Bang & Olufsen made good on its commitment to the custom install industry when, last week at CEDIA 2016, it showcased a new architectural speaker range designed in partnership with Origin Acoustics.
The new speaker range includes two different product categories: a range of in-ceiling speakers dubbed “Celestial” as well a new in-wall speaker concept dubbed “Palatial.” Both promise to offer an extensive range of grills and covers to complement any interior design.
“Strategically the Bang & Olufsen partnership came together really well,” says Jeremy Burkhardt, CEO, Origin Acoustics. “I've always looked at [Bang & Olufsen] products as A/V jewelry, so now we have ceiling jewelry and wall jewelry. This will be the largest punch in the arm, I think, that the [architectural speaker] category has had in the last 20 years, having a retailer like Bang & Olufsen aggressively getting behind it.”
B&O returns the favor, with Christoffer Ostergaard Poulsen, senior director of home integration, saying, “Origin Acoustics is highly appreciated and respected in the installation industry for providing high-quality solutions that cater to the specific needs of the installers. At the core, Bang & Olufsen and Origin Acoustics share the same values when it comes to fundamental acoustics of wanting to give customers superior and accurate sound quality and a dedication to engineering performance while also considering aesthetics.”
As for performance and aesthetics, the new speakers provide “a little bit of improvement” over Origin's existing models, according to regional sales VP Jim Moran, but those improvements will eventually make their way into Origin's own products.
The primary difference is the “fit and finish” of the jointly branded B&O speakers, Moran explains, imploring booth visitors to rub their fingers across the speaker trims. “They have a nice feel to them
On the industrial design, namely the artistic grilles, Moran says, “We're taking something that we've been trying to hide, and making a statement instead.”
The new Celestial in-wall speaker range utilizes a mix of both Origin Acoustics and Bang & Olufsen technology. This includes Origin’s Weather-X technology that allows the speakers to be installed both inside and outside, as well as Zip Clip 2.0, the speaker mounting mechanism that promises easy installation.
Like the Celestial line, the Palatial in-wall high performance theater collection has also been designed using technology from both companies. It includes two 6.5-inch woofers, two midrange drivers and a 1-inch tweeted engineered to cover the entire frequency range in one unit.
“The U.S. is such a huge market for in-wall and in-ceiling speakers, and this was a way for Bang & Olufsen to get into it,” says Todd Anderson, pro partner manager, Region Central East, Bang & Olufsen. “We liked the things that they [Origin Acoustics] do right with their speakers, and we got to put our touch on it as well.”
Installers will also have an option when it comes to grilles; they can opt for either the Weather-X grille or an advanced grille that adds style elements that the two companies claim can’t be found in any other in-wall speaker.
In addition to its partnership with Origin Acoustics, Bang & Olufsen also released many new products of its own CEDIA including the new BeoAmp 2, which is designed to supplement the existing BeoAmp 16. The BeoAmp 2 is a 300W 2-channel amplifier.
In addition, the company showed its update to the BeoLink Gateway with new control functionality for installers. Bang & Olufsen says that this update simplifies configurations and optimizes the customer offering. The design has also been changed to mimic that of the controlling BeoLink App.
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