Advice on loudspeakers, B&O Beolab 9 or similar

hyoga84

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Hi everyone,

I'm new to the forum and I would need some advice.

I'm interested in buying a new pair of speakers, I like B&O Beolab 9 because all the reviews says they're really good and I like the style also. I love listening to pop rock music, also some classical, mainly from MTV or from my computer. I have a room which is about 35 m2 and actually I have a Bose lifestyle V25 which is a very disappointment.....
frown.gif
(I should have joined the forum earlier...)

Will you recommend them? Maybe paired with a Naim nac 172 xs preamp (since they have built-in power amps)?

Is there any other speaker that costs less but have same sound quality and looks great?

Any help would be very appreciated.

Bye
 
We have friends who have with the older Beolab 6 speakers, rigged to an all B&O system.

Are they any good? Yes is the answer - they are cracking. I would I buy them if I had the money? No. That's because they are a lifestyle design and you pay a premium for that. Some on here will vehemently disagree but I don't think, on a pound-for-pound basis, they are worth that premium.

If you want stylish speakers without a premium price tag, and should match the Naim, then perhaps look at Vienna Acoustics. They are not lifestyle but are beautifully designed.

Or perhaps look at these.
 

chebby

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plastic penguin said:
We have friends who have with the older Beolab 6 speakers, rigged to an all B&O system.

Are they any good? Yes is the answer - they are cracking. I would I buy them if I had the money? No. That's because they are a lifestyle design and you pay a premium for that. Some on here will vehemently disagree but I don't think, on a pound-for-pound basis, they are worth that premium.

You are also paying for the fact that they source all their own raw materials and machine them in-house rather than farm everything out to subcontractors. You are also paying for the fundamental research they carry out into audio / acoustics and materials technology and the extensive testing of every product.

And just why is good design (in a major household item) such a 'dirty' concept?
 
chebby said:
plastic penguin said:
We have friends who have with the older Beolab 6 speakers, rigged to an all B&O system.

Are they any good? Yes is the answer - they are cracking. I would I buy them if I had the money? No. That's because they are a lifestyle design and you pay a premium for that. Some on here will vehemently disagree but I don't think, on a pound-for-pound basis, they are worth that premium.

You are also paying for the fact that they source all their own raw materials and machine them in-house rather than farm everything out to subcontractors. You are also paying for the fundamental research they carry out into audio / acoustics and materials technology and the extensive testing of every product.

And just why is good design (in a major household item) such a 'dirty' concept?

Have I ever said that good design is a dirty concept? All I've said (above) is I don't think they are worth the premium price tag. I don't give a EDITED whether they're sourced in-house and implement a 'No Philipino Slave Labour' policy.

They are impressive sounding but not a pound-for-pound basis.
 

matthewpiano

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I can see both sides of this argument but I do feel that with B&O you are paying not only for design (as opposed to the complete non-design that afflicts most hi-fi) but also for a higher standard of engineering. Their products are beautifully made - well beyond the quality of most hi-fi manufacturers.
 

DocG

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Hi hyoga84,

Welcome to the forum!

I think the BeoLab9 could be an excellent choice, a very neat solution. You could indeed pair it with the Naim you mention. Another good combination would IMO be with the Oppo 105: excellent digital-analogue conversion, streamer, all the (digital!) inputs you need, and it spins CD, DVD-A, SACD and BD disks.

As for possible alternatives: do you look for active speakers? Full-range speakers? Speakers with a high WAF? All of those?
 

busb

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I used to knock B&O for being too "lifestyle" myself & got plenty of tuts for posting such. I now have much more repect for the company, especially after hearing how much R&D they do & how much effort they put into class D amplification. Having said that, I'm usually a bit disappointed when visiting their shops where the emphesis is on TVs.
 
chebby said:
plastic penguin said:
I don't give a EDITED whether they're sourced in-house and implement a 'No Philipino Slave Labour' policy.

I don't know why your little strop had to include a demeaning reference to Filipino people.

Because of this: "And just why is good design (in a major household item) such a 'dirty' concept?"

I've never implied such a thing. Nor have I said, like you in the past, that hi-fis are generally ugly. They do exactly what say on the tin: Hi-fis are boxy things. Nothing more, nothing less.
 

chebby

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plastic penguin said:
chebby said:
plastic penguin said:
I don't give a EDITED whether they're sourced in-house and implement a 'No Philipino Slave Labour' policy.

I don't know why your little strop had to include a demeaning reference to Filipino people.

Because of this: "And just why is good design (in a major household item) such a 'dirty' concept?"

I've never implied such a thing. Nor have I said, like you in the past, that hi-fis are generally ugly. They do exactly what say on the tin: Hi-fis are boxy things. Nothing more, nothing less.

Regardless of all that (and getting back to my question) why involve the Filipinos?
 
chebby said:
plastic penguin said:
chebby said:
plastic penguin said:
I don't give a EDITED whether they're sourced in-house and implement a 'No Philipino Slave Labour' policy.

I don't know why your little strop had to include a demeaning reference to Filipino people.

Because of this: "And just why is good design (in a major household item) such a 'dirty' concept?"

I've never implied such a thing. Nor have I said, like you in the past, that hi-fis are generally ugly. They do exactly what say on the tin: Hi-fis are boxy things. Nothing more, nothing less.

Regardless of all that (and getting back to my question) why involve the Filipinos?

Well look carefully and you'll notice it is deliberately misspelled, as in meaningless or off the cuff (throwaway comment).
 

busb

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chebby said:
plastic penguin said:
Well look carefully and you'll notice it is deliberately misspelled, as in meaningless or off the cuff (throwaway comment).

