Forums thought's about Bang & Olufsen ?

[superdougiefreshness]

Hi everyone,
One of my best friends is storing her B&O Biocenter from the early to mid 1990's in my apartment. The speakers are about 1-1/2'h x 2'w x 4"d. The speaker stands are heavy metal frames "original items" that raise and tilt the speakers about 1/2 a foot off the floor. My Friend has all the original cables and owners manuals and every aspect of the original set up in complete form.
Now the catch that needs your thoughts. What is a fair price to pay her for the entire set up if I should choose to buy this from her?
And is B&O even worth it for being 12 years old.......I happen to like older audio and she want's to possibly sell the entire set up. This entire B&O stereo was 6 grand USD new, and the sales rep my friend bought it from sold it to her at his price of 3 Grand after it was a year old.
I have no idea what most audio geeks would think of the sound and if B&O is good or not. I heard it 8 years ago and cannot recall to much about the sound except I believe it created quite a large presence in the big room we were in.
Any thoughts will be considered with the greatest respect.
Thanks everyone.
Doug - San Diego - Heaven on Earth - Espechiilllly in March

[drseid]

Hi everyone,
One of my best friends is storing her B&O Biocenter from the early to mid 1990's in my apartment. The speakers are about 1-1/2'h x 2'w x 4"d. The speaker stands are heavy metal frames "original items" that raise and tilt the speakers about 1/2 a foot off the floor. My Friend has all the original cables and owners manuals and every aspect of the original set up in complete form.
Now the catch that needs your thoughts. What is a fair price to pay her for the entire set up if I should choose to buy this from her?
And is B&O even worth it for being 12 years old.......I happen to like older audio and she want's to possibly sell the entire set up. This entire B&O stereo was 6 grand USD new, and the sales rep my friend bought it from sold it to her at his price of 3 Grand after it was a year old.
I have no idea what most audio geeks would think of the sound and if B&O is good or not. I heard it 8 years ago and cannot recall to much about the sound except I believe it created quite a large presence in the big room we were in.
Any thoughts will be considered with the greatest respect.
Thanks everyone.
Doug - San Diego - Heaven on Earth - Espechiilllly in March

B&O does not have the greatest reputation here and on other high-end audio sites. The general consensus is that they place form over function (looks over sound quality to be more specific), and are way overpriced for what you get.

While I guess I share that view, I must say that I think I know the particular system you are referring to, and it was one of my first exposures to high-end sound... and I liked what I heard *plenty*. I have not gotten the same impression from the more recent B&O gear I have heard (some of which was selling for 20K+)... The system you are looking at was the best thing I have heard to date from B&O.

As such, I would definitely consider making her an offer. How much? That really is a hard one to say. You could look the system up on Audiogon for its blue book value, but at 12 years old, it might not be very accurate. My guess is $1500 +/- $500 should put you in the right ball park, but that really is for you to decide...

Good luck!

---Dave

[basite]

yeah,
they prefer the looks over the sound, they are waaaaay overpriced for how they sound.
maybe their really old things were decent, but the newer things (which include the 90's) are overpriced fashion things for rich people, who like to show off how their stuff looks.

if you really want them, then buy them. But if I had 2k, it would be spent on real audio gear...

Keep them spinning,
Bert.

[kexodusc]

One of the very few brands I genuinely dislike. I wouldn't say no to them if they were cheap or free. They're not the worst speaker in the world, they just charge too damn much for what ya get.
Honestly, with how far speakers have improved since the early 90's, I can't help but wonder if even entry level speakers would outperform those.
In the end, give them a listen, and decide for yourself.

[spf]

Yeah, I would tend to agree with the other guys here. They are not "Bose"-like bad to my ears but they are not generally worth the price of admission IMO. I did have a chance to listen to an Audi A-8 outfitted with the optional B&O car audio system and it did sound very nice for a factory setup.

Shane

[topspeed]

I've never heard the system you're talking about, but I'd always considered B&O and "style over substance" brand,

UNTIL...

I heard the BeoLab 5. I was really suprised at how good this speaker was. 'Course, at nearly $20K, it should be! The 5 is an active speaker, much like the new Meridians, whereas it has a built-in robotic arm & mic that measures the room acoustics and then applies DSP to deliver flat response. It was the first speaker to apply the Acoustic Lens, basically a clever wave guide to create a nearly 360 degree dispersion pattern and coupled it with a 2500w active sub. The sound was pleasantly balanced and neutral and while it wasn't the the last word in microdynamics, I've certainly heard a lot worse.

My biggest problem with the speaker is that everytime I look at it, I think of Robbie the Robot.

[Rock789]

I auditioned several Bang & Olufsen about a year ago, and was expecting something very nice for the prices I saw...

When I auditioned several different speakers including their flagship, (looked like the BeoLab 5's above) I was very very disappointed in sound quality.

FYI, I had just came from another store which carried Focal JMLab and I was auditioning Amps/Preams for my speakers, and... a pair of Chorus 714S on an Anthem Amp/Pre (forget the cd player) killed these $20,000 speakers in quality and dynamics in my opinion...
(of course the BeoLab5's had more bass, but they have a built in 15" sub, so they had better... :rofl: )

[audio_dude]

yeah. from what i've seen and heard, these things are very over priced, but if style is important, and money is no object... then i guess it might appeal to some.

(well, they're still in business, aren't they?)

its almost like bose, for rich people... and with slightly better sound...

[Rock789]

its almost like bose, for rich people... and with slightly better sound...

