The market of iPod speakerdocks is one of the most competitive in the audio market and with a range of products going from only tens of euros to products that would take away your vacation to Turkey. The B&O Beosound 8 is, with its price tag of 845 euros, part of that last category. We of course expect a high end piece of equipment for such a high end price tag. Whether we’d be catching our flight, or getting a Beosound 8, remains to be seen. Read on to see which we chose.
B&O
It all started in 1925 as a cooperation between a certain mr Peter Bang and a certain mr Svend Olufsen. They started out by building a radio. Today their company has evolved to a Danish high-end audio and videoproducer: Bang & Olufsen. As producer of ‘the better audio equipment’, it must be annoying to see (or hear) how the iPod-generation has dragged the norm of acceptable sound quality downwards. Even more so since technology has progressed to make music in pocket size sound excellent. B&O are somewhat late with their speakerdock, for people that love music and their iPod, iPhone or iPad.
The Beosound 8 is a premium speakerdock that catches the eye immediately. The oversized 10 inch speaker housing with a 1.3 liter volume dominate the front view and give a somewhat cumbersome appearance, yet others love it. The area the Beosound really makes an impression in is the details. The brushed aluminium for instance, or the remote control which is a carbon copy of the button layout on the device itself, or the different coloured speakercovers that are available. Simplicity is what it’s all about with this B&O.