BeoVision 4-103 surrounded by BeoLab 5 speakers.

IS YOUR HOME A BANGER? Were constantly

looking for ways to add quality to our lives and companies like Bang & Olufsen are always asking: How can we improve this? Rory Coen visited its HQ to get a sense of their desire never to reach their limit.

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y home is an idiot. I wont equivocate. Its lazy and stupid. It struggles to come to terms with the depths of its own intelligence. It hasnt quite got to the point where when I flip the light-switch the kettle turns on. For instance, when I move from my kitchen to my living-room, it would be a courtesy to switch the entertainment. Im a good man I vacuum and take out the trash regularly; I keep the rooms cool and air-conditioned and have air-fresheners to keep the air potent and crisp. But why cant my home reciprocate? The reason for my sudden diatribe against home, sweet home is that I recently spent a couple of days on the northwest coast of Denmark, where tech company Bang & Olufsen are perched. They have conceptualized modern living by fusing efficiency with high technology. A home becomes intelligent and can be customized to satisfy all requirements.

Beo6

BeoSound 5 with BeoLab 3 speaker

As I watched their presentations, I suddenly empathized with my loquacious uncle who preferred nothing more than to ramble on about his salad days, when the family would huddle around a radio the size of a washing machine to listen to commentary. If anyone dared speak or cough at an inappropriate juncture, they did so at their own risk. Subsequent actions were treated with impunity by other members of the household. His anecdotes didnt seem so funny when I realized I was in a relative timewarp. Some day soon I would have to explain to my nephews how my generation had to change the channel on the television itself. MODern LIvIng So where have Bang & Olufsen taken us? What is modern living in 2012?

I got an early conceptualization of what it means by modern living when a group of us were ushered into a simulated living room at its farm. The Beovision 4s 103-inch plasma screen at the facing wall didnt so much stand out as smack me in the face, while in each of the four corners stood a BeoLab 5 speaker. The adjacent wall hosted a BeoSound 5 system. We got ourselves comfortable on the sofas which were centered in the room and prepared ourselves for the imminent show. We were at the axis of awesomeness. After some posturing, our guide whipped out a Beo6 a remote control from the future and simply pressed DvD. With my eyes wide shut, the doors gently closed behind me, the screen elevated a couple of feet off the floor to reveal a BeoLab 10 speaker and the lighting eased to eventually cloak the room in darkness. The room had transformed from a social room intended for light badinage with old friends into a modern cinematic environment. A menu appeared on the screen and our guide made her choice a song called Angels, a 1998 track from robbie Williams. The androgynous sound that breezed thru the BeoLab 5 speakers strong, yet blissful on the ears lubricated my hammer, anvil and stirrup to a point where I felt my ears had taken leave. Such was the clarity and overwhelming effect of the aural, I drifted off into a state of semiconsciousness before its brusque and untimely stoppage brought me back to earth with a thud! now, enough of that, she said hastily. We have to move on theres plenty more to experience. I slowly regained my senses amongst my peers and gave a fleeting evil and suspicious eye towards the speakers that had captured my attention for an unknown period of time. They stood there, with a countenance of innocence, like how a hypnotist betrays himself after one of his acts of public humiliation. I followed the lady out the door and promised myself Id duel with BeoLab 5 speakers again. That night, I opened up B&Os documentation my rather humble decompression that afternoon had worried me a little. MAgIcAL experIence As I read through the documentation, most of it was blah, blah, blah stuff. I filtered down through the fluff until I happened upon exactly what I was searching for. Bang & Olufsen called what I had just experienced magical. I endeavored to find out why. BeoLab 5 uses Acoustic Lens Technology and projects 2,500 watts - (2,500 watts!) - of pure digital power into your home, your space, the brochure boasted. You may not be aware of the potential of the acoustics in your room, but a BeoLab 5 is. With Adaptive Bass control, the

system reads the room. It listens and learns. It measures the room the subtle nuances and performs its own tests, responding accordingly to optimise the sound. Whether youre listening to an intimate cajun concert in Louisiana or watching a 31st century metropolis under attack, youll be right there in the thick of the action, it continued. The unsurpassed technology literally takes you from your living room to other places. But it isnt just about the technology its about the intense experience as well. So, I conceded, I had little hope against the captivating qualities of the BeoLab 5 speakers. How about the television? A visionclear picture engine on the Beovision 4 corrects errors from compression or poor signal quality and has the ability to adjust to the light conditions of the room, while the Automatic color Management system compensates for the inevitable effects of ageing in screen performance. It should perform to its peak for up to 100,000 hours. BeOLIvIng MOve THe experIence What Bang & Olufsens BeoLiving concept is essentially doing is giving your home some manners. It trains it to understand your needs and requirements. If you flip the hall light switch after returning home, this one action can intuitively trigger a series of further actions, such as playing your favorite radio station in your kitchen and starting up the air-conditioner. Because you only need one BeoSound system for your home, if you move to an adjacent room the music experience can instinctively follow falling over to the most appropriate speaker. Whats more, all of these products can be controlled by the Beo6 remote control, from the proprietary products such as Beovision and BeoSound to third-party ones such as air-conditioners, ipads and various sources of lighting. They can all operate in concert the Beo6 being the conductor and, of course, the BeoLab 5s being first violin. The tiny BeoLink box, which is the central processing unit for the concept, need never be seen at all. BeoLink is available from the App Store, so these controls can be performed on your iphone as well. A B&O employee explained that with one personalized function, he can gradually wind down the entertainment in his living room and ramp it up in his bedroom as he prepares to retire for the night. He has dozens of varying functions for his capricious moods. Bang & Olufsen have opened a shop on the first floor at Lagoona Mall in West Bay, Doha and have simulated the living-room experience for those who are tickled by the concept. Appropriately enough, the guys there allowed me to watch Transformers in 3D on the Beovision 4-103 with surround sound on the BeoLab5s n
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