HAHAHA
I actually told my girlfriend at the time as we left the store...
"wow... this company seems like an even more pricy bose"

[audio_dude]

haha, nice one dude!

[samgupta]

I share many of the same thoughts about B&O that have been stated here. They really emphasize style over sound quality, and there is obviously a very large market for this.

Recently it appears that B&O has made an effort to move up the chain of sound quality. The reason I say this is that they purchased the ICE design for Class-D amps and have been licensing this to many companies--companies known more for their sound than their style. So either this a shift in B&O philosophy, so they realized it was a good way to make some $$

Whatever you do with your friends system, be sure you listen to it and verify you like it. You are talking about dropping some serious coin (at least in my view), so it’s worth the time to make sure you will like the sound years down the road. I would recommend comparing to it systems you can get new for $1k-$2k and seeing where it falls. Then you can determine what it is worth to you.

While this might not be a quick way to do it, I think it will ensure you get something that you are happy with. In the end, that will be all that matters..

Good luck and let us know how it goes!
.

[superdougiefreshness]

Yeah, I think this is probably like a fancy boom box. Being the fact it has everything in one unit. Tape,Tuner and CD all in one huge long sleek looking angled box. Sounds like York to me ! only laid out sideways.....................

She doesn't want to sell it after all.......................just as well, it needs work and I am not willing to spend money to fix it and then purchase it from her to satisfy her belief that it is the best money can buy......we all know far better then that. She's a great friend and I will store it here for her until she can ship it back to her home if thats what brings her some pleasure and makes her happy. After all it is paid for and she just loves that old set up for whatever its worth. I guess that's what being an audio lover is really all about. If we love our gear and it brings us such pleasure, and I know mine certainly does; thats all that is ultimately important. I really like my gear and it means the world that I have the honor to own such nice things. I hope everyone loves there audio/video stuff just as much. Here is her set up below, she uses the stands. It actually looks quite nice here ,although dated. Maybe thats the beauty of it all ? I love my vintage Pioneer speakers from the 70's as well.

Thanks everyone for your great comments.......I thought her gear looked very nice for a second den or reading room set up. People collect lava lamps and old reel to reel players and the like, so maybe she will let me keep it who the heck knows.
Thanks for all the feedback and take care.
SuperDougieFreshNess - San Diego - Heaven on Earth - Espechilly in March

[PeruvianSkies]

I've never heard the system you're talking about, but I'd always considered B&O and "style over substance" brand,

UNTIL...

I heard the BeoLab 5. I was really suprised at how good this speaker was. 'Course, at nearly $20K, it should be! The 5 is an active speaker, much like the new Meridians, whereas it has a built-in robotic arm & mic that measures the room acoustics and then applies DSP to deliver flat response. It was the first speaker to apply the Acoustic Lens, basically a clever wave guide to create a nearly 360 degree dispersion pattern and coupled it with a 2500w active sub. The sound was pleasantly balanced and neutral and while it wasn't the the last word in microdynamics, I've certainly heard a lot worse.

My biggest problem with the speaker is that everytime I look at it, I think of Robbie the Robot.

What a great side-by-side comparison. I think Robbie is a Transformer who can turn into a speaker, wonder if he is a Decepticon???

[drseid]

Yeah, I think this is probably like a fancy boom box. Being the fact it has everything in one unit. Tape,Tuner and CD all in one huge long sleek looking angled box. Sounds like York to me ! only laid out sideways.....................

She doesn't want to sell it after all.......................just as well, it needs work and I am not willing to spend money to fix it and then purchase it from her to satisfy her belief that it is the best money can buy......we all know far better then that. She's a great friend and I will store it here for her until she can ship it back to her home if thats what brings her some pleasure and makes her happy. After all it is paid for and she just loves that old set up for whatever its worth. I guess that's what being an audio lover is really all about. If we love our gear and it brings us such pleasure, and I know mine certainly does; thats all that is ultimately important. I really like my gear and it means the world that I have the honor to own such nice things. I hope everyone loves there audio/video stuff just as much. Here is her set up below, she uses the stands. It actually looks quite nice here ,although dated. Maybe thats the beauty of it all ? I love my vintage Pioneer speakers from the 70's as well.

Thanks everyone for your great comments.......I thought her gear looked very nice for a second den or reading room set up. People collect lava lamps and old reel to reel players and the like, so maybe she will let me keep it who the heck knows.
Thanks for all the feedback and take care.
SuperDougieFreshNess - San Diego - Heaven on Earth - Espechilly in March

Whoops... Those are definitely *not* the B&O system speakers I heard all those years ago. I guess you can add me to the list of naysayers on *those* (and it sounds like you have already decided anyway).

Sorry,

---Dave

[Rock789]

What a great side-by-side comparison. I think Robbie is a Transformer who can turn into a speaker, wonder if he is a Decepticon???

ROFL

I put a decepticon sticker on my taco a few years ago

[Mike Anderson]

Recently it appears that B&O has made an effort to move up the chain of sound quality. The reason I say this is that they purchased the ICE design for Class-D amps and have been licensing this to many companies--companies known more for their sound than their style.

I can confirm this. I'm using four of the ICEpower modules as monoblocks in my bi-amp setup now, and these things are for real.

It's the opposite of the above: Minimalist form (just small, rectangular boxes), but great sound quality at a cheap price.

You can get amps with the 1000ASP modules for as low as $1400/pair. That's just incredible for the sound quality. There are people out there selling their Krell and Mark Levinson amps for these little things.

I bet you they're going to be all over the place in 5-10 years.