Zoom!
Bang & Olufson used to get hifi love for good reason. Here’s 2:
Founded in Denmark in 1925 by Peter Bang and Svend Olufsen, B&O has a storied hifi history and I admit I still lust after that Beosound 9000 and a few other oldies (and I still have a red BeoCom 2500 phone somewhere). But lately, hifi has kinda lost interest perhaps around the time B&O retail stores popped up in upscale shopping malls…
The new Beolab 50 Ferrari Edition dresses up the company’s active speakers with touches of Ferrari red, the famous logo and Grigio Corsa aluminum in what I see as an attractive, sleek design meant to fit into an attractive, sleek decor. And I don’t see anything wrong with that.
What you get for your hard earned $95,000/pair is a pair of streaming active speakers with a total of 7 drivers and 900 Watts of ICE-Power per side. Frequency response is rated at <15 – >43.000 Hz.
1 x ¾” tweeter (300-watts ICEpower)
3 x 4” mid-range (300-watts ICEpower)
3 x 10” woofer (300-watts ICEpower)
That ‘acoustic lens’ with ‘Beam Width Control’ up top rises from the cabinet when powered on and can be adjusted to accommodate a single listener or a room full of fun seekers. What’s more, the Beolab 50 offers Active Room Compensation that measures the acoustical behaviour of your room and the placement of your speakers. The data is used to create a custom set of filters for your Beolab 50, tailored to your space…according to the company.
Connectivity
Primary Speaker:
1 x RCA (L/R)
1 x MIC / IR
1 x Power Link (RJ45)
1 x S/P DIF (24 bit / 192 kHz)
1 x Optical (24 bit / 96 kHz)
1 x USB-B (Audio) (24 bit / 192 kHz)
1 x USB-A
2 x Digital Power Link
1 x Digital Power Link / Ethernet
1 x Power
Secondary Speaker:
1 x USB-B (Audio)
1 x USB-A
3 x Digital Power Link
1 x Power
I’ll also admit that I’m not really a Ferrari kinda guy and find the standard Beolab 50 finishes a bit more appealing.
That’s the optional Beoremote Halo ($900) sitting on the table used for controlling your B&O stuff but there’s also a free B&O app for Android and iOS if you’d rather not. Hey! I have concrete floors!
You can buy the Beolab 50 and more B&O directly from the company website.
