Development of Bang & Olufsen's Beolab 90

Lecture given by Dr Geoff Martin from Bang & Olufsen via Zoom on 19th March 2024.

Although loudspeaker directivity has been a vital aspect of the design of Bang & Olufsen loudspeakers since the 1960s, the Beolab 90 was its first model that uses digital signal processing to actively control its radiation pattern. I will touch on earlier B&O loudspeaker models, discussing the reasons why directivity is considered to be such an important factor. I’ll also show a number of early prototypes of the Beolab 90, discussing their advantages and disadvantages, and the lessons learned through its 8-year development process. Finally, I’ll show the end result, including the internal components.

The presentation will be given from B&O’s main listening room, a large BS-1116 room, situated in Struer, Denmark. As a result, there will also be a short description of the room, its construction, and how it’s used in our development process.

Originally from Newfoundland, Dr. Geoff Martin has degrees in music performance, sound recording and acoustics simulation. He has taught analogue electronics and electroacoustic music composition at McGill University and the University of Ottawa. He is currently the Tonmeister and Senior Technology Specialist in Sound Design in the acoustics department at Bang & Olufsen a/s in Denmark. Since starting at B&O he has been the sound designer for the first Advanced Sound System for the Audi A8, the Beosound 8, the Beolab 12, 17, 18, 19, 20, 50, and 90, as well as various headphones and televisions. He is also the inventor of the Adaptive Sound Technology system in the BeoSystem 3 and the True Image upmixing algorithm used in B&O televisions. In addition, Geoff is the author of a textbook on sound recording which is available at www.tonmeister.ca. In his spare time, he restores vintage fountain pens and creates bespoke fountain pens using a number of different materials.

This lecture was organised by the UK section of the Audio Engineering Society, which holds lectures every month in various areas. For more information, please go to http://www.aes-uk.org/