Penta (loudspeaker)
The Penta loudspeakers from the Danish manufacturer Bang & Olufsen were built from 1986 to 2000. The loudspeakers created by the designers Lone and Gideon Lindinger-Loewy are considered to be one of the best-selling products from the manufacturer. The Penta loudspeakers are not only one of the most famous column loudspeakers, they are also one of the first successful active loudspeakers in the home. The active version is called Beolab Penta , the passive version is called Beovox Penta . The term Penta refers to the pentagonal shape of the case. They are considered classics of Scandinavian design .
History and construction
In 1983, B&O began building Penta loudspeakers. From 1986 they came on the market. The loudspeakers took some new approaches. On the one hand, it turned out that speakers arranged vertically have a better sound quality than speakers arranged horizontally. In addition, an amplifier in the active version was built into the base of the speaker. The source of the material and the volume could be read on an LED screen integrated in the column loudspeaker. The loudspeaker was highly innovative at the time of its appearance and represented a clear break with the classic square wooden loudspeaker boxes. The housing of the Penta loudspeakers is pentagonal and made of the plastic resin (Novodur) from Bayer. 4 woofers, 4 midrange speakers and a tweeter were installed. In terms of construction, it is a 3.5-way bass reflex loudspeaker. With the help of switches, the active version could be adapted to the conditions of the room. Acoustic research results funded by the Danish state were included in the tuning of the sound characteristics. The tuning represents a mixture of the frequency response on the axis and the so-called energy response (power response), a mixture of various frequency responses. The importance of this rendering was proven in studies by Erik Rørbaek Madsen and Henrik Staffeldt and applies to normal living spaces superior to the usual on-axis frequency response.
Source and literature
- The danish loudspeaker 100 year anniversary, p. 50,
- Bang & Olufsen, Nick and Tim Jarman, IBAN 978-1-84797-068-8