Well - after falling out of a taxi at 10.50am, i checked in at the Grand Hyatt in Berlin to receive my room keycard and a little note from the Dialogue Manager of Bang & Olufsen in an envelope.

"I'll read it when i get to my room" i thought, eager to see the luxury - and more importantly collapse on the bed after 7 hours of travelling and 45 minutes sleep the night before.  I casually unpacked, and then cracked open the note at 11am to read the following..

Hi Lee - Your interview with Torben is at 11.10am this morning - please be in reception at 11am and a member of the B&O team with take you up to meet him. Kind regards - Lotte

Well - this faced me with two dilemmas. The first being that i was wearing jeans and a jumper as opposed to a suit, shirt and tie - and secondly, i hadn't prepared the questions! I was going to do that in the hour i had between lunch and the afternoon launch.. gulp..

My life flashed before my eyes, i put my shoes on (not even sure if they were on the correct feet), grabbed a pen - and ran!!  I think if you had looked at my fingers on the way down in the lift it would have been like trying to get a still shot of a hummingbirds wings.. i was writing faster than i could think!!

Anyway - i took a deep breath, and was escorted up to a very plush room where TBS (as we shall call him for abbreviation) was sitting, looking very relaxed and happy. I apologised profusely for my dishevelled appearance (he didn't care at all!), and we sat down to talk.

So - without further ado, here is the BeoWorld interview with Torben Ballegaard Sørensen, CEO of Bang & Olufsen A/S

Lee

The Interview..

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BW – Hello, and thank you very, very much for inviting me to this interview!

TBS – Well, we thank you for your interest! (smiles)


Torben Ballegaard Sorensen then produces a Serenata, and takes me through it’s functions and demonstrates what it can do.


TBS – The positioning of the product is that of a “mobile music system”, and we felt that there are so many ‘music phones’ in the world that don’t reproduce music in the right way.  It is of course also a 3G Phone too - so you can also stream internet TV, music from the web, browse the internet, use Outlook and also conduct teleconferences.  However, it is not made as a business phone.

BW – So, there is no camera on the Serenata?

TBS – We felt that our customers who want supreme sound likewise would also want supreme pictures, and they would probably own a high end camera for this. They could then download their images to the phone of course. (picks up phone) You can of course use it with earphones if you put it in your pocket, or you can come home and put it the docking station and connect it to your Bang & Olufsen speakers. It is then that you really appreciate the lossless qualities.

BW – Is the docking station a DECT one, as was the Serene?

TBS – No, we didn’t see a huge demand for that – so we didn’t enable this feature here.

BW – Does it come with an Earset of any kind?

TBS – Yes, it comes with Earset 3 included, and it of course has Bluetooth connection to also synchronise and transmit the music to the car.

BW – I promised not to barrage you with Technical questions, so I won’t.. but I’d like to.

TBS – (laughs) Well, there are the full technical specs in the press pack – and I am sure Peter Petersen (Head of Technology at Bang & Olufsen) would LOVE to answer them! (laughs again)

For me though, the interesting question is who did we make it for, and why did we make it? The point is, that we think in today’s world there is such a lack of quality in the music that people hear - and the one thing is that young people don’t know what ‘real music’ is any more because it is so mp3 compressed. It has now become a game of quantity rather than quality, and we wanted to turn this a little bit ‘upside down’ and say ‘hey – we want to go back to how the composer originally wants you to hear his/her music’ – and you shouldn’t need to compromise, even if it’s mobile.

This phone is mostly used for if you are alone, maybe in your office – hotel room, or during business travel.  It’s also nice to have in the hand or the pocket, and David Lewis the designer made it like a pebble.

The Serenata is a little bigger than most phones, as we needed to build in 5 cubic centimetres for the sound – it takes some volume to create that kind of sound!  You will also see in coming Bang & Olufsen products the continuity of the ‘wheel’ and as you browse through the album covers on the screen (of the Serenata), you will see it expanded upon more in Bang & Olufsen products of the future.

BW – You mean similar to the Itunes cover library?  I think this is really the way the market is being led – and generally what people want. I assume you will have to follow that demand to a degree, then simply improve upon it?

TBS – Yes, exactly. Which we are doing in the next generation. It doesn’t help to have 5,000 music albums and not know where they are!

BW – I think this was the problem with the BeoSound 3200..

TBS – (laughs) Yes, this is true – I have one of these myself, and can only remember some but not all of the album numbers in my head!

BW – Now, as you may be aware – there are a lot of questions that the members of BeoWorld would like to put to you, and I would like if I may to ask you a few of these? There are so many things they would like to know!

