So I’ve been a longtime reader/ B&O customer, but finally decided to post.

 

My system is an Integra Pre-amp, BL8002 for fronts, BL6002 for rears, and a BL11 for the sub.

 

In addition to being an B&O fan, I’m also a bit of an audiophile. What “audiophile” things has anybody done to their system that have made a difference, if any? Such as power conditioning, interconnects, DAC’s……etc.

Welcome to posting

  I am sure you will have some interesting things to add in the future!!

 

Jonnie

I use a DAC Magic to run from my computer to my Beoport - but that is about it. Had a chat to people at Struer who reckoned their interconnects were as good as were needed as were the speaker cables. I have bought relatively expensive cabling in the past but feel that once a certain standard is reached, and this is pretty basic, that the rest is snake oil. Good quality plugs and well shielded cable is enough for me. I should say one of the best things I bought were locking SCART cables - they don't loosen or fall out - brilliant!

I am not into any of the snake oil, as Peter calls it (rightfully, in my opinion).  However, I do use these under my BM4000, BG4002, and CD X.  I think it made a difference.  And I have these (in different sizes) under and on top of the speaker stands I use with my BV M70s.  I think they made a difference as well.

I have lab 5 as fronts and 3s as rears so I have a good platform to start with.  The biggest difference in my system, and it isn't close, has been running the speakers from a high end surround sound processor (Anthem D2).  Using the included room correction system, called ARC, completely changed the sound and all of the associated audiophile mumbo jumbo stuff like sound-stage, timing, etc. for the better.  Much better.

I'm not a typical audiophile, though.  I like a sound system based mainly on it's tone and if it sounds pleasant to me than pure accuracy.  B&O not only looks great, but hte speakers have a great tone to them.

20 years ago, I stopped worrying about whether or not my Linn Sonndek was set up properly, or whether this type of turntable support worked better than that one, and bought a B&O system.  I then just listened to the music and have been happy ever since, although instead of worrying about set ups and cable, I now collect vintage B&O, which I suppose is just another sort of obsessive behaviour. 

In some ways the sort of 'tinkering' that audiophiles like to do seems almost contradicatory to the very reason I like B&O.  The only bit of tinkering I have done is to use 2 squash balls cut in half under my Beomaster 4400 which seems to diminish the hum from the mains transformer on this 34 year old Tuner Amplifier.  But I really hope that doesn't make me an 'audiophile'.

Cleve

 

I have a TC electronics Impact Twin external sound card on my Mac Mini, connected via firewire, and uses the Core Audio in Mac OS. 

 

Silent wire MK5 digital coaxials from the soundcard to Beolab 5's. Just for the good looks.

I'm only an audiophile in the aspect of buying more equipment to try, and maybe the occational capacitor replacements. I am pretty much content with vintage and newer B&O products. Using thicker than standard speaker cable in my Beosystem 8000 which is standard cheap speaker wire.

I'm not an audiophile, but have had at least a dozen real audiophile clients over the years. Most of them would change power cords, add line conditioners, mess with interconnects, etc. 

The only thing I've ever been shown that worked is putting a set of thick marble slabs under BeoLab 5s. Tightened up the bass tremendously as though they were on a concrete floor. I don't even know if this would count as audiophile trickery, but it seemed like a practical solution for an area where most houses have basements below the main floor. 

I added Fat Dots from herbiesaudiolab.net in an attempt to tidy up the bass in my BL5s. I found that they were the perfect way to raise my speakers 4mm without affecting the sound at all.

I will try Trips advice instead.

Cleviebaby:

20 years ago, I stopped worrying about whether or not my Linn Sonndek was set up properly, or whether this type of turntable support worked better than that one, and bought a B&O system.  I then just listened to the music and have been happy ever since, although instead of worrying about set ups and cable, I now collect vintage B&O, which I suppose is just another sort of obsessive behaviour. 

In some ways the sort of 'tinkering' that audiophiles like to do seems almost contradicatory to the very reason I like B&O.  The only bit of tinkering I have done is to use 2 squash balls cut in half under my Beomaster 4400 which seems to diminish the hum from the mains transformer on this 34 year old Tuner Amplifier.  But I really hope that doesn't make me an 'audiophile'.

Cleve

 

I was going to suggest squash balls as well but note that the supports Rich is using are probably the same price! Admittedly one can play squash with the balls before one cuts them in half!

