SOUNDBARS DON'T COME any more premium than this 18kg whopper from Danish design honcho Bang & Olufsen. Rather than shoot for the mainstream, the brand has gone seriously upmarket with a component that's as uncompromising as it is exhilarating - the Beosound Theatre looks like no other soundbar on the market right now, and it doesn't really sound like anything else either.
Design is obviously a talking point. Available in a variety of finishes, the most 'affordable' iteration features a smart fabric grille. Our sample had a more expensive slatted oak wood grille, which channels Scandi furniture design. This cosmetic uplift comes at a price though, because while the fabric edition sells for £5,590, three oak variants with wooden grilles sell for £6,390.
Regardless, there's a phalanx of speaker drivers behind that point forwards, sideways and upwards. A coaxial centre channel array features a lin tweeter mounted in front of a 5.25in mid. Either side are 6.5in woofers. There are then Land R channel arrays of 3in mid and tweeter, plus four 2.5in full-range units for side and height. There's no separate sub, which is fine because that would cramp the Theatre's style. And B&O rates the low-end reach of this one-box audio solution at 28Hz.
AV INFO
PRODUCT: High-end single-box Dolby Atmos soundbar
POSITION: B&O's flagship, above the Beosound Stage
PEERS: Devialet Dione; Sennheiser Ambeo
There's more to its design than first meets the eye, too. For example, the decorative aluminium endstops are upgradable, so that when you swap your 55in TV for something larger, either 65in or 77in, you can change the endstops for ones that are longer, thereby maintaining the system's overall symmetrical design.
Denne historien er fra February 2023-utgaven av Home Cinema Choice.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra February 2023-utgaven av Home Cinema Choice.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
AV Avenger
You should think twice before accepting an invitation to play Resident Evil 4 with spatial audio in a haunted prison, warns Steve May
Catalogue classic Star Wars: Ep. VI - Return of the Jedi → Ultra HD Blu-ray, Disney
Forty years on from the movie's cinema release, Anton van Beek ponders what might have been if things had gone a little diff erently during the making of Return of the Jedi…
Feedback
Got an axe to grind? Need to comment on current tech? Want to share your knowledge with our readers? Team HCC is here to help
M&K Sound V12
TIME ON TEST: Three years REVIEWER: Steve Withers
Sony 'bar demands to be upgraded
This well-specified Dolby Atmos soundbar may have a mid-range price tag, but you'll soon want to spend more, cautions Steve May
Short and sweet
Marantz's compact AV receiver returns with a new look and boosted features – Jamie Biesemans slips it into his AV rig
Discreet delivery
A slim, stylish Scandinavian on-wall system impresses Mark Craven with its handling of the sweet stuff
One project, two rooms
Dan Sait reports on a custom install where a JVC PJ/ Atmos system is joined by a stylish media den
THE KING OF B RDA HOLLYWOOD
Three of his movies have taken over $2billon at the global box office, he's pioneered SFX and 3D technologies, and he's been to the very bottom of the Pacific Ocean. That's James Cameron by the way, not Anton van Beek
System selector!
Given three similar budgets, Mark Craven, Steve May and John Archer assemble three different AV setups focused on movies, streaming and gaming
