Multicare, Author at Beoworld

Posted on August 26, 2024August 26, 2024 by Multicare

Bang & Olufsen – Struer Headquarters

Multicare

Creating a dialogue between technology & Nature

The new Bang & Olufsen Headquarters in Struer, Denmark are affectionately known as ‘The Farm’ and were designed by Jan Sondergaard MAA of KHR Architects in 1997. It opened for business the year later. The building covers a total area of 1121 square metres and provides a working area of 5131 square metres.

‘The Farm’ is one of the most distinctive and talked-about Danish buildings with hybrid ventilation. The building is ventilated with the help of natural airflow when possible, and supplemented mechanically with helping fans when the natural pressure from wind and convection isn’t enough.

The building has three floors with a collective height of 12 meters. The floors are fitted with a large open office and a number of directors’ offices in addition to washrooms, elevators and the like. The north façade is outfitted in clear glass. The idea behind the construction is high quality with a minimum of technical mechanisms, which to the highest degree possible are hidden.

The building is ventilated according to the principle of displacement, where lighter, cool air is brought into the lowest parts, and pushes heat and pollution upwards, where the air is sucked out or expelled into the attic. The air exits the building via two vents through the large axial fans. The fans remain stationary when the natural air pressure is sufficient, and at other times are regulated by the air quality in the building in the form of CO2 concentration. During the night, the fans can also be used for night cooling in periods of warm weather, by which the building’s solid parts are used to accumulate warmth during the daylight hours and radiate it back during the night. By this means the temperature during the day is reduced during the hot summertime, and one avoids using mechanical cooling.

Aalborg University has been involved in a number of target programs at the B&O building. The building has also been a “participant” in many Danish energy research studies and a number of international research projects.

The design of ‘The Farm’ was inspired by the solitary farmhouses typical of the area. The new main building and its courtyard form a sheltered space with an unfettered view of all activities. Like its historic models, the building makes an effort to create a dialogue between the function and technology of manmade structures and the poetic dimension of the surrounding landscape.

KHR and Jan Sondergaard have recieved many awards and accolades including First Prize in the Architechture for Humanity competition, beating entries from around the world

Posted on August 26, 2024August 26, 2024 by Multicare

Bang & Olufsen – Eastern European Plant – Koprivnice

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On 4 May 2006, Bang & Olufsen officially opened its first production facility outside of Denmark. The new factory is in Koprivnice, which is in the eastern part of Czech Republic close to Ostrava. Bang & Olufsen has invested eight million euros in the new 14,000 square metre factory and 130 employees are already working in the factory. The factory is geared for 200 employees and this target will be reached by summer 2007.

“This new factory placed right in the heart of Europe represents an important investment in the future of Bang & Olufsen,” explained Jørgen Worning, Chairman of the Board for Bang & Olufsen, in his speech for the official opening. “I am very proud to see the positive financial development Bang & Olufsen has shown over the last couple of years. The company is now geared for growth and it is our goal to have a turnover of about 800 million euros by 2010. It is an ambitious target and our new factory in Koprivnice will play an important part in this effort.”

Bang & Olufsen started discussing the idea of a new factory outside of Denmark back in 2003 and a dedicated team then investigated no less than 42 possible sites. Koprivnice was the final choice, and already by February 2006 production had started in the new facility. The factory is already handling several preassembly tasks and will also assemble products from the range of Bang & Olufsen music systems, loudspeakers and telephones.

“Bang & Olufsen’s attitude to technology is that it should work for our customers. At our headquarters and factories in Struer, in the west of Denmark, Bang & Olufsen has for 80 years manufactured some of the finest crafted products in the world. Now we have added this new factory to our product development and manufacturing facilities. We want to ensure that the quality of our products remains unmatched, and it is with great pride that we welcome Koprivinice to the Bang & Olufsen family” said Jørgen Worning during the official opening.

Posted on August 26, 2024August 26, 2024 by Multicare

Bang & Olufsen – Anodising

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Adding beauty and durability

Bang & Olufsen over the years, has become famous for not only its stylish products but for their ‘feel’ and looks. Many products produced nowadays are of a hard-wearing aluminium; aluminium which has gone through the process of anodisation in order to harden the aluminium surface considerably and make it highly resistant to physical damage such as scratching. As the products’ mirror finish and smooth surface without protrusions are easily cleaned, their beautiful appearance will be the same for many years.

Anodised aluminium has been a Bang & Olufsen hallmark for many years, but as the mirror-finished anodisation process is one of the most demanding metallurgic surface processes, Bang & Olufsen is the only manufacturer of audio and video equipment to use it. Anodising aluminium successfully combines science with nature in order to create one of nature’s best metal finishes.

The process is electrochemical which thickens and toughens the naturally-occurring protective oxide. The resulting finish, depending on the process, is the second hardest substance known to man, second only to diamond. The anodic coating is part of the metal, but has a porous structure which allows secondary infusions, (i.e. organic and inorganic colouring, lubricity aids, etc.).

Anodising Definitions and Methods

While the chemical anodising process remains the same for all applications, the mechanical methods vary according to the two physical types and shapes of metals used.

Batch Anodising involves racking parts and immersing them in a series of treatment tanks. In wider industry, extrusions, sheets or bent metal parts, castings, cookware, cosmetic cases, flashlight bodies and machined aluminium parts are just a few of the items that are batch anodised.

