I've never been to Newcastle, sounds like the kind of place I'll have to give a visit...

For that size room, BeoLab 4s will do fine! I would however have a listen to different speakers. BeoLab 4000s are quite a huge step up, which IMO isn't quite reflected in the price difference! Both are still stunning speakers...

Don't just go by numbers! B&O states the BeoLab 2 'starts' at 23 Hz, and the BeoLab 9s at 30 Hz, but they don't state what the tolerance is on the readings. This also doesn't tell you anything about the 'definition' of the bass and it's linearity (something you could only really tell from waterfall plots).

I doubt he nicked them. If he did, he'd know they weight a little bit more than 'over 20 kilos'.

Sonically I prefer the BeoLab 9s without the BeoLab 2. The BeoLab 2 performs well, but the BeoLab 9s are so stunningly good across the complete frequency range that IMO the BeoLab 2 tends to confuse things sonically.

BeoLab 3s are quite a huge step up from BeoLab 4s in almost every sense. As far as the Zeppelin goes, it'll produce more bass, but the high end and midrange especially is not as good as the BeoLab 4s. What kind of music do you listen to, and how large is the room?

If I had a BeoSound 4, I would personally use the hands-on controls much more than the remote - it's absolutely fantastic to touch and use. Excellently designed, built and finished IMO.

My opinions on this are as follows: 1) Yes, B&O must attract the attention and mind of young people, although I believe they already do a good job of this with televisions, speakers and sound systems. The BeoSound 5 will do more for B&O in this sense than almost any other product. RE DVD ripping etc... this is getting dangerously close to essentially

The BeoSound 5 is a BeoSound . It's not a media center, it's not a BeoSystem (which is where any home automation is handled) and it's nothing else. Why would B&O suddenly introduce home automation into a product line which really has no need for it (how many people have wanted their BeoSound 4 to control their curtains?).

Drobo is more the way to go! RAID is good but it has some pretty serious drawbacks. DROBO is much easier than conventional RAID arrays, it's relatively cheap and it works very well...