Bang & Olufsen kit - any good?
Discussion
The other day I was visiting a friend and his flatmate had one of those sexy B&O CD players; the ones that stand vertically with sliding glass doors. It reminded me that my Dad has got an old one of these things lying around in the attic that was given to him by a client. Sadly he neglected to pick up the remote control for it, meaning he couldn't use it, and never actually went back for it. Hence it languishing in the attic. Anyway, upon seeing this other one, ive done a bit of research and these things appear to be pretty pricey - how much do they generally go for? I intend to have a look and if he still owns it, send off for a remote control and get it working. Will it be worth the expense? Presumably B&O will absolutely sting me for a remote controller!
Dave
Dave
A case of form over substance. They look quite funky but don’t have the go to match the show.
I have a perception that they are quite robust though.
Their jumped up ghetto-blaster things are a nice looking piece of kit for the rich mans kitchen or bedroom though and can be wall hung.
I have a perception that they are quite robust though.
Their jumped up ghetto-blaster things are a nice looking piece of kit for the rich mans kitchen or bedroom though and can be wall hung.
I was under the impression that for the last 5 years or so B&O have finally put some effort into making there products perform as good as they look (providing you like the 70's). Thought the new stuff was supposed to be quite good? But I don't know where I got this from so it's probably not right 
B&O look designer, but don't sound anywhere near as good as the same money spent on seperates like Rega, Cyrus, Naim, Linn Arcam etc.
My father gave up his Thorens / Rogers / Ferrograph set up for a B&O all-in-one, and it was less musical.
Still better than a ghetto blaster, and apparently the £25k speakers they make aren't bad.
It amazes me how a one brand Hi-Fi shop can survive in paces like Windsor and Marlow, when all the decent places close down. Style over content, as was said.
Back on the topic, if they are Phillips based, perhaps one of those '4 in 1' universal remotes from Argos might get is going, by trying all of the relevant presets?
Koenig
>> Edited by koenig999 on Tuesday 5th July 13:47
My father gave up his Thorens / Rogers / Ferrograph set up for a B&O all-in-one, and it was less musical.
Still better than a ghetto blaster, and apparently the £25k speakers they make aren't bad.
It amazes me how a one brand Hi-Fi shop can survive in paces like Windsor and Marlow, when all the decent places close down. Style over content, as was said.
Back on the topic, if they are Phillips based, perhaps one of those '4 in 1' universal remotes from Argos might get is going, by trying all of the relevant presets?
Koenig
>> Edited by koenig999 on Tuesday 5th July 13:47
B&O remotes use Radio, not Infra-Red, so an Argos jobbie won't get you anywhere. Infra-Red only work through line-of-sight, but of course Radio allows you to control the system from another room. Certainly worth getting hold of one.
Go here and register:
www.beoworld.co.uk
I have a B&O 5500 (the one on the beoworld homepage). It's an OK setup, with lots of functions and features, but it's the turntable which scores real points - it really is excellent.
Go here and register:
www.beoworld.co.uk
I have a B&O 5500 (the one on the beoworld homepage). It's an OK setup, with lots of functions and features, but it's the turntable which scores real points - it really is excellent.
koenig999 said:
Back on the topic, if they are Phillips based, perhaps one of those '4 in 1' universal remotes from Argos might get is going, by trying all of the relevant presets?
The only thing that was ever philips in a Bang and Olufsen system was the CD mechanism and the picture tubes.
You will need a B&0 remote because they run on a different frequency. It may also be either 2 way compatible (sends back track numbers and the like to the remote) or not work without an AV9000 television. If you pop over to www.beoworld.co.uk with the model number then they will give you all relevant advice to getting it up and running.
Thanks for all the advice guys. This system I saw was owned, as I say, by a friend's flatmate - he had the CD, plasma TV (not sure if this was B&O actually) and the handsfree telephone so we could listen to the Radio in the kitchen! In fact, he was a PH kind of guy too actually, used to own a DB7.
Ill dig out the CD player (god I hope it's still there!) and try and get it working.
Dave
Ill dig out the CD player (god I hope it's still there!) and try and get it working.
Dave
I inherited a B&O system from my grandmother who died earlier this year. It's a Beosystem 7000 with CD, radio and tape deck all in separates with some pseudo flat panel speakers. Knowing my grandmother I would imagine it was very expensive and was probably bought from Harrods making it more expensive still. For an astute businesswomen she was always surprisingly blinkered in that direction. 
My own Hi-Fi had to make way for this, which was a 12 year-old budget Phillips CD player, a Pioneer CT-S640S tape deck, a Pioneer A-203 amp and a pair of Mission 731 LE speakers. All budget / mid-range kit, yet I am still convinced that I prefer the sound of that to the B&O system.
