They are harmonising the colour schemes of the BeoSound, BeoLab and BeoVision lines with silver, gold and anthracite. Likely because the Theatre will allow better integration of the products (e.g. BeoLab front with Balance rear). Personally, whatever the finish, I still find the Balance design uninspiring compared to products like the BeoSound 2 or A9.

I had a dilemma about a month ago, purchasing new Beoosunds to pair. Although the BS-Balance has a more powerful sound, I ended up buying a pair of BS levels due to their form factor. Balance looks a bit strange, and although the lower half looks interesting, the upper half looks unfinished (or un-balanced, ... ironically). Maybe it would have looked better if the top could be rounded up like the bottom of BL-28s. Regardless of the looks, the new colour is, in my opinion, not a very good one, probably worse than any other version of the speaker.

Agreed, that colour scheme is pretty dull to my eyes. Pretty sure a nice combination can be found with that aluminium base. But silver / silver as in the picture is not good.