Is the priciest soundbar you’ve probably ever seen also the best soundbar you’ve probably ever heard? Here’s our Beosound Theatre review to lift the curtain on all…
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(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
T3 VerdictIt’s easy (and tempting) to dismiss the Bang & Olufsen Beosound Theatre as an overpriced irrelevance. In truth, though, it’s a profoundly impressive performer with a whole stack of positives to its sound. If you can justify the outlay, it’s an admirable device in many respects.
T3 Verdict
It’s easy (and tempting) to dismiss the Bang & Olufsen Beosound Theatre as an overpriced irrelevance. In truth, though, it’s a profoundly impressive performer with a whole stack of positives to its sound. If you can justify the outlay, it’s an admirable device in many respects.
Reasons to buy+Expansive, forthright, insightful and thoroughly enjoyable sound+Constructed and finished without compromise+Great selection of control options
Expansive, forthright, insightful and thoroughly enjoyable sound
Constructed and finished without compromise
Great selection of control options
Even at its cheapest it’s very expensive
Physically imposing
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And because this is Bang & Olufsen we’re talking about, the look of the Beosound Theatre gets about as close to justifying the asking price as is possible without it actually being rolled in Swarovski crystals. But still, this is daft money for a soundbar, isn’t it? Or does the Beosound Theatre actually do theVery Unlikely Indeedand actually justify its asking price as being one of thebest soundbars?
Bang & Olufsen Beosound Theatre: Price & Release Date
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
The Bang & Olufsen Beosound Theatre is on sale now, and in the United Kingdom it’ll set you back anywhere between £5590 and £6390, depending on the sort of finish you fancy. That’s if you intend to position it on its wall-mount or little central foot - a motorised wall-bracket or motorised floorstand attracts additional outlay. In America it costs between $6890 and $7990, while in Australia you’re looking at AU$11,860 - AU$13,650.
Today’s best Bang & Olufsen Beosound Theatre dealsNo price informationCheck AmazonWe check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
Today’s best Bang & Olufsen Beosound Theatre dealsNo price informationCheck AmazonWe check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
Today’s best Bang & Olufsen Beosound Theatre deals
No price informationCheck Amazon
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No price informationCheck Amazon
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We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
Bang & Olufsen Beosound Theatre review: features & what’s new?
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
As seems only reasonable for a soundbar with an asking price that’s such a big number, there are plenty of other big numbers attached to the Beosound Theatre’s features.
(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
More big numbers apply when the subject of connectivity comes up. Physical inputs are in a recessed, covered rear panel with some Velcro-based cable-management available. There are four HDMI sockets, one of which is4K@120HzandeARC enabled, and some Ethernet switching with four ports (one of which is specifically assigned forLG OLED TVconnection, when integrated control via the B&O app becomes available). And there are connections for up to eight Beosound Powerlink speakers - the Theatre can also connect to the same number of wireless Powerlink speakers too, if you’re determined to build the largest system of Beosound speakers possible.
There’s further wireless connectivity available, of course. As well as dual-band Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.1, the Beosound Theatre supportsAppleAirPlay, Chromecast and Spotify Connect. Bang & Olufsen is serious when it suggests the Beosound Theatre is as much a music device as it is a movie speaker.
Bang & Olufsen Beosound Theatre review: Performance
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
There’s just not all that pronounced an Atmos effect to the way the Theatre delivers an Atmos soundtrack. It’s able to generate a wide, impressively deep soundstage on which to position all of a movie’s sonic elements - but it struggles to create meaningful height. Certainly if you’re using a55-inch TV(which, as the soundbar’s design dictates, is really as compact a screen as is realistic) the Theatre can’t position sound above its top bezel. So the effect is underplayed and the vertical aspect of the soundstage rather curtailed.
In pretty much every other respect, though, the Bang & Olufsen varies between ‘impressive’ and ‘very impressive indeed’.
You certainly won’t hanker after a dedicated subwoofer. B&O is claiming the Theatre extends down to 28Hz, and when you get an earful of the deep, detailed, controlled and substantial bottom-end this soundbar can generate, it actually seems likely. Low-frequency stuff has body and punch, lovely straight edges at the attack of sounds and a whole heap of information regarding timbre and texture. The weight and control of bass sounds here creates real momentum, and the amount of variation the Beosound Theatre can identify makes each low-end event distinct and individual.
(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
At the opposite end of the frequency range, the Theatre attacks with brisk determination - treble sounds are fleet and substantial, with nicely judged bite never tipping into hardness. Again, detail levels are high and intentions are never in doubt.
In between, the midrange arrangement does sterling work with dialogue. It projects well, it carries an absolute stack of detailed information about tone, and it makes every speaker sound like a characterful individual. There’s a directness and a positivity about the way the Theatre delivers midrange information that puts dialogue front-and-centre - even during the most climactic and/or chaotic moments.
The entire frequency range is integrated smoothly - no mean feat when you’re talking about a dozen speaker drivers - and tonality is convincing from top to bottom. Even though the Beosound Theatre can summon unlikely low-frequency presence, it never sounds overblown or in any way pleased with itself.
As 800 watts of power strongly suggests, the Bang & Olufsen has no problem dispatching even the most significant dynamic shifts without breaking audible sweat. The distance it can put between ‘sneaking away having planted a device’ and ‘device detonating in a big way’ is considerable - and it does so without sounding in any way forced or stressed, and it does so with absolute control. That same surfeit of power goes some way towards helping the Theatre deliver the low-key dynamic variations in speech or musical instruments in full, too.
Bang & Olufsen Beosound Theatre review: design & usability
(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
As is customary with Bang & Olufsen products, ‘design’ plays a big role in the Beosound Theatre. And as is equally customary, options are numerous.
(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
Bang & Olufsen hasn’t really attempted to mitigate the bulk of the Beosound Theatre, but it has at least attempted to make it as decorative and furniture-like as possible. So this big, vaguely boat-shaped device is available with its aluminium elements either ‘natural’, ‘black anthracite’ or ‘gold tone’ in colour, while the front of the device can feature ‘oak’, ‘light oak’ or ‘dark oak’ wooden slats with ‘dark grey melange’ fabric as an alternative. There’s nothing discreet about the Beosound Theatre - quite the opposite, in fact - but the design and the finish options serve to make it appear business-like but mildly decorative at the same time.
Bang & Olufsen Beosound Theatre review: Verdict
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
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We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
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