ARCHIVED FORUM -- March 2012 to February 2022READ ONLY FORUM
This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
Well, here we are… Bang & Olufsen were kind enough to fly me out to Denmark and treat me to their usual first class hospitality once again in order to see and hear their new Flagship Loudspeaker, created to mark their 90th Anniversary. If anyone knows how to look after their guests, it's B&O, every time.
I’ve now seen the BeoLab 90. I’ve listened to them. I’ve seen how they’re made, from components in a box to the finished article. I’ve spoken at length to a Canadian guy who knows a little bit about sound. I took photographs. I took video. I’m back at my keyboard.
Now to collate everything and give you all a real insight into the BeoLab 90. I asked as many questions as I could think of, both non-technical and as technical as my non-technical brain would allow. For the sake of the continuity of the story I’ll skip around a little as not everything was done in the correct order, so bear with me..
BeoLab 90 : The BeoWorld Review
Okay, let’s start at the beginning.. The construction of the ‘casing’ of the BeoLab 90.
Formed from one single piece of Aluminium, poured into a mould filled with sand and glue and left to cool, then ‘broken out’ and sprayed with the very same coating used on the intake manifolds of Ferrari and Aston Martin.
Here you see one of the very first ‘test casts’ which went rather wrong. Practice makes perfect, and all that.....
Practice does indeed makes perfect – and here we have a successful cast exactly as it came out of the mould. Later, at the factory, the mould is sprayed with the coating which gives it a dull satin grey effect, as mentioned. This one, however, is ‘naked’ aluminium - apart from its hat to preserve modesty!
The immediate thing which strikes you about the BeoLab 90 is the size. Whilst not being an absolute Colossus it has huge presence. Standing a fraction over 125cm (that’s 49.3 inches, or just over four feet tall) you certainly know you’re looking at something special, and it’ll be the focal point of the room, for sure – but it doesn’t look aggressive or imposing thanks to the styling (and in my personal opinion the abundance of soft fabric instead of wood grain or shiny lacquered MDF helps..) It looks more intriguing than anything as I’ve never seen a design like it in a loudspeaker.
One misconception I had was that the wooden panels were at the front and rear of the speaker. This isn’t the case – they’re one on each side, so you have two fabric diamonds at the front and the ‘open beak’ look to the sides. Once I had this straight in my head I stopped with the hungry blackbird internal monologue I was having with myself.
Here’s an image of the speaker, from the front, with Geoff Martin in the background doing a rather decent job of being our resident DJ as all requests were honoured in addition to his own carefully chosen ‘Martin-Mega-Mix’….
You’ll see (if you look closely) the Bang & Olufsen logo lit up in the very centre of the speaker. This is one small piece of black anodised aluminium around (8cm at a guess) wide, which is fed into a special machine to have the BANG & OLUFSEN font laser etched from the rear. A small amount of clear gel is then applied which then allows the light from a small light diode behind to illuminate the logo. I overheard someone say there is a light sensor on the speaker which activates the lighting for the logo, but I didn’t have this confirmed.
We're jumping ahead here though, so let's get back on track with assembly now we're clear which are the sides and which is the front!
Once the cast is made and coated it’s time for it to be built. Here we go to the Factory (it’s 4 or 5, I can’t remember – I think it’s 5) where the B&O Televisions used to be assembled. There are two very large factory floors which are now empty, one half of one floor has been given to the assembly of the BeoLab 90 – and the rest is earmarked for expansion of the Automotive section of the business at the moment. (All TV production is now in the Czech Republic factory as it was considered cost-efficient to have all TV production in one place).
In one section the tops of the speakers are assembled. The BeoLab 90 uses very high-end ‘Scan-Speak’ drivers, made in Denmark (here’s proof!) of which these are clearly destined for the Australian market as they’re upside down.
