Description
Bang & Olufsen Beosound Stage Soundbar Review
Product Name: Bang & Olufsen Beosound Stage Soundbar
Product Description: Bang & Olufsen has made a soundbar that you can easily connect to your TV, whichever brand you may have, using an HDMI-ARC port. And speaking of connections, the Bang & Olufsen Beosound Stage soundbar has an HDMI input that can handle 4K HDR and Dolby Vision (although we didn’t get a chance to test for HDR10+) and an HDMI output that supports ARC, 3.5 mm jack, and Ethernet port for linking wires to the network. You also get Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.2 which is the last we would expect these days. All connections are placed on the rear center of the soundbar to avoid any mess from the running cables on the floor.
Offer price: 1,750 - 2,000
Currency: USD
Availability: OnlineOnly
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Build Quality
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Performance
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Features
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Easy to Use
Summary
The sound performance from the Bang & Olufsen Beosound Stage soundbar is amazing, the bass has excellent depth with clear tones that will fill the room with crisp and accurate sound, thanks to its numerous speakers and the help of Dolby Atmos. Another interesting feature of the Beosound Stage is its direct connection with the LG C9 OLED 4K TV to turn it to a B&O Beovision and operate using a BeoRemote One. And while the company has a reputation for having pricier tags compared to other brands, the Bang & Olufsen soundbar comes at a reasonable price. It will turn your 4K TV into an amazing home entertainment platform.
Pros
Detailed sound
Eye-catching and unique design
Dolby Atmos, Chromecast, and AirPlay 2 support
Bang & Olufsen multi-room capabilities
Excellent bass extension
Cons
Very expensive
No upward-firing speakers
Lack of DTS: X support
Does not include remote
No expansion options
User Review
( votes)Bang & Olufsen Beosound Stage Soundbar Review
High-end Danish consumer electronics company, Bang & Olufsen, needs no introduction. Their sleek and cool designs have given them a reputable name within the industry and they have now decided to dip their toes into the high-end audio market with their first-ever soundbar. As a manufacturer of telephones, television sets, and audio products since the ‘50s, it should come as no surprise that they have decided to release a soundbar to match their offerings in the home entertainment front. The Bang & Olufsen Beosound Stage soundbar might be a late-bloomer but according to their Executive Vice-President and Brand & Markets’ President, John Mollanger, they take their time in developing not the biggest or fastest audio products, but the most desirable ones.
Bang & Olufsen has let years go by before they produced their very own soundbar, but as with everything else they produce, when they did produce one, it delivers both stunning audio as well as stunning looks. The brand is not for everyone, its unique designs make them the Bentley of consumer electronics so, yes expect high quality, but also a high price tag.
Overview
Bang & Olufsen already created TV speakers made exclusively for a Beovision TV before releasing their Beosound Stage soundbar. However, connecting their speakers to other TV brands can be a little challenging as you need to have a specific accessory in order to make it work and in this day and age of little patience and short attention span, it seems to be a bit too much for most people to handle. And rightly so because one expect things to just work straight out of the box.
To compensate for this, Bang & Olufsen has made a soundbar that you can easily connect to your TV, whichever brand you may have, using an HDMI-ARC port. And speaking of connections, the Bang & Olufsen Beosound Stage soundbar has an HDMI input that can handle 4K HDR and Dolby Vision (although we didn’t get a chance to test for HDR10+) and an HDMI output that supports ARC, 3.5 mm jack, and Ethernet port for linking wires to the network. You also get Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.2 which is the last we would expect these days. All connections are placed on the rear center of the soundbar to avoid any mess from the running cables on the floor.
Looking at the Bang & Olufsen Beosound Stage soundbar, you may notice that it is larger and wider compared to other brands. Since it is quite heavy, your first option is to place it on a TV stand or table, but we suggest mounting it on the wall so the soundbar faces the listener. The sound will be clearly and directly distributed from the center to the rest of the room. There are touch buttons located at the corner to easily adjust volumes, initiate pairing, or to power up the soundbar. The Bang & Olufsen Beosound Stage soundbar has a sleek minimalistic design, which is a B&O trademark. It comes in 3 attractive and unique colors such as Anthracite, Bronze-Tone, and Silver/Black. All look elegant and classy and as with everything the company produces, it doubles up as a wonderful accessory to look at.
Key Specifications
- Measures 44 x 7 x 3 inches
- Weighs 18 pounds
- Comes in three colors such as Anthracite, Bronze-Tone, and Silver/Black
- Dolby Atmos, Chromecast, and AirPlay 2 support
- Bang & Olufsen multi-room capabilities
- 2 HDMI, 2 LAN, analog input, and Bluetooth
Design
The Bang & Olufsen Beosound Stage soundbar is similar in terms of size to the Sonos Playbar but it is a little wider and to be frank, a lot more attractive. You can choose from a variety of colors and materials such as Aluminum, Bronze, Smoked Oak frame, and Gray Kvadrat fabric but if you want to be practical and save yourself a little money, the plain aluminum and bronze are the cheapest ones and still look amazing. If, on the other hand, you can afford the pricier version then we recommend the oak or kvadrat for a fancy look. And that’s not all, Bang & Olufsen offers a front fabric design to make the soundbar extra special, though you might need to stretch your budget just a little more for the additional cost. All designs are gorgeous but our favorite is the smoked oak which is a major improvement to the standard soundbar color, black, and stands out the moment you lay your eyes on it.
