History
The Beginning
In May 1945, three Norwegian sailors arrived in Gothenburg, Sweden. They were transported there by the white buses as part of the evacuation of people who had, during the war, been imprisoned in the concentration camps. One of the sailors was radio/wireless operator Frithjof Edwardsen from Mandal, Norway.
During his stay in Gothenburg, Mr. Edwardsen visited The Swedish Loudspeaker Factory, completely unaware that it would be a defining moment in his life.
During his visit, one of the owners of the company, called the Ununger brothers, pointed at Mr. Edwardsen, and matter-of-factly stated: “You will produce loudspeakers in Norway!”
And so it was, not long after, on March the 1st, 1946, that The Norwegian Loudspeaker Factory (DNH A/S) was founded, with half of the shares belonging to the Swedish Loudspeaker Factory. They rented a small building on Odins Road, Oslo. The production could begin.
In the winter of 1947/1948, the headquarters of DNH was moved to the small town of Kragerø. This was much to the credit of one of Mr. Edwardsen’s friends from the war, Mr. Storm Paulsen, who would never stop talking about the idyllic beauty of the town.
Quite ironically, in Kragerø, Mr. Edwardsen purchased an old German military barracks, that had been left empty after the war. And together with two of his sailor friends from Gothenburg, as well as by a car mechanic by the name of Mr. Gotun, they got to work.
All parts of the manufacturing process were undertaken in the factory, such as punching frames, moulding spiders, making coils, shaping membranes, and producing magnet systems. And soon DNH’s loudspeakers became known as “the golden loudspeakers of DNH”.
Markets:
Mr. Edwardsen quickly realized that it was impossible for DNH to make a stable living based only on the market in Norway. So, early in the 1950s, DNH started to export their products to Germany, Denmark, and Holland. Following this, it was in 1957 decided that the majority of the company’s sales efforts would be directed towards the international market. DNH employed Mr. Schulte with an office in Nurnberg, Germany the same year.
To further increase sales, an English sales office and warehouse was established near London in 1983. A German sales office followed shortly after in Hamburg in 1987.
And most recently, our American office was opened in 2007 in Philadelphia, USA.
Products:
From early on DNH produced 10-, 12- and 15-inch loudspeakers for bands, jukeboxes, and what was then considered “Hi-Fi”. These products were successful mainly due to their high sensitivity. As loudspeakers became more commonplace in the market, and the prices lowered, DNH soon realized that they needed more sophisticated and specialized products to stay relevant in the sound industry.
And so DNH began to develop its first re-entrant loudspeakers aka. horn loudspeakers in 1959. And produced its first explosion proof (Ex) horn loudspeakers in 1962.
Since then, a multitude of industry influencing products have been developed by DNH. Most of them models intended for special applications. Examples include the music horn MH-15, the CAR/CAP-series, the HP-series and the first explosion proof plastic horn loudspeaker in the world, the DSP-25 EEx.
Company info
Speaker Holding A/S is 100% owned by the Harald Edwardsen family. All DNH products are designed in Norway and almost close to 90% of what we manufacture is exported all over the globe.
DNH A/S has per today 80 employees situated in Kragerø, Norway, and has been ISO-9001 certified since 1992.
Organization
Contact persons at the head office:
Roland van der Ven
Sales Manager
Email: dnh@dnh.no
Francisco Sánchez
Technical Manager
Email: francisco@dnh.no
Vidar Nilsen
QA Manager
Email: vidar@dnh.no
Martin W. Rønningen
Product Manager
Email: martin@dnh.no
