When the BeoSound/Beomaster5 first came out I must admit I was one of the first to become one of its critics and am sorry not to have had a more considered judgement (should know better at my age!).
However, having had the privelige to play with the unit almost everyday, it must be said that using the BeoSound5 is an absolute joy both sonically (with BeoLab 9s who wouldn't love it) and emotionally (the physical and intellectual engagement is unsurpased).
Having been a professional musician working with most of the major Symphony Orchestras in London including a 5 year stint at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, I just adore Classical music (along with MoTown!) and have amassed a large Cd collection (like many of you) and this new 'wunderkind' music device has helped to redisover some music (just spinning that wheel!) I had long forgotten.
But I have an issue that prevents me from taking the plunge and living with the BS5 everyday as it seems a sort of prodigy that has yet to fulfill its promise and with Struer's past records on promises I think it is up to us to find a solution...................
Many members of this forum, like me, have invested over time in passive kits dotted about the house which give great access and control of our B&O devices, so why oh why, should we invest in a BS5 and not be able to choose our track of choice in a link room. MOTS, has its place, but please excuse the cynisism (sorry too many years of working with duff conductors!), it appears that MOTS is a cover up for the lack of proper navigation in link rooms. This, IMHO, massively detracts from a potentially great system. It is like having a CD that will not go to the track you want, it just dosen't make sense. Most of us don't want different tracks in different rooms we just want FULL control of OUR music with the option of a MOTS voyage of disovery when appropriate.
We all could tomorrow ditch the passive kits (if we could afford it) and keep 2 copies of our digital music, one on the BS5/BM5 in our main room and another on the 'editing PC/Mac'. Then using Sonos (or equivilants to replace the passives) we could happily choose our track of choice (from our Beo5 collection clone on the PC/MAC) when not in the main room.
The question and challange is, fellow BeoWorlders, in order to justify joining the BS5 club, I need two way communication with my BS5 and passive kit combo. B&O ain't going to do it any time soon so lets find a 3rd party who can let us choose our music ( rather than this MOTS thing who thinks it knows best) directly from the BS5 and use our passives with, for example, a possible Beo4/5, sonos, ipohone/itouch combination...................
Sorry must go and search Google for possible hacks............................................................................
Answers on a postcard please to forums@beoworld. A pint of London Pride Beer and a packet of twiglets will be on offer for the best suggestion.(Unless the winner is Lee, then I will go to a Pimms and Lemonade as an aperitif, with pork scratchings as the main course!!)