Scan-Speak

Why it is renowned

Scan-Speak makes drive units that other loudspeaker brands build into their own speakers, for home audio, professional, car and aerospace use; it sells to these makers directly and through distributors and dealers in more than 35 countries.¹ Its Revelator range, with slit paper cones and Symmetrical Drive motors, has long been a standard part in high-end speakers.²

The Scottish Linn Isobarik used Scan-Speak's D2008 tweeter from its early production runs.³ Wikipedia's history of the Danish driver industry describes Scan-Speak as a high-end manufacturer.⁴

The story

Ejvind Skaaning founded Scan-Speak on 1 February 1970 to make drivers for the Scandyna and Dynaco A-25 speakers.⁵ The engineer Ragnar Lian designed the D2008 dome tweeter in 1971 and patented the Symmetric Drive motor in 1973, which uses copper caps to make the voice coil's inductance even around its rest position.⁵ After a bankruptcy in the mid-1970s, Dantax bought the name and equipment and restarted production in Pandrup in 1978.⁵

Vifa took over Scan-Speak between 1987 and 1989 and moved its production to Videbæk; in 2009 a group of Danish investors, among them former Scan-Speak managers, bought the company back.⁴ It now runs as an independent company in the Eastech Group under Danish management, and about 50 people develop and hand-build its drivers.⁶ After 34 years in Videbæk it moved to new premises in Herning.⁷

What to know it by

• RevelatorDrive units with slit cones and ring-magnet tweeters
• IlluminatorDrive units with underhung voice coils and long excursion
• D20081971Ragnar LianDome tweeter
• DiscoveryRange that keeps part of Vifa's classic programme