Bang & Olufsen's $150K Speakers Shift Color As You Walk By - Yanko Design

"There's something almost surreal about watching Bang & Olufsen celebrate its 100th birthday. While most brands would throw a retrospective exhibition or release a commemorative coffee table book, the Danish audio company has decided to do something far more ambitious. They're taking their most advanced loudspeaker and reimagining it as high art. Enter the Beolab 90 Phantom and Mirage Editions, two wildly different expressions of the same technological marvel."

"The aluminum skeleton features pearl-blasted surfaces and unified structural beams, with precision-machined trim details that speak to the hundreds of hours invested in each pair. It's technical, it's architectural, and honestly, it looks like it could double as a prop in a high-budget space station scene. But that's precisely the point. The Phantom Edition isn't trying to blend into your living room. It's demanding attention."

"Let's start with the Phantom Edition, which feels like something out of a science fiction film. The classic fabric covers that typically wrap the Beolab 90 have been stripped away and replaced with custom-designed black metal mesh. It's a bold move. The coated stainless steel creates this hologram-like effect, letting you peek through at the powerful drivers underneath. There's something mesmerizing about seeing the technology usually hidden behind elegant fabric, now revealed like the inner workings of a watch through a sapphire caseback."

Bang & Olufsen marks its 100th birthday by reimagining its most advanced loudspeaker as high art through the Beolab 90 Phantom and Mirage Editions. The Phantom Edition replaces fabric covers with custom black metal mesh and coated stainless steel, revealing the drivers and creating a hologram-like effect. The aluminum skeleton has pearl-blasted surfaces, unified beams, and precision-machined trim, emphasizing technical and architectural qualities. The Mirage Edition features a surface that shifts colors via bespoke gradient anodization. Both editions form part of a five-edition Atelier series, each limited to ten pairs worldwide, pushing materials and finishes beyond conventional production.

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