37 
Bang and Olufsen, the audio systems for wealthy ears, has a new sound system that is meant to be built inside the wall. Made with the BeoLab 15, the BeoLab 16 and Amplifier 1, the system can literally create a wall of sound.
The sound system has four pieces. The BeoLab 15 is a pair of motorised midrange and tweeter units that can move in and out of the wall. The BeoLab 15, which has a 3-inch midrange and 3/4-inch tweeter, can actually be tilted up to 45 degrees so that you can specifically target the audio to anywhere in the room. The BeoLab 16 is the system’s subwoofer that has four 4-inch woofers that can give you some oomphy bass without making your walls shake. The Amplifier 1 has six separate amps.
When the system is turned off, you’ll just see the discs on the wall. When flipped on, you can tweak and tilt and angle the speakers however you like. It turns your wall into a transformer for music. The whole system will be available later this month for $4595 in the US, which still converts to god-knows how much in GBP when it’s released over here.
Bang & Olufsen Joins the AirPlay Party With the BeoLit 12 Wireless Speaker
Bang & Olufsen’s New AirPlay Speaker Likes Music, Picnics, and Walks On the Beach
Shoot the Lights Out With a Bang!
Style over substance, however. B&O will never be B&W
” $4595 in the US, which still converts to god-knows how much in GBP when it’s released over here.”
= £14,995
2862.40 British Pound Sterling
I was expecting the comparisons to Bose and the “style over substance” comments but I beg to differ. B&O have the one of the largest speaker testing facilities (once the biggest) in the world and spend a lot of time and money on R&D. The negative comments residual nonsense from the days B&O partnered with Philips to save money to avoid going bust.
The other reason I can think of for the negative comments is the flat sound that characterises B&O. People don’t like that. I love it and is why I went for it. My only criticism is that since the passing of the great David Lewis B&O seems to have lost their core values. They produce a fair amount of standalone “Play” products that not only look cheap but also don’t play with other B&O gear.
By the way Giz, I wish you dedicated to David Lewis half the publicity you give to Ive. Nobody has influenced gadget design as much as David Lewis – the man designed the damn click wheel!
I remember the Samsung/B&O clickwheel phone – released same time as the iPhone (maybe a bit earlier, even) and I wanted it more. Much more. My dad still used his B&O nineties clickwheel phones. Fucking expensive nowadays though. Absolutely love the sound from them, it has absolutely no preference according to the maker, completely flat. It’s fantastic. They are definitely the best audio-visual company in the world, but their prices show it.