Hi all from a newby to the forum. Although i am a new member to Beoworld i am not new to B and O products. many years ago I was walking home from work when I happened across the B and O shop in Northampton. There was the most amazing sound coming out of it and I could not resist going in to investigate. On each side of the door was what I could only describe then as something out of Star Trek. a pair of Penta speakers were doing their thing and filling the shop and half of the street with sound. it was love at first sight. BUT, there was a problem! as a humble NHS worker (Worked in Intensive Care at Northampton General Hospital) the price tag of the Pentas was equivilent to about a years salary and I could not possibly steal a pair as I could not lift them. In the shop were all sorts of other goodies and a seperates system caught my eye which I now believe must have been a 5500. I made myself a promise to own the system and the speakers at some point in my life. ( I also made a promise to own a Lamboghini countach when I saw it released at the motor show but that has still to happen).
Many years later the bug hit me again and started to look at second hand B and O. I purchased a 3500 system and a pair of speakers but can'tremember what they were. Slowly over a period of about a year i built up a beautiful 5500 system making sure that I only bought boxed equipment from repritable sources. I found a pair of Mk1 Penta-labs at B and O In Northampton (Deja Vu) then I purchased a pair of Mk 2's and sold the Mk 1's and the 3500 off. A few months ago I purchased a beautiful pair of Penta lab 3's to go with the 5500. That was it. My dream was complete or was it?
A few weeks ago during a trip to my local dealer...there it was...... BEOSOUND 5. I started to play with the controls and get to grips with what it could do. God, this was better than sex!!! I had only come in to look at buying a second hand beosound 9000 and here i was about to spend thousands of pounds. As you can guess, by now I was earning a bit more than the £19.16 a week I was when I first saw the Penta/5500 system all those years ago. I was smitten and had to have it and I am sitting listening to it as i write this little ditty.
The installation was not without its troubles and we had 4 days where the beosound 5 seemed to have a mind of its own. it would not do a thing that i asked of it. But, it seems to have settled down now (I hope) and I have to say that my first week of ownership has been truely amazing.A couple of days ago i went out and purchased a pair of Beolab 1's I listened to the 8000, 6000 and frankly after years of owning Penta's neither of these speakers stacked upto the warm rich sound i had become accustomed too. I listened to Beolab 9 even though i could not afford them and went back home to my Penta 3's but when i saw the beolab 1's for sale i had to go see and hear and an hour later they werein the backof my car on the way home.
I am a happy many again although I will be sad to see the penta's and 5500 go. it will all be up for sale soon. But i am happy with my setup now. i am a great lover of all things scandinavian. I like fast Volvos (yes they do exist), Ikea (sorry but it is true) and Star trek (OK so it isn't scandinavian). I am a 54 year old NVQ assessor and love my job. I have a patient wife and a nutty golden retriever or is that a nutty wife and a pat.... Anyway. A coupleof questions for all those out there.
Has anyone else had any set up problems with their beosound 5?
I have the beolab 1's daisy linked from the 5 but when the system goes into standby the first speaker in the chain will not drop into standby mode. Any one got any ides/
And lastly where can i go to get a fair price for my 5500 system. i have Beogram 5500 CD, Beocord 5500 Tape, beomaster 5500, MCP 5500 and a Beogram 5500 record deck with an MMC 1 cartridge. Yes and MMC 1. All boxed with original instructions. A pair of Penta lab 3's with no boxes but in absolutely fabulous condition.
Any feedback would be well received. Sorry for rambling on and if this posting is in the wrong section I apologise. Talk to you all agin soon. Cheers for now Iain