Waht a shock of crit !

And there I was thinking PP had made a dignified recovery! Have you two considered getting married (to each other)?
 

chebby

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busb said:
chebby said:
plastic penguin said:
Well look carefully and you'll notice it is deliberately misspelled, as in meaningless or off the cuff (throwaway comment).

Waht a shock of crit !

And there I was thinking PP had made a dignified recovery! Have you two considered getting married (to each other)?

Oh, I was just making a deliberately misspelled (and therefore meaningless) throwaway comment.
 

busb

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chebby said:
busb said:
chebby said:
plastic penguin said:
Well look carefully and you'll notice it is deliberately misspelled, as in meaningless or off the cuff (throwaway comment).

Waht a shock of crit !

And there I was thinking PP had made a dignified recovery! Have you two considered getting married (to each other)?

Oh, I was just making a deliberately misspelled (and therefore meaningless) throwaway comment.

Absolutely no need to explain yourself to me, your contribution on this forum has enlightened many as has Chebby's. May both of you enjoy the remaining holiday!
 
busb said:
chebby said:
plastic penguin said:
Well look carefully and you'll notice it is deliberately misspelled, as in meaningless or off the cuff (throwaway comment).

Waht a shock of crit !

Have you two considered getting married (to each other)?

Wouldn't work. We wouldn't be able to decide who has the compression stockings and who has the hair curlers. :)
 

Haleem123

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Hi Hyoga84,

welcome to the forum,

Having owned B&O speakers for 19 years I can honestly they are brilliant, i have beolab 8000, 6000, 4000 and beolab 2 sub and to this day they still blow away alot of newer speakers. With B&O you are not only getting ecellent sount quality you are getting a product that lasts you well over 10-20 years, so money well invested i think, i have never had to replace any tweeters or have had to get the speakers repaired. I normally crank the volume all the time i listen to music or movies.

I have my system hooked up to a yamaha rxv3067 amp
 

hyoga84

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Thank you plastic penguin,

I was interested in the Beolab 9 because I think when you pay that amount of money on a pair of speakers, they of course should sound SUPERBLY, but also look gorgeous.....

Yes, the xt4 are stylish too, but they lack something to be considered special......

How much do you think am I paying for the premium? 20%, 50%.....

If I'm paying 20% of the price only for the style........hmmmmm....... I think it's okay......., but if it's more..... :shame:
 

hyoga84

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Hi DocG,

Thank you for your advice,

I'm looking for speakers to listen to music, basically pop, electronic, and some classical.......

Do you suggest using the Oppo instead of the Naim 172xs or using both of them?? Is the Oppo a preamp?
 
hyoga84 said:
Thank you plastic penguin,

I was interested in the Beolab 9 because I think when you pay that amount of money on a pair of speakers, they of course should sound SUPERBLY, but also look gorgeous.....

Yes, the xt4 are stylish too, but they lack something to be considered special......

How much do you think am I paying for the premium? 20%, 50%.....

If I'm paying 20% of the price only for the style........hmmmmm....... I think it's okay......., but if it's more..... :shame:

They are beautifully designed and they do attract a niche clientele, so I would guess you're paying closer to 50% (this is just my opinion. I don't have any facts to back this up).

The B&O system our friends have I think cost just over 10k for an entry-level set-up. So put another way, my current set has cost close on 2k. Is the B&O kit worth 3x the amount of my total cost? I personally don't think so, but you are paying for the unique styling.
 

DocG

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hyoga84 said:
Hi DocG,

Thank you for your advice,

I'm looking for speakers to listen to music, basically pop, electronic, and some classical.......

Do you suggest using the Oppo instead of the Naim 172xs or using both of them?? Is the Oppo a preamp?

The Oppo can be used as a preamp, and is a disk spinner too. And it's in the same price league as the Naim. So it could be an alternative.

Which sources do you have in mind? A CD player? Streamer? Computer? FM tuner? Turntable? TV? ...
 

JMacMan

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plastic penguin said:
hyoga84 said:
Thank you plastic penguin,

I was interested in the Beolab 9 because I think when you pay that amount of money on a pair of speakers, they of course should sound SUPERBLY, but also look gorgeous.....

Yes, the xt4 are stylish too, but they lack something to be considered special......

How much do you think am I paying for the premium? 20%, 50%.....

If I'm paying 20% of the price only for the style........hmmmmm....... I think it's okay......., but if it's more..... :shame:

They are beautifully designed and they do attract a niche clientele, so I would guess you're paying closer to 50% (this is just my opinion. I don't have any facts to back this up).

The B&O system our friends have I think cost just over 10k for an entry-level set-up. So put another way, my current set has cost close on 2k. Is the B&O kit worth 3x the amount of my total cost? I personally don't think so, but you are paying for the unique styling.

We all have different opinions, and those of many audiophiles with respect to B&O often tend to be very negative.

'Lifestyle systems', 'style over substance' etc are all comments I've read about B&O products in audiophile online forums - and not just this one.

Have you perchance listened to a pair of Beolab 9's, Plastic Penguin, or maybe done some investigation into the R&D credentials of the company?

Just to be contrare, and whilst respecting your viewpoint, I think B&O's value for money is off the scale, and especially with Beolab 9's, when you look at what you are getting in total as an consumer purchase from a company whose R&D and engineering expertise is arguably without peer...

Unlike many an audiophile brand I could name, they are not an overpriced example of the 'Emporers new clothes' syndrome...

Each to his own perhaps....

However, as Apple Mac users were once want to say, - you will prise MY Beolab 9's out of my cold, dead hands.... ;)

Happy New Year to All :cheers:

JMac... 8)
 

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