Head-Fi.org › Forums › Summit-Fi (High-End Audio) › High-end Audio Forum › Whats your view on B&O Equipment
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Whats your view on B&O Equipment

post #1 of 39
1/20/10 at 10:45am
Thread Starter 
B&O or better known as Bang and Olufsen of Denmark. I do find B&O make some very nice equipment and nice SQ equipment as well, plus their design is also very nice and futuristic. But I have found their downdall to be very overpriced compared to other high end audio.

Whats your view on B&O, would you ever own one, do you like them, whats your view on their SQ?
Reply
post #2 of 39
1/20/10 at 11:14am
I don't know about current B&Q gear but years ago they were designed to fit into modern living rooms and not look out of place. SQ was not on the list of priorities, and the few times I did here some, they always sounded totally naff.
Reply
post #3 of 39
1/20/10 at 11:44am
Overpriced in terms of sound quality, although not as much as other highly commercial companies like Bose or B&W. You are paying for top notch design with decent sound. I have heard many over the years and the only products that have impressed me are the beolab 9 & 5 speakers, but... If I had 10-16k as budget I would not buy them, I would say that if I had 5-7.5k I might consider them, I know a speaker that is 8k that beats them easily...
Reply
post #4 of 39
1/20/10 at 12:39pm
Only B&O item that I have ever owned personally has been their headphones, lately the Earset 3 for my iPhone. I like it for a headset that has decent sound and is very comfortable and stylish. However, the build quality is CRAP! I have had to return it twice on warranty because the cable just slides right out of the jack leaving half an inch of exposed wire. This happens 4-5 times a week.

I have family that have purchased their TVs (The BeoVision 7 and BeoVision 9) and I have to say I am not impressed by either. Sure they look great stylistically, but the picture and sound are just about par for any HDTV and the 100% necessity that you use the B&O remote which is horribly impossible to use is a deal breaker.


EDIT: Actually, there is one piece of B&O equipment that I do really like, the BeoSound 1. It is a nice CD player, AM-FM radio and can accept AUX input. The sound is pretty nice, and the style is great. VERY expensive, but hey, if you are looking at B&O, you knew that already.
Reply
post #5 of 39
1/20/10 at 1:59pm
They have their own dedicated store just 10 minutes from here, and I have dropped by a couple of times for some first hand experience.
Must say I really do like their design and most of the products put out respectable quality as well. Sound and picture that is.

Comes with a quite massive price tag though...
Reply
post #6 of 39
1/20/10 at 4:19pm
I agree that they are more art than science too (sound science that is).
Although B&O is responsible for my lifelong passion with musical fidelity.

At 16 the manager of the restaurant I worked at as a kid had a B&O 2400 Slide Rule Receiver and he wanted to upgrade his sytem. So I paid him a few bucks a week until I paid $700 for that beauty. Then I had to save up for and by Design Acoustic D3 speakers, and a Sony turntable with Ortifon cartridge. Almost $2,000 later (In 1978 money) I had a great sounding system that traveled from CT to VT and back again over the next 5 years. When I moved to CA in 1985 one of the posessions I choose to take with me on the flight out was my B&O and I still have it today. It has not been used in 25 years, but I cannot part with it. It is 33 years old and it represents my pursuit of sound quality and design perfection.
So while I do not think B&O makes things that sound great today, they still hold a spot in my heart that is very dear to me and is very much a detrement to my wallet.
Reply
post #7 of 39
1/20/10 at 7:52pm
I don't know much about most of their equipment but their turntables and cartridges were well-regarded.

I have used their tangential tracking turtables for many years. B&O made one of the few widely available such items, pretty much until they stopped making turntables and cartridges some years back. I remember comparing the old 4000 model against the then current Linn Sondek/SME and preferring the B&O.




The tangetial arm really does cut down on cartridge mistracking throughout most of the playing of an LP.

Beogram 4000


I modified the arm to accept a regular Moving Coil cartridge. There was I believe a cottage industry in Singapore doing these mods at one time.

Later when the old 4000 died I got one of the last B&O tangential tables (T2 I believe) which was not quite as well made although the arm still worked well. This time I stayed with the B&O cartridge, getting one of their more expensive designs. The arm still performed well, although the table suffered from feedback and required external feet for use with speakers. However I am still very happy with it.
Reply
post #8 of 39
1/20/10 at 10:48pm
The big Beolabs are supposed to be quite good speakers, but other than that I don't find their stuff too impressive. The $700 cordless phones and such are just ridiculous. The TVs perform just like a regular TV because that's what they are underneath, just a Samsung or Philips with those names crossed out and "B&O" written in. Oh and a huge price increase of course. P.T. Barnum material all the way.

