Crafted with the ambition to be the world’s most powerful and immersive soundbar, Danish audio brand Bang & Olufsen announced Beosound Theatre: an innovative and meticulously crafted high-end soundbar that delivers the power of a multi-product home cinema, all in one singular product.
“Beosound Theatre completely redefines cinematic sound in the home. With its powerful sound, advanced technology platform and modular design, we bring the immersion of a multi-speaker setup into one soundbar that slots seamlessly with any screen”, said Kristian Teär CEO of Bang & Olufsen and continued:
“With Beosound Theatre we unleash the full potential of the high-quality streaming services now available to customers and bring the magic of the cinematic experience into the home. At the same time, it is built to last for decades due to its modular design, which allows you to update, rather than replace, this beautiful soundbar”.
Beosound Theatre comes with 12 speaker drivers, including two custom-made long stroke 6.5″ woofers, and 800 watts of amplification power, capable of producing up to 112dB of sound pressure level. The custom-made center channel, with the tweeter mounted directly in front of the midrange, manages speech clarity. The alignment of these drivers ensures better sound distribution, elevating the quality audio experience for everyone in the room, while directivity has been optimized for speech quality.
Beosound Theatre introduces a new three-dimensional sound directivity due to the patent-pending combination of direct, side-, and up-firing speakers, building on the Beam Width and Beam Direction Control developed for Bang & Olufsen’s flagship Beolab 90 speakers. This means that all loudspeaker drivers collaborate not only to produce sound, but also to control the width and direction of the beam.
“We originally developed the Beam Width and Beam Directivity Control for Beolab 90 to reduce the effect of sidewall reflections at the listening position. Basically, to make the walls disappear. In Beosound Theatre, we are using the technology to direct sound away from the listener, which increases the perception of spaciousness and gives a much more immersive experience”, said Senior Technology Specialist Jakob Dyreby.
Bang & Olufsen is well-known for its unconventional approach to craftsmanship and design. Customers can easily transform the soundbar into a complete wall-mounted or floor-standing Bang & Olufsen TV experience using modularity principles, so it blends in perfectly and takes up no more space than their existing TV.
The modular design concept extends to the TV screens and the soundbar cover, which are both replaceable. Customers whose TV screens grow as they upgrade can also extend the aluminum “wings,” demonstrating that Beosound Theatre continues to provide perfectly integrated solutions for greater longevity.
“We know that our customers want to invest in products that last, which is why Beosound Theatre has been modularly designed to outlast many TVs in its lifetime. We have made a solution that enables you to update your product rather than replace it, and a product that can evolve with you over time”, said Head of Product Circularity, Mads Kogsgaard Hansen. He continued:
“The Beosound Theatre interface bracket provides the possibility to dock almost any screen to the soundbar. This means that people don’t have to invest in a new TV or can simply choose what they believe is the best TV solution.”
The interface bracket is motorized and connects the stand to the TV screen seamlessly. The bracket includes a compartment to fit smart TV boxes and hide excess cables from view, cleverly hiding any clutter to present the TV as one integrated design.
Although Beosound Theatre is a powerful one-product solution, it can evolve to be used as a dedicated sound centre, providing new opportunities to build your home cinema. Starting with seven built-in outputs and supporting up to 16 external loudspeakers it can be the heart of a full-blown Dolby Atmos 7.1.4 surround configuration. In this setup, Beosound Theatre functions as a centre speaker that merges the Dolby Atmos decoding and custom-tuned post-processing with Bang & Olufsen’s proprietary True Image algorithm to maximize the capabilities of all Bang & Olufsen loudspeakers.
In addition, Beosound Theatre comes with a new bass management system that’s unlike anything else. Where other systems simply send the bass to the most powerful loudspeaker – usually the subwoofer – Beosound Theatre uses all Bang & Olufsen loudspeakers in the system to work together as a single unit. This not only gives you the maximum potential of the entire system, but also helps to control the resonance in your listening room, making sure that the various loudspeakers work with and not against each other.
“You can buy Beosound Theatre as a soundbar and later add a pair of rear loudspeakers such as Beolab 28 in a triangular setup that delivers an incredible spatial sound performance, while continuing the overarching aim of minimal products, mess, and compromise in your space. All you need to do is connect them. That flexibility also means that our customers are not limited by their initial purchase decision, which in turn helps us extend the lifetime of Beosound Theatre and increase the likelihood of multiple ownerships,” said Senior Technology Specialist Jakob Dyreby.
Beosound Theatre continues the design philosophy of popular Bang & Olufsen products such as the Beolab 8000, Beolab 18, and Beolab 28, which focused on making a large volume appear to balance on a pinpoint.
Beosound Theatre’s keel-like design mimics the effortless grace of sailboats, making it appear to be resting on an aluminum blade and floating in the air as one fluid form.
This illusion was created using the aluminum expertise at Bang & Olufsen’s Factory 5 in Struer, Denmark. The polished and anodized middle-extruded aluminum profile had two end caps formed into a curved shape and split into four end caps. This allows the curved edge of the product to fit seamlessly into the flat profile of the soundbar, resulting in a single unified piece.
The solid oak lamella cover is handcrafted in Denmark by a family-run factory and perfectly complements Bang & Olufsen’s Beolab speakers, including the Beolab 18, Beolab 28, and Beolab 50. The clip-in rather than glued-in design of the lamellas allows them to be easily disassembled or replaced, while the fabric version is designed to be a visually softer solution that will easily blend into any interior setting.
Beosound Theatre comes with Bang & Olufsen’s new setup technology called Roomsense. By placing the external microphone at the listening position, Beosound Theatre will work with the Bang & Olufsen App to measure the distance from the listener to the soundbar. But more than this, it will also assign a role for each speaker based on the different placements, carry out sound compensation for each speaker if it placed free standing, up against a wall or in a corner, as well as overall room compensation to avoid unwanted resonance.
“With Roomsense, everyone can make the perfect setup in a matter of seconds. But just as important, it allows for all kinds of placements of the speakers, so people can decorate their homes as they want – not based on the standard speaker placement”, said Jakob Dyreby.
Not only does Beosound Theatre honour Bang & Olufsen’s legacy products with its timeless design language, the soundbar also comes with Bang & Olufsen’s own proprietary software platform called “Mozart”, which continues the heritage of ensuring that the soundbar can connect seamlessly with products as far back as 1986, creating a cross-generational home audio setup.
“Products such as the Beolab 6000 and Beolab 8000 column speakers are loved by people who appreciate design worldwide and we have made sure that they can use them with Beosound Theatre right out of the box. All you need to do is connect them”, said Chief Design Officer Miklu Silvanto.
As well as respecting the past, the Mozart platform also anticipates the future. Because the platform is packed with processing power and memory, Bang & Olufsen can introduce new features, capabilities, and connectivity over time to ensure an equally seamless experience with home audio settings of the present day and those in the years to come.
ASBIS Middle East is an official Bang & Olufsen distributor in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait. You can visit www.asbisme.ae for more information.
