Verdict
There ’s lashings to like about the Beosound Emerge , not least its remarkable form - element and convincingly unite audio . It ’s far from short of competition , but the fact that it competes on a level playacting - field where monetary value is concerned is another campaign for solemnisation .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
A ‘ bookshelf ’ verbaliser that genuinely look like it belong on a bookshelf ? A Bang & Olufsen product that does n’t immediately require a load of caution regarding its asking price ? Has the world gone mad ?
The Bang & Olufsen Beosound Emerge is on sale now , and in the UK it cost £ 669 . Customers in America will have to part with $ 899 , while in Australia it sell for AU$1449 . That ’s for the Au tone finish of our review sample – when it originally launch there was a less expensive ( £ 539 / $ 699 / AU$1199 ) inglorious anthracite alternative uncommitted , but that is no longer an selection .
For once , then , here ’s a Bang & Olufsen ware that is n’t overtly pricier than the products with which it would seek to compete . Bowers & Wilkins , Devialet and Naim , for example , all have speakers at this sort of money – so having mystify the pricing aspect spot on , all B&O needs to do is nail the performance bit and the Emerge is in business .
Design
Plenty of wireless talker call themselves bookshelf speakers – but the Beosound Emerge accept the description literally . It ’s designed to look like a book ( a big , sumptuous variation , certainly – but a book nevertheless ) , and Bang & Olufsen intimate its compact footprint and 180 - degree sound dispersal make it ideal for tight space . Such as a bookshelf .
In terms of materials , the Emerge is appointed about as well as you ’d expect from the stigma . A combination of rose golden bone - blasted aluminum , innate oak tree and the ubiquitous Kvadrat acoustical material certainly makes for an lenient look – and there ’s a mediocre degree of tactility about this speaker , too . The brand logo running up the spine of the speaker is a witty touch .
It ’s a likewise predictable story where work up timber and finish is concern . The Emerge is construct with obvious attention to item and no slight professional pride .
Features
The Emerge features a three - strong complement of talker drivers , dress to deliver the widest possible spread of strait . A 101 millimetre bass driver is powered by 60 watts of amplification , while the 37 millimetre midrange driver and 15 mm tweeter get 30 watts each . The Beosound has participating room recompense and adaptative freshwater bass linearisation usable in the Bang & Olufsen restraint app ( free for iOS and Android ) to avail conform its production proportional to its position .
The app itself is good - looking , stable and useful – three things that ca n’t mechanically be said about the tantamount apps of Emerge ’s most obvious rivals . The graphic EQ adjustment , for example , is not only pleasing to expend but also can make effective , worthwhile changes to the sound of the speaker .
Control is also useable from a touch - surface on the top of the Emerge – this port , it ’s fair to say , is a more qualified success . They ’re overly sensitive and altogether too responsive , to the point they ’ll make you trepidatious about operation that should be straight – set the volume degree , for example .
The physical gap between the bulk up / down and take on / suspension controls is n’t sufficient , either , so it ’s all too easygoing to engage one function when intending to use the other . To be reliable you ’re better off with the app , or with the integratedGoogle Assistant – it ’s responsive and dependable .
Wireless connectivity is viaBluetooth 5.0 . Bang & Olufsen is n’t tell which codecs are supported , but if there ’s any compatibility beyond SBC and AAC I have n’t been able-bodied to access it . Spotify Connect , Chromecast andApple AirPlay 2are useable , thanks to double - dance orchestra Wi - Fi .
The splendid Bang & Olufsen Radio cyclosis service is also approachable via the app , and it ’s possible to mix your favourite streaming Robert William Service ( as long as it’sDeezer ) , too . Two Emerge can be wireless conjoin to create a stereo twosome , which then puts the B&O into competition with some very capable ( and similarly priced ) wireless stereo speakers from the likes of KEF andQ Acoustics , of course .
Physical connectivity consist of an Ethernet port , intercrossed 3.5 millimetre analogue or digital optical socket , a microUSB service interface andUSB - Cfor mains power .
The Emerge is another Bang & Olufsen production with an stress on seniority . Thanks to a modular intention , it ’s potential to swap or raise parts should the need arise . There ’s a replaceable connectivity faculty inside , and it have enough processing headway to be ready to experience update and/or overbold features for many a yr .
And should the worst find and it become out-of-date or reach its performance terminus ad quem , it can be trade for the module that represent the state of the Bang & Olufsen fine art at that finical time .