Here’s a close-up of the front of one of the Scan-Speak midrange drivers. I did question Geoff Martin wether that was just a logo or it had some kind of effect on the driver but he wasn’t sure. What he did say though was that this design was exactly the same on the rear of the driver, but offset perfectly. This to me means it was deliberate, but if Geoff couldn’t see an obvious reason I’m not even going to start guessing.
I was handed, in the listening room, one of these drivers. I’m no expert but I can tell you the quality was Rolls-Royce like. Geoff drew me a detailed diagram and gave me a full explanation of just how good these drivers were, and why. I’d love to hand you one right now to inspect, like Geoff kindly did for me - but all I can do is assure you that after seeing many drivers in my life, this one was a work of art!
So, to the top sections (I’m sure they have a name like ‘heads’ or more correctly ‘midrange and tweeter housings’ but I’m not sure).
What you can see are three top sections on a trolley, and for those with keen eyesight you’ll see that two have green markers below them, whilst one has a red marker. The red marker denotes it’s for the ‘Master’ and the Green marker denotes it's for the ‘Slave’.
I asked Geoff what the logic to this was and he explained that for full functionality is was deemed best that there is a master and a slave as having two masters would interfere with the protection mode, and two speakers will always communicate better if one is ‘in charge’ so to speak. I'm sure Geoff could go into further technical detail if required, but the explanation I was given made sense to me.
It’s worth bearing on mind that for full functionality they are connected directly together with DPL (Digital PowerLink). They can connect with WISA independently but you will lose quite a bit of functionality.. It's always best to connect directly to the source, with DPL connecting the Master to the Slave.
As mentioned, DPL is the new ‘Digital PowerLink’ – more of which I’m sure we’ll hear of, but I’m sure you’re all wondering what the connection panel of the ‘Master’ speaker looks like (the slave lacks about half of these connections as it doesn’t need them).
So, without further ado – here’s the ‘Business End’ for your inspection!
Back to the factory floor though, and the making of the speaker (I jumped around there, sorry…) and here we can see the three aluminium sections which I’d almost say were ‘trim pieces’ but they’re really more than that.
They start life as a single, long block of aluminium and are then milled out into a long shape, attached to a special machine, then bent into a (crude explanation coming up) ‘zig zag’ shape called the ‘Crown’ – aptly named because of the shape.
Here’s a special hanging display of the three crowns as they would sit on the speaker. In true B&O fashion, rather than make it easy they are all unique in the fact they are different thicknesses – the thickest being at the bottom end...
So, now you’ve seen the ‘Crowns’ you’re ready to see the two special robots which polish them. Each crown takes a full 25 minutes to polish, and as mentioned there are three per speaker..
Here are the robots in action. Please turn up the volume and listen to the commentary!
YOUTUBE LINK - PLEASE CLICK HERE!
So, the ‘crowns’ are polished, the ‘heads’ are finished, the components are all in place, and the BeoLab 90 is on the factory floor. Then begins the assembly process for the main lower section..
First is the wiring, then the boards, and here we have a B&O technician pre-wiring ready to install the amplifier. The section you can see being fitted has the cooling panels with the external fins underneath.. It looks more like an angry blackbird demanding its circuitry!!
SEE THE YOUTUBE VIDEO BY CLICKING HERE!
Once the wiring and amplifiers are all in place the sound dampening is added to the internals of the speaker. The material used is what is commonly known as ‘Rockwool’ – but that’s apparently a trademarked brand so it’s known simply as ‘Mineral Wool’ in Denmark.
Either way, it’s the pretty much the same as loft insulation but neatly cut into sections and covered in fabric. It does the job perfectly!!
Here you can see the sound dampening material actually inside the speaker, plus our guide showing you a block of it to give you an idea of scale..
It’s time for the woofers to be fitted now. The BeoLab 90 has 18 drivers in total – 4 woofers (one 260mm, three 212mm) plus 7 midrange drivers and 7 tweeters, all made by Scan-Speak. Every single driver and woofer has it’s own amplifier (IcePower for the Tweeters and Mids, Heliox for the bass drivers) and a pair of DSP processors with a sampling rate of 192 kHz (fixed) do the trickery.
