- This year, Bang & Olufsen is celebrating its 100th anniversary, and to celebrate, it’s announced the debut of the Beolab 90 Centennial Editions.
- With five different versions offering a range of finishes, all examples contain 18 bespoke drivers and all the tech you’d expect to get from the legendary Danish audio brand.
- Just ten examples of each version will be made, arriving with an RRP of US$450,000 (~AU$654,000).
When it comes to anniversaries, there’s no doubt that the big 100 is about as good as it gets, and Bang & Olufsen is celebrating in style. The Danish audio house has unveiled five limited-edition versions of its Beolab 90 standing speaker, each one a sculptural object as much as it is a sound system, and at $450,000 (~AU$654,000) a pair, they are as uncompromising as you’d expect.
Each edition is home to 18 bespoke drivers, active room compensation that adapts the speakers’ sound to your space, beam width control to manage sound dispersion, and 14 channels of amplification. Essentially, about as top-of-the-line as home speaker systems get, but wrapped around each of these masterpieces is one of a quintet of immaculate finishes.
The five editions are separated entirely by their finish and materials, which is what you’ll notice on the day-to-day and where things get genuinely interesting. The Titan is built around a 65kg cabinet that’s been sandblasted using crushed volcanic rock particles, with polished or matte aluminium curving around the subwoofers.
The Zenith adds 289 spheres with shimmering mother-of-pearl inlays for something closer to jewellery at the scale of a palatially proportioned entertainment room. The Monarch draws on Danish furniture-making, using rosewood lamella across the front of the cabinet.
The Phantom takes its cues from motorsport, featuring a semi-transparent black PVD mesh that creates a holographic effect while quietly revealing the speaker’s inner workings, with carbon-fibre accents across hand-finished panels. Finally, the Mirage is the most visually arresting of the five, with hand-polished iridescent purple, blue, and pink hues and a waved texture referencing sound moving through space.
Only ten of each edition will be available worldwide, which makes each one more than just a speaker, transforming it into a piece of functional sculpture that sets the tone of any space in which they’re rested.
