I am a b&o buyer on a budget of about £500-£1000 (preowned). I have a 94 avant and now want a sound system. In terms of sound quality (I listen to Jazz, D&B and hefty classics) what should I buy - a b&o stack, an Oveture or one of the table top long rectangular systems (sorry, I do not know the correct name). Am attracted to the Oveture because of the toys (motion sensitive operation) and was wondering what similar functions other B&O systems of this age. Can all of these be routed through TV whilst I save for decent B&O speakers?

 Thanks

Graham
 

The Ouverture would be the obvious choice though a 9300 would allow you to use some passive speakers whilst waiting to get some Beolabs.  However a Beosystem 6500/7000 would be an interesting alternative and would allow the easy provision of a turntable should you wish to get some of the rarer jazz albums only available on vinyl. Are you going to use cassette? If not, consider the BS3000 as this is a bit more future proof if you plan to store music on your computer in the future.

The stacking system was top of the range for a while whereas the Ouverture was midrange and the fit and finish are commensurate with this.

Have fun choosing and expect some completely different advice to mine!  

Of the systems you have mentioned only the Ouverture got masterling, and can therefore be linked directly (without any adapters) to your Avant.

I started with the table top ling rectangular system (beocenter 9000), and then got booth the stack (beosystem 5000 (or 5500 and so on)) and an Ouverture. I love them all, but they are all quite different. The beocenter got the best display, the beosystem 5000 sounds the best and can play loud, and the ouverture got all the right party tricks.

The most important question is what speakers you are planning on using. If you got some decent passive speakers only the beocenter 9000 and later and stack system got an amp. The Ouverture needs active beolabs (or an expernal amp and passive speakers as I use).

Alternatively you can play the music of the Ouverture through the speakers of the Avant, it should sound quite well. Then when your budget increases you can buy some beolabs for the Ouverture. This is probably the best long term solution, the stack systems and the beocenter 9000 are getting quite old and the ouverture is not that expensive used. I got my ouverture for £400.

 happy hunting

 Christian