Other than being west of a famous place, West Hollywood might not mean much to you if you’re not an Angeleno. While it’s a trendy location in its own right, West Hollywood shares a border with another famous spot: Beverly Hills. And like Beverly Hills, West Hollywood is not technically part of the city of Los Angeles, which wouldn’t be immediately obvious if you took a cursory look at a map. Why is this relevant? It’s not, unless you have a geography-themed quiz night in your future.
But among West Hollywood’s many art galleries and fashion boutiques, the storied Danish audio brand Bang & Olufsen recently opened a new flagship experience center. I received a pre-opening sneak preview, getting both a look and a listen. Not only does the space feature B&O’s latest wares, but it also showcases a selection of their classic models, including Bakelite-clad portable radios, mid-century modern turntables, and the iconic vertical Beosystem 9000C CD changer, which still looks cool 30 years after its release. Those are mixed in with some of their uniquely-shaped speakers and even an example of their very first product: the Eliminator. The space is part museum, part showroom, and part celebration of their history of design, which seems perfect, given that it’s in an area known as the Design District.
About that Eliminator. One of the things we take for granted these days is the ability to plug any electrical component in and have it work (more or less). The transition to USB‑C is the latest example, but going back further, even just plugging a component into the wall was not a given. Early electronics often needed DC power, and all that came out of the wall was AC. Batteries were one solution, but lightweight and inexpensive batteries were not the norm. Lithium‑ion was a distant fever dream. Then, Peter Bang and Svend Olufsen developed the Eliminator. It let radios of the day run off a home’s regular outlets. Today, being able to plug our entertainment products into the wall is something we take for granted, but in 1927 it was pretty revolutionary.
This isn’t what greets visitors at the entrance, however. That would be B&O’s Atelier limited-edition Beolab 90 active speaker system. Available in different colors and wood types, the five Atelier variations are named Monarch, Shadow, Titan, Mirage, and Zenith. Underneath the outer clothing are seven 1″ tweeters, seven 4″ midrange drivers, three 10″ woofers, and one 13″ woofer. Each driver has its own amplifier, for a total of 1600 watts per speaker. The Beolab 90 looks unlike any other speaker, and for the low, low price of one house in a less-trendy part of Los Angeles County, you can have one of these systems. Or maybe not—they’re limited editions.
One of the early products that put B&O on the map was their Beolit portable radio. There are two here on display, and seeing them with 2026 eyes, they look modern enough that you could imagine they were some company’s “retro” Bluetooth speakers.
On either side of the central space are two listening rooms. The first is small, designed to show off B&O’s smaller speakers, like the picnic-basket-esque Beosound A5. The other, much larger, room is for the full surround-sound experience. Here, in a room with no sharp corners and stylishly striped walls, are two black-clad Beolab 90s flanking a Beovision Harmony. This TV-and-center-channel combo unfolds during viewing and then origamis back into itself when done, so the room is less dominated by the TV’s black mirror. Two Beolab 50s sit adjacent to a sofa, while above, near a bubble-like chandelier, are four in-ceiling speakers—Celestials, I believe—for Atmos playback.
The colors and lines of the larger theater space look classy and vaguely futuristic, like the inside of a room in an especially stylized sci‑fi movie. They played a clip from The Greatest Showman, which sounded great, of course, but without more experience with the space and the speakers I can’t offer any further judgments.
Retail has long been in decline, so a new, unashamedly expensive store in an expensive area seems like a bold undertaking. Obviously, B&O wants to court a high-end clientele, and they’re in the right place for that. Design has long been one of their main selling points, and letting well-heeled consumers see the Beolab 90s and their other gear in person no doubt functions as a key part of their sales strategy.
In the future, B&O says they might host live music in the space as well. If you’re in the area, you can check out the store now.
. . . Geoffrey Morrison
geoffrey@soundstage.com
