Beosound Edge: a totemic speaker by Michael Anastassiades

Designed for luxury interiors and for lovers of high performance sound systems, the new Beosound Edge by Bang & Olufsen is presented as a minimal, self-bearing cylindrical disk in polished aluminum. Designed by Michael Anastassiades and presented at IFA 2018, the speaker is designed to be placed on the ground or fixed to the wall. The design’s central element is the interaction with the user, which takes place through a particular gesture – a stylistic mark of the Danish company. You may therefore rotate the speaker to raise or lower the volume, while the proximity sensors detect when the user approaches, illuminating the tactile interface in aluminum.

Beosound Edge is equipped with innovative acoustic technology, the Active Bass Port, whose operation resembles that of a car’s spoiler, which automatically rises to the acceleration of the car, ensuring greater grip on the ground. Basically, at lower volumes the system uses the closed-case principle for a more precise sound and at higher volumes the Active Bass Port opens up to produce more energetic basses. The complexity of the system is aesthetically resolved with a minimal approach, through a cover in opaque black fabric: “We have worked strenuously starting from the idea of ​​removing layer by layer until we have obtained an object with a simple and pure design”, says Anastassiades. Another scenography element is the sound control, which can take place at 365° or be selectively directed. In an open space, for example, this feature allows the sound to be radiated in a single part of the room, with an ‘active’ and ‘passive’ listening area. The speaker can interact with other Bang & Olufsen devices.