Appearance options and quality are improved through the use of dyes and special pre-treatment procedures. This makes the aluminium look like pewter, stainless steel, copper, brushed bronze or polished brass and can also be coloured with brilliant blues, greens, reds and many varieties of metallic gold and silver (see, for example, the range of BeoLab 4000 finishes). The unique dielectric properties of an anodised finish offer many opportunities for electrical applications.

The surface of the aluminium itself is toughened and hardened to a degree unmatched by any other process or material. The coating is 30 percent thicker than the metal it replaces, since the volume of oxide produced is greater than that of the metal replaced. The resulting anodic coating is porous, allowing relatively easy colouring and sealing.

Hard Anodising is a term used to describe the production of anodic coatings with film hardness or abrasion as their primary characteristic. They are usually thick by normal anodising standards (greater than 25 microns) and they are produced using special anodising conditions (very low temperature, high current density, special electrolytes). They find application in the engineering industry for components which require a very wear resistant surface such as piston, cylinders and hydraulic gear. They are often left unsealed, but may be impregnated with materials such as waxes or silicone fluids to give particular surface properties.

Anodising is accomplished in five carefully controlled, calibrated, quality-tested stages:

Cleaning:

Alkaline and/or acid cleaners remove grease, and surface dirt

Pre-treatment:

Etching. An appealing matt surface finish is created with hot solutions of sodium hydroxide to remove minor surface imperfections. A thin layer of aluminium is removed to create a matt or dull finish
Brightening. A near mirror finish is created with a concentrated mixture of phosphoric and nitric acids which chemically smoothes the aluminium’s surface

Anodising:

The anodic film is built and combined with the metal by passing an electrical current through an acid electrolyte bath in which the aluminium is immersed. The coating thickness and surface characteristics are tightly controlled to meet end product specifications

Colouring:

Colouring is achieved in one of four ways:
- (i) Electrolyte Colouring – After anodising, the metal is immersed in a bath containing an inorganic metal salt. Current is applied which deposits the metal salt in the base of the pores. The resulting colour is dependent on the metal used and the processing conditions (the range of colours can be expanded by over-dyeing with organic dyes). Electrolytic colours can be specified from any AAA member. Commonly used metals include tin and cobalt. This process offers colour versatility and the most technically advanced colouring quality.
- (ii) Integral Colouring – This so-called one-step process combines anodising and colouring to simultaneously form and colour the oxide cell wall in bronze and black shades while more abrasive resistant than conventional anodising. It is the most expensive process since it requires significantly more electrical power.
- (iii) Organic Dyeing – The organic dyeing process produces a wide variety of colours. These dyes offer vibrant colours with intensities that cannot be matched by any other paint system on the market. They can also provide excellent weather-fastness and light-fastness. Many structures built with these finishes have lasted more than 20 years. The colour range can be broadened by over-dyeing the electrolytic colours with the organic dyes for a wider variety of colours and shades. This method is relatively inexpensive and involves the least amount of initial capital of any other colouring process.
- (iv) Interference Colouring – An additional colouring procedure, recently in production, involves modification of the pore structure produced in sulphuric acid. Pore enlargement occurs at the base of the pore. Metal deposition at this location produces light-fast colours ranging from blue, green and yellow to red. The colours are caused by optical-interference effects rather than by light scattering as with the basic electrolytic colouring process. Further development will produce a greater variety of colours.

Sealing:

This process closes the pores in the anodic film, giving a surface resistant to scratching, abrasion, crazing and colour degradation.

Quality Control

Throughout the entire anodising process, the process and quality of the product is strictly monitored. The application of electrical power and colour is pre-programmed and verified on all batches and coils. This quality control ensures uniformity to end product specifications for film thickness, density, abrasion resistance, corrosion resistance, reflectivity, image clarity, insulation properties, adhesion and sealing.
The unique anodised finish is the only one in the metals’ industry that satisfies each of the factors that must be considered when selecting a high performance aluminium finish.

Features of anodised aluminium:

Durability – Most anodised products have an extremely long life span and offer significant economic advantages through maintenance and operating savings. Anodising is a reacted finish that is integrated with the underlying aluminium for total bonding and unmatched adhesion.
Colour Stability – Exterior anodic coatings provide good stability to ultraviolet rays, do not chip or peel and are easily repeatable.
Ease of Maintenance – Scars and wear from fabrication, handling, installation, frequent surface dirt cleaning and usage are virtually non-existent. Rinsing or mild soap and water cleaning usually will restore the anodised surface to its original appearance.
Aesthetics – Anodising offers a large increasing number of gloss and colour alternatives and minimises or eliminates colour variations. Unlike other finishes, anodising allows the aluminium to maintain its metallic appearance.
Cost – A lower initial finishing cost combines with lower maintenance costs for greater long-term value.
Health and Safety – Anodising is a safe process that is not harmful to human health. An anodised finish is chemically stable, will not decompose; is non-toxic; and is heat-resistant to the melting point of aluminium. Since the anodising process is a reinforcement of a naturally occurring oxide process, it is non-hazardous and produces no harmful or dangerous by-products.
Colour – Anodising provides depth and variety of colour with a brilliant metallic lustre.
Texture Choice – Anodising can provide a variety of textures from mechanically polished to heavily etched giving that extra dimension to a project.

