A new
amplifier
standard,
three
decades in
the making
Years before
the company
was
established in 1979, co-founders
Kenneth Andersson and Dan Bavholm
already had earned a reputation as
bold innovators with a passion for
building better audio equipment.
One of their first hand-built products,
a custom mixer, was pressed into
service for a performance by legendary
singer Eartha Kitt when she visited
their hometown of Kungsbacka,
Sweden. At the time, the two
basement builders were full-time
schoolboys still in their mid-teens.
Soon after launching Lab.gruppen,
the duo expanded their product line
to include AXE-AMP guitar amplifiers.
When an OEM output stage used
in the earliest models proved
foundational advances, Lab.gruppen
steadily built a loyal following
among leading sound rental
companies. At first distribution was
limited to the Swedish market, then
gradually expanded into the rest of
Europe. Demand often threatened
to outstrip supply, but quality
control standards never were
compromised in order to ship more
product. Only after a larger, highly
efficient manufacturing plant (still
in Kungsbacka) came on line was
product distribution fully expanded
into North America and Asia.
A commitment to the touring
industry
Today, Lab.gruppen is committed to
developing technology and products
that make an impact in an industry
facing unprecedented challenges.
Fuel costs are escalating, with labor
costs close behind. Tight schedules
compress load-in/out and rigging
time. Budgets aren’t expanding to
keep pace. To survive (and remain
profitable) you need to move
quickly, travel light, and maintain
an inventory of reliable gear that
accommodates maximum flexibility
in system configuration. That’s the
tough reality of touring.
The tough amplifier solution is
Lab.gruppen’s FP+ Series.
unsatisfactory, Kenneth Andersson
set out to design and build circuits
that sounded better and could not be
“smoked”. The result was used in all
subsequent guitar amplifiers and, in
late 1980, incorporated into the SS 300
- Lab.gruppen’s first power amplifier.
Building on breakthroughs
Over the following two decades,
Lab.gruppen achieved a remarkable
number of breakthroughs in power
amplifier design. The copper-finned
Intercooler
®
removed heat from
amplifiers with unprecedented
efficiency. The Regulated Switch
Mode Power Supply (R.SMPS) proved
that a truly lightweight amplifier
could indeed be reliable, sonically
transparent, and free of excessive
ambient noise. The innovative MLS
(now VPL) circuit allowed amplifier
outputs to be tailored to load
characteristics. And the patented
Class TD output stage combined the
low distortion of Class B with the high
efficiency of Class D designs.
Building on these and other
Over the past decade, Lab.gruppen amplifiers
have rapidly emerged as the benchmark for quality
and durability in power amplification. Yet the term
“overnight success” hardly applies here. The roots
of Lab.gruppen technology extend back more than
three decades.
Our story