Ahead of IFA 2019 this week, Bang & Olufsen has been showing off its first-ever soundbar - Beosound Stage - which will cost from £1,250.
It's quite hard to believe that such a legendary name in audio has taken so long to develop its signature sound for non-B&O TVs, but there you go.
The soundbar is a one-boxer, so there's no separate subwoofer nor any satellites. It features a whopping 11 speaker drivers including four large 4-inch woofers for the centre channel, each with its own 50W amplifier. And the best thing? It's Dolby Atmos compliant.
To achieve the 3D effect of Dolby Atmos two tweeters have been placed close together on each side, with the effect of heightening the soundstage.
The simple-looking yet distinctive box has a gap between the speaker cover and the surround, so it's been designed to look as though it's floating within the frame.
The front panel includes a touch-sensitive control panel, but you won't notice it most of the time. There are five different listening modes for various types of content as well as a night mode.
B&O has certainly shown no resistance in getting involved in product categories beyond its traditional heartlands in the past, so it's great to see it getting in on the high-end soundbar action, too.
And again the soundbar follows other B&O products in having a multitude of connectivity standards. As well as Bluetooth, there's Apple AirPlay 2 and Chromecast support, too.
The soundbar will be available in late Autumn from John Lewis and Bang & Olufsen stores - so expect it in November, probably - and it'll be available in Aluminium, Bronze Tone and Smoked Oak finishes.
The latter looks especially distinctive, with dovetail joints, but it is more expensive than the other finishes at £1,900 instead of £1,250. The other two types of frame are made from a single piece of aluminium.
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