Posted on August 26, 2024August 26, 2024 by Multicare

Bang & Olufsen – The Listening Panel

Multicare

Listening for perfection

While Bang & Olufsen uses the most advanced technology in the industry for measuring audio performance, the company never forgets that it isn’t the technology which has to enjoy the fruits of its labours, but its customers.

That is why at a time when measurements have become ever more sophisticated, Bang & Olufsen established in 1983 its Listening Panel equipped with that most sophisticated of all instruments – the human ear!

Every Tuesday afternoon, the company’s painstakingly-selected panel of seven people aged between 25 and 55, gather in a specially constructed listening room to evaluate the latest prototypes, early production models and products from rival manufacturers. Each member of the panel undergoes a special training course to determine the consistency of their evaluations. Band & Olufsen also arranges frequent trips to live concerts to establish ‘real music’ as a reference standard.

The listening panel is never told which piece of equipment it is being asked to evaluate. The speakers are hidden behind acoustically-transparent curtains to ensure that it is only the audio performance that influences the members’ judgement. That ensures that tests are always carried out objectively and are not swayed by any uncontrolled factors like brand loyalty, design looks or perceived price.

Posted on August 26, 2024August 26, 2024 by Multicare

Bang & Olufsen – The Cube

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The Cube – Testing loudspeakers the Bang & Olufsen way

Developing a Bang & Olufsen loudspeaker

For well over half a century Bang & Olufsen has been working at developing loudspeakers that combine a true-to-life sound reproduction and an innovative and unique design. In the process of research and development the company has drawn on the skills of its in-house experts in acoustics, electronics and mechanical engineering. Their combined effort is aimed at developing prototypes, which offer the best reproduction possible of tone balance and spatial impression.

Once produced, the prototype is subjected to a number of extensive tests. These tests enable the company to see whether the loudspeakers’ performance matches the conceptual idea and if not, which modifications are required before the speaker is ready for production.

In pursuit of perfection, Bang & Olufsen uses its highly sophisticated research facility: in a purpose-built cube-shaped test chamber (12 x 12 x 13 metres) are analysed the speakers’ performance under simulated free-field conditions. The test equipment and computers that are used are capable of registering even the most microscopic deviations from the ideal that has been chosen and every detail of the large number of factors affecting the sound quality of the speaker is able to be measured.

The Cube was designed and built in 1981 and is completely isolated from its surroundings. The large dimensions allow reliable measurements to be taken all the way down to 30 Hz at 1m, or 40 Hz at 3m. This is much lower than in conventional anechoic rooms, but Bang & Olufsen considers it necessary as measurements at low frequencies give a better correlation between objective and subjective assessments. The Cube is not, however, an anechoic room, but has been designed to produce a natural sounding semi-reverberant environment such as would be found in a normal home.

The loudspeakers under test can be placed to within a millimetre, tilted, or rotated to any required angle by computer control. This is a powerful tool for identifying cone break-up modes, cabinet resonances, poor suspension and diffraction effects.

The purpose of a loudspeaker cabinet is to isolate the rear side acoustical emission of the speaker units from the front side emission. A loudspeaker cabinet is also designed to act as a supporting structure for the speaker units without contributing any sound itself. As it is important to minimize mechanical vibrations in the cabinet Bang & Olufsen uses a highly sophisticated technique called laser holography: by studying the three-dimensional picture produced during the holographic test, it can be seen where in the cabinet undesirable vibrations are produced and we then the steps needed to dampen them can be taken.

The above-mentioned testing techniques can all be classified as ‘objective tests’ because the performance of the loudspeaker is evaluated on the basis of data provided by advanced technological equipment. However, as loudspeakers are developed for the pleasure of the human ear – and not merely for the impersonal acceptance of a machine – a number of ‘subjective’ listening tests are also undertaken. In the reference room for listening tests are gathered an audience of people from the well-trained listening panel whose ears are tuned to the fine nuances and details of sound. Their expert opinion and highly personal comments are of the utmost value in research and development work and their acceptance is needed before the speaker can be given the final seal of approval.

Posted on August 26, 2024August 26, 2024 by Multicare

Bang & Olufsen – Testing

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Testing the hard way

The tests that Bang & Olufsen products go through before a product is released onto the market are some of the most rigorous in the business. Nothing escapes the testers when products are bumped, stressed out, thrown around and even gassed!

Must be able to take 5000 bumps

A television or radio from Bang & Olufsen must be able to withstand the bumps and jars of being wheeled over doorsteps and other such small domestic obstacles. The consumer expects it. At Bang & Olufsen all sets receive 1000 bumps and bangs on the base, the sides, front and back. Five thousand in all: “And after all this, the set must still be intact or it’s back to where it came from,” says Torben Jørgensen, the company’s test manager.

A bumpy ride in a “Prairie Wagon”

Bang & Olufsen tests packaging and stresses components. The demands Bang & Olufsen makes of its products are the toughest in the business.

Everybody knows it as the “Prairie Wagon”. It’s the test rig Bang & Olufsen uses to make sure its products will arrive safely in the hands of the consumer, no matter how far away.

When equipment is packaged up and loaded into the back of a truck, it is subject throughout its journey to a constant barrage of bumps and vibrations,” says Torben Jørgensen. “We use the Prairie Wagon to simulate these truck journeys and determine whether this banging and crashing causes the packaging to leave any marks on the surface of the equipment it contains. After a six-hour “ride”, the equipment is thoroughly tested and if there is the slightest mark, well that’s the end of the trail for that piece of kit,” he guarantees.