Sound Quality
The control app takes next - to - no clip to fine-tune the Beosound Emerge to the surroundings in which you ’ve position it , and it hit it similarly fleet and bare to get some music play .
So it ’s with a excerpt of wireless stations streaming via the Bang & Olufsen Radio service ( mostly the UK ’s BBC 6 Music and France ’s FIP – I ’m of a certain age , after all ) , music via Deezer integrate into the app ( PJ Harvey ’s 50 foot Queenie and Rude Boy Dubby King Tubby in particular ) , and further music from TIDAL via Bluetooth ( Neil Young ’s Rockin ’ in the Free Worldand In the Sky and On the Groundby Nils Frahm ) , that the Emerge quite pronto reveals itself .
Most like a shot telling is the integration of the frequency reach . A frequency response of 45Hz to 22kHz , put up by a trio of drivers , is n’t always a formula for politic consolidation – but the Emerge hide its crossover points well , and consequently there ’s a unity and completeness to the Beosound ’s presentation that ’s in no manner a given from products like this .
Tonality is likewise logical , and similarly satisfy as a result . depart the EQ adjustment alone and the sound is just slightly on the warm , rich side of inert – but the app offers you a couple of way of dial this out if you do n’t like it . And anyway , this balance quite nicely match the speaker ’s optic aesthetic .
broken frequency extension is tidy , and low - goal sounds are nicely form and properly controlled . Edges are more - or - less straight , attack and disintegration is dealt with confidently – only when attempting to divvy up with properly drone bass a la King Tubby does the Emerge show any signs of stress .
Bang & Olufsen , to its mention , has not give out down the wide and well - move route that allows speakers to use bass and stenography for excitement – or else , the Emerge generates a respectable amount of punch without lose the running of itself .
The midrange is the right way informative , thanks to high detail levels and impressive resolution . Despite the claim for 180 - level , ultra - wide sound , a individual Emerge does n’t sound especially expansive , and can sometimes get a little flustered by dense or compressed recordings , vocalists unremarkably have enough space in which to operate . And because the grim destruction is so well see to it , they ’re never in any danger from ill - sort out bass .
At the top end , the Beosound is just a little circumspect . That ’s preferred to hardness or splashiness , of course – but treble sound could in spades be a slight more assertive . It ’s a sensible balance , on the whole , but that ’s not the same as saying it ’s ideal .
rhythmical expression is beneficial , thanks in large part to those full - figured , properly master low absolute frequency . The Emerge handles pacing and basic momentum well , and is a raw and quite wiggly listen as a effect .
Low - level moral force , the sort that become seeming when listening to Nils Frahm ’s solo pianissimo , are expressed well too . But the adult active shifts in the PJ Harvey recording ( which goes from restrained to tawdry to EXTREMELY loud in very poor ordering ) are n’t handled quite so confidently – the Emerge miss just a little headroom .
Combine this with the relatively confine soundstage and the accompanying want of outright scale , and the Beosound is n’t quite as vivid or immersive a listen as some price - like rivals . But at least the Emerge has some rivals that are damage - comparable – that ’s not always something you could say about Bang & Olufsen products .
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Should you buy it?
- This is an uncommon mixture of sexual morality at the honest of meter .
The Emerge has a lot of sonic sexual morality , but ‘ scale ’ is not especially in high spirits on the list .
Final Thoughts
It ’s unremarkably quite sluttish to cave Bang & Olufsen products just by pointing out how much more expensive they are than tantamount products from fairly much any other manufacturing business . That ’s not possible with the Beosound Emerge – and it ’s vex plenty going for it beyond a realistic price - tag end , too .
For once , then , here ’s a B&O product that competes across the control panel – so if you ’ve ever fancied a slice of the Bang & Olufsen action , you could do an awful wad worse .
Trusted Score
How we test
We test every wireless loudspeaker system we review thoroughly over an prolonged period of time . We use industry received test to liken features by rights . We ’ll always order you what we detect . We never , ever , admit money to review a intersection .
Find out more about how we test in ourethics insurance policy .
FAQs
The Beosound Emerge originally number in Au tone variation and Black Anthracite , but the latter color selection is no longer available .
Full Specs
Sustainability
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As part of this mission , whenever we review a product we institutionalise the ship’s company a series of questions to help us approximate and make transparent the impact the gadget has on the surroundings .
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