TBS – Yes, of course – go ahead, I’m happy about that!

BW – Okay, firstly – we would like to know if you had Bang & Olufsen in your family home when you were a child and growing up?

TBS – Oh yes! A lot of people in Denmark had B&O in their homes, and the true story is that my Grandfather when I was maybe 10 years old sat me down and made me aware that B&O was for those that considered design and quality before price. I clearly remember him saying that, and he was very proud of that system.

BW – So, you were ‘infected’ at an early age!

TBS – (laughs) Well, I was infected somehow! Plus, my parents always had Bang & Olufsen, and whenever they moved house they would buy even more equipment – and this was really a part of my upbringing.

When I was young, the turntable from Bang & Olufsen was really the best – and we had a lot of parties!  I actually then built my own horn speakers to go with the system from an old design, and in those days Bass was important!!  I then contemplated building my own amplifier, but that was not so successful. (laughs)

After that, my next products from Bang & Olufsen were a BeoCenter 9000 and a pair of BeoLab Penta Active Loudspeakers which I still have today.  I later bought the matching Tangential turntable also.

In my home I have the BeoVision 7, BeoLab 5’s, Projector etc - but in my other room I have my older systems.

What fascinated me was that actually 2 years ago, when my system was almost twenty years old – I just added a BeoLab 2 to add to the lower frequencies, and this was SO impressive!

BW – We love BeoLab 2 at BeoWorld also – it’s a great product!  Next question.. During the early years whilst you were at Lego, what attracted YOU to B&O and the possibility of working with them? We realise that B&O saw you as an excellent candidate for the job due to your successes at Lego, and they could obviously utilise your knowledge and experience – but what did you see in Bang & Olufsen?

TBS – Well, I think Denmark is such a small country that everybody in Denmark, from all professions and areas are fascinated by B&O, and we are scoring very high amongst young peoples aspirations – and myself too of course. It was always a dream for me to work for Bang & Olufsen, and I always used to read about them – but it was always beyond my expectations that I could work for a company such as Bang & Olufsen, it was just an aspiration.

BW – Were there ever been any moments during your early times at B&O that have really caught you by surprise, or anything you didn’t expect?

TBS – Good surprise or bad surprise?

BW – Either!

TBS – Well, I don’t really know. I of course followed closely what Anders Knutsen was doing, and followed the ‘Break Point’ episode as everybody was very sad that B&O was collapsing in those days.  Personally, I thought that maybe the days were over for doing this kind of thing in Europe anyway, and was impressed that they managed to become successful again. In the late 90’s I was buying Bang & Olufsen myself, and personally felt that time between new launches was getting longer and the momentum of Bang & Olufsen technology wise was getting slower.

I felt when I was young that a B&O turntable or amplifier was THE best you could ever get, and when the slogan ‘Philips on the inside, beautiful Bang & Olufsen on the outside” was banded around, I felt this was dangerous. So, before I even started at B&O I had my own dream and vision for the company, and that the company could be revitalised if they could get away from all this.

BW – One thing that concerns us all is that Bang & Olufsen of old is remembered for it’s engineering excellence and build quality, but as we head towards software based products – what will Bang & Olufsen do to uphold this reputation, and can you really do that with products like this?

TBS – That’s a good question, and we think about that a lot. Around 10 years ago, something like 80% of our products were a mechanically based ‘experience’ such as the clamper etc, but in the future it will be around 40-50% will be software / user interface based. So, therefore we started IdeaLab and made it a separate software design area so it could not be dominated by the old mechanical guys.  And now, with the new BeoSound 5 that is coming in the spring, the new idea is lifting up our competences in the software side to match the mechanical side. So, both are still dominant – and I think that forever we will be in the ‘physical world’ and there will be a mechanical expression of the product.  If we sacrifice that, we just become another software company.

BW – One thing that we all see as a dilemma are replacements for your most famous products such as the BeoSound 9000, which is recognised as a mechanical masterpiece as well as an icon. How do you plan to do this?

TBS – Well, when the CD disappears, which it will do, we need to create similar or even stronger experiences that may not be mechanical alone, but the BeoSound 5 which I cannot talk about too much at this point will be the first of some of the stepping stones to future technology. It is a radical new way of interacting, and this is our ambition.

BW – Sorry to ask this, but a lot of people are asking about Apple/Mac compatibility. A great number of B&O users see Bang & Olufsen as being very similar in a lot of aspects and are slightly disappointed to see everything leaning towards Microsoft based platforms that they see as inferior. Do you have any future plans for Mac?

