s start with a look at what causes the vast majority of problems, because, as always, understanding the origin of problems makes it easier to avoid them right from the outset.

Are you still expecting several delivery attempts to be made before a shipment is considered undeliverable and returned to the sender? Well, time to say farewell to t

The white-bellied frog (geocrinia alba) is an extremely tiny species that only lives in an equally tiny area. Scientists have found that total area the extremely endangered frogs occupy is less than 2 square kilometres of swampy patches in the Margaret River region in southwest Western Australia. Such an endemic species naturally attracts the interest of scientists. 

Biologists at the University of Western Australia wanted to record the frogs’ distinctive noises to to gain further insight into the behaviour of the animals. But in a wet environment, this poses particular challenges. So they got in Touch with Soundlabs Group in Mittagong, Australia, our distribution partner for the Asia / Pacific region.

“My appli