Beosound Balance Review: A Duet of Danish Design and Acoustic Science

There are objects that play music, and then there are objects that seem to possess it. They don’t merely reproduce sound; they inhabit a space with a presence that is both architectural and acoustic, existing in a rare equilibrium of form and function. To encounter the Bang & Olufsen Beosound Balance is to be confronted by such an object. It stands not as a conventional speaker, but as a quiet statement, a sculptural form that asks a profound question before a single note is played: can a piece of technology have a soul?

Its silhouette is an exercise in deceptive simplicity, rooted deeply in the soil of Danish Modernism. This is a design philosophy born from a respect for natural forms, material honesty, and the unwavering belief that an object’s beauty should be inherent to its purpose. The solid oak base, warm and grounding, provides more than physical stability; it lends an organic, tactile anchor to the sophisticated technology it supports. Above it, the main body, cloaked in a seamlessly knitted textile, rises to a precision-crafted aluminum top plate. Running a hand over its surfaces reveals a dialogue of textures—the living grain of wood, the cool smoothness of metal, the soft yield of fabric. It is an invitation to connect, a stark contrast to the impassive plastic and metal boxes that dominate the audio landscape.

This is not ornamentation for its own sake. This is the Bang & Olufsen legacy, a story nearly a century old, distilled into a modern form. It’s a lineage that has always treated design and engineering not as separate disciplines, but as two hands working together to solve a single problem: how to bring sound to life in the most authentic and elegant way possible.

The Power of Stillness

The greatest challenge in reproducing deep, impactful bass is a battle against physics itself. To create low-frequency sound waves, a driver must move a significant amount of air, a violent act that generates powerful vibrations. These vibrations travel through the speaker’s enclosure, resonating, coloring the sound, and muddying the details in the music. It’s the acoustic equivalent of trying to paint on a shaking canvas.

The Beosound Balance achieves its remarkable poise and powerful bass through an elegant application of classical physics. Concealed within its form are two formidable bass drivers, positioned back-to-back in what engineers call a “push-push” configuration. As one driver thrusts forward, its counterpart thrusts backward with identical force. Here, Newton’s Third Law of Motion—for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction—is brilliantly harnessed. The two opposing forces cancel each other out within the cabinet, neutralizing the destructive vibrations at their source.

The result is astonishing. The speaker can delve into the lowest octaves of a cello or the deep pulse of an electronic bassline with immense power and precision, yet the solid oak base remains perfectly still. The music is liberated from the mechanical world, emerging from a backdrop of pure silence. It’s a feat of engineering that allows the sound to be just that: pure sound, uncolored by the struggle of its own creation.

A Dialogue with the Room

Every listening space is a unique acoustic entity, an invisible partner in the performance of any audio system. Sound waves radiate from a speaker, but they don’t travel in a vacuum; they strike walls, reflect off glass, are absorbed by carpets, and get trapped in corners. This complex web of interactions, defined by the principles of Room Acoustics, can drastically alter the sound, often turning a billion-dollar recording into a boomy, indistinct mess. A speaker that is ignorant of its surroundings is only doing half the job.

The Beosound Balance, however, is designed to be sentient. It engages in an active dialogue with its environment through a sophisticated system known as Active Room Compensation. This is where the device’s powerful Digital Signal Processor (DSP)—its computational brain—truly awakens. During setup, the speaker emits a series of test tones, and using its built-in microphones, it listens. It analyzes the returning sound waves to map the room’s unique acoustic signature, identifying reflective surfaces and absorptive zones.

It becomes a resident sound engineer, creating a bespoke equalization filter perfectly tailored to its position. If a wall is causing an unnatural bass buildup, it gently attenuates those frequencies. If a thick rug is dulling the treble, it adds a touch of sparkle back in. This intelligent adaptation means its character remains consistent and faithful to the source, whether it’s placed discreetly on a bookshelf or standing proudly in the center of a room. It doesn’t just play in the space; it performs for the space.

The Art of Sculpting Sound

The modern listener leads a dual life. There are moments of quiet solitude dedicated to critical listening, a desire to sit in the “sweet spot” and be completely immersed in an artist’s soundscape. Then there are moments of social connection, where music is a shared atmosphere, a warm, ambient glow that fills a room without demanding all the attention. A single, static speaker cannot truly serve both masters.

Here, the Beosound Balance reveals its most theatrical trick: the ability to sculpt the sound field itself. This is accomplished through beamforming technology, a marvel of acoustic engineering that relies on the fundamental principle of Wave Interference. By minutely controlling the timing and phase of the sound leaving each of its multiple mid-range and high-frequency drivers, it can dictate where sound waves reinforce each other (constructive interference) and where they cancel each other out (destructive interference).

With a tap in its companion app, it can narrow its output into a focused beam of sound, a private concert aimed directly at a single listener. The stereo imaging becomes sharp and holographic, a phenomenon our brain interprets through the subtle timing and volume differences it perceives between our two ears—the core of Psychoacoustics. Then, with another tap, it can radiate sound in a full 360 degrees, creating an expansive, omnidirectional field that feels equally present no matter where you are in the room. It’s the difference between a spotlight and a lantern, and the ability to switch between them at will is transformative.

A Legacy in Every Detail

Ultimately, a return to the object itself reveals a complete and satisfying circle. Every technological innovation is reflected in, and served by, its physical design. The Fibonacci sequence spiraling across the aluminum grille is not merely a beautiful pattern; it’s a mathematical principle found throughout nature that is known for its structural efficiency and, in this case, its ability to diffuse sound waves with optimal grace.

The proximity sensor that illuminates the touch controls as your hand approaches is more than a convenience; it is a gesture of welcome, a machine that anticipates human intent. This is the soul of the Bang & Olufsen philosophy, a belief that technology should not be cold and imposing, but warm, intuitive, and responsive.

The Beosound Balance is therefore more than a wireless speaker. It is a harmonious duet between the tangible world of wood and metal and the invisible world of code and physics. It is a conversation between a rich history of Danish design and the very frontier of acoustic science. It doesn’t just fill a room with sound. It listens, it understands, and it completes the space with an intelligence and beauty that is, in a word, profound.