"Our goal is to create powerful and immersive listening experiences for our customers. Beolab 8 provides exactly this. It is a scalable speaker that is all about flexibility, performance, and innovation," says Michael Henriksson, Vice President of Product Marketing at Bang & Olufsen. "Drawing inspiration from the high-end Beolab range, our aim for Beolab 8 was to distill the acoustic essence of these impressive speakers into a compact offering that maintains the directivity and sound beam control for optimal sound reproduction in any environment. Bringing immersive experiences for every moment."
The new Beolab 8 is designed to look beautiful from every angle, no matter where and how the speaker is placed. The one-piece aluminum body is a fusion of a sphere and cylinder merged into a solid shape, showcasing excellence in craftsmanship from Bang & Olufsen's renowned Factory 5. Shown with either Danish manufactured wooden lamellas or a fabric front, the Beolab 8 follows the same characteristic design of Bang & Olufsen's Beolab and Beosound products including Beosound Theatre, Beolab 28 and Beolab 50.
In between the outer aluminum shell and the inner core of the speaker, the interplay of light and shadow create a visually lightweight appearance. In keeping with Scandinavian design principles, where form follows function, the shape of the speaker dually creates an aesthetic object and enhances the acoustics of the speaker. The glass interface on top of the speaker creates a perfect curve that guides the user's finger along the surface effortlessly.
Each of the four stand options are slender and sculptural, utiliing Bang & Olufsen's expertise in aluminium manufacturing. While the table stand is designed to create a floating illusion, the discreet ceiling bracket and floor stand are polished to perfection.
But ultimately, it is the sound quality of a Beolab 8 speaker that stands-out, thanks to its three-driver setup consisting of a 16mm tweeter, 3" midrange and a 5.25" woofer. The performance in this design is significantly improved thanks to the incorporation of beam width control, room compensation, adaptive tuning as well as ultra-wideband technology.
The speaker's beam width control allows users to seamlessly switch between two listening experiences. Beolab 8 offers the ability to narrow down with precision audio to optimize the sweet spot for the listener. Alternatively, users can choose to go wide and diffuse sound throughout the room whilst the front LED's on the speaker display which sound mode status the speaker is in.
The Room Compensation feature provides an optimized soundscape based on a room's unique acoustics. The speaker carefully maps its environment to deliver crystal clear quality no matter the size or space of the room. With adaptive sound tuning, the Beolab 8 adjusts its own configuration by using sensors to detect the front cover and fine-tune the sound for optimal performance. This is made possible through small sensors in the speaker and magnets within the cover which allows Beolab 8 to detect the type of cover and automatically apply the appropriate tuning. And finally, the user can even direct the speaker to its intended sweet spot, based on a user's phone location via the Bang & Olufsen app.
Featuring Bang & Olufsen's Mozart platform, like all of the company's recent products, the new Beolab 8 is a stand-alone product that can connect easily through Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3. And with Powerlink, both wireless and wired built into the speaker, it is a true system speaker, providing a connection to Bang & Olufsen TVs and sound systems dating back more than 30 years.
"Beolab 8 is designed to stand the test of time: using quality materials that age gracefully, continuous customization options and easy upgradability over time, long term serviceability as well as the replaceable streaming module to ensure that Beolab 8 can adapt to the latest technology standards. The speaker is designed using Cradle-to-Cradle principles - a design philosophy which allows products to be proactively designed for a circular future. Beolab 8 is pending to complete Cradle-to-Cradle Certified," the company adds.
The Bang & Olufsen Beolab 8 is available in Silver / Natural Aluminum, Gold Tone or Black Anthracite, and can be combined with speaker covers in oak, light oak, dark oak, or fabric. Custom option will also be available. Prices start from €2,499 EUR or $2,749 USD.
www.bang-olufsen.com