TBS – We are exploring both Linux and Windows, and at this moment we see Windows as a safer technology platform for us in the short run. We have a good collaboration with Apple in the stores with the earphones in the USA, and are even experimenting with BeoLab 4 – but one thing that we will never do though is imitate. Although I agree that Apple have a fantastic user interface, it does tend to ‘lock people in’ to using Apple products if you say refer to iTunes.  Bang & Olufsen are looking to free the consumer, but this is a complicated process due to legal issues and encryptions.  We would like Bang & Olufsen users to be able to upload any kind of music, bought or ripped, to our products.

BW – With regards to the ‘stepping stones’ to better future products, there has been some disappointment voiced with the BeoSound 6 – what do you think of this?

TBS – Actually, I did hear some disappointing remarks this summer, and some information was leaked to the market before we could give the full picture of the products.  Actually, some of the latest reviews have been very positive on the sound quality because it contains our own proprietary algorithyms in the signal processor.

BW – So, it’s not a Samsung inside then?

TBS – Well, you can compare it to say the (Porsche) Cayenne and (Volkswagen) Touareg. It’s built on the same platform, but the ‘user interface’ is radically different, and the signal processor in the BeoSound 6 (and therefore the acoustic qualities) are different also.  It does contain some important enhancements!

BW – People really do need to be aware of that then!

TBS – You’re right, yes – and I think it’s coming through, and we will reinforce that!

(The tightly scheduled 15 minute interview has now reached 21 minutes, and his PA politely asks us to hurry up..)

BW – Well, in that case I must wind the interview up as you have plenty of people to see, and on behalf of BeoWorld I would like to thank you for this opportunity to speak with you.

TBS – Likewise. We like people who share the same values! (smiles)

End..
 

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All i can say is that it really was like chatting with a friend over a pint! What a relaxing man who always has a genuine smile on his face and a love of what he is doing. It was a pleasure interviewing him!

Lee

Hi Lee, looks like we are both up late!

Well firstly, well done on getting an invitation to speak to Mr Sørensen. You were offered a great oportunity and I have enjoyed very much reading your comments about the interview so far.

I was slightly suprised to find out it was the Serenata he wanted to discuss and not the BeoSound 5 as I had assumed but nonetheless, regardless of the product the most important thing is that you had personal time with Mr Sørensen. I like the fact that he takes an interest in his customers and while many will argue that he does this from a business and marketing perspective, which of course will be true, I also believe there is a lot of genuiness there too, which is what I have always admired about B&O and one of many reasons I choose to stay loyal to them as a company.

I will look forward to reading more of your posts in the coming days. Things are going really well for you with BeoWorld so your hard work and commitment to the site is obviously paying off. Well done and I wish you all the very best for the future. I hope you achieve what you want to from the site.

Simon.

thanks for sharing that. I'm also surprised that even at this late stage discussion on BS5 was not "allowed". However, he did touch on the fact that it will be a pretty exciting product.

jazz

Lee;

I've gone back and read this 3 x times now. Informative and facinating.

Thank you again for your time and effort with Bang & Olufsen. You well deserve a good night's rest.

 Cheers !

Thank you a lot Lee for this fantastic interview! I would not even be able to do somethin like that if i had hours to prepare the questions, but you only had seconds! Great job Lee!

It is very interessting to read how TBS came to B&O and what his experience with B&O was before he was CEO. 

Lucky ***

Great interveiw - and this is a real statement that B&O take us very serious here on Beoworld 

....mr anders(son):

Lucky ***

Great interveiw - and this is a real statement that B&O take us very serious here on Beoworld 

As well they should take the opinions of the members here seriously. You are the people who live and love the B&O Brand. Who want the best for the brand and have very high (perhaps a little too high sometimes) expectations. If B&O can please you lot, then i'm sure the brand is heading in the right direction. 

jazz

Again a fantastic interview and excellent questions!

Interesting points made and yes he was very "open" on B&O going forward which is a fantastic result as it does give us an inside view in a way to what we can expect in the years to come. 

BS5 is as many suspect a break from conventional music systems it would seem and taking the concept of Beomedia to the next level? Sounds like the result of a iphone/beomedia with a operating system to die for? and maybe a cd player thrown in with it? and a LCD or alike which is concealed and reveals itself in a similar way to doors on the BC9500?? cannot wait!!

He does sound very optimistic and positive and I thought it was a great comment on the Phillips/B&O partnership and how they have tried to break that perception but makes me think samsung..

