Curly wrote:

A handful of folks saying the bass on BL28 is out of control...

Nothing some EQ can’t fix, I imagine. 

... running the Room Compensation measurement would be a good start. :-)

-geoff

Two considerations:

1. It seems that the acoustic lenses tweeters, a very distinctive feature, is officially abandonned. Cost reasons? (I doubt it). I’m sad about that, because it was a very distinctive and beautiful feature of B&O. 

2. Ok, it makes lots of references to older B&O products and its design philosophy. But is it really beautiful? Does it look attractive for everyone or only for those like us, enthusiasts and conaisseurs of the brand? I can’t answer that yet. 

In other words, is it a Jaguar E-Type or just a VW New Beetle?

Had a quick listen to them yesterday. My thoughts: They look good, maybe not great. Sound for me was a mixed bag. I liked how big they sound and how wide the soundstage is. Also the midrange is very nice. As other have mentioned the base is a bit to much and as a result the overall feeling was that it sounded a bit like Beat headphones. Better but that sound signature. It was only a short listen and I will go back and listen again. Maybe they have to set them up better.

MarcosAlvarenga wrote:

In other words, is it a Jaguar E-Type or just a VW New Beetle?

But is it really beautiful?

Mikipidia wrote:

B&O has always had a mix of speakers with and without lenses, i don’t see how this one not having it makes you say they abandonned it. Bl17, 90’s don’t have them either when 18’s 20’s 50’s do. Same in ranges previous.

You are right, for some reason I thought 50 did not have lenses. 

 But are they necessary for a perfect sound or not? Otherwise 90 would have it? Just a question. 

Mikipidia wrote:

B&O has always had a mix of speakers with and without lenses, i don’t see how this one not having it makes you say they abandonned it. Bl17, 90’s don’t have them either when 18’s 20’s 50’s do. Same in ranges previous.

You are right, for some reason I thought 50 did not have lenses. 

 But are they necessary for a perfect sound or not? Otherwise 90 would have it? Just a question. 

Why stick to the traditional lens technology, if you can come up with something better!

The original lenses (used on BL7-4, BL9, BL5, BL18 on so on) was meant to provide a constant wide mode, allowing for a more consistent sound, a wider directivity of the higher frequenzies, when more people listen (or you yourselt move around).

The BL90’es with the multiple drivers placed around the speaker, has a completely different design allowing for wide mode, narrow mode, omni mode and even beamstearing.

The BL50’es have some of this and - for the tweeter - a new approach to the lens technology. Something that B&O has come up with, a new method of controlling horizontal directivity: a moveable Acoustic Lens - providing a selectable Beam Width,

I assume the licensing period of the original lens technology of Sausalito Audio Works (the patents/licensing/property) had ended, allowing B&O to develop the lens technology further.

(As of today Sausalito/Manny LaCarrubba is working on the lens technologe/Array Waveguides....which can and will be found in other speakers in the market - look for the Anthony Grimani Systems top-of-the-line Alpha speaker as an example). 

In the BL28’s we see B&O use these technologies - again in a new way. For the design choosen for the 28’s there would be no room for a moveable BL50’s-alike lens and the narrow/wide mode is obtained through DSP solutions.

I guess we will see all or some of these technologies in all future speakers....all dependent on the design choosen. 
The time for the original ALT is over, I guess.

MM

Perfect sound where? They're a means to an end. Depending on what they want a speaker to do it can be highly functional. But like with 28/50/90's they have wide and narrow listening modes and I bet that's not really possible with a static ALT lens.