192kHz was a conscious decision as higher than that simply contained too many errors, so a happy medium was reached where the lower figure gave enough without sacrificing quality.
So, here’s the front woofer being fitted. Again, listen to commentary – it’s recognised that the woofer is hanging there at an angle due to the technician only having two arms instead of three. I was most concerned standing there when I saw it do the ‘pendulum swing’ thinking it was going to come crashing down onto the workbench..
SEE THE VIDEO BY CLICKING HERE!
After the speaker is assembled, but before the covers are fitted, the speaker goes into a chamber for final testing. It’s an acoustic chamber akin to ‘The Cube’ but a much smaller version with slightly different acoustic properties.
The door drops down behind it, the lights go off, the microphones automatically manoeuvre into place – and the test phases begin…
Should a BeoLab 90 fail the stringent tests it gets pulled to one side for software correction and further tuning. Here are two BeoLab 90’s which weren’t considered to be absolutely perfect and have had ‘STOP’ labels assigned to them, which means further tweaking, software updating, testing and calibration before they can be even deemed acceptable!
Each BeoLab 90 has its own digitally recorded (by B&O HQ) ‘Birth Certificate’ with every single parameter, characteristic and setting fully logged and recorded in case the speaker needs to come back. Why? Because they want every single BeoLab 90 to be exactly the same as the day it left the factory, for all time – even after component repair or replacement..
Just as an aside I managed to take a quick picture of a flow-sheet in the corner of the factory. When BeoLab 90 was first assembled it was judged to take 6.5 hours for full assembly from component form. With practice this was whittled down to 6.0 hours (hence the cross out) – but as techniques are refined they aim to get it down to around 4.3 to 4.5 hours.
This isn’t to say it’s manufactured from scratch in that time – just assembled... Here's the flow chart.
Once we’d seen assembly we were taken to the "Creative Genius Department" and shown how the design of the BeoLab 90 came about. Design cues were taken from Architecture, Nature – and even a tent manufacturer. We were shown a full story board charting the BeoLab 90 right from idea to production.
Here’s one early design house sketch of the BeoLab 90 at the advanced concept stage…
A little fact : What we see today is the culmination of 5 Years of design and testing, with a total of 200 (yes – two hundred!) people having worked on the project. This was conceived, designed and made with one goal – to be the best loudspeaker in the world.
BeoLab 90 almost didn’t look like it does today though... Two final designs were chosen, and it was decided that the ‘Horn’ design was more ‘of the moment’ and wouldn’t stand the test of time as much as the final chosen design we see today. Remember, this was all done four or five years ago!
I’m really not sure if I’m supposed to post this ‘Runner-Up’ image – but here goes. If it’s an 'exclusive' and I get banned from Struer please write to B&O asking for leniency!!
Our penultimate section now.. How it works!
So, as we know it’s loaded with DSP – and 18 drivers. Here’s an image of them all outside of the cabinet to give you an idea of how they can disperse sound. As mentioned already, each and every driver has its own amplifier.
The front of the BeoLab 90 would be on the left hand side of the picture by the way..
The BeoLab 90 has its own App which you can personalise your speakers with, from settings you can name yourself (Sweet Spot, Sofa, Dining Table and Party were a few examples I saw) to beam width control, to sound characteristic adjustment coming in a later release, which will again be in the App.
Each pair comes with a single Microphone in the box which will initially be connected to the dealers laptop and fed parameters which can then be uploaded to the speaker.
However, once the software is completed either the dealer or customer will be able to plug directly into the master speaker and take measurements at various points of the room in order to properly calibrate without having to involve an external computer. Again this will be done via the App, which communicates with a server, which communicates with the speaker – all via the internet! I did ask if the speaker had any kind of antivirus software installed, but I’m not entirely sure if that was a pertinent question as it met quite a muted response!!