Fantastic though and maybe the sign of things to come?!?!
 

I see the BS5 as a mix between the BS4 (wheel), a BS3200 (A CD player with a HD A.MEM, and a Beomedia like Interface on a LCD screen.

I see it having a dual way of distributing music: Over ML and over Ethernet.

 p.

Hi Lee,

Good job! When I read it I feel amoust like being there; drinking a beer as well!

Bieele

What a great account of your trip Lee.
You seem to have found a hidden talent as a reporter.
Thank you so much for putting so much time and effort into all your posts since your return from Berlin.
It appears that you and TBS have clicked with each other and I anticipate further ties strengthening between B&O and Beoworld. Who knows, there may well soon be a link on the official site to Beoworld!
Just out of curiosity, were you writing franticly whilst conversing or did you use some other method of recording your chat?

Andy T.

jandyt:

What a great account of your trip Lee.
You seem to have found a hidden talent as a reporter.
Thank you so much for putting so much time and effort into all your posts since your return from Berlin.
It appears that you and TBS have clicked with each other and I anticipate further ties strengthening between B&O and Beoworld. Who knows, there may well soon be a link on the official site to Beoworld!
Just out of curiosity, were you writing franticly whilst conversing or did you use some other method of recording your chat?

Andy T.

I bought a Sony voice recorder for £39.99 the day before - i'm no fool - my shorthand is non-existent.

wtlc2zpx:

I see the BS5 as a mix between the BS4 (wheel), a BS3200 (A CD player with a HD A.MEM, and a Beomedia like Interface on a LCD screen.

I see it having a dual way of distributing music: Over ML and over Ethernet.

 p

Roger

Thanks Lee for your review with TBS.

It's interesting to know that he was living with B&O during his childhood and that B&O is part of the life (and tradition) of the Danish people.

I appreciated the fact that B&O will work on a great challenge : Lifting up their competences in the software side to match the mechanical side of their future products. Whoa ! That's an interesting project !

Concerning the case of the (Porsche) Cayenne and (Volkswagen) Touareg or the partnership between Samsung and B&O, I am aware that the internal parts of the product have been enhanced following the Firm's high standards.

I am impatient to be astonished by the upcoming products from B&O.

That's MAGIC ! Whoa!!!     ....will be my words in a close future...

Guy 

9 LEE:

TBS – We are exploring both Linux and Windows, and at this moment we see Windows as a safer technology platform for us in the short run. We have a good collaboration with Apple in the stores with the earphones in the USA, and are even experimenting with BeoLab 4 – but one thing that we will never do though is imitate. Although I agree that Apple have a fantastic user interface, it does tend to ‘lock people in’ to using Apple products if you say refer to iTunes.  Bang & Olufsen are looking to free the consumer, but this is a complicated process due to legal issues and encryptions.  We would like Bang & Olufsen users to be able to upload any kind of music, bought or ripped, to our products.

Call me cynical, but I found his view regarding Windows as a stable platform pretty funny. And as for B & O looking to free consumers... isn't that like the pot calling the kettle black? There are countless threads on these forums alone where people offer workarounds for B & O to be used with other products, workarounds wouldn't be necessary if B & O was truly "freeing" the consumer.

In any case, I am pretty passionate about Apple (maybe moreso than B & O), but gimme break.

Mr. Sorensen, one doesn't have to imitate in order to cooperate.

-Sal

Oh wow that would have been adrenalin plus for you wow!! Great reading, i was surprised as to how short it was but sharp and shiny with plenty of good information yay!

 I MUST say this, i do not care what even the CEO says, the new mp3 player is a lousy design (visually). Look at the this page for instance, it just does not fit in.
 

He must be very proud of the Serenata though.  

joeyboygolf:

It's  interesting to note that TBS knew how to operate the product and could talk about it's capabilities. I am sure that the MD of my previous employers would not have been able to do that without someone technical holding his hand.

 
Thats a very good point, and having dealt in the past with the likes of Sony/Sharp/Panasonic/Philips etc  its certainly the case that B&O are one of only a very few companies that engender such loyalty / pride in its staff, business partners and customers alike.

It must be the case if you think about it, because, otherwise, no one would read this

Its hard to put a value on the feelgood factor in owning a product when you know it comes from a company with a true history of being interested in the people who use, make and distribute the products it creates.

On a related subject, there is a short DVD available to see at most dealers called  80 Years of Passion ;  watch it, and you will maybe see why TBS is simply following a long, proud tradition. 

Great question & interview Lee.  Very enlightening!