News from IFA 2017

We looked around for you at the IFA in Berlin to find new trends and current products that you can soon experience in our studios. At Bang & Olufsen, we particularly liked the new BeoSound Shape speaker. The user can configure it freely in terms of size, shape and color. The individual modules offer completely new design options. They have integrated amplifiers and can of course be controlled wirelessly. Soon ready for demonstration in Darmstadt! turntable are currently experiencing a renaissance, and many customers are looking for a good and inexpensive device. That’s what we’ve discovered now at Roberts. The RT100 has a frame with real wood veneer, belt drive, limit switch (!), integrated preamplifier and USB. A first listen was very positive. We think: A great device for 299€. A highlight of the International Consumer Electronics Fair is Samsung’s huge exhibition area in the CityCube. VR (virtual reality) is an important topic at IFA 2017. At Samsung, the VR demonstration was a crowd puller. The dominant theme in the TV segment here is “The Frame”, a new UHD TV that looks like a picture with its elegant frame. And in fact, the TV can also reproduce art or photos, even with a passe-partout. Power consumption is reduced in picture frame mode, and timers and motion sensors ensure that the device is not in use unnecessarily. We think: a good idea, perfectly implemented. Samsung The Frame, like a picture on the wall.

OLED displays are currently the hot technology for high-quality flat TVs. LOEWE is showing a new device in the 55″ segment here in Berlin: the Bild 3.55 OLED. The price seems very attractive in view of the complete equipment and the really outstanding picture and sound quality: 2,990€ including table base. At Dali, we discovered promising new speaker: Callisto 1 and Callisto 6 are active speaker with hybrid ribbon tweeters that can be operated wirelessly. The transmitter (hub) has analog and digital inputs as well as Bluetooth, and can be equipped with an optional BluOS module from Bluesound. This makes the speakers controllable via the Bluesound app! We find: First, a great-sounding speaker, and second, a great addition to the Bluesound Multiroom system. Dali Sound Hub Wireless Yamaha MusicCast listens to Amazon Alexa All MusicCast products will soon be controllable by voice, using Amazon Alexa and Dot. Yamaha demonstrated a beta version to us at IFA, and it already worked very well. The free update is announced for the fall. We find: This is a very comfortable way to listen to music. For some time now, our customers have shown great interest in stereo receivers with network functionsWiFi, Internet radio, spotify, etc.). Now Yamaha introduces a new, particularly powerful device: the RN803D. It offers power amplifiers with 145 watts of sine wave power per channel and fully automatic speaker. Unfavorable room acoustics can be compensated by the calibration, and that at the push of a button! We find: Very good, because it improves the sound.