... and another PR shot :

and the last of the professional photo's :

As we're on the subject of PR, if you really, really want to know what the official line is, Marie Kristine Schmidt, Vice President Brand, Design & Marketing says about the new BeoSound Shape :

 “The Auditory indoor climate is essential for our physical and mental well- being, just like natural lighting, fresh air and ergonomics. BeoSound Shape forms an excellent answer to the challenges of interior acoustics through its intelligent sound distribution and resonance absorbing effects”

 So, basically, we’ll all put on seventy kilos, become wrinkled (even more wrinkled in my case) and develop psychological issues if we don’t buy one.  Okay, you win. I’m scared. Where do I sign?

Now to my review, and some 'not-quite-as-pretty' pictures 😛

Here's the BeoSound Shape upon unveiling at the Press Launch near Vemb, Denmark....

Joking aside, what is it, in a nutshell?  Well, it initially struck me as kind of a BeoSound Century for the 21^st Century, but kind of not….  Let me explain.

It’s made to decorate the upright surfaces of your home which stand between the floor and ceiling.  No fancy stands, no table mounts, no ceiling brackets. This is for walls only Ladies and Gentlemen, nothing else.

 So, now we’ve established you’ll need to clear a whole wall for it unless you want it to look messy, I’ll say this won’t blend with your oil painting of a countryside sunset, ornate light fittings or anything else which has even a hint of chintzy. It’s modern, it’s minimalist – and it’s going to need to be a focal point.

So, what exactly is it then? 

It’s main objective is to fill a room* with sound without being an obvious ‘hi-fi system’.  The concept was that not all people want the ‘one music source, one pair of speakers, one speaker either side’ – but may indeed want something which simply blends into the décor, and can even be a focal point.  ‘Band on the Wall’ was a term mooted around. Perhaps that’s an opportunity to wheel out Mr McCartney again?  I hope not…

 *It’s worth pointing out that the home environment isn’t the only place this concept was designed for.  Offices, Hotel Rooms, Hotel Lobbies, Shops and Showrooms are also target audiences.

 We all need some marketing spin, so I’ll put it out there that the designer conceived the whole idea of the BeoSound Shape whilst watching light reflect majestically off mountain tops.  There, I’ve said it, so believe it if you want.. 😮

You can't deny though, that with the correct lighting, it could look a bit like....  no, sorry.  It looks like hexagons, on a wall.

What does it consist of?

 You get a ‘Starter Kit’ of 6 ‘Hexagons’.  One contains the Amplifier (8 x 80w : Class D, not IcePower), one contains the ‘BeoSound Core’ (I’ll get to that) and the other four hexagons are loudspeaker cabinets.  I was told the price for this starter kit will be approximately 4,000 Euros depending on your fabric choice.

Colours?

 The standard fabric, which from memory is very similar in weave and texture to the BeoPlay S3 (being fairly coarse, and man made) comes in some imaginatively named colours such as Parisian Night Blue, Purple Heart, Infantry Green, Brazilian Clay, Classic Black and Wild Dove Grey (do they change colour if you domesticate them?). Anyway, they’re all fairly pastel and neutral looking so no in-your-face options just yet. 

I did hear talk of individual custom-colour options being available, which I’m certain would help push the product.  I keep mentioning this, but collaborations with designers would be great for this product. A matt black wall with a ‘Signature Paul Smith Stripes’ BeoSound Shape system in their stores would look pretty cool !!!

 Kvadrat, the makers of the luxury coarse-weave wool fabric for the BeoPlay A6 and A9 covers (to name a couple) are also in on the act with Brown, Moss Green, Pink, and Dark Blue available initially (although I’m sure I saw a lot more than that hanging on swatches at the launch).

 There’s also a pretty little brushed aluminium Bang & Olufsen name tag for the bottom of one speaker just to let you know who made the system.  It’s actually designed to be removable… as if you would?!!.  I can only assume the people who remove these have used a screwdriver to remove the badges from their Ferrari’s and scratched the ‘Gaggenau’ logo from their ovens with a pan scourer?  The mind boggles.

The hexagon shaped bodies themselves are affixed to the wall with a pretty clever ‘snap together and screw to the wall’ plastic frame system (a bit like meccano!), to which you simply click and affix the hexagons to. The fabric covered err… covers simply push on and into rubber grommets exactly like the old BeoLab 4 covers fitted. Wiring is all hidden in and around the cabinet bodies, and clever little flexible blanking pieces hide any wires going between them.  You can even buy a ‘blank’ cabinet made especially to fit over an existing plug socket or fused spur and incorporate it into the ‘pattern’…  The whole system is designed to be 'installer friendly' and it shows thought has gone into that.

 Talking of the ‘pattern’ you may wish to create..  How do you decide what it what, and where it will go?   Well, apparently the dealer will have a special software tool which will maximise the sound in your given room and will suggest the very best place to put your hexagons (hopefully awkward customers won’t trigger any rude suggestions).

 The whole look and feel of the hexagons is not that of a main-line product as there’s no use of aluminium or glass – only plastic and cloth. It does look like a ‘Play’ product if I’m brutally honest…

How many hexagons can you have?

The actual answer is ‘as many as your wall can take, or until you run out of money’ (the latter won’t be too hard to do..) and you can add as many ‘blank’ tiles as you like. The blanks are named ‘acoustic dampers’ and are filled with foam/sponge, and being a layman I’m going to have to trust B&O that these play a genuine role in making the whole thing sound better as opposed to just being extra pieces in the whole ‘display’ to make it look more substantial.

 The real ‘meat’ of the system is different though.  You can have up to 44 actual speaker tiles, which will be powered by the maximum 11 amplifier tiles ( up to 4 speakers per amplifier, as mentioned), all controlled by one BeoSound Core (I’ll get to that, I promise). Yes, that's 56 tiles - assuming you have opted for zero blank tiles!!