The Beosound Theatre Is A Monster Soundbar But Size Comes At A Price

Bang & Olufsen has been a byword for smooth Danish design and impossibly slim and delightful audio merchandise for nearly a century. Regardless of its grand heritage, the corporate has all the time been on the forefront of know-how, producing merchandise that sound pretty much as good as they give the impression of being.

Bang & Olufsen has attacked the Dolby Atmos soundbar head-on with its new Beosound Theatre. This behemoth of a soundbar seems to be like a Dreadnought Class battleship impressed it, with a little bit of Artwork Deco styling thrown in for good measure. The Beosound Theatre can decode full Dolby Atmos 7.1.4 to present that full top impact the place sounds hover in midair.

This monster wants two folks to raise it because it weighs 18kg and is 1.2m in size, making it considerably unwieldy for one particular person to deal with. If it have been to be mounted on a wall, I feel a stable brick construction can be a good suggestion as I’m in no way positive trendy dry walling may deal with its bulk and weight.

In fact, an enormous soundbar calls for an enormous TV and B&O suggests at the least a 55-inch mannequin because the naked minimal. For bigger screens, the corporate provides stick-on aluminum wings that look a bit just like the chrome grille on a Nineteen Fifties sedan and add that Artwork Deco vibe to the entire look. The entrance drivers may be coated with varied grilles that includes vertical wood slats in varied finishes.

This soundbar is one piece of client electronics I’d recommend the consumer has professionally put in, particularly when choosing the B&O motorized wall bracket or stand. In addition to being a TV soundbar, the Beosound Theatre additionally helps Apple AirPlay 2, Google Chromecast, Bluetooth and a choice of bodily inputs across the again of the unit.

Bodily inputs embrace 4 HDMI inputs, together with one eARC with help for pass-thru video as much as 4K @ 120Hz or 8K @ 60Hz. There are not any fewer than 4 Ethernet sockets, with one specifically reserved to be used with LG OLED TVs, enabling every thing to be managed by utilizing the B&O app.

For these closely invested within the Beosound ecosystem, the soundbar has distinctive connections for as much as eight Beosound Powerlink audio system. It could actually additionally deal with as much as eight wi-fi Powerlink audio system to supply an extremely spectacular multi-speaker residence cinema setup. Connecting to a community for streaming music can both be by way of dual-band Wi-Fi or Ethernet.

Loads of controls may be configured utilizing the B&O app. Nevertheless, for individuals who don’t need to use the app, the Beosound Theatre has a complete set of contact controls ranging throughout a glass floor on its high. The controls have a proximity sensor, which lights up the controls at any time when anybody goes close to the soundbar. The controls allow the consumer to play and pause audio, alter quantity ranges or change inputs.

Organising the soundbar takes a bit time and positioning it accurately is crucial. As soon as in place, powered up and linked to the community by way of the B&O app, the Beosound Theatre is able to have its sound fine-tuned in order that it might ship the Dolby Atmos sense of house, regardless of the place the viewers are sitting within the room.

Customizing the sound is straightforward. A smooth microphone on a tripod is provided that plugs into the entrance of the Beosound Theatre and is then positioned wherever the viewer might be sitting. Utilizing the B&O app, the soundbar triggers some check tones that the microphone picks up and analyses to fine-tune the sound from all 12 drivers. A number of positions may be recorded and memorized within the app, so switching between them is straightforward.

A dozen audio system are constructed into the Beosound Theatre, together with two forward-facing 6.5-inch {custom} woofers for the bass. Within the middle, there’s a 5.25-inch midrange driver with a 1-inch tweeter in a coaxial association. Two extra 1-inch tweeters are positioned in the direction of every finish of the soundbar, above a 2.5-inch full-range driver. Additionally, at every finish, there are 3-inch upward-firing full-range drivers to supply the Dolby Atmos impact that makes sounds seem to drift above the soundbar when watching Dolby Atmos films.

The ability pumped out by the Beosound Theatre’s Class D amplifiers quantities to a mighty 800W. This huge energy funds is break up with the 2 large bass drivers receiving 100 watts every, whereas the remainder of the audio system get a wholesome 60W every.

There’s bass to spare with the Beosound Theatre, which suggests a separate subwoofer isn’t obligatory. This soundbar makes the bottom shake. I stored listening to the Netflix start-up sound, which was so spectacular. The sound of motion films is outstanding, with explosions and crashes shaking the room.

Utilizing the HDMI eARC connection, the soundbar’s quantity, muting and energy can all be managed utilizing a TV distant management. Different modifications may be made by utilizing the B&O app, together with the power to tweak EQ settings and treble and bass ranges. The sound out of the field is spectacular, however the custom-made sound is even higher. That mentioned, the sound high quality should be wonderful, contemplating the astronomic value of this soundbar.

