Lukas Gregor Wireless speakers are becoming more and more popular. Not because we would necessarily have to walk around the garden with them, because with their size and at the same time small dimensions in many cases they can solidly replace micro systems in rooms. Without a doubt, this applies to the B&O PLAY range of speakers from the legendary Danish brand Bang & Olufsen.
For several decades, pieces bearing the magical B&O have been among those that represent the combination of high-quality sound reproduction with timeless and stylish design. At the same time, they are associated (actually quite logically) with an indicator of luxury, and due to their considerable price, they become practically unattainable for the average listener.
In Denmark, however, they decided to change it some time ago and designed new models not only for headphones, but also for wireless speakers, which would not have to break our payment cards in half due to the beauty/quality fee. A1 is among those. The smallest Bluetooth speaker, and also the cheapest. If you give him a chance for a while, you will find that the "concession" at B&O was actually just about the amount. The quality of processing and reproduction will probably take your breath away.
It would certainly not be fair to say that I have tried the whole set of competing products and could therefore compare the A1 with other brands without a guilty conscience. I have tasted only some of them (JBL Xtreme, Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth Speaker II), which could even compete with the A1 in terms of price. And in any case, in terms of reproduction quality, I am not going to claim that Bang & Olufsen clearly wins. Leaving aside the paper specifications, I am left with only a subjective impression, which - in contrast to my comparison of the Bang & Olufsen H8 headphones with the competition - does not so unanimously call for the A1. Respectively, I felt that the A1 sounded the best to me, yet I cannot clearly argue such a claim.
So I'll go review from elsewhere…
The first impression of the A1 was incredible. Seriously. When I connected it and gave it a chance to play in the study, I sat (enthusiastically) watching. It almost makes me want to say that Bang & Olufsen somehow managed to fool the laws of physics here. After all, the gray "disc" with a diameter of 13,3 cm poured such a measure of energy on me! I tried moving the speaker to rooms of different sizes and it reliably covers even a large classroom, its volume is enormous. And that without me feeling that the A1 was somehow "rattling" or excessively booming. Just pure magic.
Only then did I start to focus more on the method of reproduction itself. What I like about B&O is that it doesn't overdo it with the bass as much as its competitors, even though the basic setting has a noticeably more "tuned" sound than the Harman Kardon system or headphones from Bowers & Wilkins. For example, when listening to the spoken word, the depths seemed unnecessarily noticeable to me. However, if you install an original application on your phone, you can adjust the sound to your liking by dragging the wheel on the display. There are a few pre-set configurations, including one suitable for listening to podcasts or audiobooks.
The sound and its intensity caught my eye, ear... I just fell in love. But I was understandably curious as to how well or not I would be able to use one speaker to communicate with multiple devices. For example, my wife and I have a computer in the office, then I take it into the living room, play it via iPhone, sometimes iPad. In this regard, the already mentioned set from Harman Kardon gave me more wrinkles on my face than listening pleasure. If I connected the set via Bluetooth to my Macbook and then my wife wanted to play something from the iMac, I had to go to the laptop and manually disconnect the speakers so that they would "catch" with the iMac.
The A1 works (thank God) differently. The speaker can see all the devices in the house and even if I'm playing something from the Macbook, I'm able to get the A1 to start playing the next song from the phone. However, I will not completely blindly praise. I noticed during several weeks of testing that sometimes there is a small "chop" during playback - and only manual disconnection of the original source fixes it. Interestingly, however, this is not always the case. Anyway, the range is big enough, a few meters.
By the way, when the application was mentioned, Bang & Olufsen will update not only it, but also the firmware of the speaker itself, quite possibly solving the said ailment. And the application opens the door to even more possibilities - if you buy another speaker, you can connect them and have them as a stereo set.
So when I discovered that the speaker played great and connected more or less without problems, I began to notice the craftsmanship. I am not joking. This was actually at the very beginning. It's similar to unboxing new Apple products. Nice box, decent design and packaging, fragrance. Although the A1 is not very big, it is actually quite small, but it weighs 600 grams, which can be surprising at first contact. (And that's why I would be careful where I hang it by the leather strap.)
Of course, the weight is affected by the presence of the aluminum part and the sufficiently strong construction of the "bottom", covered with polymer, rubber, which is pleasant to the touch, but at the same time ensures that the speaker does not slide - and you could even put it outside on a rougher surface. I haven't tested this much, but I believe it could withstand any drop and scratch. However (they say) they don't make friends with water. So watch out. There are many "holes" in aluminum through which sound passes on the surface.
I haven't said it yet, but the A1 is just beautiful. In all color variations. Actually, I have never seen such a nice speaker in the given category. That's why I feel like it just plays better than the others... (I know, I'm an "aesthete" and it might not be practical to get so carried away with looks.)
A few more words to bring the review back to the arguments. Bang & Olufsen has equipped its A1 with a 2 mAh battery, which can last for a whole day without stopping on a single charge (about two and a half hours). In the comparison, the A200 wins. The frequency range has a sufficient range of 1 Hz to 60 Hz for me, it is charged via USB-C and the tastefully designed band also includes a socket for a 24 mm jack. When nothing is playing for a while, it turns itself off, and when launched with a special button (like all the others, it is hidden behind a rubber band), it connects to the last paired device and continues playing where it left off.
I mentioned earlier that these portable speakers can be, in a way, an alternative to smaller speaker systems. I know I'm already walking in a minefield and I don't want to touch the audiophiles, but I will say in conclusion that the A1 proves how versatile its use can be. I have it at home in my office, where I originally intended to buy a speaker system. A1 is more than enough for such listening. (And at a party, in case you're wondering, it's made.) Of course, if you're going to play vinyl records, you can't see the A1 out of its category, but it's still difficult to look past. Bang & Olufsen has created something very tasteful and energetic, which within its price (a little under seven thousand) will draw attention to itself in every home.
A1 loudspeakers are available for testing and purchase in the BeoSTORE store.
If anyone is interested in a comparison with the competition from binaural audio recording, then here: http://bit.ly/1TKMKMD
Thanks!
Harman Kardon ;) (you have Karbon there)
We bought an A1 in Deep red for home a month ago, we use it almost every day, for listening to music from iPhone or AppleTV, for watching movies, and a few times for conference calls. The price tag is not small, but what you get for the money is the absolute maximum. Perfect and perfect design, honest workmanship and really, really great sound. I agree that I like that B&O did not go along with the trend of over-bass speakers and strives for maximum naturalness, which in the end you can adjust to your own image via a mobile app. His delivery in 360° is absolutely brilliant, which some others promote, but it has little to do with reality. Here it is true. It doesn't really matter how you shoot it, which side you stand on, it just plays great spatially. From what I've found so far, it works best on a very thick A3 book placed on a wooden chest of drawers, but it also plays well just thrown in the covers in bed (although it loses depth here).
The only disappointment came with his stamina. The manufacturer promises 24 hours, which you probably won't achieve even in laboratory conditions. At half volume, you can get about 10-12 hours, the louder the volume, the faster the juice decreases, of course. But that's probably the only ailment (I have no idea how the competition is) I don't regret even the crowns invested in this, I'm not afraid to say, "masterpiece".
I went here with great expectations to listen to the larger Beoplay A2, and I didn't come across any denial of physics. If you're used to decent stereo speakers, this won't really excite you, it's still just a portable compromise.
Who would have thought a few years ago that bluetooth speakers would be so powerful. Another W1 and it would be almost perfect.