You’d be forgiven for thinking we’re back in the 80s. There’s an oil crisis. People are not that enthusiastic about Russia. Top Gun: Maverick storms the cash register. Kate Bush charts. And vinyl record sales are up a significant 61%, breaking the $1 billion mark for the first time in 35 years. The latter perfectly sets the stage for the IKEA x Swedish House Mafia OBEGRÄNSAD record player.
Unveiled as part of the larger IKEA OBEGRÄNSAD home collection in Milan (‘OBEGRÄNSAD’ is Swedish for ‘unlimited’), this soon-to-be-released record player celebrates the timeless joys of listening to vinyl. Complete with the Scandinavian conglomerate’s signature minimalist form factor, considered functionality and an extremely reasonable price.
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“I remember Axwell saying, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if you could buy a record player as a gift for a friend?’…and that became a kind of assignment,” explains IKEA designer Friso Wiersma.
“To make something so simple, so accessible and kind of plug-and-play that you could actually buy it as a gift for anyone who loves music.”
Currently, not much is known about the features of the IKEA x Swedish House Mafia turntable beyond Bluetooth speaker support, built-in preamp, USB port, RCA ports, stylus and a replaceable cartridge. But if only because of the ease of use, impressive appearance and affordability… we smell another bestseller.
“Everything at Swedish House Mafia is a very conscious statement. I really like that approach. Music is also a big part of my life. I would also like to show that in my interior.”
“Nowadays you see a lot of slim turntables that are almost trying to hide, but we wanted something really daring and we wanted the turntable to be a very physical manifestation of music,” said Wiersma.
“The solid, sturdy design gives the player a presence in the room. It conveys the physicality of music in the collection, making it really claim space with the attitude of music woven into it – rather than merging it.”
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“Before meeting Swedish House Mafia, we decided not to get into electronics too much because of the challenges they pose,” said Carmen Stoicescu, IKEA Product Design Engineer.
“But then one of the guys from the band started talking about making a record player, and all of a sudden I forgot everything we had discussed.”
“In the previous project we tried to give all parts a specific design, but with OBEGRÄNSAD we tried to limit the moulds. We wanted to make it simple, mechanical – so we looked at what makes the best sound, and we put all our eggs in that basket.”
“I never thought I would work on producing a record player. But I will be the first buyer of these.”
Other items to expect in IKEA’s upcoming OBEGRÄNSAD home collection include a desk made especially for music production – speaker stands, pull-out shelf for MIDI keyboards, other controllers and all – an armchair with adjustable straps made especially for listening to music. enjoy, plus another 20 something yet to be announced.
The IKEA x Swedish House Mafia OBEGRÄNSAD turntable is slated to launch in the fall of 2022 (price TBA). This is the first IKEA turntable since its debut collection of music hardware in 1973.