Stress

But Bang & Olufsen equipment is shipped in vehicles other than trucks. Transport by train or ships is common. And Bang & Olufsen is using a special vibrating machine to simulate these too. The packaged equipment is shaken by vibrations varying between 10 and 400 cycles per second. “What we’re trying to do here is to stress the components,” says Torben Jørgensen. “At the end of the test, we try all the functions. And no matter how tough we’ve been with them, they must function correctly in every respect. Otherwise they won’t meet the expectations the user has of them.”

The business has promulgated accepted tolerances of what equipment should be able to withstand but Bang & Olufsen has set its own requirements. “And they are much more stringent than the general standards set by the business as a whole,” emphasises Torben Jørgensen. “And they must be met in every detail or the equipment doesn’t leave the factory.”

Bang & Olufsen TVs smoke up to 120 cigarettes a day

Thorough testing prevents the effects of smoke and dust and cut down on the need for consumer cleaning. Bang & Olufsen’s AV 9000 television set had to get through 120 cigarettes a day for ten days – a forced inhalation of 1200 cigarettes – before shipment to the user. It’s all part of the company’s efforts to test its products’ ability to resist smoke and dust. “We subject the equipment to the smoke and dust they will encounter in their future homes,” says Torben Jørgensen.

On most modern TVs there is a glass plate in front of the picture screen and if smoke or dust manages to get behind this, then the picture tube itself will get grimy and dull. As the coating builds up, the picture deteriorates and the plate has to be removed every so often and cleaned if the picture is not to become worse and worse.

“The easiest thing for the user, of course, would be that the plate didn’t need cleaning at all. Furthermore, between the plate and the picture tube on our sets there is a certain amount of sensitive electronic gadgetry that shouldn’t be touched,” says Torben Jørgensen. “So we have set the goal that our sets should be so airtight that smoke and dust can’t get in there in the first place. That saves the consumer a lot of problems.”

“Admittedly 120 cigarettes a day for ten days is pretty heavy smoking, but if our television sets can take that, then they will also be able to take the more normal levels of smoke and dust found in the domestic environment,” concludes Torben Jørgensen.

Televisions thrown around

50 centimetres: that’s the drop a TV set from Bang & Olufsen – in its package – must be able to take without blinking before it arrives in somebody’s sitting room.

“We simulate one of the traumatic events a television set may encounter on its perilous journey from the factory to one of the subsidiaries, a dealer’s showroom or a domestic viewer,” says Torben Jørgensen. “There is ample opportunity in that process for somebody to drop it and if it can’t take the shock, then it doesn’t go anywhere.”

A heavy set has a lower drop-height than its lightweight cousin. “This has nothing to do with the punishment the two sets can withstand. It’s simply a question of how high they can be lifted and you don’t lift a heavy set as high as a small one.”

Bang & Olufsen’s Hi-Fi sets, however, have to take the real rough stuff. A 10kg set has to take a drop of 86cm. And just to be on the safe side, 30cm is added to the specified tolerance limits. They are dropped onto the tops, bottoms, sides and corners.

Torben Jørgensen adds, without a trace of sadistic pleasure, that other Bang & Olufsen equipment, including loudspeakers, is subjected to the same unkind treatment.

Wax & fix

The weight of the Avant’s wide screen picture tube called for new thinking in terms of construction. High density fibre board turned out to be as solid a solution as it is environmentally healthy. To disguise its low tech appearance, it is treated to a high quality two-component lacquer of the same type as is used at the upper end of the car industry. It will not scratch easily, but should this happen, a minor scratch can be polished away using liquid silicone car wax.

Motorised stand of the Avant

The motorised stand of the Avant is rigorously tested. It’s built to be able to turn through an arc of 70° at least 20 000 times. If the TV was turned on and off 5 times a day, the motorised stand should perform flawlessly for more than ten years. In its tests, B&O stopped after 80 000 turns. A painted iron base plate, an aluminium top plate which carries the entire weight, with the actual turning mechanism of a 36 ball bearing race between them is how the stand is made up. Tests such as dropping it several centimetres directly onto the rim of the bottom plate ensure that the stand has many years of life in front of it.

Such is the life of a test product at Bang & Olufsen. Knowledge indeed that it’s received stringent tests before the product graces your living room!

Posted on August 25, 2024August 26, 2024 by Multicare

Beolab History

Initially, the term Beolab was used for amplifiers. In the 60ies and 70ies, an amplifier was a separate unit – a highly sophisticated part of the setup with radio and connected speakers. Intense competition from Japanese manufacturers demanded a strong signal that Bang & Olufsen was not merely the design and looks – but very much about technology and innovation. In the early days of Hi-Fi, Bang & Olufsen engineers set out to develop the world’s most perfect Hi-Fi system – the Beolab 5000 series in 1967. The brief said: create the European Hi-Fi format which communicates power, precision and identity. The name Beolab – coming from the Bang & Olufsen (Beo) laboratories (lab) – was chosen to make this statement. Also, the designer Jacob Jensen was heavily inspired by what was going on in the laboratory. He used a common laboratory tool in those days – the slide rule as inspiration for his design of Beolab 5000.

Column Speakers

Today it can be hard to understand how radical the Beolab Penta loudspeaker was in 1986. At the time, a normal speaker in your home was a big square box, mostly in wood. That also was true for speakers from Bang & Olufsen.