Value is the proverbial elephant within the room when reviewing the Beosound Theatre. This soundbar is greater than twice the worth of its closest rival, the superb Sennheiser Ambeo. Typical Bang & Olufsen clients most likely received’t fear an excessive amount of about value. The entire B&O providing is about creating merchandise with a novel design aesthetic and impeccable efficiency; cash no object. The type of people that purchase into the B&O world most likely received’t even clear their throat on the value of the Beosound Theatre. It received’t be an element, so I’m undecided that fretting over the excessive price ticket is worth it. This product will promote to its meant market.

Regardless of how costly a soundbar is, it has to sound wonderful. There’s no query that the Beosound Theatre is a star performer on this respect. How may it not carry out properly with all these audio system and all that energy? Some very intelligent engineering has gone into this design and the best way the 12 drivers work in live performance is breathtaking.

The bass drivers can rattle your enamel all the way down to a formidable 28Hz, so there isn’t a want for a separate subwoofer. Maybe the one space the place there’s a slight disappointment is the implementation of Dolby Atmos. I’m undecided any soundbar can ever reproduce the impact of a full-fat 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos system correctly arrange with discrete audio system across the room.

Along with making an enormous TV sound spectacular, the Beosound Theatre additionally makes a superb music system. The flexibility to play radio stations or stream different music from a smartphone utilizing Apple AirPlay 2 or Google Chromecast makes it a flexible performer. There’s enough energy contained in the Beosound Theatre to fill even the most important rooms with splendidly rhythmic music.

Verdict: That is one absolute beast of a soundbar. Its seems to be and measurement might divide the room, however its 800W output from a one-box answer received’t trigger any arguments. The Beosound Theatre calls for a big display and cautious positioning to get the very best from it. The Dolby Atmos implementation isn’t dangerous, however getting the very best Atmos results from a soundbar with convincing top results isn’t simple. Sure, the worth is as giant because the bodily measurement of the soundbar, but when cash isn’t any object, the Beosound Theatre is pretty much as good an choice as any, though some would possibly say that the Sennheiser Ambeo provides higher worth for cash. Bang & Olufsen aficionados will love the Beosound Theatre and I doubt B&O could have any bother promoting this soundbar into bigger properties the place the bigger TVs are typically discovered. The Beosound Theatre places right into a sure-footed efficiency, however a full encompass sound setup must also be thought-about at this value.

Pricing & Availability: The Beosound Theatre Soundbar is now transport at $7,790 / £6,390 / $7,490.

Extra information: www.bang-olufsen.com

Tech Specs:

• Advisable room measurement: 15 – 60m² / 160 – 600 ft².
• Speaker configuration: 12 speaker drivers (2 x 6.5″ woofer, 1 x 5.25″ midrange + 1 x 1″ tweeter for custom-made coaxial middle speaker, 2 x 3″ midrange, 4 x 2.5″ full vary, 2 x 1″ tweeter.
• Amplifier: 12 energy amplifiers (2 x 100W, 10 x 60W).
• Frequency vary: 28Hz – 23,000Hz.
• Most sound stress stage @1m: 112dB SPL.
• Bass functionality: 94dB SPL.
• Superior sound options: Built-in 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos decoding and custom-tuned post-processing with proprietary True Picture up- / downmixing algorithm, Dolby Digital TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus 7.1 (together with DD5.1), Dolby Atmos, Dolby MAT.
• Superior Bass administration system: Adaptive Bass Linearization (ABL) Thermal safety.
• Customizable Sound EQ: 5 customizable listening modes by Bang & Olufsen App.
• Bluetooth: Model 5.1 (BLE and EDR).
• Wi-Fi: Twin-band WLAN 2.4 / 5GHz IEEE 802.11 b/g/a/n/ac.
• Streaming providers: Apple AirPlay 2, Bluetooth audio streaming, DLNA, Chromecast built-in, Spotify Join, Deezer, QPlay, Google Forged teams, BeoLink Multiroom.
• Built-in music providers: Bang & Olufsen Radio.
• Inputs and outputs: 3 x HDMI enter with CEC, 1 x HDMI eARC with passthrough 4K 120FPS / 8K 60FPS / 40Gbit, Ethernet change with 4 x 1Gbit ports.
• One port assigned for LG OLED TV connection for built-in management by way of Beoremote One and Bang & Olufsen App.
• 1 x 3.5mm jack slider for microphone mute
• Speaker outputs:
• 8 x Wi-fi Powerlink
• 8 x Powerlink
• Distant management
• Built-in system management, together with LG OLED TV:
• Beoremote One BT
• Bang & Olufsen App
• Music streaming:
• Beoremote Halo
• Voice Assistant
• Through exterior Google Assistant system
• Weight: 18kg.
• Dimensions (HxDxW): 19.7 x 15.7 x 122.2cm.
• Energy consumption: Typical 120W.