B&O calculated that only around 50% of BeoLab 90 buyers would be using Bang & Olufsen products as their ‘Source’ – so, as you’ve seen from the connection panel earlier it’s geared up for many inputs. I did ask if you could just walk in, pull up the App on your phone or tablet, then stream music directly to the speaker – and the answer was no. Giving it some thought though you don’t spend this amount of money on BeoLab 90’s and use them as an insanely large BeoLit 15. We all ask stupid questions.. That was mine.
So, we’ve got that it’s App based. We’ve got that it’s ram-packed with technology. Now for the sound…
The curtain was down. The speakers were behind….
WHOOMPF…. The curtain drops……
There they are, sat beside an Avant (looked like a 75...) in such a beautiful setting.
A few more little 'build facts'
** Even the removable wood trims at the base are hand crafted and laminated, with not one but TWO thin sheets of Aluminium in the laminate layers to prevent even the slightest warping.
** The speaker cloth was developed especially for the BeoLab 90 to have just the right amount of sheen to accentuate the curves and lines perfectly.
** Oak is the wood to be released, but other woods will follow. Other cloth colours are being worked on also.
** The aluminium for the trim is 99.9% pure and is imported from a company in Germany who B&O have dealt with for 30 years. The offcuts and aluminium 'shavings' from the milling are of such purity and high quality they are sold for a premium price to a recycler!
A few more little sound facts..
ONE BeoLab 90 is as loud as TWO BeoLab 5's.....
The BeoLab 90 is can go half an octave lower than the BeoLab 5....
The target for the BeoLab 90 is to be 6db louder than the BeoLab 5. However, the challenge is that in order to do this it take four times the acoustic power...
The BeoLab 90 is still being fine tuned for even better results, but currently has a frequency range of 10hz to 40khz...
And finally, a few little General Facts...
The BeoLab 5 stands 97cm high. The BeoLab 90 stands 125.3cm high - which makes the 90's just over a quarter as tall again as the 5's....
The BeoLab 90's are 74.7cm wide at their widest point. The BeoLab 5's are 49cm at the base (their widest point)....
One BeoLab 90 weighs 137kg. That's over twice the weight of a single BeoLab 5 and a full 15kg more than a PAIR of BeoLab 5's....
And the final fact....
BeoLab 90 wasn't created to replace the BeoLab 5, nor was it created to simply better it. BeoLab 90 was a project, right from the very beginning, to start completely from scratch and build the worlds best Loudspeaker. Nothing more, nothing less.
Here's an image of Geoff Martin next to the BeoLab 90, to give you a sense of perspective with regards size. Also in the shot is a great guy I met from Canada called Jimmy, who slams trunks!
So... finally, to the listening.
This has been quite a hill for me to climb as I'm not the 'the bass rolled away like the ebbing of the tide' and 'the treble was bright, with floral notes whereas the midrange was strong, yet velvety with the subtlety of a small river floating lightly across the inner ear..' kinda guy. If you want that, go to HiFiAnorak dot com and wave your thousand dollar interconnects in the air.
I am a layman, and I pretend be none other. Yes, I listen to B&O Loudspeakers, a lot, but I'm no Audiophile - so on that basis I'll describe my experience in terms I can understand, and hopefully you will too.
We all sat in a line of chairs four or five deep in the 'sweet spot' right in the centre of the speakers. The speakers were set to narrow beam, which is the optimum listening position and the one the Audiophiles will be setting up 'Just so'. This is clearly the way you want to demo these...
First up was what I'd call a 'Big Band' track, and the first thing which strikes you is the pure clarity. I'm not talking about ear splitting treble, or powerful this or that - it's just crystal clear, as if the musicians were right there. Because it was a 'busy' track with lots going on it really took my brain a good 20-30 seconds to take in the fact I was sat listening to loudspeakers, and I didn't have the actual band right there.
