Bang & Olufsen - Opinions?

[jyl]

So I've been looking for a new phone system for the house and a new stereo to replace the one I've had since college.

Naturally, I'm a sucker for something "different" or "vintage" or both. (I seldom buy anything new.)

Have been browsing through websites on Bang & Olufsen. Certainly distinctive looking.

Generally, any opinions on B&O? Is the stuff actually top-notch, sonically and electronically? Quality, reliability? How about the looks - do you like it, or think it gets dated real fast?

(I'm thinking about a Beocenter 9500 for the stereo, and a Beocom 6000 for the phone.)

[rouxroux]

Our old B&O phone has the best audio of any phone I've ever owned....I used to sell B&O audio back in the 70's & early 80's, very slick "package systems"...

[tchanson]

By all means listen/compare and come to your own conclusions, but B&O stereo gear has always seemed about aesthetics far more than functionality, and with sonics an afterthought as well.

Most all of their audio pieces that I've listened to over the years sounded mediocre at best to my ears. (I've never used any of their telephones)

If you're at all a critical listener, you can easily assemble an infinitely better sounding system at the typical B&O price points .

They do look real purty, though....


Tim

[}{arlequin]

they are the butt end of audiophile jokes but they do look cool. overpriced too. for the money you can get a much better setup (sonically), though if you don't want to pick and choose etc, their stuff is simple and plug-n-play.

their turntables were quite the opposite. very good pieces which they stopped making a while ago. now they're very sought after.

their phones are great. i have two different ones as well as an answering machine. all work very well. best sounding phones you can find. menus *seem* strange at first, but you quickly realize they're ultra intuitive, especially on the many functions of the answering machine.

[Groesbeck Hurricane]

I liked their stuff when played through good speakers (B&O speakers seemed to be about form not function). It never was as good as my Nakamichi/Yamaha/Denon system parts. FWIW.

[Willem Fick]

They look far better than they sound.

On occasion that I had to endure them, I found their sound to OK at first but harsh and tiring after a short while, especially once I looked past the styling, gimicks and gadgetry. This of course makes sense, because if your design budget has a ceiling, but you have to use it for both gimicks and sound, something is bound to suffer - in their case it is certainly the sound!

If you are looking at asthetics more than sound, then go for it, but for serious listening you'll be far better off with a nice component system.

[sand_man]

Not my thing! Of course me being a tube gear nut...few things in the audio world are! B&O stuff looks nice, but for me less is more! My preamp has two knobs, two buttons and one red LED...and no remote! I'll take the warm glow of my KT-88 output tubes any day over a bunch of bells and whistles.

[Dottore]

Originally posted by tchanson
By all means listen/compare and come to your own conclusions, but B&O stereo gear has always seemed about aesthetics far more than functionality, and with sonics an afterthought as well.

Most all of their audio pieces that I've listened to over the years sounded mediocre at best to my ears. (I've never used any of their telephones)

If you're at all a critical listener, you can easily assemble an infinitely better sounding system at the typical B&O price points .

They do look real purty, though....


Tim

Agree 100%. You pay for styling and the name. The sound is very average. I had a B&O system once that I bought for all the wrong reasons. Not long after I was burgled and it was stolen. I bought a much better sounding system with the insurance proceeds - and spent a very nice week in Hawaii with the extra money.

But if you already have a Cadillac XLR in you garage, a toupe on your head and a pneumatic wife in the kitchen - well, you owe it to yourself to purchase a B&O audio system.

[sand_man]

Originally posted by Dottore

But if you already have a Cadillac XLR in you garage, a toupe on your head and a pneumatic wife in the kitchen - well, you owe it to yourself to purchase a B&O audio system.

LOL! That's funny as *****!

[jyl]

Hmm. Sounds like nix on the Beocenter but maybe on the Beocom and the Beowife.

[tabs]

Check out McIntosh. http://www.roger-russell.com/aboutmc.htm

[ErVikingo]

If you have the budget for a B&O system you can do sooo much better than that... Looks are nice but you are not getting the system for their aesthetics are you?

What's you budget, where will you install this (dedicated or not) and what do you listen to (both music type, media type)?

[jyl]

I want to have music in living room, study, bedroom, kitchen, family room.

I listen to mostly jazz, some pop/rock, occasionally classical. Source is CDs or AAC/MP3. Not decided if I want to haul my old vinyl out of the basement. I don't know if I will like transistors or tubes, have never owned the latter.

I figure the rooms that will get their own dedicated audio systems are the living room and the study.

In the living room I'd like something that looks really nice, sounds good, is interesting. Limitation is that other people will use it (including maybe ham-fingered guests), my wife is not going to tolerate large/tall speakers, and realistically it might typically be used for dinner party background music. This is where I was thinking about the Beocenter and I'm not sure what for speakers.

In the study I can do whatever I want, wife won't complain, no-one will mess with the gear, and I'd be able to close the door and listen. Here I was thinking about building my own stuff (have been researching horn designs, incl single-driver designs, and kit-built tube amps like from Bottlehead).

The rest of the house will get Apple iTunes on the Mac, streaming music over WiFi to Apple Airport units plugged into amplified speakers. It's not hi-fi, but its fine for sending music to pretty much anywhere where there's an AC outlet.

As for budget, I like old stuff, I normally buy things used, and I'm patient so I find budget is seldom a constraint. Like I couldn't afford a 2006 911 but I'm happy with the 1989 911, that sort of approach. I mean, if I get my heart set on an all-McIntosh system, I'll eventually get it, may just take a while.

[ErVikingo]

OK, one more question, do you plan to run movie soundtracks also??? Are you looking for a surround setup also or just plain 2 channel audio?

[sand_man]

Looking for used???:
http://audiogon.com/

[Dottore]

Tried Linn?

It's the Porsche of the audio world in my view.

Check it out at:

www.linn.co.uk

[jyl]

Originally posted by ErVikingo
OK, one more question, do you plan to run movie soundtracks also??? Are you looking for a surround setup also or just plain 2 channel audio?

Just two channel for audio, no soundtracks.

I'm not much into TV, still using the 27" CRT TV I bought 15+ years ago. Maybe will get a flat panel after XMas, maybe not.

[MysticLlama]

I'm not sure about the level of stuff you're looking at, but their newer line of stuff is definately better than the older stuff.

I demo'd a set of 4 BeoLab 5s in a hotel room at CES, and they were quite amazing. Great power, great clarity, good bass (a new thing for B&O) and didn't get harsh or tiring at extremely high volume levels.

They demo'd a range of stuff from classical to Dave Matthews band, which all sounded great, and then to prove the range and the new bass abilities over their older sets they played some Insane Clown Posse.... something that would have never worked on the older B&O speakers.

I don't say this coming from a pair of Sony speakers at home.... I have a pair of Polk Audio Signature 3.1s with a 1200w Carver amplifier. It may not be McIntosh grade, but it's a lot better than anything you can pick up at a stereo shop anymore without going really high end.

Of course, the BeoLab5s are *really* expensive...

[GeorgeK]

I had the same experience as Rob. The newer stuff is *really* amazing, if expensive.
For my engine-cooked ears, my 8000's are great, and they look soooo good.
I have been around B&O since mid 70's and I have no complaints.

[kjb]

Originally posted by Dottore
Tried Linn?

It's the Porsche of the audio world in my view.

Check it out at:

www.linn.co.uk

+1

I bought a Linn Classik at www.audiogon.com for $900 almost five years ago, and it's been great.

/ J