“Beolab 28 is our most advanced connected speaker to date, providing powerful sound and flexible placement options due to its slim shape and small footprint. Beolab 28 includes cutting-edge, wireless connectivity and streaming features that allow you to enjoy your music exactly the way you want,” says Christoffer Poulsen, Senior Vice President and Head of Product Management at Bang & Olufsen.
Bang & Olufsen continues to expand on its sound philosophy while designing cutting-edge home audio products that leverage innovations in all fronts. This is exemplified by the Beolab 28, designed as a slim stereo speaker setup, and which still delivers a powerful sound experience, where the listener can physically feel the bass achieved by the built-in subwoofer based on a custom-made 6.5” large excursion driver positioned at the base. This is further enhanced with Bang & Olufsen’s latest generation Active Room Compensation, which adapts the frequency response to the room, allowing the speakers to be placed anywhere.
Using three 3” full range drivers placed on the front and one on each side, and a 1” tweeter on the front for optimal treble quality, it is possible to create a uniform directivity throughout the meaningful frequency range. The full range drivers and the tweeter have exceptionally high sensitivity and were developed specifically for Beolab 28 to create a clear midrange quality even at very loud levels, as well as a precise and dynamic treble reproduction.
The Beolab 28 incorporates mechanical curtains that magically open when the speaker is switched on or move when the sound beam is adjusted, indicating whether the speaker is in narrow or wide mode. Thanks to Beam Width Control, the Beolab 28 design is able to generate multiple listening experiences. In ‘narrow mode,’ music reaches the ear directly and unaltered, minimizing the interference of side wall reflections and proving the ultimate sweet spot listening. In ‘wide mode,’ the beam diffuses more sound all around the loudspeakers, maintaining a natural tonal balance even when sitting or walking away from the optimal listening area in front of the speakers.
Since the Beolab 28 integrates a down-firing subwoofer with enough bass capability to fill even larger rooms without the need to add an external subwoofer, the design is able to provide the best listening experience wherever it is placed. The speaker can even be wall-mounted so that it does not take up floorspace.
Thanks to wireless connectivity, set-up is easy and quick, allowing synchronization within microseconds of multiple speakers with audio transmitted at 24-bits/48kHz. Users can listen to music in the living room or throughout the home via Airplay 2 or Chromecast, the B&O app and Bluetooth. The speakers will be made compatible with Beolink Multiroom in autumn 2021 through an automatic software update. And the Beolab 28 can also be paired with a Bang & Olufsen TV using Powerlink or Wireless Powerlink.
A simple touch user interface has been created on top of Beolab 28 which lights up when approached thanks to built in proximity sensors, visually inviting the user to interact with the product. The elegant user interface allows listeners to pause/play, skip and turn the volume up or down. The 4 favorite buttons allows listeners to easily access their preferred radio stations using the built-in Bang & Olufsen Radio or Spotify playlist. And users can choose to operate the speakers in multiple ways, either directly via the user interface, using a Bang & Olufsen remote or via any smartphone.
The new design of the Beolab 28 loudspeaker was inspired by the iconic column shape used on the Beolab Penta, Beolab 6000 and Beolab 8000 speakers which are still being serviced by Bang & Olufsen today, showcasing the company’s commitment to timeless design. The elegant, slender silhouette of the Beolab 28 was created by the Noto design team, by lead designers Julian Sommer & Johannes Ott. Noto is an award-winning design studio from Cologne, Germany, founded by Thorsten Frackenpohl and André Poulheim. The column design of the Beolab 28 with its conical base that contains the woofer, is held together by a backbone which hides cable wires and gives the impression that the speaker is floating on air.
And there are multiple materials and colors to combine, where users can choose from Natural Silver, Black Anthracite or Bronze Tone aluminium, and combine with speaker covers in high quality knitted fabric or solid wood to suit any interior setting. The fabric covers are available in two tones: grey and grey mélange. The wooden covers are available in light oak, oak, smoked oak and walnut.
Designed for longevity and created in Bang & Olufsen’s legendary Factory 5 in Struer, Denmark, the anodized, aluminium cylinder of the Beolab 28 is formed using a spinning technique whilst dually being pressed into shape. To reach the conical shape of the foot, the aluminum component is carefully formed using expanding and reducing techniques to secure an unusual and surprising shape. The wooden covers are made at Bjerrum Nielsen, a supplier Bang & Olufsen has worked with since 1949 due to their shared values in prioritizing craftmanship and every piece is inspected by eye to ensure the best quality.
Bang & Olufsen’s commitment to longevity also applies to technology where the speaker includes Bang & Olufsen’s new replaceable connectivity module. This has been front-loaded with enough processing power and connectivity technology to receive new performance updates and features for years to come. Like with all recent Bang and Olufsen connected speakers, if the connectivity and streaming technology ever becomes outdated, the module can be replaced with the latest technology updates, future proofing the speaker for generations to come.
The Fabric version of the Beolab 28 will retail for 10,750 EUR, while the Wooden version sells for 12,000 EUR.
www.bang-olufsen.com