But engineers at Bang & Olufsen, who participated in a big research project ‘Archimedes’, found that the box design gave unwanted reflections from ceiling and floor affecting the sound performance in a negative way. They started working on a principle that could direct especially the high and midrange frequencies more towards the listener avoiding this.

This led to the pentagonal column design of the Beolab Penta – an unseen design for living room speakers – that not only through its placement of the driver units (which focused the sound to the listener), but also the pentagonal cabinet reduced standing waves and vibrations inside the cabinet.

The first Beolab speaker

With the first semi-active loudspeaker – the Beolab Penta – the amplifier unit was moved away from the tuner and placed inside the column speaker for the first time. Beolab Penta was followed by more fully active loudspeaker designs, where each driver unit had its own amplifier.  The amplifier was no longer needed as a separate unit. The term Beolab was used for all active speakers making it easy to distinguish from passive speakers (Beovox).

Moving the amplifier closer to the speaker units

In an attempt to make a true high-performance speaker, engineers also wanted to reduce the distance from the amplifier to the driver units.

In those days an amplifier was a separate unit which had cables running from the speakers to its placement typically next to the radio. By placing the amplifier close to the driver units, the loss from the long cables was reduced. In Beolab Penta, the amplifier was placed at the foot of each column.

Become part of the furniture with a small footprint and a reflecting surface

Besides directing the sound towards the listener, the column design had another benefit. The footprint in the living room was relatively small. Also, by designing the speaker in a reflecting stainless-steel surface, it would take up colour from the surroundings and blend into the interior design. Designers Lone and Gideon Lindinger-Löwy were the masterminds behind this innovative design, which took the speaker away from the wall and into the room for the first time. Slim like a Giacometti sculpture and based on an acoustic line-source principle, the Penta had a particularly powerful bass without the boominess that plagued most other large loudspeakers due to the floor’s reflections.

Expensive but value for money

At the time, many Bang & Olufsen retailers thought Beolab Penta would never make it, the price tag was significant and the design was exceptionally bold. Time has of course proved them all wrong, and even today a lot of enthusiasts around the world refer to Beolab Penta as a major breakthrough product.

Column design became the new hit

The column design has become a signature design of many popular Bang & Olufsen speakers since then; Beolab 8000, Beolab 6000, Beolab 8002 and 6002, Beolab 1 and Beolab 18 – and today it is probably the most copied loudspeaker-design of all times.

Beolab 8000 as light as a ballerina on her tip-toe

Beolab 8000 was the first fully active column loudspeaker introduced in 1992. It was the next in a series of compact, slim sound columns for placement on the floor. Beolab 8000 was designed by David Lewis, who was inspired by an organ pipe he found at a flea market. A symbol of both music, but also with a lightness and timelessness in its design that held the potential of having a long life in your home.

The precondition for being able to pursue this design, was the development of new technologies for the fully active column speakers. Beolab 8000 was reincarnated in 2016 in Beolab 18 a seducing sound icon offering an Acoustic Lens, elegant wooden lamellas at the front, based on a new digital sound engine. It had a built-in wireless module so Beolab 18 could connect to any WiSA compliant transmitter, avoiding the need for speaker cables. Combining Beolab 18 with Beosound Core points towards the future of offering access to all streaming sources – be it Wi-Fi or Bluetooth based – in an iconic design that seems to last forever.

Insignificant look but significant impact

This was the essence of Beolab 6000. It came out as a result of an invention at the Dolby Laboratories in the US. After a study trip to the USA visiting the Dolby Laboratories, Boston Medialab, the Epcot centre, Hollywood and Lucasfilm, it was clear to the design team at Bang & Olufsen that multi-channel sound and home cinema solutions for the home would be the next big thing. Having as much as five speakers in your living room, however, was a significant pain point that needed to be solved.

Beolab 6000

Designer David Lewis developed Beolab 6000 from an idea of a speaker that signalled thin, invisible lines in the air – lines that could be repeated many times. So insignificant that you would hardly notice them. It was a difficult task because any kind of uniqueness became annoying to look at after a while.

Using aluminium for speaker cabinets

The result became a thin high gloss polished aluminium tube with black fabric in front of the speaker being able to reflect the surroundings and, in this way, almost disappear in the interior. The use of aluminium for speaker cabinets has since then been applied in many other solutions. The benefit of being able to blend into the interior, being a robust, thin and rigid material, you can shape any way you like, has made aluminium quite a favourite material of both designers and acoustic engineers since then.

Compact Speakers

A constant conflict between performance and design was solved in many different ways. With Beolab 4000 Bang & Olufsen was attempting to make a bookshelf speaker that could be placed almost anywhere. However, the built-in amplifiers radiated too much heat for it to be approved. Designer David Lewis solved the problem, by integrating the heat sink in the design using a geometric shape that allow heat dissipation from the large curved surfaces.

Versatile placement options

Beolab 4000 had many other unique benefits as the curved design enabled a multitude of placement options – in shelving systems, on floor stands, in the ceiling or in corners. Besides the many placement options over the years, Beolab 4000 was also launched in a large number of different bold colours. This versatility has given the Beolab 4000 design an extremely long lifespan. It was carried on in the Beolab 17 loudspeaker, taking the conceptual idea of a versatile bookshelf speaker concept with many placement options into the modern era.

