Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore - High-end Wireless Portable Bluetooth Speaker for Outdoor, Home and Travel, 360 Degree IP67 Waterproof Speaker with Playtime Up to 27 Hours - Black Anthracite

£224.5
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Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore - High-end Wireless Portable Bluetooth Speaker for Outdoor, Home and Travel, 360 Degree IP67 Waterproof Speaker with Playtime Up to 27 Hours - Black Anthracite

Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore - High-end Wireless Portable Bluetooth Speaker for Outdoor, Home and Travel, 360 Degree IP67 Waterproof Speaker with Playtime Up to 27 Hours - Black Anthracite

RRP: £449.00
Price: £224.5
£224.5 FREE Shipping

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Description

In terms of compatibility and connectivity, Beosound Theatre sports seven outputs and can support up to 16 external loudspeakers to become the heart of a full-blown Dolby Atmos 7.1.4 surround configuration. In this setup, Beosound Theatre would function as a center speaker that merges the Dolby Atmos decoding and custom-tuned post-processing with Bang & Olufsen’s proprietary True Image algorithm, to maximize the capabilities of all Bang & Olufsen loudspeakers. So, you could buy Beosound Theatre as a soundbar and later add a pair of rear loudspeakers such as Beolab 28 in a triangular setup, if you so wished. And while this B&O speaker will certainly catch your eye, it leaves a lot to be desired when you start using your ears. It has a formidable rival in that department in the form of Naim’s stunning Mu-so. It’s compatible with Dolby Atmos, TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus 7.1, and 7.1 PCM sources, but not DTS:X. It seems a little ridiculous to miss the latter off at this price, but here we are. Beosound Moment was a digital audio master with a hub and separate touch interface you could bring along. But the new Beosound Moment introduced a touch-on-wood operation and the MoodWheel. The MoodWheel was a way to access a mood rather than a specific piece of music. Studies have shown that not many people are active listeners most of the time. Music was mainly used to create an atmosphere. Moment – being in the moment – was conceptualised from that learning.

Beosound 2 was connected to the mains, providing exceptional wireless streaming performance but still highly flexible with regard to placement. I also experimented to great lengths with changing the equalizer settings within the B&O app. I moved the control wheel around to various spots, changing the sound from bright and energetic, to warm and even to remove bass and treble frequencies, until I could settle on an EQ that best-suited my preferences. The software was developed based on a collaboration with an Austrian institute working with artificial intelligence and research made by musicologists studying music patterns. The Beosound Stage is Bang & Olufsen’s first soundbar and hits the ground running with its immersive sound, flexible usability and stunning design. Under the cool casework, you're getting two 1.8-inch full range drivers powered by two 30-watt Class D amplifiers, but given the inclusion of a Bluetooth 5.2 chipset, it's a little disappointing to read that your wireless codec support is limited to plain ol' SBC, so no aptX higher-quality streaming support and no AptX Low Latency.

Design

Despite the price tag, this is not a replacement for a high-end AV receiver system. It’s something altogether different. Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the Theatre is its bass handling. This all-in-one slams like a battalion of subwoofers. It can drop seriously deep, and is capable of quite startling dynamics. Those two forward facing 6.5-inch woofers know how to pressure load a room. If you do dare to turn up the volume, then you’ll experience a sound that is genuinely room-filling. I didn’t have a larger room to test the speaker in, but considering what I said about not even needing to put the volume at 30%, I have no doubt that 70% to 100% will satisfy any prospective buyer.

In terms of technical specifications, the Beosound Explore is relatively unremarkable. It supports Bluetooth 5.2 but sadly there’s no provision for advanced audio codecs. You’ll be making do with SBC regardless of the device you pair the speaker with, putting the Explore at a disadvantage to the Beosound A1 (2nd Gen), which supports both AAC and aptX Adaptive. Of course, movies are the Beosound Theatre’s raison d'etre, and it doesn’t disappoint when the lights dim. The bar has a ball with Bond’s pirouetting Aston Martin from No Time to Die. The machine-gun headlights sound fast and fierce. What’s admirable about all this is that the Beosound A5 doesn’t alter its attitude or its character even when playing at significant volume (and be assured, significant volume is available here). It maintains its composure, never sounding stressed or overdriven – it just gets louder. And the fact that the soundstage it creates is so much larger than the chassis from which it’s delivered only adds to the impression of assured, high-quality performance. With a tough, robust construction, BeoSound 1 is constructed to be moved and used anywhere. From the home to the work place, and everywhere in between, it offers you CD and radio with the simplest of plug-and-play functionality. And hidden behind the compact design lies a set of exceptionally powerful loudspeakers, capable of producing a dynamic sound far beyond the modest dimensions of the cabinet.

Changing your BeoSound 1 cover:

With a price that lies under what is usually expected of a Bang & Olufsen product, Bang & Olufsen expects that BeoSound 4 will capture a lot of interest from first-time buyers in the market. The digital portability offered by the SD card built into BeoSound 4 is consistent with Bang & Olufsen’s strategy to ensure that wherever the company’s customers may be, they can have their entertainment choices with them. The top of the bar is wrapped in acoustic fabric. The cheapest (!) finish extends this to the front grille. The Beosound Theatre soundbar I tested features a slatted oak wood grille. There's a physical switch on the rear of the A5, which I toggled on and off a few times to try and get the speaker to register that it was indeed on, but whenever I navigated to the calibration setting in the app, I kept getting the message that the microphone wasn't activated.I have read other accounts of people being able to get the microphone and calibration software to work, so hopefully this is just a minor bug with my review unit. A ‘bookshelf’ speaker that genuinely looks like it belongs on a bookshelf? A Bang & Olufsen product that doesn’t immediately require a load of caveats regarding its asking price? Has the world gone mad?

Beosystem 2500 introduced innovative audio integration combined with the very first active loudspeakers – presenting an all-in-one solution. The year after, Beosystem 2500 was updated with new technology that included link options. The integrated active speakers were removed, and the audio system could now be connected to any of the new Bang & Olufsen active loudspeakers; Beolab 8000 and Beolab 6000 launched simultaneously. However, as this update was not visible to the customers, it was decided to introduce Beosound as a new family name.One key feature of the Beosound Theatre is its modular design. Longevity was a key requirement in its design, and virtually any part of the soundbar can be swapped out for a replacement or upgrade. This includes the processor and the HDMI interface board, so any changes to broadcast specs or standards can theoretically be accommodated. The Beosound Level goes loud too – we generally tested it on a third of the max volume and it was already providing room-filling sound. For the sake of our neighbors, we didn’t try to test the speaker at max, though an accident that involved us leaning on the ‘volume up’ button without realizing it showed that this thing can really hit deafening heights (if you’re leaning on it).



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