The Bang & Olufsen Beosound Stage is a high-end 3.0 setup. This unique soundbar has a premium build and can be reoriented to sit upward on your table or face outwards when wall-mounted. It has a slightly boxy sound profile right out-of-the-box that lacks low-bass. However, its robust companion app offers a graphic EQ and presets so you can customize its sound. It also supports Dolby Atmos, although it has to downmix into stereo to play it. Depending on the bar's orientation, your mixes can seem a little restrained, and it doesn't have a room correction feature to help improve its sound. On the upside, it has a lot of physical inputs and wireless connectivity options. If you're looking for a setup that blends high-end style with versatile and customizable performance, this is worth considering.
Our Verdict
The Bang & Olufsen Beosound Stage is decent for mixed use. It has a slightly boxy sound profile that lacks a bit of low-bass, which can affect thumpy genres like EDM or action-packed movies. However, its companion app comes with a graphic EQ and presets so that you can tweak its sound to your liking. It can reproduce voices in your favorite TV shows clearly and accurately. This soundbar supports Dolby Atmos, but it has to downmix into stereo to play it. Still, it has a wide variety of physical inputs and wireless connectivity options.
- Graphic EQ and presets.
- Outstanding wireless connectivity options.
- Supports Dolby Atmos.
- No room correction.
- Struggles to reproduce low-bass.
- Wide bar.
The Bang & Olufsen Beosound Stage Soundbar is good for dialogue and TV shows. It has a dedicated center channel that can produce clear and accurate dialogue. One of its EQ presets also acts as a dialogue enhancement feature, which can help further improve vocal quality. Thanks to its outstanding wireless connectivity options, you can stream podcasts and audiobooks to the bar using Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi as well as more OS-specific technologies like Apple AirPlay.
- Outstanding wireless connectivity options.
- Dialogue enhancement and auto-volume/night mode feature available.
- Wide bar.
The Bang & Olufsen Beosound Stage is decent for music. While its out-of-the-box sound profile is a bit boxy and lacking low-bass, its companion app offers a graphic EQ and presets to help you tweak its sound. It can also get loud enough to fill a large or crowded room, and there are minimal amounts of thumping and compression artifacts at max volume.
- Graphic EQ and presets.
- Can get loud.
- Outstanding wireless connectivity options.
- No room correction.
- Struggles to reproduce low-bass.
- Wide bar.
The Bang & Olufsen Beosound Stage Soundbar is alright for movies. It has a slightly boxy sound profile and it struggles to produce a deep, thumpy bass, which can affect sound effects in your favorite action flicks. Luckily, it comes with a graphic EQ and presets so you can find the sound that best works for your needs. It supports Dolby Atmos, but it has to downmix surround content into stereo to play it. It can also get loud, with minor amounts of thumping and compression artifacts at max volume.
- Graphic EQ and presets.
- Can get loud.
- Supports Dolby Atmos.
- No room correction.
- Struggles to reproduce low-bass.
- Wide bar.
Changelog
- Updated Apr 06, 2021: Changed 'Display' results from 'Yes' to 'No'.
- Updated Mar 18, 2021: Updated latency measurements with new methodology.
- Updated Feb 09, 2021: Converted to Test Bench 1.0.
- Updated Oct 09, 2020: Review published.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Bang & Olufsen Beosound Stage comes in a variety of different colors: natural/black, bronze-tone/warm taupe, anthracite (which is a limited edition color), and smoked oak/gray. We tested the natural/black model, but we expect the other variants to perform similarly.
If you come across a different variant, let us know in the discussion section below so that we can update our review.
Popular Soundbar Comparisons
The Bang & Olufsen Beosound Stage Soundbar is a premium 3.0 setup from 2020. This very well-built soundbar comes in a couple of different color variants to better match your home's decor. Thanks to its companion app, you can reconfigure its sound to better suit its orientation, whether you have it sitting on your table or wall-mounted. Unfortunately, it doesn't have a subwoofer, so it lacks low-bass. While it supports Dolby Atmos content, but it also has to downmix it into stereo to play it. Check out our recommendations for the best soundbars, the best soundbars for dialogue, and the best soundbars for music.
The Bang & Olufsen Beosound Stage and the Sonos Arc are soundbars with different setups, but the Bang & Olufsen is better for dialogue and TV shows. While the Bang & Olufsen is a 3.0 setup with a more bass-heavy sound, it has a graphic EQ and presets to customize it to your liking. It has more physical inputs, including a Full HDMI In port, and it has outstanding wireless playback options. However, the Sonos is a 5.0.2 setup with side-firing speakers, which significantly improves its surround performance, unlike Bang & Olufsen, which downmixes this content into stereo. It also has a better height performance and a room correction feature.
Depending on your listening habits, you may prefer the Bang & Olufsen Beosound Stage or the Sonos Beam (Gen 2). The Bang & Olufsen reproduces a more extended low-bass, so you feel more rumble in bass-heavy audio. It also gets louder with less compression at max volume. However, some listeners may prefer the Sonos' smaller, more compact design. It's also better built, with better soundstage, surround, and Atmos performances.
The Sennheiser AMBEO Soundbar MAX is more versatile than the Bang & Olufsen Beosound Stage. The Sennheiser is a 5.1.4 standalone bar that can reproduce a more extended low-bass. It has much better surround and Atmos performances and supports DTS content. That said, the 3.0 Bang & Olufsen may provide a better value, especially for listeners who mostly want to use their soundbar with music and dialogue-centric content like TV shows. It also has a smaller, lighter design compared to the Sennheiser.
The Bose Smart Soundbar 900 with Speakers + Bass Module is better than the Bang & Olufsen Beosound Stage. The Bose is a 5.1.2 setup with a dedicated sub and satellite speakers. It can reproduce a more extended low-bass, and it has better soundstage, surround, and Atmos performances. It's better built, too, and there are more sound enhancement features like room correction. However, unlike the Bang & Olufsen, it doesn't come with a graphic EQ and presets.
Test Results
