Frigg 02

This review first appeared in January 2025 on HifiKnights.com. By  permission of the author it is hereby syndicated to reach a broader audience. All images contained in this piece are the property of HifiKnights. – Ed.

Reviewer: Dawid Grzyb
Transport: Innuos Statement, fidata HFAS1-S10U
DAC: LampizatOr Pacific (KR Audio T-100 / Living Voice 300B + KR Audio 5U4G Ltd. Ed.)
USB components: iFi audio Mercury3.0
Network: Fidelizer EtherStream, Linksys WRT160N
Preamplifier: Trilogy 915R, Thöress DFP
Amplifier: Trilogy 995R, FirstWatt F7, Enleum AMP-²3R
Speakers: Boenicke Audio W11 SE+, sound|kaos Vox 3afw
Headphones: HifiMan Susvara
Interconnects: LessLoss Entropic Process C-MARC, Boenicke Audio IC3 CG
Speaker cables: Boenicke Audio S3, LessLoss C-MARC
Speaker signal conditioning: LessLoss Firewall for Loudspeakers, Boenicke ComDev
Anti-vibration conditioning: 1²x Carbide Audio Carbide Base under DAC, preamp and speakers
Power delivery: Gigawatt PC-3 SE EVO+/LC-3 EVO, LessLoss C-MARC, LessLoss Entropic Process C-MARC, Boenicke Audio Power Gate, ISOL-8 Prometheus
Equipment rack: Franc Audio Accessories Wood Block Rack 1+3
Music: NativeDSD
Retail price of reviewed component in EU (incl. VAT): €13'400/pr

Seven years after launching their Icon debut speaker, Norwegian company Ø Audio refreshed that model then added two more floorstanders positioned one above it, one below. The newcomers go by Verdande and Frigg 02. I received the latter. In mid 2020 I'd already met Icon. I still remember this large and heavy 2-way. Armed with lateral ports, a 12" woofer and compression tweeter inside a large horn, it followed a sonic aesthetic I'd previously heard with Blumenhofer and Reflector. Think big, ballsy, immediate and very much like the open-baffle sound I fancy a lot. The thing is, Icon pulled it from a reasonably compact vented cab without the breed's usual downsides. My final words in that review were: "If non-mainstream speakers such as Ø Audio's maiden effort strike you as intimidating specialist designs for just a niche audience, this one exceeds what its drivers or enclosure imply. Its interesting visual execution should be seen primarily as the measure necessary to unlock big-bore, direct, open-baffle type sound with more reach, oomph, slam and control whilst skillfully incorporated shout-free horns as accessible and coherent as they are enjoyable." I think that the first Icon would impress me as much today as it did in 2020.

In the context of its €13'000 sticker, fit'n'finish and sonic qualities, Icon was a lot of a speaker. Today the Icon 12 successor wants €20'000; considerably more. Inflation plus increased costs for manufacturing, materials and parts explain the €7'000 hike. Although I couldn't possibly know whether new Icon beats old Icon without comparing both side by side, odds are that it does. Several years are enough time to refine any design for progress. But I digress. Today the Ø Audio roster also lists the upper-echelon Verdande horn-loaded two-way at €35'000 and today's review subject at €13'400. Among its pricier noticeably larger siblings, it's the brand's current entry for shoppers with a low four-figure spend for a visually conservative speaker tailored for regular living rooms. Although Frigg 02 does fit that profile, it offers a lot more.

If the name Ø Audio rings no bells, the brand established in 2016 under Sveinung Djukastein Mala, a speaker builder since his teens who developed a fondness for high efficiency and horns which he wanted to make more domesticated, friendly and coloration-free. After reviewing his Icon, I think he succeeded. Sveinung has also been running his own Mala Audio shop in Norway's city of Asker. The list of 60+ brands sold there is generous and packed with well-established luxury names like Aavik, Absolare, Ansuz, Børresen, Boulder, Esoteric, Focal, Mårten, TechDAS and more. If you're a speaker designer, having such reference points at your disposal is extremely relevant. In my first review I wrote that the Ø in the name describes  a circle's diameter and is a vowel of the Norwegian alphabet. In this brilliant video we learn how to pronounce it—like the German 'ö' or, in English, the sound of 'i' in bird, or in Danish competition, Børresen – Ed.— and that it also means strength, courtesy of Jonathan Magnus Cook. Several springs back he was one of Sveinung's customers who got interested in the Ø Audio project and had some ideas on how to scale it up. The two Vikings joined forces and have been running the show together since.

Frigg 02 had its public debut at the Radisson Blu Sobieski during our local Audio Video Show in Warsaw during late 2024. I visited their room twice and each time it was packed. The gist of all the corridor talks was that this speaker delivers. That was quite in line with my own observations. Jonathan and Sveinung left the event with several new dealerships bagged including my local shoppe Szymanski Audio. Its owner Bartek told me that the list of clamouring reviewers was long. To add salt to injury, several pairs were ordered shortly after the show and paying customers always come before nosy reporters. Standing in line is part of my job description. No sweat. I also had my hands full and the allure of reviewer firsts passes me by. Yet Bartek reached out several weeks later so sooner than expected. One Frigg 02 pair from his lot was dedicated to press and dealer demos and publishing in English clearly was a leverage. We set a date. Fast forward to early January 2025. A pallet with two large cardboards showed up at my doorstep. The game was afoot.