Bang & Olufsen Breaks the Mold on Home Speakers with Future-Proofed Beosound Level

February 9 2021, 01:10
Bang & Olufsen introduced Beosound Level, a portable wireless home speaker that expands the notion of what is possible with today's technology. Described by the Danish luxury audio brand as an home speaker made to move, the Beosound Level is unique in every aspect. First, it doesn't look like a speaker - but B&O has done that before. Second, it's portable and able to adjust its sound to compensate for any position or room. Third, it's a connected speaker supporting all the latest technologies, but its connectivity module can be replaced in the future.
 
Mads Kogsgaard Hansen, Senior Global Product Manager, Product Circularity & Classics Program at Bang & Olufsen with the new Beosound Level.

The new Beosound Level combines impressive sound, craftsmanship and a modular design that improves longevity. With its slim design and built-in recessed handle, portability is at the heart of Beosound Level with Active Room Compensation and an exchangeable Lithium-ion battery. Whether standing upright in the kitchen, lying flat on a table or hanging gracefully on the wall, the speaker intelligently changes its tuning to deliver an exceptional music listening experience in any position, in any room.

"Beosound Level is the ultimate speaker for people who want the flexibility and convenience of a portable speaker but don’t want to sacrifice on sound quality and multiroom connectivity for the ultimate music listening experience. It works effortlessly with Spotify Connect, AirPlay 2 and Chromecast and because of Beosound Level’s modular design, we are future-proofing Beosound Level so that it can deliver our signature sound for decades to come," says Christoffer Poulsen, Senior Vice President and Head of Product Management at Bang & Olufsen.

A pure expression of timeless design by Torsten Valeur and crafted at Factory 5 in Struer, Denmark, the new Beosound Level showcases Bang & Olufsen’s expertise in aluminum manufacturing with its pearl blasted aluminum frame. Using materials that soften technology whilst suiting any interior, the speaker covers are available in a natural oak veneer, which has been treated to highlight the natural grains and texture of the wood, reminiscent of luxury Scandinavian furniture, and a seamless knitted dark grey Kvadrat textile which makes Beosound Level inviting to touch and visually appealing from any angle. 
 

The speaker can easily be carried around the home and even taken into the garden thanks to its wireless technologies and IP54 dust and splash water resistant rating. The speaker’s user interface is seamlessly integrated into its aluminum frame and the buttons can be activated through soft touch, allowing users to reach their favorite song or radio station effortlessly. When approaching the speaker, the Beosound Level lights up to greet the user through integrated proximity sensors adjusting its brightness to suit day or night. After the user's finished interacting with the speaker, the light slowly dims, allowing the minimal design to take centre stage. 

When it is time to charge, the Beosound Level has unique charging capabilities, including an easy charge solution, with a new aluminum magnetic plug that seamlessly clicks onto the back of the speaker. This innovative design makes charging easy, elegant, and as stylish as the speaker itself, so users can leave the charger on the tabletop with pride. Bang & Olufsen also designed an optional wall bracket that allows users to charge the speaker whilst still listening to music and effortlessly detach the speaker when they want to take the music elsewhere. The rechargeable lithium-ion battery offers up to 16 hours of playback at typical listening volumes, and charges fully - via USB-C - in just 3 hours.

With 105 watts of music power, the new Beosound Level delivers excellent clarity and dynamic bass due to its powerful five-driver speaker setup with two 4" woofers, one 2" full range driver, two 0.8" tweeters, all powered by low distortion Class D amplifiers which allows for adaptive sound staging and delivers 79dB bass capability and 96dB in mid-range loudness.
 

The design also has advanced multichannel supporting acoustic features including next generation active room compensation using the built-in microphones and sensors to intelligently analyze the behavior and continuously adjust speaker's response. The audio architecture of Beosound Level has been created to automatically adjust its acoustic tuning from 180-degrees to 360-degrees based on the way it is positioned, optimizing any listening experience.

Bang & Olufsen is renowned for its long-lasting products, and with Beosound Level the company is also introducing new solutions to fight technology obsolescence, enhance resource efficiency, and improve longevity. In addition to its timeless appearance, the Beosound Level has been modularly designed for easy maintenance, service, and repair where owners can perform simple operations like replacing the battery and service partners can easily access vital parts of the speaker.

The most refined and distinct feature is the fact that the Beosound Level comes with Bang & Olufsen’s new replaceable streaming module, which will power all the company’s future home speakers. The module offers enough processing power and connectivity technology to receive new performance updates and features for many years to come, and can easily be accessed for exchange and reconnection to the main board as a service solution. 
 

Today, apart from a line-in/optical input and Ethernet 100Mbit physical connectors, the module features Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/a/n/ac (2.4 GHz & 5 GHz) and Bluetooth 5 in order to support Chromecast, Apple AirPlay 2, or Bluetooth audio streaming. This allows supporting Spotify Connect, and Google Assistant voice control today. In case connectivity and streaming technology should become outdated over time, the module can be replaced with the latest version. If Google or Spotify disappear, or those technologies are replaced by some other market leading solutions, Bang & Olufsen will be able to offer a new compatible module. 

Bang & Olufsen Says it will continue to produce the easily exchangeable front covers in new materials and colorways so that the speaker can also evolve with personal tastes and styles. Adding to its resource efficient profile, the body of the Beosound Level speaker is created from a high-performance recirculated polymer material.

The Bang & Olufsen Beosound Level is available online now, from 9499 DKK - 1249 EUR or $1,500 USD approximately. This is very affordable for the brand's standards, and certainly another innovative aspect of the new design.
www.bang-olufsen.com
 
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About Joao Martins
Since 2013, Joao Martins leads audioXpress as editor-in-chief of the US-based magazine and website, the leading audio electronics, audio product development and design publication, working also as international editor for Voice Coil, the leading periodical for... Read more

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