Sustainability is an enormous theme at IFA this 12 months, however each firm has a unique thought of what the time period means. For Bang & Olufsen, it’s the power to make use of your (very costly) new soundbar for actually many years, because of a deliberate concentrate on upgradability and serviceability. Oh, and the sound is not unhealthy both, making certain you gained’t really feel the necessity to improve anytime quickly.

Let’s get it out of the best way: the B&O Beosound Theatre prices as a lot as an honest used automotive. It goes as much as $7,990, which places it out of attain for all however the highest strata of the market. So how does B&O justify that asking value?

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Bang & Olufsen Beosound Theatre specs and options

• 12 speaker drivers; 12 energy amplifiers
• Frequency response: 28Hz-23kHz; Most sound stress: 112 dB SPL; Bass functionality: 94 dB SPL
• 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos decoding, Dolby Digital TrueHD , Dolby Digital plus 7.1 (together with DD5.1) , Dolby MAT
• Superior Bass administration system. Customizable Sound EQ
• Energy consumption: 120W
• Bluetooth 5.1, Twin band WLAN 2.4 / 5GHz 802.11 b/g/a/n/ac
• 3 x HDMI enter with CEC enter; 1 x HDMI eARC with passthrough 4K 120FPS / 8K 60FPS / 40Gbit
• Ethernet swap with 4 x 1Gbit ports; 1 x 3.5mm jack slider for microphone mute
• Beolink, Chromecast, Spotify Join Airplay help

First, it’s the sound high quality. We got a demo of the Theatre at a swanky presentation area B&O had arrange in downtown Berlin. The primary a part of the demo consisted of the soundbar taking part in music throughout 5 genres, starting from a classical piece to a vocals-oriented cowl of I Was Made For Loving You by Maria Mena, and culminating in a hair-raising rendition of Rammstein’s Adieu. Even with the transient time allotted to this a part of the demo, we had been impressed with how balanced the soundbar was, how crisp the devices had been separated, and the way clear the vocals got here throughout. It was actually a high-end listening expertise.

Subsequent, the B&O rep performed us a clip from Bohemian Rhapsody (the 2018 film starring Rami Malek) to spotlight how the Theatre reproduces voices. B&O’s purpose was to deal with the rising subject of imbalanced and uneven voice replica that may occur once you mix-and-match content material, streaming providers, and {hardware}, which forces many customers to depend on subtitles.

For the ultimate a part of the presentation, B&O connected the Theatre to 2 additional audio system arrange behind us. The purpose was to reveal the system’s modularity and the way the soundbar interoperates with different audio system to render the very best encompass expertise doable. To point out this, B&O used the opening automotive chase scene from James Bond: No Time To Die, which is heavy on tire-screeching, gunshots, and suitably rousing music. Essentially the most attention-grabbing bit was the half the place Bond and his costar sit in a bulletproof Aston Martin whereas the baddies riddle it with bullets. We may clearly hear bullets thudding in opposition to the automotive from completely different instructions relying on the scene, which actually added to the viewing expertise.

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The Beosound Theatre sounds spectacular, however the expertise and the long-term pondering behind the system might be essentially the most attention-grabbing half about it. For one, this product is suitable with audio system going again many years, that means house owners can plug it into their current setups with minimal trouble. It’s additionally forward-looking: the producer says the product shall be upgradeable for at the very least decade, in each {hardware} and software program. The soundbar really runs Linux and B&O says it would present software program updates and connectivity enhancements all through the product’s lifetime. To accommodate future updates, 50% of the system’s computational energy presently goes unused.

In fact, soundbars are supposed for use along with TVs. The Theatre encompasses a modular design that may match nearly any display dimension from 55 inches to 75 inches. The soundbar could be positioned on the bottom, mounted on a wall, or mated with a TV and positioned on a motorized stand that rotates to regulate to the consumer. Customers can swap TVs or mounting strategies themselves, utilizing generally out there instruments, because the system is designed with upgradability and modularity in thoughts.

The design is elegant, but inconspicuous. The upper-end model (seen in footage all through this text) encompasses a mid-century-modern-like picket grate that’s impressed by sailboats.

To wrap it up, the Beosound Theatre’s excessive price ticket makes it inaccessible to most individuals, the creator of this put up included. I gained’t ever have the ability to justify spending $8,000 on a really fancy speaker. However I can acknowledge that a few of that cash would go in direction of a noble purpose: making client electronics rather less disposable and a bit extra sustainable.

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If you should buy one product “for all times,” slightly than “improve” each few years, you’re saving future-you some money and sparing future-Earth a bunch of air pollution. That’s a great mindset to have once you’re looking for gadgets, even after they don’t price a small fortune.