Immaculate Wireless Sound: it’s a bold claim, but one Bang & Olufsen says is backed up by the performance of its new beolab 18 speaker. The pair of tower speakers can connect directly to all new Beovision TVs for a wireless cinema experience, or, more conveniently, use a BeoLab Transmitter 1 to communicate with any WiSA-compatible device.
In either case, the speakers can be used as part of a multi-room music system that supports stereo and full 7.1 surround, allowing you to play k.d. lang’s Constant Craving in stereo or a full explosion-laced scene from The Bourne Legacy in 5.1. At a Manhattan press event, B&O demoed the beolab 18s playing a selection of different music as well as the aforementioned scene from The Bourne Legacy. It was a treat, with the towers producing a rich, full sound that didn’t distort even at ear-splitting volume levels.
Under the hood, there are two custom-designed 10cm mid/bass drivers with a 0.75in tweeter, boosted by two 160W class D amplifiers and a digital sound engine that promises “more than 40 times the processing power of an analogue circuit”. The beolab 18’s acoustic lens evenly distributes the upper frequencies in a 180-degree horizontal arc, and its room adaptation feature optimises its performance based on where you place it. It also responds to extreme peaks by reducing bass throughput, giving you unrivalled Bang & Olufsen quality across your home. The beolab 18 is a stunning work of design engineering with audio performance at its heart.