Next came on Nirvana with 'Smells like Teen Spirit' - which frankly made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. The guitar riff at the start was quite literally electric - so real, and when Dave Grohl started drumming I could see a mass of arms, drumsticks and hair waving around exactly three metres in front of me and exactly one metre to the left. The imagery was utterly incredible.
Beyond that I was wrestling with my brain as track after track came on in or around 1 minute bursts. I just could get over how many of the tracks sounded so real. There's bound to be a quirky terminology for 'exactly like the singer and band were there, playing their instruments and singing, live, right in front of me' - so whatever that is, insert it here.
At no point did the speakers ever feel uncomfortable on the ears either. Sitting in the sweet spot they're incredibly well balanced with no favour given to bass, mid or treble. They're all there, in the amounts needed, exactly when they're needed. Personally I'm a bit of a 'graphic equaliser in a U-Shape' listener, with really gloopy, rolling bass and pin sharp treble. The BeoLab 90 does neither of these 'off the bat' - they're just true to the recording. Too true at first, which is why I keep rabbiting on about my brain not quite being able to accept them.
My two personal 'requests' to Geoff were 'On and on' by Erykah Badu and 'Doin' it Right' by Daft Punk feat. Panda Bear. I was hoping the latter track could shake my teeth with the bass, but it was different to how I've heard it before. The bass was much, much tighter with less roll, so not to my personal taste - but I'm just a bass-head really. Don't get me wrong, these speakers pack a punch - a real punch, but they're so accurate it's unnerving.
Out of the finely tuned sweet spot they did sound a bit 'middy', rather like a pair of BeoLab 1's to my ears - but that's not fair on the speakers as I was out of the sweet spot after all. The speakers have adjustable beam settings which allow you to widen the sound (which basically turns up and down the various drivers on the speaker) to wide beam or 'party mode' which simply gives the beans to every single driver on the speaker. You can even tell the speaker in the App set-up that you're playing to one person in the sweet spot, two people on the sofa, plus one person sat at the dining table at the back of the room. The speaker does all the calculations and adjust the sound accordingly so that everyone in the room gets the best possible sound.
So how could I sum up the BeoLab 90... That's the question, and one which I've been thinking about since last Friday when I left Struer.
Well, imagine the BeoLab 5 is the equivalent of staying at home and watching a movie on a Bang & Olufsen 65 inch screen, in full 1080p HD, in 5.1 surround using B&O speakers. You simply cannot be unhappy with that. It sounds fantastic.
The BeoLab 90, put simply, is going to the Cinema. It immerses you. You don't just 'listen' to the BeoLab 90, you become part of the soundstage and completely enveloped in it. Playing 20 tracks is like gatecrashing 20 concerts for one song, then leaving. You simply must hear these when you get the chance. Make the chance if you can. Really.
So, the trouble is, going back to my BeoLab 5's was like jumping back in a Mercedes S-Class after you've hired a Rolls Royce Phantom for the weekend. There's nothing wrong with the S-Class, but you now know what it's like to drive a Phantom...
Once you know just what one of the best loudspeakers in the world sounds like you're doomed. I want some BeoLab 90's now...
So, hopefully that covers the BeoLab 90 as much as possible. I've tried my best!
Listen to pair. Find a dealer who has some and refuse to leave the store unless he or she gives you a demo. Take you favourite CD and hear it like you've never heard it before..
Geoff Martin said to me, in person, that for the first time in many years he's able to just listen to the music. No listening FOR the music, just to it - and that just doesn't happen to Geoff and his critical ears.
So, here we are. My sincere thanks to Jette Nygaard and Iza Mikkelsen for arranging everything and everyone at B&O for a fabulous few days, and thanks also to Geoff Martin for spending time with me and answering all my dumb questions.
The BeoLab 90. It seems that perfection has been achieved, hence the big smile... Well done Geoff!
