Anything but ordinary: Wega, Sonab, Fostex, and Yamaha

The post-war era was also the time of the "economic miracle," as it was called in Germany. Initially, it was about satisfying basic needs. No wonder, then, that between the 1960s and the 1980s, outstanding design emerged, especially in niches. Not only in Germany with radio and TV (Braun, Wega, Loewe), but also in Denmark (B&O), Italy (Brionvega, Voxson), Japan (Fostex, Nakamichi, Yamaha), Sweden (Sonab), and the United Kingdom (Quad, Lecson, Meridien).

Enthusiasts and specialists see this phase as one of "soulful design" (https://www.massmadesoul.com), because these objects can still captivate younger people with their appearance even in the digital age.

They offer inspiration and user pleasure, which digital "users" rarely experience in the jungle of layers due to the complexity of functions. For many customers who chose products from these providers, this resulted in added value that few manufacturers might have thought of before the presentation: a "handsome" added value – in the best sense of the word. This text is dedicated to a few of these brands.

WEGA

The "Württembergische Radio-Gesellschaft m.b.H." was founded in Stuttgart in 1923. The brand name WEGA first attracted attention in the design context in 1962, thanks to a prototype likely owed to the success of the "Snow White's coffin" (BRAUN AG).

A year later, WEGA introduced a stereo system that, similar to Brionvega in Italy a year later, can be interpreted as an expression of a contemporary understanding of living and enjoying radio or records. Verner Panton, who was extremely active and very successful at the time, was responsible for the design of this system (WEGA 3300); something that today would be called a "star designer."

Once behind the market, once ahead. Compared to B&O or BRAUN, WEGA also clearly had ambitions, but a clear line was missing. This only emerged when designer Hartmut Esslinger (frogdesign) became responsible for WEGA's design from 1969 onwards.

Esslinger remained the design partner even after a subsidiary of SONY took over the Swabians in 1975. Over nearly a decade, various stereo systems and TV sets were created, almost all of which contained SONY technology, but differed both from the mostly black Japanese boxes and from the design at B&O or BRAUN. WEGA celebrated technology. If the ratio of lights, toggle switches, and controls were price-determining, then WEGA offered far more for the money at the time than all other providers.

Around 1983, frogdesign was mainly active in Cupertino (USA) and became Apple's partner in developing the "Snow White" lines, once again echoing Snow White. Later, frogdesign also designed the NEXT Computer (1987). Had WEGA already exhausted itself by then, or did SONY lose interest in design in the 80s when Triniton TVs were already rolling off the production line in Fellbach? Without insight into the archives or conversations with contemporary witnesses, the contours of this time remain obscure. In 2005, SONY finally gave up the brand altogether.

SONAB

The Swedish engineer Stig Carlsson began developing speakers in the 1950s. In 1966, he founded the company Sonab. The name (German "Ton AG") could also be interpreted as an indication of the level of imagination among engineers ("Never let an engineer design your message!").

At the end of the 1960s, Sonab fell into a severe economic crisis and was taken over in 1969 by "Statsföretag," a state holding company and a national wealth fund. This provided the Swedish state with significant research resources for the engineer, and shortly thereafter, new series could be presented.

Sonab owes its cult status to the speakers. Many of these speakers are still considered classics today, but the complex design made their production expensive. The most popular model is the Sonab OA-5, which sold more than 100,000 units. The top model was the OA-2212, which was described by the Swedish Society for Sound Technology as the "world's best speaker."

Unlike conventionally forward-radiated sound, almost all Sonab models have speaker units (from tweeters to woofers) directed upwards. Thus, the "reflected sound from ceiling and wall [...] contributes to the stereo experience." "In addition to the speakers, receivers, cassette decks, and turntables were also sold under the Sonab brand, but these were manufactured by other companies. For example, the receiver R4000 was manufactured in the UK, the cassette deck C500 came from Nakamichi (Design: Clas-Göran Wanning), and the two turntables 75S and 85S, as well as the receiver R7000, came from Yamaha (The 75S corresponds to the YP-400, the 85S to the YP-500 from Yamaha)."

In 1978, Statsföretag shut down Sonab and thus the entire speaker production after burning through around 100 million kronor (equivalent to approximately 58 million euros today, adjusted for inflation) over about 12 years.

Afterwards, Stig Carlsson produced speakers in a small factory in Skillingaryd. They were sold under the "Carlsson" brand until his death in 1997. According to him, a speaker should achieve its best effect in any ordinary living room, not just in special listening studios. And they did, not as expensive as electrostats, yet in a class of their own and still too expensive to produce. Sonab is often described as the counterpart to the car brand SAAB in the hi-fi segment.

FOSTEX + YAMAHA

Two outstanding design achievements must not be missing here. Yamaha was already mentioned in the context of Sonab. During the same period, the Japanese provider produced the cassette recorder TC 800 designed by Mario Bellini (produced from 1975 to 1978 in 2 colors; gray and white in 3 development stages).

Until the 1970s, "Foster Electric Co, Ltd." was primarily known as a producer of speakers, also for other providers, before turning to professional tape technology. Towards the end of the 1980s, they saw a market opportunity with the rise of techno, rap, and similar music genres for so-called multi-track recording devices (multitrackers). Their design was market-oriented (like that of other providers, e.g., TEAC) and resembled studio mixing consoles.

Author: Klaus Leuschel