However, the wife likes the styling of the B&O and my CD player had just broken down, so we were grateful of it to be honest (although obviously I would much rather have my grandma).
>> Edited by JonRB on Tuesday 5th July 14:40
My own Hi-Fi had to make way for this, which was a 12 year-old budget Phillips CD player, a Pioneer CT-S640S tape deck, a Pioneer A-203 amp and a pair of Mission 731 LE speakers. All budget / mid-range kit, yet I am still convinced that I prefer the sound of that to the B&O system.
However, the wife likes the styling of the B&O and my CD player had just broken down, so we were grateful of it to be honest (although obviously I would much rather have my grandma).
>> Edited by JonRB on Tuesday 5th July 14:40
thebluemonkey said:
The only thing that was ever philips in a Bang and Olufsen system was the CD mechanism and the picture tubes.
Not true. Try here, just do a CTRL F find on Philips for the full gen.
http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache:KprK9j0vZgYJ:www.thunderbird.edu/pdf/about_us/case_series/a07990012Rev.pdf+bang+olufsen+philips+components&hl=en
A couple of quotes:
"Most of the purchased components were bought fromPhilips, and to a lesser extent from other possible competitors. This left B&O potentially vulnerableto delivery schedules over which it had no control. If component shipments were delayed for even afew months, it would seriously impair B&O’s strategy of timely introduction of a constant stream ofnew products. On the other hand, B&O’s long-time purchasing experience with Philips had alwaysbeen highly satisfactory."
And:
"As a major supplier of components to B&O for nearly 60 years, Philips was very comfortable with B&Oand its management. Several times Philips had approached B&O about acquiring an equity interest orcooperating in various activities. Both companies were ripe for something positive to happen whennegotiations were opened in 1989."
There is tons more info in this very interesting document.
>> Edited by alexkp on Tuesday 5th July 15:09
I've always had a soft spot for B&O stuff actually. It's really well put together (even new ones) and I know of plenty of B&O systems still on the go that pre-date the CD.
Ok, sonically they are not the best. They are still perfectly acceptable however, and the all-in-one jobbies are as good as pretty much anything else (comparable) on the market. The last few years have seen further increases in the sonic ability of the products. The downside is that you'll pay over the odds, but you'll also get a quality piece of kit that'll still look stylish and sounds good in 20 years time.
It's always been the same; you generally pay more for something that looks good, even if the sound quality is not first class. As I say, the systems sound perfectly adequate for their size and output levels - the extra costs are justified by their quality of build and style. It's no different to buying an expensive brand of watch (that probably performs to an inferior standard compared to a good Seiko Kinetic) or indeed a fine Saville Row suit (when a decent tailored one from a department store may be as good in quality).
If you're dead serious about you hi-fi then don't get a B&O system. But for most of the rest of us - even those of us who are into our hi-fi but not fanatically - the B&O gear is a fine choice. 99% of us would not be able to tell the difference in a normal room anyway.
All IMHO of course. Personally if I was spending north of £3k on a stereo it would be entirely composed of seperates (and probably part of an AV system - something that B&O isn't brilliant at as of yet). Likewise if I could afford only one decent-quality stereo, it would be seperate-based. However, if I wanted a stereo for a living room or bedroom, that did not form part of my main AV system, then I'd be looking at either Band & Olufsen or Nakamichi.
Ok, sonically they are not the best. They are still perfectly acceptable however, and the all-in-one jobbies are as good as pretty much anything else (comparable) on the market. The last few years have seen further increases in the sonic ability of the products. The downside is that you'll pay over the odds, but you'll also get a quality piece of kit that'll still look stylish and sounds good in 20 years time.
It's always been the same; you generally pay more for something that looks good, even if the sound quality is not first class. As I say, the systems sound perfectly adequate for their size and output levels - the extra costs are justified by their quality of build and style. It's no different to buying an expensive brand of watch (that probably performs to an inferior standard compared to a good Seiko Kinetic) or indeed a fine Saville Row suit (when a decent tailored one from a department store may be as good in quality).
If you're dead serious about you hi-fi then don't get a B&O system. But for most of the rest of us - even those of us who are into our hi-fi but not fanatically - the B&O gear is a fine choice. 99% of us would not be able to tell the difference in a normal room anyway.
All IMHO of course. Personally if I was spending north of £3k on a stereo it would be entirely composed of seperates (and probably part of an AV system - something that B&O isn't brilliant at as of yet). Likewise if I could afford only one decent-quality stereo, it would be seperate-based. However, if I wanted a stereo for a living room or bedroom, that did not form part of my main AV system, then I'd be looking at either Band & Olufsen or Nakamichi.
Gassing Station | The Pie & Piston Archive | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff