Stuer, Denmark
British designer Benjamin Hubert of the office Layer Design and Gavin Ivester of Denmark’s Bang & Olufsen present the powerful new home speaker Beosound.
Created with a passion for music, design and craftsmanship, Beosound Balance is inspired by interior objects to redefine home audio in a way that only Bang & Olufsen can: a soft, rounded silhouette using interior-first materials such as solid oak wood and knitted textile, an innovative user interface that hides when not in use and seven carefully placed speaker drivers with beamforming technology that lets the user choose between powerful and room-filling sound for everyday listening and sound directivity for precise and immersive music experiences.
Beosound Balance is designed as an interior-first and shelf-friendly speaker that doesn’t compromise on the sound experience in large living spaces.
Using materials that soften technology and blend in with quality furniture, Beosound Balance presents a solid oak wood base that visually grounds the speaker and a cylindrical shape clad in a seamlessly knitted textile that makes Beosound Balance inviting to touch and beautiful from any angle.
Blending in as an interior object, Beosound Balance has a hidden touch interface to manually control the speaker.
When approaching the speaker, the interface lights up using light-trough aluminium technology and invites the user to interact with the speaker.
Swipe around the top plate to control volume or touch on the icons to change tracks, pause the music and select pre-saved favourite listening experience for easy access.
When walking away from the speaker, the interface dims leaving nothing but the aluminium surface visible.
The concept for Beosound Balance was to make sure that beautiful aesthetics, innovation and powerful sound go hand in hand, explains Bang & Olufsen VP of Design Gavin Ivester:
“The vision with Beosound Balance is to make the speaker feel like an extension of the atmosphere in the home – reflecting the place it is in and the person using it. The design is both sensorial and tactile, with a look and feel driven by high quality interior craftsmanship and materials, as well as highly innovative. Listening modes allow tailored acoustics when needed, and carefree, stunning sound when wanted— putting listeners in control of a broad range of experiences that soothe, excite, and create joy.”
Being a forerunner in making speakers for the home did not sacrifice on Bang & Olufsen’s dedication to deliver purposeful technology. Beosound Balance comes with seven uniquely configured speaker drivers with two opposing woofers that generate a powerful bass sound that cancel out vibrations that could upset the neighbours.
Beosound Balance also brings forward an innovative and flexible acoustic experience based on two sound modes – an omni-directional mode ensuring a uniform sound experience around the speaker, and a sound mode delivering a precisely focused and unique ambient experience. Both technologies have trickled down from the flagship Bang & Olufsen Beolab speakers.
“Bang & Olufsen has spent decades researching the influence of room acoustics on human perception, which resulted in the development of unique technologies in our flagship speakers, states Bang & Olufsen Tonmeister Neo Kaplanis.
“For example, the acoustic lenses on our Beolab 18 and Beolab 50 speakers, which deliver highly directional sound, and the beam control and advanced active room compensation algorithms found in the Beolab 90, which utilise technologies to optimise the delivered sound in each individual space. We are proud to bring these technologies to Beosound Balance.”
Setting up Beosound Balance for the first time, the speaker will guide you through the active room compensation technology in Beosound Balance enabling the speaker to analyse your room with an internal microphone and creates a set of user defined filters that compensate for sound reflections in your home. Beosound Balance will use low frequencies to analyse the room, and the result is a perfectly tailored B&O Signature Sound.
Beosound Balance is a multiroom speaker that supports Google Chromecast, Apple Airplay2 and Spotify Connect1. The speaker comes with leading voice assistants built in: The Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa2, so you can play music, check the news and much more completely hands free, when you are on Wi-Fi.
Beosound Balance
Designers: Layer Design
Manufacturer: Bang & Olufsen