Beolab 3 – compactness taken to the extremes

Beolab 3 is the result of excellent timing, as it is a perfect synthesis of available technologies and a designer’s ambition to make small seem great. Bass takes up a lot of space so it has always been a difficult task to get sufficient bass performance in small speakers, you could place anywhere.

Beolab 3

Beolab 3 was centred on two main elements: the very compact loudspeaker combining the shape of a sphere and cube, and the acoustic lens on top.

The loudspeaker construction is unique, as it is a combination of active and passive speaker units and it has been a crucial factor in achieving the compact design. The visual identity was inspired by a very successful and compact subwoofer, Beolab 2, launched a couple of years earlier, which truly showcased the driver units in a bold and novel way.

Beolab 3 included Acoustic Lens Technology, custom-designed ICEpower amplifiers and driver units and was able to adjusts its bass performance to the surroundings with a manual position switch – all learnings that came from studies for the cutting-edge acoustic technologies developed for Beolab 5 to provide superior performance.

Inside out design

The designer made a virtue out of the many technological innovations. Instead of hiding them in a cabinet, he left the drivers visible and designed a powerful and potent look that was a perfect match for the impressive performance.

With its compact design and a variety of stand options, placement on floor, in ceiling, on wall or on a counter top, Beolab 3 became the perfect solution in a surround sound setup – either on all positions or often as very discrete but great performing rear speaker. A cool and compact loudspeaker delivering an impressive sound performance with its power, precision and depth.

Digital Speakers

The ambitions for Bang & Olufsen’s first all-digital loudspeaker were high. An intelligent speaker with a pure and transparent sound – not affected by the placement of the speaker, the decoration of the room or your own listening position. Introducing sophisticated computer technology and advanced algorithms allowed you much more control of what was going on.

Performance over beauty turned into a Dalek

It was a speaker, where technology came first and where the designer, David Lewis, was invited to a listening test. His experience was described like this:

”Made of building bricks and lumps of wood and clay, it looked rather odd and disjointed. The shape was impossible to describe, too. However, during the listening test, I was struck by the fact that the sound reproduction was unobtrusive. My ambition was to come up with a design that emphasised the technology, and the challenge was to add a muscular bass-volume visually to such a gentle sound. By placing the bass unit at the base of the speaker and directing it downwards, the cone-shape emerged. The acoustic lenses in the upper half of the loudspeaker float on a string and add visual lightness despite the speaker’s 61 kg”.

Without David Lewis’ creative input and the freedom compact technology gave the engineers, the loudspeaker would have been the size of a typical cupboard.

According to the press that review Beolab 5 after that, his design gave connotations to the Daleks from the British science fiction series Dr Who.

A collection of technological innovations based on research studies

Beolab 5 showcased a lot of new technological inventions that the acoustic engineers had been working on for many years. In the early 1980s, Bang & Olufsen participated in the Archimedes research project, where it was found that the room layout and the placement of a loudspeaker greatly affects the listening experience. It was proven that floor and ceiling reflections were a major contributor to unwanted disturbances. In order to present the listener with a pure and natural sound, it was important to find a solution to these issues.

New approach to the sweet spot – for people with friends

Beolab 5 was the first product to introduce Acoustic Lens Technology (ALT) a unique design for the high and midrange drivers providing a 180-degree wide sound dispersion of the upper frequencies, and where disturbing reflections from the floor and ceiling were significantly reduced. The technology made it possible to achieve a great experience from several places in front of it. As the Tonmeister then put it: “This is a speaker for people with friends. Most high-end speakers play for one sweet spot and is for people with no friends”.

Identifying the room – the invention of ABC

In the high frequency areas, we found Acoustic Lens Technology to be of great use, but in the bass frequencies the problem was quite different. Bass sound waves are omni-directional, so you cannot really define where they are coming from. The room acoustics and the placement of the loudspeaker in it are important for the bass sound experience. To optimize bass performance, we needed to be able to control these elements, in any room, in any position. To do this Bang & Olufsen invented Adaptive Bass Control (ABC). It was a technology enabling the loudspeaker to examine the acoustic characteristics of the room in which it is placed, and determine its own position within this environment.

The speaker knows where it is in the room

Based on this information, Beolab 5 digitally calibrates itself to ensure the optimum bass reproduction for this specific placement. A moving microphone emerged underneath the 15-inch downwards firing bass unit, sent out a tone and measure what came back. In this way, you could place the speaker where you wanted in the room and let the ABC adjust its performance to this placement. The calibration process was activated by pushing an ‘invisible’ button at the top of the speaker. With its four ICEpower amplifiers producing 2500 watts per speaker the size of the room was no longer an issue – to prove this point, the launch was actually done in a concert hall.

Posted on August 25, 2024August 26, 2024 by Multicare

A dialogue between past and present

1934, Hyperbo 5 RG Steel

Designed by Bang & Olufsen, this very early piece of sound-as-furniture was ahead of its time and a true example of design history. It was inspired by the Bauhaus movement and founder Peter Bang’s Marcel Breuer desk chair and only very few were produced.

1939, Beolit 39

The Beolit 39 was the first in a series of radios from Bang & Olufsen and introduced the new way of wording the products starting with Beo. The innovative, organically shaped bakelite radio took its inspiration from a Buick dashboard. In honour of this true icon, its name also served as inspiration when Bang & Olufsen launched its On-the-go category back in 2012 with Beolit 12.

