Bang & Olufsen ...? Good deal??

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JoelSim: ... it was not a patch on what I am used to.

So not on fire and pretty good then?
emotion-1.gif
 
Ive owned alot of B&O gear over the years. They have a reputation for making gear that looks good and sounds rubbish, but that is not the case.

Yes you get similar or better sounding gear for the same money or less but very few brands offer the overall combination of synergy, sound, design and ease of use. I got my first color tv from B&O some time in the 80s and it still works. I also have a Beovision 7000, beogram cd 4500, beomaster 4500, Beolab 8000 spekers and couple of telephones, remotes etc. It all still works good and looks modern (except the tv not beeing an LCD ofcourse.

In my home office a pair of now pretty old Beovox RL1000 speakers are connected to my CA 340 amp and even if they could use a more powerful amp they sound great with most music. The speakers or maybe its the weak amp are not so great for very complex music though. Ill upgrade to a nad 326 amp and if the "problem" still remain ill go for a set of B&W speakers and finally retire the Beovox speakers.

No need to be ashamed if you like B&O. The purists may hate it but if you are into music and not tech specs and test tones it sounds great. 😉
 
Re the casio vs Omega point.

Digital quartz watches are accurate to something like one second every one hundred years.

The best automatic watches known as a "chronometer" (which an expensive Omega automatic watch would be) have a movement which would only need to be accuarte to something like +/- 6 seconds a month in a variety of conditions.

The point of expensive watches isn't that they're accurate, or do a better job than digital watches. Its more about having a watch which is made out of cogs and springs instead of batteries and circuits.

Re B&O equipment does anyone else find the treble to be so loud as to be uncomfortable, or is that just me? Also why do the dealers (in my experience) insist on demonstrating everything at volume 11, as opposed to a reasonable listening volume?
 
Or lets put it another way.

Someone hands you £10, to purchase the best Hi Fi for the money , would you end up with a B&O system..........
 
MENISCUS:
Or lets put it another way.

Someone hands you £10, to purchase the best Hi Fi for the money , would you end up with a B&O system..........

No. Most people would end up with about a metre of speaker cable.
 
chebby:MENISCUS:
Or lets put it another way.

Someone hands you £10, to purchase the best Hi Fi for the money , would you end up with a B&O system..........

No. Most people would end up with about a metre of speaker cable.

or a banana plug
 
My husband has one of these:

bang__olufsen_beosound_9000_1-thumb-450x403.jpg


in his photographic studio. And it's a superb-sounding system. Yes, there's a style premium - but B&O kit certainly has the substance to support those looks....
 
Clare Newsome:
My husband has one of these:

bang__olufsen_beosound_9000_1-thumb-450x403.jpg


in his photographic studio. And it's a superb-sounding system. Yes, there's a style premium - but B&O kit certainly has the substance to support those looks....

I was watching the B&O virtual factory tour this afternoon and saw your hubby's speaker bits being machined. (Click on 'mechanics' on the sub menu and then 'Aluminium-Beolab 8000'.)

If you watch all the videos you get an understanding of where some of the cost comes from.

I was suprised to find they employ over 2500 people and turnover about £500Million per annum.

That must be more than all the UK specialist hifi companies combined (plus some).
 
Surely B&O must be doing something right. Even Pioneer could not survive the economic downturn..........they how did this high end company survive & still go strong (it launched a 103 inch plasma TV only a few months ago when Pioneer was announcing closure of its TV division)?
 
I think B&O levels of investment, research, design, engineering, manufacturing, turnover, employment, diversification and success became illegal in the UK at some time in the last 25 years.
 
Rich O:
Re the casio vs Omega point.

Digital quartz watches are accurate to something like one second every one hundred years.

The best automatic watches known as a "chronometer" (which an expensive Omega automatic watch would be) have a movement which would only need to be accuarte to something like +/- 6 seconds a month in a variety of conditions.

Off topic (I kinda started it though) but I knew physics would be useful! Part of it is accuracy vs precision. Automatic watches are very precise, quartz watches are accurate.

Accuracy is a result that is close to what you expected it to be, for example measuring a value for gravity (around 9.81), 9.71, 9.80 9.92 would be a set of accurate results. Precise results are reproducable time after time, that is to say 8.45, 8.43, 8.47. It's fairly analogous to sound as well, what sound you can expect your components to make time after time, for system matching, or how well your components reproduce the 'actual' sound. Quartz watches can vary with temperature, strength of the battery etc, but when calibrated properly they will be within half a second per day. Automatic watches will (should) not degrade, they will be within a couple of seconds every day, but they will do so for years between services.

Back on topic, I don't think anyone is saying that B&O stuff is totally style over substance, but maybe putting them on par with each other. To my not particularly good ears there is a difference between the specialist sound brands and B&O, although I wouldn't profess to have heard all B&O, merely 2 or 3 set ups, nor have I heard many £3k systems. Value is what something is worth to you, if you like it, given the audio, visual and price aspects then buy it, why not?
 
suppose if you compare B&O to watches/timepieces then you may possibly compare the B&O to a patek phillipe watch or rolex watch ..... costs lots of money, looks good and does the job .... yet if you purchase a cheap quartz / battery watch, it also tells the time and does so more accurately than a Rolex

so, if you want 'bling bling', then suppose the B&O system will be fine
 
I can't believe how prejudice some people are. I have heard B&O and it is very good. The build quality is superb, the customer service and support is excellent and a lot of thought goes in the design. It also sounds very good. Yes, you can probably get more performance from some ugly boxes, but the point is if you want performance and good design then get B&O. I would get it. Unfortunately as lot of people don't get to hear it or consider it as it is so expensive and hence hold misguided views.
 
