The Beosound Balance speaker designed by Benjamin Hubert of London creative agency LAYER for luxury Danish consumer electronics brand Bang & Olufsen embodies the notion an audio speaker should be appreciatively seen as much as heard. With a sculptural silhouette intended to draw a tactile interaction toward its surface, the Beosound Balance strikes out to court the ears with a septet of speaker drivers while its vase-like surface evokes the comfortable textures of home.
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The compact textile-covered cylindrical speaker dimensions permit the Balance to feel equally at home on either the floor or situated upon a credenza or shelf. Utilizing a division of thirds, Hubert’s speaker’s top two-thirds are wrapped in Kvadrat textile in reference to upholstery, while the Balance’s bottom third hints of furniture with a FSC-approved solid timber base housing the bass speaker. In sum the speaker presents an audio solution derived from the design language of “domestic objects rather than high-tech products”.
The Beosound Balance features the characteristic Bang & Olufsen sound, with the capability to be used within a multi-room environment using Google Chromecast, Apple AirPlay 2, and Spotify Connect. If the touch controls featured across the top of the Beosound Balance are out of reach, the speaker can equally be operated with the assistance of Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant for all basic operations and to evoke queries.
With BALANCE for Bang & Olufsen, we wanted to create a sculptural interior object for the home, while still offering the performance of high-end audio equipment. The pure, geometric volumes are driven by the acoustic performance of the speaker, visually describing how the audio functions. This approach delivers a product that is intuitive to use and easily fits into the domestic environment without compromising on sound quality.
– Benjamin Hubert, Founder of LAYER
The Beosound Balance is slated for release this week to coincide with an officially planned launch at Milan Design Week, but with the announcement of a postponement for Salone del Mobile until June, we may have to wait just a little longer for this sculptural acoustic expression of sound priced at $2,250.
For more B&O products, check out their featured collection here.
Source: design-milk