Alright, I guess I'll have a go at this, haha.
I was originally hoping that someone else would chime in lest I begin to sound like a massive B&O/ICEpower fangirl here given how fondly I have grown to appreciate the brand; but this is worth answering, so here goes.
Allow me to humor you with my personality a little bit as it'll likely aid in understanding where I'm coming from. When I bought my current house I didn't hire an interior designer; not only did I feel that I could do a better job (and save a LOT of money in the process), but I wanted to be in absolute control of every single intimate detail of my house. Everything from the major details such as flooring down to the extremely minor details such as the colour of the screws used to mount fittings throughout my house was handpicked by myself. I spent hundreds of hours touring the country to find exactly the material I wanted for a given task. Yes, I am highly particular, and I am an extreme minimalist as well. I strive for clean, efficient and functional designs. If something can serve more than one purpose, all the better.
I also possess a penchant for customising everything to suit my very precise requirements. I like my custom furniture a lot. Even cables, if it only needs to be 17.5 CM long then I'll damn well have it cut down to be precisely 17.5 CM long future-proofing be damned.
So with that in mind, I wasn't about to allow an ugly audio system comprising of far too many components for my liking to ruin the hundreds of hours of work I put into my house, so before moving in I sold my original audio system which I used at my previous home. I eventually bought the Yamaha NX-N500 for my PC as it fit the aesthetics of my study room decently well (all white with black and blue highlights), and I really loved the idea that they were active speakers with a built-in DAC such that I didn't require any other external components.
Everything was neat and simple; but for a long time that was all I had for listening to music, which was mostly fine since I spend a good chunk of my time at home in front of my PC, but it did leave me a little empty whenever I was anywhere else.
A couple of months ago I decided I wanted to add a little something extra to each of my rooms, like a little sculpture or painting. I simultaneously began to look for ways in which I could integrate audio throughout my house. I had some pretty strict requirements for what I wanted in a speaker though. Obviously it had to sound to my liking, but I prioritized aesthetics above all else; it had to be something unobtrusive, elegant, fitting with my minimalist style, and it couldn't take up too much space either. I wanted my next speaker to be in my bedroom first, as that's the next place I spend most of my time in, and I also wanted the speaker to fit in an area under one square foot so that I could have it seated on my bedside table which would provide me with an optimal listening position while still leaving enough space for me to use said table for everything else.
With my strict criteria in mind, there weren't a lot of options. Most small wireless speakers are really cheaply made, and a lot of them don't seem like anyone even put the slightest thought into how they sound either. I consider myself relatively tolerant of speakers that aren't considered "audiophile grade," but I absolutely despise "boomy" and exaggerated bass. I like my bass tight and to the point.
Just as I was about to give up on my search and scrap my whole project, I suddenly remembered the house of a friend from a very long time ago who had a very thoroughly integrated multi-room B&O setup. I also recalled that many of the speakers while there, weren't really there. They fit into the design of his house so seamlessly that it was easy to forget they even existed. I also remember being highly impressed by a B&O experience I had the pleasure of participating in showcasing the Beolab 5 (among other products) and it did give me at least some level of confidence that B&O at least knew what they were doing from an engineering standpoint (plus I do also have a lot of experience with ICEpower products, though I frequently forget that ICEpower is actually a B&O subsidiary).
So off I went to my local B&O showroom, and the moment I saw the Beosound 1 I absolutely fell in love with it. It was exactly what I was looking for, and it wasn't just all show and no substance either; this damn speaker sounds insane. It is truly mind-boggling how ridiculously loud (to the inevitable dissatisfaction of your neighbors) this little pocket rocket can get while having distortion under absolute control.
So obviously, I bought one, and I've been in love with it ever since. It is a product which I don't just appreciate for its ability to deliver quality music to my ears, but it is also a product which I appreciate for its sheer quality in both construction and aesthetic design while maintaining a quintessential B&O simplicity. It really isn't a complicated design, hell it even looks like a oversized pepper shaker or thermos at times, but just like my design of my house, every single intimate detail has been thoroughly thought through. Even when I'm not listening to my Beosound 1, it never fails to bring a smile to my face whenever I take a brief look at it. I've even seen my partner just standing in front of it looking at it in awe because it truly possesses a surreal aura to it.
So this then, is where I believe Bang & Olufsen stands, and there is nothing wrong with that.
There are companies whose sole existence is to deliver DAC's with insane measurements through relentless engineering prowess for the sole purpose of pushing the absolute limits of what we are able to technically achieve. And yet no-one will ever be able to tell them apart from products costing an order of magnitude less, but god damn me if I wouldn't be proud as hell to own such a product. To appreciate the product in ways beyond merely in its ability to deliver audio to my ears. To appreciate the quality engineering and blood and sweat that has been put into the product. And above all: to appreciate the sheer dedication and passion some individuals possess to deliver something above and beyond what the overwhelming majority of individuals will consider as necessary.
I see B&O as taking a slightly different route where they instead focus their resources on absolutely breathtaking designs. Designs which even decades later you look back to and wonder how anyone had even managed to conjure. I see the B&O experience as more than just an aural experience, but a visual one too; even for their speakers. And heck, for me it's certainly an emotional experience as well. I hold B&O to the highest regard in the aesthetic designs they deliver in the same way that I hold many products possessing insane electrical engineering designs with measurements that may as well be off the charts. Different strokes for different folks then. Some couldn't care less about measurements, some couldn't care less about visual appeals, but both have their merits and both deserve their place.
And as mentioned earlier, it's not like any of the B&O products -- even their lower end ones -- sound bad. To my ears at least, they sound amazing enough that I'm willing to put my money down despite knowing that there are other products out there that deliver the same listening experience for a fraction of the cost. But as highlighted in my previous paragraph, to me it's more than just the listening experience that matters.
This then is how B&O has earned a place in my heart. There really aren't many companies out there who deliver both jaw-dropping and extremely understated speaker designs while maintaining such a consistent level of staggering build quality and simplicity that just makes you go "yep, absolutely everyone involved in this project was thinking." There was a time when B&O was the epitome of "form over function" (don't even get me started on the B&O Serene and also the Beo6 Remote), but I am happy to say that B&O does take user interface a lot more seriously these days and their newer products are certainly an absolute joy for humans to use. Oh and, I do also appreciate the sheer level of variety in colours and materials a lot of B&O products possess; it certainly helps with the overall design synergy of your home!
