Bang & Olufsen, Beolab 8 Speakers

[Acquire from Bang & Olufsen]

A speaker made the way good furniture is made.

Made in Struer, Denmark · Aluminium and dark oak · Built to be upgraded

Why it's here

Most wireless speakers are finished within five years, when the software stops and the whole unit goes in a drawer. Bang & Olufsen built the Beolab 8 so that its streaming module can be taken out and replaced as standards change. Add a face of oak slats and a body of solid aluminium, and you have a speaker that looks like furniture and can be kept as long.

The object

A small rounded cabinet stands on a slim metal foot, fronted by vertical lamellae of dark oak. Inside, three drivers and 300 watts of amplification fill a large room from a very modest footprint. The speaker measures the room and corrects its own sound for where it has been placed.

Living with it

Use one for music, two as a stereo pair, or a set around a screen. On a shelf or sideboard it passes for an object chosen for its looks alone, until someone asks where the sound is coming from.

Origin: Designed and made in Struer, Denmark
Materials: Natural aluminium, dark oak
Power: 300 W, three drivers
Service: Replaceable streaming module

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