Electrocompaniet

Electrocompaniet is a Norwegian manufacturer of audio products basing their ideal sound not on technical measurements and theory but on getting a sound most true to the live listening experience. Their amplifiers have been used in several Recording Studios, including Abbey Road Studios.

== History == Electrocompaniet was established in 1973 by Per Abrahamsen and Svein Erik Børja. Their idea was to create a transistor amplifier that is better sounding than transistor amplifiers did at the time. Abrahamsen and Børja based their circuits on research done by Matti Otala of Tampere University of Technology. Their first finished product was a 25 Watt power amplifier named "The 2 Channel Audio Power Amplifier", also called "The Otala Amplifier". They continued development on the product. In 1976 a respected high end audio magazine at the time "The Audio Critic" reviewed the amplifier and wrote: "Audio freaks – eat your hearts out. This is the world’s best-sounding amplifier." In 1991 Michael Jackson's producer Bruce Swedien was contacted by Nils Bjarne Kvam, one of the biggest producers in Norway at the time, was told about the amplifiers of Electrocompaniet, which interested Swedien. The amplifier was packed and shipped to the US in September 1991. Bruce was working with the last mix to Jackson's Dangerous. He loved the amplifiers and wanted to use it on the album, but the album was almost done, and he would then have to remaster it all over again since the difference was so big. Swedien therefore used the amplifiers on the next albums. He used it for the first time with Sergio Mendez, and with Jackson in January 1995. His next two albums, History and Invincible, were both mastered with the amplifiers, and both albums thanked Electrocompaniet with logo on its covers.