(UPM, Helsinki, 4 December 2012) - The Finnish High-End loudspeaker brand Aurelia has opened up new uses for UPM's innovative biocomposite UPM ForMi. Aurelia is using the pulp-based, recyclable material in the die-cast enclosures of its high quality Aniara speakers. As a soundboard for music, UPM's biocomposite is superior to plastic.
"UPM ForMi's characteristics are ideal for sound reproduction. It allows thicker castings than traditional plastic materials, making the enclosure sturdy, improving sound quality and eliminating any unwanted aftersound", says Stefan Fors, Director at UPM ForMi.
"UPM's innovative biocomposite is highly uniform in quality and has excellent acoustic properties. It allows us to produce substantially stronger components than traditional plastics. At the same time, the spectrum of sound passing through the composite material is much more constant", confirms Antti Louhivaara, Founder and CEO of Aurelia and Head of Design for the speakers.
UPM ForMi is already being used in the manufacture of furniture, electronics and various household goods. With UPM ForMi, as much as 50% of oil-based plastics’ non-renewable raw-material can be replaced with renewable fibres. UPM is constantly looking to expand the use of this sustainable material.
"Success with Aurelia will give us new opportunities in acoustics and electronics. We are negotiating with various companies and will announce any production contracts as soon as they are finalised", says Stefan Fors.
Aurelia will continue to use UPM ForMi in its speakers in the future as well. "Our speaker enclosures have received praise for their sound reproduction qualities, and we are planning to use UPM ForMi in other models as well. The biocomposite allows us to come close to handmade quality in serial production, which is a significant factor in helping us export our products", explains CEO Antti Louhivaara.
Photos of Aniara speakers and UPM ForMi: http://pet.upm.com/?cart=5761-gilcmlefkd&l=EN
For further information, please contact:
Stefan Fors, Director, UPM ForMi, tel. +358 (0)40 571 3338
Antti Louhivaara, CEO, Aurelia, tel. +358 (0)44 530 3935
Aurelia speakers combine an elegant and timeless appearance with an unique acoustical principle, which provides a superior performance when compared to traditional speaker designs. The technology, which has received multiple test victories and an enormous amount of praise throughout the whole audio community in recent years, has now been harnessed towards creating the most inspirational loudspeaker brand of our time – Aurelia. www.aurelia.fi
Antti Louhivaara is one of the leading loudspeaker designers in Finland and his works has been highly praised in international audio community. Louhivaara has earlier designed loudspeakers manufactured by Amphion and ASL. In the year 2007 Louhivaara decided to start the production of entirely new way designed loudspeakers for most demanding High-End purists. So was born a new High-End loudspeaker brand – Aurelia.
UPM ForMi is a new, durable, high quality biocomposite material intended for use in die-cast production. Made of renewable fibres and plastic, the compound is safe, odourless and uniform in quality. UPM ForMi is manufactured from pure polymers and pulp, and is ideal for industrial as well as consumer product applications. UPM's supply chain and the use of renewable raw material ensure that the new composite also has a small carbon footprint. www.upmformi.com
UPM leads the way in integrating bio and forest industries into a new, sustainable and innovation-driven future. Our products are made of renewable raw materials and are recyclable. The company’s business is divided into three business areas: Energy and Pulp, Paper and Engineered Materials. UPM employs approximately 23 000 people and has production plants in 17 countries. The company’s annual turnover amounts to more than EUR 10 billion. UPM's shares are listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange. UPM – The Biofore Company – www.upm.fi
UPM, Corporate Communications
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UPM ForMi expands into new areas – Biocomposite now a sound choice in speakers
| Source: UPM-Kymmene Oyj