B&O ICEpower modules did absolutely dominate in the early days of Class D, but it seems like now most companies are moving away from ICEpower to either custom built designs or some of the competing modules.
Reply
post #9 of 39
1/21/10 at 9:33am
they are very much a design/brandname over sound quality (for the price). Not gonna slam them though, the B&O things i have seen and used were beautiful, i love the beovox cx50 series of speakers :P

infact an old beomaster 4000 was my first amplifier (had radio inside it too) separate (was £40 off a guy who walked into cash converters when i was browsing, i grabbed it off him before he got to their sales desk! and looked plain amazing - heavy as hell too) and like dannybuoy, was my first brush with 'quality audio'.



if you compare them on sound quality alone then yes, they are stupendously overpriced, insanely so when bought new :P very much a 'lifestyle' brand, and imitated by many cheaper brands in style.
Reply
post #10 of 39
1/21/10 at 11:44am
Their upscale speakers are truely beautiful, and they win hands down on looks. They are mostly powered speakers though, with the previous mentioned ICE class D amplifiers, and a lot of power at that according to the stats.

Was going to look at them this Christmas, but the store in the Galleria in Houston was closed that week. I am always concerned with "moving" sales these days.

Was just looking though, as 16K speakers are not in my budget. Besides, the wife will be insisting on concealed speakers in the great room that will go in the new house we are planning.

I will be keeping "audiophile" in my man cave/study.
Reply
post #11 of 39
1/29/10 at 12:57pm
Some years back B&O were 100% dedicated to 'aesthetics above all'. The fan-boys of the time were so taken by the presentation that they refused to acknowledge the naff sound quality. I think we call it 'being in denial' these days.

However the newer stuff does seem to make a nod towards better reproduction. Unfortunately IMHO the nod is not quite enough. So it seems that the stylish image continues to sell to those shallow enough to value image over substance.

: )
Reply
post #12 of 39
1/29/10 at 1:14pm
Overall, I think the correct assessment of B&O has been correctly stated several times in this thread. Sound is often good to excellent, but you pay a heavy premium for looks and furniture value. Sound-wise, you can do better for the price. That doesn't mean their stuff doesn't sound very good, however. This is not BOSE we are talking about.

And sometimes, as in the turntables and the ICE amps, they produce truly superior-sounding stuff, albeit at a price premium.


Quote:
Originally Posted by edstrelow View Post
I don't know much about most of their equipment but their turntables and cartridges were well-regarded.

I have used their tangential tracking turtables for many years. B&O made one of the few widely available such items, pretty much until they stopped making turntables and cartridges some years back. I remember comparing the old 4000 model against the then current Linn Sondek/SME and preferring the B&O.

I agree that their tables were generally well thought of. I had a B&O turntable that I bought used, maybe 15 years ago. It wasn't one of the tangential trackers, but it had an ultra-slim carbon-fiber tonearm and sounded great with (if I remember correctly) one of the Ortofon "Concord" carts.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Bones13 View Post
Their upscale speakers are truely beautiful, and they win hands down on looks. They are mostly powered speakers though, with the previous mentioned ICE class D amplifiers, and a lot of power at that according to the stats.
The ICE amp module has been used by a number of well-regarded high-end makers including, I think, Bel Canto. It's a very highly-regarded technology.
Reply
post #13 of 39
1/29/10 at 1:21pm
Yes, I think the ICEpower sub-systems have made it into the Rowland amps as well.
Reply
post #14 of 39
1/29/10 at 2:11pm
B&O - style over substance IME.
Reply
post #15 of 39
1/29/10 at 2:50pm
B&O got me into hifi. Grandmother and great uncle had B&O Beocentres and they sounded so much better than my fathers well rated Sony music centre (we are talking the 1970s here).



I have heard in shops a few other systems briefly and they have all impressed. Then a mate had a B&O TV and the sound from that was phenominal.

If I get the money B&O would the first place I would go to audition.
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: High-end Audio Forum
Head-Fi.org › Forums › Summit-Fi (High-End Audio) › High-end Audio Forum › Whats your view on B&O Equipment