 

To round out that story a little, my guy got a counter top place to water jet them to the exact circular dimension of the base, so when you look at them you really wouldn't know there was anything different unless you're one of us and tuned in to the little details.

bayerische:

Silent wire MK5 digital coaxials from the soundcard to Beolab 5's. Just for the good looks.

Be aware that you'll have to play them for about a week before you'll get the most out of it  

Beobuddy:

bayerische:

Silent wire MK5 digital coaxials from the soundcard to Beolab 5's. Just for the good looks.

 

Be aware that you'll have to play them for about a week before you'll get the most out of it  

And also make sure the arrow on the cable is pointing in the proper signal flow direction.  [:'(]

I guess I am, or used, to be what might be considered an "audiophile" but not an audiophool.

One of the things that I find enjoyable about B&O is it basically freed me of the obsessive need to worry about different components, etc. I'd already moved from subjectivist to objectivist in my philosophy, thanks to a number of helpful people (including E. Brad Meyer of the BAS, and Ken Kantor who was running NHT then, and others). I had gone thru a number of controlled listening tests and disabused myself of the belief system prevalent in a lot of audiophiles. Nothing like having your nose rubbed in reality as it were to help clear up your delusions. Or course, some people stick with their delusions and manufacture all manner of reasons why a controlled test "obscures" what they know to be true. Kind of like N rays.

But, doesn't mean I don't like good sound, just that I focus on things that matter most, like room interactions, speaker quality, etc. I found my purchase of the Beosound 9000 and Beolab 8000's liberating, didn't obsess about anything, just sat back and reveled in the sound quality, which is astoundingly good IMO. In my room I get incredible imaging and smoothness, almost rivaling planar speakers, but without the sometimes exaggerated depth they produce. I also found that being able to control bass and treble and, gasp, loudness from the remote was very useful for adding a touch of eq for problematic recordings.

As for loudness, I found the B&O loudness setting to be very useful for low level listening, instead of becoming boomy it just made late nite listening much fuller and more musical. I've found that most systems don't sound good at low levels, with the B&O loudness settings and such, they system is quite satisfying at low volume.

Jeff:

I guess I am, or used, to be what might be considered an "audiophile" but not an audiophool.

One of the things that I find enjoyable about B&O is it basically freed me of the obsessive need to worry about different components, etc. I'd already moved from subjectivist to objectivist in my philosophy, thanks to a number of helpful people (including E. Brad Meyer of the BAS, and Ken Kantor who was running NHT then, and others). I had gone thru a number of controlled listening tests and disabused myself of the belief system prevalent in a lot of audiophiles. Nothing like having your nose rubbed in reality as it were to help clear up your delusions. Or course, some people stick with their delusions and manufacture all manner of reasons why a controlled test "obscures" what they know to be true. Kind of like N rays.

But, doesn't mean I don't like good sound, just that I focus on things that matter most, like room interactions, speaker quality, etc. I found my purchase of the Beosound 9000 and Beolab 8000's liberating, didn't obsess about anything, just sat back and reveled in the sound quality, which is astoundingly good IMO. In my room I get incredible imaging and smoothness, almost rivaling planar speakers, but without the sometimes exaggerated depth they produce. I also found that being able to control bass and treble and, gasp, loudness from the remote was very useful for adding a touch of eq for problematic recordings.

As for loudness, I found the B&O loudness setting to be very useful for low level listening, instead of becoming boomy it just made late nite listening much fuller and more musical. I've found that most systems don't sound good at low levels, with the B&O loudness settings and such, they system is quite satisfying at low volume.

 

Hi Jeff

I found your post rang more than quite a few bells with me, re my past audiophile nee audiophool experiences with Naim Audio as regards the obsessive need to worry about the kit all the time, and the endless tweaking, maintainence and 'upgrades'.  

Hopefully I'm cured with my 'Road to Damascus' Naim to Sony ES experience - a dose of reality if there ever was; if not quite yet, hopefully some B&O purchases will likely cure me once and for all..

 

Best Regards

 

John..

 

Greetings all, Audiophile or audiofool ? This question begs to answer : we enjoy listening to good music via good standards, equipment..

My system consists of 2 x analog  :BEOGRAM 3404 w/ intact MMC20cl + THORENS TD160 w/ retipped Axel MMC20EN shibata<> BO adaptor.

SIMA *preamp+amplifier (modest 50 watts/channel), CAMBRIDGE AUDIO CD player .

For radio FM listening and TV- Bluray, these are fed through a BEOMASTER 3300.

All sources are output via switched BW DM70 hybrid electrostatic speakers. 

I don't use any fancy interconnects or cabling, just heavy 12 gauge cable for the speakers and a reliable PHILIPS power bar. 

The only mods done to the components were as follows : refurbish the ESL panels and 1 power supply * date manufacture-March 1971.

I fitted the preamp with an additional DIY phono stage as I didn't want to switch cables via 1 phono input and this replaced the unused TAPE input.

Finally for turntables, *stabilty and isolation*, they rest on 3/8 marble tiles on top of 1.5 inch styrofoam sheet backed with 1/4 inch MDF board.

My personal take on these variables: 2 identical songs on CD<>record, I'll opt for the vinyl  and BG3404-MMC20cl = 1st choice..pure joy to listen to records.. for older +/or inferior pressings the THORENS w/ MMC20 retip shibata. The radio section in the BM3300 is outstanding, sound quality is excellent and the remote capability is ideal for TV-DVD watching.

Am I an audiophile ? Yes , I enjoy listening to music and using esoteric quality equipment brings out the best albeit I'm still not 100% sure what they mean by soundtage.. dark(er)?sounding.. slam..

To sum up ,one of my friends ( an audiophile) wisely stated , "MOTORHEAD won't sound good on any system !" and I totally agree.

You had me up until Motorhead.  Sometimes you just gotta hear "Ace of Spades."  And as Butt-head once said, "He can do whatever the (heck) he wants.  He's Lemmy."

Beobuddy:

bayerische:

Silent wire MK5 digital coaxials from the soundcard to Beolab 5's. Just for the good looks.

 

Be aware that you'll have to play them for about a week before you'll get the most out of it  

Atleast!

In the end, any true audiophile discussion must include a priority for listening room resonance control.

Cables, connectors, etc., pale in utility toward improving sound compared with addressing peaks and drop outs in the room. The BL5 bass management is but one, albeit, elementary approach.

B

Rich:

Beobuddy:

bayerische:

Silent wire MK5 digital coaxials from the soundcard to Beolab 5's. Just for the good looks.

 

Be aware that you'll have to play them for about a week before you'll get the most out of it  

And also make sure the arrow on the cable is pointing in the proper signal flow direction.  [:'(]

Oh, I had them the wrong way, changed them, and now the orchestra really opened up!

John,

I understand what you mean about the road to Damascus. Same path for me with this B&O.

I think part of it is realizing how little difference the constant tweaking/maintenance issues made compared to more stable gear, and another part of it is as I got older and move involved in other things the hobby aspect became less of a fun hobby/something to do and more of a burden/drudgery that detracted from the music. Between work and everything else in life, when I want to listen to music I want to get to it quickly, not have to warm this up, tweak that tonearm, play music in 22 minutes per LP side. In my college years and for a while after, the hobby aspect was enjoyable, not so much after a while.

I still like to listen to LPs now and then, but the B&O table is a lot easier than my VPI HW19 setup was. And it's nice to use my PC music server with my iPad to pick albums and playlists from the comfort of my listening couch and not have to lug my creaking bones over to the system to pick music.

And with the B&O I personally haven't found any downside sonically, the 8000's are the best speakers I've ever heard in my room, which has its share of problems with bass bloat and other things. The Beolabs mate very well with it.

In college I worked in a record/stereo store that had a high end room as well. I got to where I couldn't stand to listen to anything I could afford, but back then there seemed to be a lot more difference between mass market and high end gear. Back then the Dahlquist DQ10's were king, but I seem to get a lot of the same kind of imaging from my Beolabs with a lot less fuss.

bayerische:

Rich:

Beobuddy:

bayerische:

Silent wire MK5 digital coaxials from the soundcard to Beolab 5's. Just for the good looks.

 

Be aware that you'll have to play them for about a week before you'll get the most out of it  

And also make sure the arrow on the cable is pointing in the proper signal flow direction.  [:'(]

Oh, I had them the wrong way, changed them, and now the orchestra really opened up!

double post

There was a terific story in the Atlanta newspaper in the late 90's regarding the high-end audiophile community.  It opened by talking about a gentleman who had spent several hundred thousands of dollars remodeling and outfitting a guest-house on his property as a proper listening room.  He became so obsessed with tweaking the system that in order to enjoy music he was reduced to sitting on his bed listening to his clock radio.

 

The most amazing, delightful audio system I have ever owned was an 11 speaker system that we designed and installed in my '84 Ford Taurus.  But I love my BeoSound 9000 and BeoLab 6000's.