Indeed... If you have read Geoff's articles then you know what's coming up in the BeoLab90 speaker... exept.. the design... :-)

I don't see enough substance here, at least until some professional reviewers can get their hands on them or we get to hear them (and how many dealers will carry them?). 

The problem once again just like BL5 is that B&O seems to have thrown a bunch of drivers in a cabinet in an effort to create a wider "sweet spot" within an entire room to enjoy the music without losing details. Ok, that's fine. But there's no mention of any driver improvements to increase the *resolution and imaging* starting with the driver itself. Sure, the B&W 800 Series Diamond speakers don't have this incredible ability to bounce off every surface in a room and still keep a convincing stereo soundstage but... so what? If you ARE sitting in the sweet spot and even further, if you have a good Room EQ, the dividends are incredible with the diamond tweeter and the FST midrange. 

I certainly hope that for 70,000.00 or whatever silly price these things will cost, there's more substance here than novel placement of cooling fins and beam width control. Yes, I read about both of these innovations on Geoff's site, but even with all the supposed innovation in the BL5 that stood since 2003, it still doesn't sound better than even an 804 Diamond D2 which is the smallest floor stander. In some ways, the BL5 doesn't really sound much better than my Penta IIIs. Sure, it throws sound out wider, but that doesn't matter when I sit down for serious listening anyway as I'm not going to sit off in a corner of the room. Transducer technology has advanced SO far in the last 20 years that you can not just ignore that part of the equation. 

I just dug into the ZIP file posted below by another member, and the specs say that the drivers come from a company called

Sal wrote:

I just dug into the ZIP file posted below by another member, and the specs say that the drivers come from a company called link.

Apparently, according to the specs on the now taken down webpage say that the BL90 uses drivers from the Illuminator and Revelator family from the above company.

I'm sure others can glean more insignts on this info than I can, as I'm unfamiliar with the company.

Ok, if that's the case then NOW we are getting somewhere (and I take back some of what I said in my previous post, which went into moderation for some reason??? and hasn't been posted yet)... 

Scan Speak makes the drivers, or at least some of them, in the incredible Sony SS-AR1. The pair runs about $27,000.00. 

Scan Speak is a reputable danish company located not far from Struer.

Normally B&O specifiy, what they need, when they order transducers for their speakers.

MM

vikinger wrote:

BeoLab 90 is designed according to the overall idea that form follows function. The loudspeaker driver positions and orientations are defined by the acoustical requirements. The placement of the electronics’ cooling fins was chosen to ensure that the rising heat could have no impact on the sound experience. The design is based on a complex aluminium cabinet totaling more than 65 kg, so the structure is rock solid. In a subtle contrast to the massiveness of the loudspeakers, the outer ‘skin’ is made of acoustically transparent fabric stretched like sails hovering in front of the driver units. The curved wooden base visually lifts up the large structure from the floor, making BeoLab 90 appear to float in your home. 

And this surely implies that the frame and fabric might take a different form at some time in the future, i.e. get the acoustics right and you could keep the speaker array and amplifiers more or less the same and just change the appearance when an update is required. Unfortunately, the current design is too frame-tent like for my taste.

Graham

In near future it will be possible to change the shape of the speaker with a software update 🤩

MM

Millemissen wrote:

Scan Speak is a reputable danish company located not far from Struer.

Normally B&O specifiy, what they need, when they order transducers for their speakers.

MM

MM.  Scan Speak is more than reputable.  In the audiophile world, they are considered one of the very best.

There has to be more to this than what we have been talking about in this thread.  At these prices, I would expect a choice of colors not only the fabric but also the wood.  Also if they are going to appeal to the audiophile types or the very wealthy, B&O would need a new higher end music player or something.

Millemissen wrote:

In near future it will be possible to change the shape of the speaker with a software update 🤩

MM

When I saw the picture of the speaker, and the way the silver trim outlined the fabric, I almost wondered if, based on the layout and shape, if it might be possible to change the shape.

Are you seriously saying it is?[