beolab17

Bang & Olufsen reveals trio of wireless BeoLab speakers, the first with WiSA support

Cast your mind back to the end of September, and you might remember Bang & Olufsen teasing us with its forthcoming wireless platform. Today we get to see them in the flesh, and there are in fact three new models to consider. All of them support the WiSA standard (5.2-5.8 GHz with 24bit audio, up to 96KHz), and are the first commercial speakers to do so. These are also the first wireless speakers ever from the Danish company, testament, we hope, to its intentions to focus on maintaining a high standard of sound -- something that has often been been a tradeoff when losing the wires. The three speakers we see today are the BeoLab 17, 18 and 19. Working up the numbers, the BeoLab 17 is a "place-anywhere" aluminum-housed compact speaker with interchangeable facias, and a choice of mount options. The new BeoLab 18 is a newly re-imagined version of the company's long-serving BeoLab 8000 floor-based tower speaker, while the BeoLab 19 is a new beefy subwoofer. Scoot past the break for the low down on each device.