World’s finest audio technologist Peter lyngdorf was in the city to inaugurate the first Steinway lyngdorf flagship showroom. By Devi Singh
Peter lyngdorf, head of lyngdorf Audio and Danish tech guru was in Delhi for the opening of the first Steinway lyngdorf flagship showroom in Delhi. Trescent lifestyles, one of the leaders in providing high-end home theatres, audio-video and home automation solutions for luxury homes are the exclusive distributor for Steinway lyngdorf sound systems in India.
lyngdorf is one of the world’s finest audio technologists and has been associated with pioneering numerous breakthroughs in the high-end audio space for over three decades. He is also the founder of Steinway-lyngdorf, an unprecedented partnership with Steinway & Sons, makers of the world’s finest pianos for 160 years. The collaboration combines unique digital technology with beautiful craftsmanship to offer the most superior quality sound systems.
“The merger came about through one of my customers who had lyngdorf system and was impressed by the reproduction of classical music that he introduced me to Steinway management. I made three promises to Steinway, one was we can reproduce Steinway grand piano, two, we can do it virtually in any kind of room and three, nobody would be able to make the difference between the actual piano and the reproduced sound,” said lyngdorf.
lyngdorf has dedicated his entire life to the pursuit of the perfect sound. “I bought my first tape recorder in 1964 and soon wanted bigger speakers in them, so I made a pair which turned out to be better than the built-in ones. After that I continued to make big speakers for my friends through high school, he shared.
At age 21, lyngdorf started his first company Audionord in 1974. In 1980, he found Klubben, Europe's largest and the most successful high-end audio retailer. His entrepreneurial spirit continued over the next two decades, as he became the owner of several companies that have helped advance home audio systems including, NAD Electronics, Gryphon Audio, et al.
“My love for music has brought me here. My favorites would be Beatles, Dire Straits, Pink Floyd. Besides, I love piano pieces as I feel the grand piano is the most complete and dynamic instrument in terms of emotions it can render. Also, I think Audio technology has always been a big part of Danish heritage. In Denmark, we have more audio engineers than any other country in the world. It dates back all the way to the discovery of electromagnetism which was discovered by Danish scientist named, Orsted.”
“I was at a CEDIA event in the USA six years ago where I was impressed by the performance of Steinway lyngdorf Model D speaker and I contacted them whether they have any representation in India and that's how we partnered with them. They had a lot of Indian customers at their Singapore and Malaysia stores so it was natural for them to look for a partner in India,” Harshul Parikh, co-founder, Trescent lifestyles said.
“I think Delhi is more spacious and the houses are much bigger. People here love entertainment and music so that’s the thought behind this store. In India, home theatres are catching up as a trend. People have started dedicating a separate room for entertainment,” added Parikh.
The lS Concert combines technologies from two of Steinway lyngdorf’s most popular speakers, the Model lS and the flagship Model D, the dipole technology from the Model D and the line source technology from the Model lS. Created as an open-baffle dipole line source, the Model lS Concert speaker provides the ultimate in audio experience. “My favorite model is lS concert as it was the first speaker that was completely designed by me both in terms of the aesthetics and mechanics. It was always a dream to make a speaker which doesn't have any performance limitations,” lyngdorf said.
“The response has been really good in India. We have sold quite a few systems. Indians are very keen on good quality sound. Worldwide there is a tendency where people spend more on sound for the home theatre than for the music. I personally think that’s bit of a shame but on the other hand, there is a lot of good music content with video coming up which is absolutely outstanding,” he added.
“Next thing for us is improvement in amplifier and integration technology. Many people in the industry are not exactly working on real technology for sound improvement. Their concentration lies more in making things smaller, lighter and cheaper like, trying to get a good sound out of a flat screen TV. I would say we are the only hi-end company where every part of technology is designed by us. For instance, more than $10 million were invested in Model D alone and there’s no other high-end company which can afford it. The bigger companies like Sony, are not interested in super high-end quality probably because it’s way too small a business for them,” lyngdorf said.