On the outskirts of Gothenburg we find the Swedish speaker manufacturer Marten, a manufacturer that had its 20th anniversary a couple of years ago. Marten was founded by Leif Mårten Olofsson, and has roots in music-related production from the early 1900s, when Leif's grandfather produced violins inspired by Stradivarius. Leif himself constructed his first speaker in the 70s.

The Marten family

From the first speaker series Mingus in the 90s, the repertoire has now grown to six series, with Parker coming in as the third in the series in Marten's hierarchy. This places itself under the extreme HighEnd flagship series Coltrane where the top model Coltrane Supreme 2 costs 5.7 mill NOK, and also below the second-in-command Mingus series.

Under Parker we find the series Heritage, Django and Oscar. And the common feature of all of them is that they have an exquisite finish in a literally laid back design.

Marten Parker

The all-new Parker series was originally intended as an upgrade to the Heritage series, but according to Leif Olofsson, the upgrades for technology in construction became so extensive that they decided to create a whole new series.

The Parker series has three models, and with its strong music connection, Marten has chosen to give the models names Quintet, Trio and Duo, names that reflect the number of drivers in each speaker. And, apropos, we hardly get a scoop award for guessing that the series' name comes from Miles Davis's legendary 40s sideman. That is, it was really the opposite - at least in the beginning.

High quality internal cabling from Jorma Design has been used in all models. And the pucks on the legs come from IsoAcoustics.

The enclosures are made of 35mm M-board and come in three different finishes - Piano Walnut, Matte Walnut or Piano Black.

Parker Quintet

The flagship of the series is Quintet, a 2.5-way floor model. It has brand new specially designed drivers, four of which are for bass and midrange. The sensitivity is high - 93dB. Marten claims that the cabinet is completely free from resonance.

The speaker elements have ceramic drivers and Neodynium magnet system. The four midrange / bass elements are 7.5 inches, with a large diaphragm surface. On the back of the cabinet are four 9-inch slave bases.

Price in Norway for Parker Quintet is kr. 315.000, -

Read more about Parker Quintet at Marten

Parker Trio

In the smallest floor model Diamond Trio is still a 2.5-way construction, but the number of midrange / bass elements has been reduced to 2 pieces. It's the same 7.5-inch ceramic drivers as in the Quintet.

The treble is also the same 1-inch ceramic driver, if you have not upgraded to the Diamond Edition. Also the number of passive drivers on the back of the cabinet has been reduced to 2. 9-inches.

The sensitivity of the Trio is stated to be 91 dB.

The price in Norway for Parker Trio is NOK. 198.000, -

Read more about Parker Quintet at Marten

Parker Duo

The smallest Parker series model is the Parker Duo tripod speaker. And you get no prize for guessing how many drivers it has. The midrange / bass is the same about the two floor models, but it has to work alone in the Duo. That is - also here it receives support in the bass from a 9-inch slave bass of the same type that sits on the back of the Quintet and Trio.

Optionally, you get Marten's own stand that fits the Parker Duo, and these too have the same pucks from IsoAcoustics that the two larger models have.

The sensitivity of tripod speakers is almost always lower than that of a manufacturer's respective floor models. So also in this case, where sensitivity is given to 88 dB.

The price in Norway for the Parker Duo is NOK. 110.000, -

Read more about Parker Quintet at Marten

Diamond Edition

It is possible to upgrade all Parker Series models to a Diamond Edition.   Then you get a pure Diamond tweeter, Jorma Statement internal cables, more advanced crossover filter components and improved speaker terminals.

Upgrade to Diamond Edition can be ordered upon purchase of the speakers, or it can be made afterwards. The price for the upgrade is the same, and is set to:

• NOK 110,000, - for Parker Duo
• NOK 120,000, - for Parker Trio
• NOK 130,000, - for Parker Quintet

You may read more about the Parker series at Marten

Marten is marketed in Norway by Acoustic Tuning