Bang & Olufsen’s new wool covered AirPlay speaker stuns with its look and price

Bang and Olufsen is at it again – today releasing a new wireless speaker at IFA 2015 in Berlin. The BeoPlay A6 brings a modern design with a unique capacitive touch control system for adjusting playback and volume. In typical B&O fashion, this new speaker is unlike most traditional options on the market with its luxurious visuals and high-end audio components.

The design certainly stands out as a unique aspect of the A6. Its gentle curvature mixed with natural materials makes it standout while the fabric design on the front is a subtle choice. The audio system is packed behind the wool front, while the music is controlled by capacitive touch buttons on top. A swipe to the right will increase the volume with the opposite direction decreasing. A long touch in the center mutes the music while a quick touch skips to the next track.

To no surprise, the internals are top-notch. There are two 60 watt 5.5-inch woofers, a single 60 watt 1.5-inch full-range speaker and a pair of 30 watt .75-inch tweeters, each driven by an individual amplifier. It’s nice to see a multitude of connectivity options: Bluetooth, AirPlay and DLNA are all offered as well as “integrated access” (whatever that means) to Spotify, TuneIn Radio and others.

The A6 is compatible with Bang & Olufsen’s new multi-room setup, which allows users to play music simultaneously across all speakers or individually. It comes in four different wool colors: light grey, dark grey, dark rose and dusty blue. Another cool feature is that the A6 is wall mountable, making a pretty sweet conversation piece.

Bang & Olufsen plans to release the BeoPlay A6 by the end of October for $999 in light gray, with the other colors carrying a premium price tag. We recently reviewed the new Beolit 15, which for a portion of the price delivers top-notch sound as well.

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THE NEW BEOPLAY A6 MAKES YOUR MUSIC FEEL RIGHT AT HOME

B&O PLAY by BANG & OLUFSEN introduces BeoPlay A6. Designed to fit a modern lifestyle with multiple work and leisure locations around the house the unique shape spreads the sound to the entire room and maintains an ambient character no matter where you are. BeoPlay A6 features an innovative tap and swipe interface, a smooth connection with almost all streaming standards and a unique cover collaboration with Kvadrat, one of Europe’s leading manufacturers of design textiles.

“BeoPlay A6 is an exciting new addition to the B&O PLAY line-up. We wanted to create a flexible and powerful music system tailored to the dynamic life of the modern music lover. As with all B&O PLAY products it features the characteristically balanced Bang & Olufsen Signature Sound, but this time there is a twist to the acoustic principles; The unique shape, angling of the five powerful speaker units and refined digital signal processing ensure that no matter where you are located in relation to BeoPlay A6, the spacious and detailed sound will surprise you”, says Henrik Taudorf Lorensen, VP of B&O PLAY.

BeoPlay A6 was designed by award-winning Danish designer Jakob Wagner. To him the acoustic vision was the starting point when designing BeoPlay A6.

“In a way I have designed BeoPlay A6 the same way I design a piece of furniture, however here form follows sound and interaction.Its intuitive yet surprising shape always “plays to you” no matter where you are and generates a much more intimate relationship than you would normally get from a conventional music system.

BeoPlay A6 can blend in gracefully with almost any interior yet stand out with its distinct character. No matter if you place it freely, in a corner or on the wall it will become the center of social interaction like a contemporary jukebox”, says Jakob Wagner.

  • Easy and intuitive to use

You can control your music directly on BeoPlay A6 by tapping or swiping the innovative touch interface, a system introduced with the award-winning BeoPlay A9, or you can simply use your mobile device.

  • Connect to any music

BeoPlay A6 allows you to stream music through AirPlay, DLNA or Bluetooth 4.0 and enjoy integrated access to streaming services like Spotify, Deezer and Internet radio TuneIn. The integrated software will also be compatible with almost any future standards.

  • Pure power under the hood

BeoPlay A6 is a five-channel speaker with four speakers on the front and one full-tone driver pointing backwards that maximize the spaciousness of the sound. Each speaker has its own dedicated digital amplifier.

  • Collaboration with Kvadrat

The custom-made textile on the front cover is the result of a close collaboration with Kvadrat, one of Europe’s leading manufacturers of design textiles. The delicate weaving pattern of sophisticated multi-coloured threads provides both acoustic transparency and a strong, visual appearance.

  • Ready for BeoLink Multiroom

BeoPlay A6 features BeoLink Multiroom technology, which unites your B&O PLAY and Bang & Olufsen products into one liberating wireless system. With BeoLink Multiroom you can play different music in different rooms or let one tune flow throughout your home. Start the music with a single tap on BeoPlay A6.

  • Blends in with almost any interior setting

BeoPlay A6 will be available in four colours: Light Grey, Dusty Blue, Dark Rose and Dark Grey

For a full introduction of BeoPlay A6, please go to: www.beoplay.com/a6

PRICING:

BeoPlay A6 is priced at EUR 999 / USD 999 / GBP 799 / DKK 7499

Available at Bang & Olufsen stores, www.beoplay.com and selected design and department stores from October 19th, 2015.

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