ok Staggerlee, assume a week ago I had a budget of £3000 to buy some gear ..... these are the item that I would have given serious thought to:

Technics SU-9600 Hi-fi Stereo control center and SE-9600 Hifi stereo power amp .... ebay item 220487029372

seller was asking for £1500 ... item never sold, would have offered perhaps £1200

!Bbd4Z2wBGk~$(KGrHqEH-CkEquVK52J+BKwLrqFFBg~~_12.JPG


---------------------------------------------------------

Celestion Ditton 44 speakers .... ebay item 270457689088

sold for £441

!B,qnb!Q!mk~$(KGrHqYH-DwEqusu!TVJBKshEOP4Kg~~_3.JPG


------------------

that leaves you with £1059...so then a brand new Rega Apollo for £600 ... that leaves you with £459 for a decent interconnect and speaker cables

-----------------------------

I prefer the older gear, and have never heard this combination, but my gut feeling says it will shame any B&O system (soundwise) ...

so bottom line, if you are serious about music, it's the quality of sound produced, not the way it looks combined with your home decor/furniture or colour of your carpets and curtains
 
MENISCUS:
Or lets put it another way.

Someone hands you £10, to purchase the best Hi Fi for the money , would you end up with a B&O system..........

That will teach me trying to rush to finish a post while someone is ringing the doorbell, of course it was meant to read £10k
emotion-12.gif


By the way, I'm not saying B&O isn't good I know it is, just saying there is better value for money out there..............
 
wrong i have a 1970s b&o system in the bedroom sounds fabulous and looks good still

wouldnt pay £10 for yours sorry ugly

edit reply to dim span
 
just got the new 250g ps3 slim ive got a 42inch lg scarlet but was wandering what would be the be best hdmi cable to buy for best picture and sound i would spend about £40 to £60 also in the near future would like to add a home cinema kit at the price range of about £300ish which would go with my tv and ps3 many thanks as i need help!!! i didnt no what way to ask so just latched on to this email hope you can guide me a bit thanks
 
why do so many people speak so negatively about b&0? i have heard so many different speakers from many brands and i have also heard many b&0 speakers to and i have to say that most of there speakers produce some of the most incredible sounds that i have ever heard. heres abit of knowledge for some people who don't know and that is pioneers flagship amps use b&0 ice power amps inside of them which are very powerful audi and aston martin use them to for there audio systems. yes the majority of there products are pricey but you do get alot for your money performance aswell as the style.
 
I don't think anyone is being negative about B&O, just stating that if you aren't so bothered about the design element you can buy better audio performance at the same price. That doesn't mean B&O stuff is anything less than excellent. Its just that, for many of us, this hobby is all about squeezing out the best possible sound we can and other considerations get pushed further down the priority list.
 
It was B&O that got me into hifi in the first place. I would have one of their systems in a shot. I am certainly in the camp of they sound great and look fabulous.
 
dim_span:

ok Staggerlee, assume a week ago I had a budget of £3000 to buy some gear ..... these are the item that I would have given serious thought to:

Technics SU-9600 Hi-fi Stereo control center and SE-9600 Hifi stereo power amp .... ebay item 220487029372

seller was asking for £1500 ... item never sold, would have offered perhaps £1200

!Bbd4Z2wBGk~$(KGrHqEH-CkEquVK52J+BKwLrqFFBg~~_12.JPG


---------------------------------------------------------

Celestion Ditton 44 speakers .... ebay item 270457689088

sold for £441

!B,qnb!Q!mk~$(KGrHqYH-DwEqusu!TVJBKshEOP4Kg~~_3.JPG


------------------

that leaves you with £1059...so then a brand new Rega Apollo for £600 ... that leaves you with £459 for a decent interconnect and speaker cables

-----------------------------

I prefer the older gear, and have never heard this combination, but my gut feeling says it will shame any B&O system (soundwise) ...

so bottom line, if you are serious about music, it's the quality of sound produced, not the way it looks combined with your home decor/furniture or colour of your carpets and curtains

This is exactly the reason why B&O is not for you. You're missing the entire point of B&O. They're not there to offer you performance per pound, they don't even pretend to be.

Ok, for your budget, get me a system that sounds good (may not be the best) & looks as gorgeous as B&O, bearing in mind the quality of components which B&O largely makes it in-house.
 
dim_span:

suppose if you compare B&O to watches/timepieces then you may possibly compare the B&O to a patek phillipe watch or rolex watch ..... costs lots of money, looks good and does the job .... yet if you purchase a cheap quartz / battery watch, it also tells the time and does so more accurately than a Rolex

so, if you want 'bling bling', then suppose the B&O system will be fine

You've nailed it! More Casio watches are sold than a Rolex. Rolex is stupidly expensive....after all, it's only a watch. Then why don't everyone buy a Casio & not a Rolex? Can you then argue that you can get a more accurate watch for a lot less? Beyond a certain point, a lot of people don't really bother on performance per pound. As long as they sound good, belong to a designer brand, they're happy with it.

On that note..........I can't understand the costs of all those designer bags & wallets at Selfridges..........but surely there's a market for them.
 
agree but somewhere the point that b&o actually does sound good is going missing

its the same with apple and macs their more expensive and look better than any pc but there also as good in terms of performance to same with ipod

the fact b&o arez brilliant designs is in many ways icing on the cake vjust look at there website no other manufacturer can match what they do
 

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