If the BeoSound 5 is a BeoGram for MP3s, then the BeoSound 9000 is a BeoGram for CDs. The BeoSound 5 handles radio, and high quality storage medium playback, just like a BeoSound 9000. It can't be compared to the BeoCenter 2, as this is an audio & video source.

Although the worry then could be that the failure is quite substantial, in which case you would be better to just send it back to the seller...

As a standalone product, yes, it will work. However, you can't have both of them on the same link system as link masters, just as you couldn't have two BeoSound 4000s.

RE the sound performance - B&O have taken the sonic performance very seriously - think of a product to compliment the BeoLab 5 (hence the '5' moniker). The audio circuitry was designed by B&O - it's not an 'off-the-shelf' sound chip.

mfirst uses an AirPort express and an iPhone with iTunes (I'm sure he'll explain in more depth) which is a great system. I use something not too dissimilar at home, and it works a treat. However, it's not at all B&O IMO. The BeoSound 5 is a genuine high-end BeoSound , not a multimedia player which you'd find on your computer & control with your iPhone

The Beo Sound 5 is a high-end music system, not a multimedia system, which is what you're comparing it to. The only way you can really answer your question is to use it in person.

Villette010: It CANNOT connect to another external hard-drive, and it will definitely NOT be released with a larger memory. Don't know where you got that information from, but B&O have left the pathway open to update the hard drive at a later date. Nothing is planned at present I believe...

How are these reviews? None of the reviewers have even used one in person! Hence why the latter of them states that control is done via 'the buttons and silver wheel'. How these people keep their jobs as a journalist/reviewer I really don't know...

...hence why the BeoSound 5 isn't actually being released 'for sale' until next year. If you can't see the BeoSound 5 for more than 'it plays the same sources as my BM-Link, so why buy it?', then you're missing the point entirely. Since when did you buy a BeoSound 9000 if you could play CDs from your computer. Why buy a BeoCenter 2 if you can spend

Graham1982: ...If the damage was done whilst stealing, it would seem as if the person doing so made as much noise as humanly possible... I'm sure I could make quite a bit more noise armed with a pair of BeoLab 5s and a CD of white noise...