1959, Beovision Capri TV

The elegant teak wood 17″ TV on fixed legs was one in a series of televisions, which looked to the Danish modern furniture movement in expression, material and form. The long legs, rounded corners and slightly tilted grey screen in front of the picture tube was a major step towards a more minimalist appearance.

1972, Beogram 4000

Designed by Jacob Jensen, this was a cutting-edge technological landmark. The record player was distinguished by an innovative use of a tone-arm that moved tangentially, rather than diagonally, and thereby reproduced the sound the way it had been recorded. The unique suspension absorbed the horizontal movements from the surroundings, making Beogram 4000 more “dance proof” than any other record players on the market. The Beogram 400 was celebrated in the MoMa design collection for its stylish combination between the teak wood and aluminium surface along with its innovative vision in function.

1976, Beomaster 1900

Designed by Jacob Jensen, this radio receiver and amplifier broke ground as it challenged the industry with its touch-sensitive opening and closing, easily accessible primary functions versus hidden secondary functions. It is part of the MoMa permanent collection and won the ID Award in 1976.

1984, Beovox CX 100

Designed by Jacob Jensen, these classic passive loudspeakers are among the most successful in Bang & Olufsen history and was in production until late 2003. The clean design with the aluminium cabinet and black fabric is timeless and retro all at once.

1985, Beovision MX 2000

Designed by David Lewis, the Beovision MX2000 was a completely different kind of TV. Visually the television was remarkable because of its contrast screen and technically it introduced stereo sound, automatic channel search and a state of the art remote control. With its lean-back design on the floor or table it took a more casual take on TV design.

1986, Beocenter 9000

Designed by Jacob Jensen, this cassette recorder, CD player and radio was a further development of the Beomaster 1900 by the same designer. Avantgarde not only in its mirroring aluminium and glass surface, but in its easy touch fields of the glass panels and the hidden functions only visible when the CD or cassette tape was changed.

1996, Beosound 9000

Designed by David Lewis, this standing version of the Beosound 9000 is a flawless example of innovation, technology and movement in the Bang & Olufsen legacy. The 6-CD changer is the fastest in the world. If allowed to continue its momentum it would travel 100km/h in just 5,5 seconds, matching sport cars of today.

1998, Beocom 6000

Designed by Henrik Sørig Thomsen, this cordless telephone is curved in profile and simple in shape. Characterized by having a cutting edge wheel allowing various lists with recently dialed or stored numbers to be easily scrolled through. It came with a charger bases for wall or table mounting.

Beosound 3200

Designed by David Lewis, this classic radio and CD player also known as Beosound Ouverture when launched in the early 90s marked a new era of design, emphasising the function of the machine. The vertical play-back of a CD was a first ever in the world and allowed the product to be mounted on the wall. The glass doors will respond to a wave of the hand, automatically opening and revealing the controls in the bottom.

2012, Beoplay A9

Designed by Øivind Alexander Slaatto, this perfectluy round, powerful one-point music system is a multiroom speaker designed like a piece of furniture. Embellished with beautiful fabric, an aluminium ring and wooden legs, the speaker is customisable making it fit into every room.

2015, Beoplay A2

Designed by Cecilie Manz, this On-the-go product weigh only 1,1 kg and is designed to be light and portable without compromising on sound quality. The speaker is made of extruded aluminum, has a luxurious quality leather strap for an easy grip and sound coming from either side.

2016, Beoplay A1

The shape itself, the flat cylinder, was quickly decided on from very early on in the process. We wanted it to feel smooth and soft in your hands, as you handle it a lot. In and out of your bag, hanging loose and getting a characterful patina from being used in everyday life.

2018, Beosound Edge

Designed by Michael Anastassiades, Beosound Edge is an immersive, minimalist, simple unbroken circle designed for intuitive touch and motion and delivers impeccable sound performance. The sophisticated wireless speaker rolls gently and debuts the world’s first Active Bass Port.

2019, Beovision Harmony

Designed by Torsten Valeur, this television is a brand new experience in sound and vision: a choreographed performance of magical movement and acoustic clarity, vivid imagery and human-centric design. Sound, craftsmanship and design merge in this new, visionary TV. The crafted oak wood and aluminium fronts sublime technical instruments, delicately tuned by hand and ear to reveal all details of music and sound.

2020, Beoplay H95

95 years of expert craftsmanship and flawless attention to detail are realised in Beoplay H95. Our most exceptional headphones yet have been precisely tooled using the finest materials. Smooth aluminium, advanced polymer and soft leather create a sense of true luxury.

2022, Beoplay EX

As versatile as they are beautiful, these earbuds with wireless charging case and active noise cancellation bring deep sound and snug comfort in one sleek package.

2022, Beosound Theatre

Four patent-pending acoustic innovations in one sleek soundbar envelop you in sound from every angle. Made to fit any TV, and last for generations. Choose Beosound Theatre as a standalone soundbar, or combine it with a 55”, 65” or 77” screen for a truly cinematic experience.

2023, Beosound A5

A two-way setup with four drivers. The most powerful woofer in any of our portable speakers. You won’t just hear Beosound A5 – you’ll feel it. We pack all of our latest acoustic advancements in one compact package. RoomSense adapts playback based on your space, so you always get the finest fidelity.