All that remains for me to say is 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY' Bang & Olufsen, from all of us at BeoWorld.
Here's to the next 90 Years.
Cheers
Thanks for your great report Lee.
Happy Birthday B&O
Thanks for such a comprehensive review Lee.
Graham
Amazing report, thank you Lee. I'm going to reread this thread again when I get home, chock full of good information.
Brilliant report and clearly brilliant speakers. Did you ask why ALT seems to have been abandoned?
Looking forward to a glut of cheap Beolab 5s on the market!!
Peter
Thanks for your detailed description of the BL90 :) A very interesting product that I hopefully will get to listen to one day :)
Peter: Did you ask why ALT seems to have been abandoned?
Did you ask why ALT seems to have been abandoned?
I did ask exactly that question on Friday Peter, and Geoff quite simply couldn't give me an answer. He's not sure if they're being kept or dropped but I got the impression from the lack of an "oh yes, they're staying" that they're not featuring much on future loudspeakers. I could be wrong though!
Lee
9 LEE: Peter: Did you ask why ALT seems to have been abandoned? I did ask exactly that question on Friday Peter, and Geoff quite simply couldn't give me an answer. He's not sure if they're being kept or dropped but I got the impression from the lack of an "oh yes, they're staying" that they're not featuring much on future loudspeakers. I could be wrong though! Lee
ALT has been the USP of the more expensive active speakers. Unless some licensing arrangement is coming to an end I can't imagine it being dropped altogether.
Awsome speakers, and an awsome review.
note to myself: remember the lotto!
Format 0 😀😎
Thanks for the extensive review Lee! I can't wait to hear these :)
9 LEE: Once the wiring and amplifiers are all in place the sound dampening is added to the internals of the speaker. The material used is what is commonly known as ‘Rockwool’ – but that’s apparently a trademarked brand so it’s known simply as ‘Mineral Wool’ in Denmark. Either way, it’s the pretty much the same as loft insulation but neatly cut into sections and covered in fabric. It does the job perfectly!!
As an old fire safety consultant I am very happy to see B&O uses mineral wool and not EPS insulation!
And thank you Lee for your great review with photos and videos. You must have spent many days on this project! Cheers!
9 LEE:What he did say though was that this design was exactly the same on the rear of the driver, but offset perfectly.
I made a mistake. This is true on the larger Illuminator drivers like the 5.25", but not on the one in the BeoLab 90.
My sincere apologies for misleading you on that one...
-geoff
Peter:Did you ask why ALT seems to have been abandoned?
Hi Peter,
The ALT was not used in the BeoLab 90 because one of the main ideas was to have a selectable beam width (a.k.a. "directivity").
Whilst the BL90 solution can deliver a directivity similar to that of an ALT (in "wide" mode), an ALT cannot deliver the "narrow" beam width or a variable directivity as in the BL90.
This is great read - thanks!
This way those of us, who will be listening 'through' the BL90's tomorrow, are well-prepared.
P.S. Lee, you wrote 'we' several times.
Who were present apart from you (you lucky guy)? - if you are allowed to answer?
Should we be looking out for other reviews in the next weeks?
MM
There is a tv - and there is a BV
9 LEE:I did ask exactly that question on Friday Peter, and Geoff quite simply couldn't give me an answer. He's not sure if they're being kept or dropped but I got the impression from the lack of an "oh yes, they're staying" that they're not featuring much on future loudspeakers. I could be wrong though! Lee
One might also say, that the ALT speakers aren't built for the one person, who tent to sit in the one and only good position for listening to music. They are much more built for people with friends and family, who usually move a bit around in the room, when listening.
I am like Barry - I'd prefer the 'social speaker concept' for an overall speaker.
I still see a future for the ALT speakers - at least untill the guys in Struer succeeed in downscaling the BL90 concept for some smaller speakers. This will not be easy, but I am sure they will get it right some day.