Напольная акустика — Bang & Olufsen Beolab 90 Monarch Edition

The Beolab 90 Monarch Edition is one of the two final releases in the five-part Atelier series with which Bang & Olufsen marked its centenary. Only ten pairs are made, and the price is GBP 410,000 or EUR 480,000 per pair. Every order includes a signed authenticity document and a small aluminium Beolab 90 sculpture in the same finish, packed in a custom aluminium case.

Key specs that matter

Underneath the new finish sits the standard Beolab 90, first shown in 2015. Each speaker holds 18 drivers - seven 1 inch tweeters, seven 4.5 inch midrange units, three 10 inch woofers and one 13 inch woofer on the front. Fourteen ICEpower amplifier channels plus four further class D units give a total of 8,200 W per speaker. The rated range reaches from below 12 Hz to above 43,000 Hz, and maximum output is 126 dB SPL at 1 m, with 118 dB SPL available in the bass. The earlier Atelier releases were the silver Titan, the black Phantom and the purple Mirage, and the Monarch shares its launch with the Zenith. One speaker is 73.5 cm wide, 125.3 cm high and 74.7 cm deep and weighs 137 kg.

Engineering and use context

The Monarch treatment draws on Danish furniture tradition. Angled and curved rosewood lamellas follow the contours of the aluminium cabinet and are held together by six wooden knots, a rosewood ring caps the top, and the base panels are anodised aluminium in an ochre colour. Sections of partly see-through fabric leave parts of the driver array visible. The acoustic platform is unchanged, including Beam Width Control, which lets the owner switch the dispersion between a narrow pattern aimed at one seat and a wider pattern for several listeners. With its amplifiers housed inside, the Beolab 90 is a complete active system rather than a passive speaker that needs separate power amplifiers. Its drivers face several directions around the cabinet, and the adjustable directivity depends on that layout.

Pairing

As a fully active loudspeaker, the Monarch Edition needs no external amplifier and is fed straight from a source or preamplifier. Buyers who want the same hardware in a darker look can compare it with the carbon fibre Phantom, while the standard Beolab 90 was listed at about USD 211,800 per pair in 2025, well below any Atelier version.

Alternatives

The Bang & Olufsen Beolab 90 Zenith Edition uses the same speaker with aluminium spheres and a mother-of-pearl inlay, also limited to ten pairs.