Bang & Olufsen is giving one of its popular speakers a serious makeover—this time, with the help of natural stone and fossilized wood. The new Beosound Balance Natura is a special-edition version of the original Beosound Balance speaker, but instead of sitting on the familiar oak base, it’s perched on a sculptural pedestal made from real quartz or petrified wood. It’s part of B&O’s Atelier Bespoke program and was designed in collaboration with Italian stone brand Antolini.

The speaker will make its public debut at Milan Design Week this April, and it’s definitely not your average smart speaker.

“Together with Bang & Olufsen, we turned precious materials into unique sensory experiences. On the one hand natural stone, shaped to tell the story of Mother Nature’s beauty. On the other hand, sound, sculpted to deliver pure emotions through design that becomes art. This collaboration is not just the meeting of different materials but a dialogue between aesthetics and performance, between nature and technology, between history and avant-garde,” says Carlo Alberto Antolini, Owner of Antolini.

If you’re familiar with the original Beosound Balance, not much has changed on the inside. It still packs seven drivers and can crank out up to 850 watts of power. Thanks to its 360-degree design, it can sit in the center of a room and spread sound in all directions—great for parties, gatherings, or just filling a space with music.

It also supports all the modern wireless streaming features you’d expect, like AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect, and Google Chromecast. Plus, it works with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, so you can control it with your voice if that’s your thing.

What sets the Natura version apart is really the base. Instead of the standard oak or marble, this one sits on a carefully crafted pedestal made from materials like Cristallo Iceberg quartz or fossilized woods such as Retro Grey and Retro Fancyblack. These are materials you’re more likely to find in high-end furniture or countertops than audio gear. But here, they add an entirely different look—and feel—to the speaker.

To tie the design together, Bang & Olufsen added a brushed aluminum ring between the speaker and the stone. It’s a small detail, but one that helps the different materials work together visually and gives the impression that the speaker and base are part of a single sculpture rather than two separate pieces.

Tiina Kierysch, B&O’s Head of Design, explained that the goal wasn’t just to make a fancy stand—it was to make the pedestal feel like a natural extension of the speaker. And it does: the textures of the stone or wood contrast with the sleek aluminum housing of the speaker, but still feel like they belong together.

“For this design, we didn’t want to create just a pedestal to place the speaker on.” Kierysch said. “Our vision was to create a seamless extension of the product by forming a clear sense of belonging between the speaker and its plinth. As a result, the sculptural marble pedestal is designed to perfectly cradle Beosound Balance, making it feel like one unified product. The brushed aluminium ring distinguishes the speaker from its pedestal, while enhancing the dialogue between materials, where the vitality of natural stone converges with the precision of aluminium.”

Only 16 of these speakers will be made, and each one will be unique depending on which stone and finish are used. They’re made to order, and pricing is available only by request—which suggests this isn’t going to be a casual purchase. For context, the regular Beosound Balance starts around $3,300, so you can safely assume the Natura edition will cost quite a bit more.

This isn’t the first time B&O has teamed up with a luxury brand to offer a new take on its audio products. Last year, it released custom versions of its Beosound A5 and Beosound 2 speakers in collaboration with Italian yacht company Riva. The Natura edition follows a similar formula: same sound performance, new look, and a much more limited release.

At Milan Design Week, Bang & Olufsen will also show off other Antolini-inspired products, including a Beovision Theatre 55” TV and a pair of Beolab 28 speakers, all customized with similar natural stone materials. The idea seems to be expanding the way audio gear fits into home decor—not just as electronics, but as design elements in their own right.

So while the Beosound Balance Natura doesn’t change anything under the hood, it does offer something new for people who want their audio system to make a visual statement. It’s a speaker designed to look as much at home in a gallery or designer loft as it does in a living room.

Just don’t expect to walk into a store and find one on the shelf. With only 16 being made, and each built to order, this version of the Balance is meant for a very small number of buyers looking for something truly different.