2023, Beolab 8

Compact and powerful as a surround, stereo, or standalone speaker, Beolab 8 adapts to your space, offers versatile connections, and elevates your audio experience through advanced acoustics, materials, and stand options. Discover true adaptability.

Posted on August 25, 2024August 26, 2024 by Multicare

Iconic quality since 1925

In 1925, working out of a Danish farmhouse, Peter Bang and Svend Olufsen reinvented the radio, developing The Eliminator, the first mass-produced radio that could be plugged into the wall, without the need for a battery. A century later, that entrepreneurial spirit of innovation lives on in everything we do. It’s what drives us: to change how we all hear, see and feel the world.

From the beginning we have not just predicted, but also shaped home design trends. Our century of firsts includes reinventing the turntable and introducing touch-sensitive controls that defined the look of an era. We pioneered the creation of universal remote controls, as well as connected home speaker setups. Our latest speaker technology leads the electronics industry in longevity and upgradeability. And the list goes on.

Our 1960s brand slogan, ‘We think differently’, remains inspiring – rooting us in an approach to design that embraces risk and experimentation. This spirit of innovation has led to many of our products being celebrated and collected by leading art and design museums, including MoMA’s permanent collection. But these aren’t museum pieces: we constantly strive to improve.

Creating long lasting products and enduring magical experiences are part of our fundamental beliefs. We embrace the principles of a circular economy and promoting responsible consumption. We work towards the ultimate goal of making all components that impact the product lifetime replaceable, customizable and upgradeable, ensuring we extend the life of our products indefinitely. It is an integral part of our journey.

Posted on August 25, 2024August 26, 2024 by Multicare

Bang & Olufsen History

It all started in 1925, when two engineers, Peter Bang and Svend Olufsen, began a modest production of radios in the attic of the Olufsen family home, ‘Quistrup’. The company of ‘Bang & Olufsen’ was founded on 17 November that same year by the two young engineers who shared a passion for radio transmissions. Their first product was developed in the attic of the Olufsen’s manor house in Denmark where the family still lives today.

The first commercially viable product to bear the Bang & Olufsen name was the B&O Eliminator in 1927. The Eliminator enabled a radio to be connected directly to the mains rather than being battery-operated which had been previously the norm. That same year, production moved to a new, purpose-built factory just outside the town of Struer.

It was the sturdy ‘5 lamper’ (5 tubes) radio from 1929 that firmly established Bang & Olufsen as a reputable radio manufacturer. In 1930 Bang & Olufsen introduced its first radiogramophone. The following year the company manufactured a tone-film public address system for use in cinemas. This rapidly came in such a demand that a subsidiary was formed to handle this one product.

In 1938 Bang & Olufsen introduced the first mains radio with push-button operation: the ‘Master 38CH’. The ‘Master de Luxe 39’ introduced the following year had no less then 16 permanent stations. This was the first time that strict attention was deliberately paid to user convenience.

From the outset Peter Bang and Svend Olufsen concentrated on quality materials and the application of new technology. Following the move to the new factory a new idea developed, a pre-set tuning button, which was one of the many innovations that earned the company the Danish Hallmark of Quality. In 1939 they launched the ‘Beolit’, the first radio with a bakelite cabinet. The Beolit was the start of the famous ‘Beo’ prefix being used on all major new products.

In 1940 Bang & Olufsen introduced dealer campaigns which included eye-catching window decorations and shop fitting ideas. Thus began the now international network of authorised Bang & Olufsen dealers.

Despite the German occupation of Denmark during WWII, 1941 saw great optimism at Bang & Olufsen. The Grand Prix 41 introduced a tuning scale that could fold away out of sight, when not in use.

On 14 January 1945, the occupation forces totally destroyed the Bang & Olufsen factories. Rebuilding started shortly afterwards and the new premises were operational by 1946, incorporating the newest technological facilities. The year after, the company launched Beocord 84U, Europe’s first wire-recorder and which was a forerunner of the open-reel tape recorders.

1948’s Grand Prix 48CH was the first Bang & Olufsen ‘high-fidelity’ radio.

During their time together Peter Bang and Svend Olufsen were considered unorthodox in their approach – conventional wisdom held that products of the twentieth century should display their technicalities and little or no attention needed to be paid to their physical appearance. Their innovative ideas were to form the basis of the success of the company in the years to come. Bang & Olufsen is – and has always been – a visionary enterprise.

“Making radio receivers in large numbers is something quite apart” wrote the novelist Johannes Buchholtz in 1937. “Although highly developed, radio technology is still in its infancy. The radio set which is state-of-the-art in 1936 seems a bit old-fashioned in 1937. Something has happened in the meanwhile: Bright brains have penetrated the dark and have found out how to improve on the product. All over the world engineers are sitting at their desks, bent over new models. This is what they call competition. Tough competition. The engineers always keep their pencils and erasers close at hand. Never be satisfied. Better – better – better! This is what making radios is like”. The demand for change and renewal has hardly decreased since 1937, when Buchholtz wrote these lines.

Within the company there has been an unbroken link with family members still taking part in the company’s vision. Peter Bang’s son, Jens Bang, has been an active member both of the development team and of the B&O Board for many years. Svend Olufsen’s family, too, has continued to play an active role within the company.

Since 1989 the Board has been chaired by Peter Skak Olufsen, Svend Olufsen’s nephew and owner of the manor of Quistrup, where the two young engineers in 1925 took up ‘the new radio cult’.