About the BeoPlay A9
Bang & Olufsen has always been dedicated to taking up space beautifully, creating objects that make wonderful sounds and look wonderful doing it. And now with its latest B&O PLAY brand, it has taken this mission to the next level.
The BeoPlay A9 is perhaps its most radical and successful integration of sound and beauty to date. It’s a music system you want to give pride of place to, even build your domestic arrangements around, rather than look to hide. And given its portability and use of wireless connectivity, you can make the BeoPlay A9 a centrepiece almost anywhere in your home.
Young Denmark-based designer Øivind Alexander Slaatto has created a remarkably innovative design for the A9, essentially a clean white disc, which is the very definition of minimal. With all inputs and controls communicated wirelessly, the A9 looks more like an abstract sculpture than an amp and speaker combo. The A9 is a complete sound system and all you need to make beautiful music is a music system, tablet or smartphone that uses Apple Airplay or the open streaming standard DLNA.
As Henrik Taudorf Lorensen, vice president at B&O PLAY, says, the new BeoPlay A9 is all about keeping the design as elegant and as simple as possible while delivering big complex sound. ‘We asked Øivind, who also has a strong interest in music, to create a design that is as free of visual noise as possible,’ he says, ‘and then had our engineers empower it with truly amazing sound. The result is a liberating take on acoustic performance with a clean graphic look that is intuitively easy to use.’
Slaatto has devised two methods of display for the A9. It can either stand on three simple wooden legs – available in oak, beech or teak – or it can be hung on a wall bracket. To further coordinate it with your home, the speaker cover comes in silver, red, green, brown or black.
Controls on the top of the player are intuitive and invisible. Swiping your hand across a touch sensor modifies the volume and you can mute the system by simply laying your hand on top of it.
Of course, all this would just be aesthetics if the BeoPlay A9 wasn’t packing power and precision on the inside. Which of course it is. In fact, it packs in two three quarter-inch tweeters and two three-inch mid-range units, driven by separate 80-watt amplifiers. And to deliver oomph just where you need it is an eight-inch bass unit, powered by a 160-watt amplifier. And, rather smartly, three pre-set sound modes optimise the acoustic performance of the player depending on its position in the room.
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
Jonathan Bell has written for Wallpaper* magazine since 1999, covering everything from architecture and transport design to books, tech and graphic design. He is now the magazine’s Transport and Technology Editor. Jonathan has written and edited 15 books, including Concept Car Design, 21st Century House, and The New Modern House. He is also the host of Wallpaper’s first podcast.
-
Bang & Olufsen’s Recreated Classics series continues with a CD player revival
Bang & Olufsen’s Beosystem 9000c music system brings the original digital compact disc format back to life and pairs it with the latest in speaker design
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
A new book highlights the work of Turkish interior designer Zeynep Fadıllıoğlu
‘Zeynep Fadıllıoğlu: Luxury Redefined’, published by Rizzoli, traces the career of leading Istanbul-based designer Zeynep Fadillioglu, the first woman to design a mosque in Turkey
By Léa Teuscher Published
-
London gallery Incubator’s six emerging artists to see in spring 2024
Incubator's spring programme features six artists in consecutive two-week solo shows at the London, Chiltern Street gallery
By Mary Cleary Published
-
Bang & Olufsen’s Recreated Classics series continues with a CD player revival
Bang & Olufsen’s Beosystem 9000c music system brings the original digital compact disc format back to life and pairs it with the latest in speaker design
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
The Beosound A9 x MonoNeon brings bold colour to the ultra-refined Danish speaker system
Bang & Olufsen’s Beosound A9 limited-edition speaker with musician MonoNeon sees the brand continue its collaborative streak
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Year in review: top 10 audio products of 2023, as selected by Wallpaper’s Jonathan Bell
Every audio brand offers high fidelity as a gilt-edged promise – which products matched up to the claims? Consult our top 10
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Bang & Olufsen Beolab 8 is a stunning standalone speaker
The new Bang & Olufsen Beolab 8 speaker can be used on its own or in a pair, or even as part of the ultimate home cinema set-up
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Bang & Olufsen teams up with Ferrari for an exclusive collection of its best audio products
The Bang & Olufsen Ferrari Collection – combining B&O’s audio heritage with the car maker’s extrovert sporting style – offers enthusiasts of both brands a new way to explore their passions
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Minimalist speaker designs blend audio with art
By Jonathan Bell Last updated
-
Bang and Olufsen brings the classic turntable back to life
The Danish brand are reviving the iconic Beogram 4000 turntable as part of an ongoing restoration programme
By Jonathan Bell Last updated
-
Bang & Olufsen hit the road with new running shoe collaboration
Music and physical activity are combined in Bang & Olufsen's latest collaboration ‘Cloudboom' with running tech brand On
By Jonathan Bell Last updated