Moving away from its looks and into more practical terrain, the Bang & Olufsen Beosound Stage soundbar has sensitive touch buttons. These are nicely carved in the wood version and etched into aluminum placed on the side of the bezel. These buttons are for standby, touch to join, audio/ tune adjustment, and also to pair the BeoRemote One or other mobile devices. The two light indicators below the button illuminate when the device is on. While on the other side of the soundbar is where you can see all the connections, two HDMI, one for eARC to connect any TV brands, an analog input, and 2 LAN, one made specifically for connecting the soundbar to the LG C9 OLED 4K TV. Inside the box, you get the soundbar, an HDMI cable, a paper template, and two small rings for wall mounting.
Features
As the Bang & Olufsen Beosound Stage soundbar is a late arrival in the AV industry, it comes packed with every feature you could think of. This includes Dolby Atmos, Chromecast, Apple AirPlay 2, Dolby TrueHD, and Bluetooth which all contribute to giving a completely exciting audio experience and the fastest way to digital streaming services such as Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, and more. And unlike their previous Bang & Olufsen TV speakers, the Beosound Stage soundbar has an HDMI eARC port to speed up data transferring and avoid any lag between the soundbar and the TV, especially while watching movies or playing games. There is also an RCA connector and 3.5 mm audio jack to connect other consoles in the soundbar along with a B&O app that you can download to adjust the sound to your taste, making it warmer, brighter, and lively.
Moreover, the Bang & Olufsen Beosound Stage’s front-firing speakers are all powered up by a 50 watts Class D amplifier which is the most efficient we have seen and it produces noticeably less heat. Its custom-made woofers, drivers, and tweeters also help in reducing distortion and providing deep bass. Bang & Olufsen thought of everything and created several sound modes such as TV, Music, Movie, or Night listening mode so you can choose the best one that fits your mood and taste. It is worth mentioning that if you place the soundbar lying flat on a TV stand, the right and left channels serve as front-firing speakers, but if you hang it on a wall, the center drivers will act as the front-firing speakers. The remaining drivers or speakers will then fill up the room with three dimensional sound which makes all movies and games sound better as you get do feel the sound coming at you from all directions.
Performance
All in all, the Bang & Olufsen Beosound Stage soundbar has 11 speakers consisting of 3 tweeters, 4 full-range drivers, and 4 bass drivers so you know that when you buy this soundbar you will be getting unparallel sound. The audio out of the speakers is loud, yes, undeniably loud (which is amazing to have that range available) but it is clear, and precise sound, no distortion whatsoever. The dialogues are very clear thanks to the woofers, but in our opinion, the bass range could have a bigger range. Sometimes we felt that you might need additional woofers in order to make the bass produce more low-pitched ranges and tones. However, this is not to say that we didn’t feel the bass wasn’t good enough, it is! These things are very personal and very, very subjective, so where we might feel it is lacking, you might feel it performs amazingly. All down to personal taste.
In terms of audio and the quality of it, you get pristine, sharp and mesmerising sound, it fills up the room thanks to Dolby Atmos and you feel as if it is wrapping its arms around you as it sounds so natural and flawless. In general terms, it creates a wonderful audio experience, which is not surprising, since Bang & Olufsen has a reputation for stunning two-channel audio.
However, we must admit that even if it has Dolby Atmos support, producing a true surround sound is quite difficult. Especially in an open room, we did not feel any surround sound effect. In a closed room, you do get some resemblance to a surround sound effect but probably not as noticeable as we would expect. We feel that Bang & Olufsen could have done one better if they offered wireless pairing support since they are very well-known in producing good wireless speakers like the Beoplay M3 and Beoplay M5.
But bear in mind that, above all its excellent features, it is still a soundbar and could not match a proper multi-speaker surround stereo system. You should not mix apples and bananas and you should understand where the limitations are for a soundbar. You get an unbelievably good sound, this is undeniable. Rest assured you have a soundbar here that will last you for years and will have you grinning until your face hurts but you must also be aware of what a soundbar can and can’t do. Like everything in life.
Conclusion
The sound performance from the Bang & Olufsen Beosound Stage soundbar is amazing, the bass has excellent depth with clear tones that will fill the room with crisp and accurate sound, thanks to its numerous speakers and the help of Dolby Atmos. Another interesting feature of the Beosound Stage is its direct connection with the LG C9 OLED 4K TV to turn it to a B&O Beovision and operate using a BeoRemote One. And while the company has a reputation for having pricier tags compared to other brands, the Bang & Olufsen soundbar comes at a reasonable price. It will turn your 4K TV into an amazing home entertainment platform.
In terms of design, the Bang & Olufsen Beosound Stage soundbar has a variety of looks which makes it unique and stand out from the competition. If design and looks are important to you, there is no one else better and this soundbar will have you smiling for years. Do we recommend it? Absolutely! Stunning sound, hands down. However, if you would like to consider different alternatives, check out our soundbar review section where we review other models. We are sure there is something there for you, whatever your budget.
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