I have a MX7000 without STB-controller (a new STB-controller is not available). I'm based in Finland where it's almost all digital already now , and the cable companies are forced to switch to digital in one month.  Because of this, even my wife thinks it is a time to upgrade to a new TV in a month or so. We have a DVD 1, BS4 and a pair of BL3's and thus we'd love to get a reasonably priced, all-digital B&O TV. Since it is not available, the options are:

1. BV8 with a Topfield DVB-C(cable) HDRecorder. Pros and Cons: Great design, no digital tuner(!)-"TV" - button in Beo4 useless. Not full HD=photos do not look as good, maybe not that big deal when watching TV. No surround module. BS4+BL3+DVD1 are integrated and share the same remote. 

 2. BV7 ith a Topfield DVB-C(cable) HDRecorder but without the speaker (to be used with the existing BL3's. Super luxury product (in a good way), great build quality, surround module, a second DVD-player (handy since there are childre in the hoyse. Way overpriced (even without the speaker still much more expensive than the BV8-option), old-fashion(?). Looks just too big in a normal-sized living room, BV8 is much better in this respect.

 3. Second-life Avant 32 VCR. Cheap, surround module and STB-controller build in. Great picture quality, great value for money. Poor waf - my wife really wants a flat screen (not that she would be happily wiling to pay 5000-10000€ for a TV)

4. Swap the BS4 and BL3 and buy the all-inclusive-system (BV7 with the integrated CD+DVD-player and the 7-speaker). Great system, ok even for music but I'd certainly miss the BS4+BL3 - combo (although I could live without the memory card, since I can easily use my Mac + Airport Express to listen to the music in my hard disk, I love the sound of BL3's). In a way I'd like the fact that there would not be too many electronic devices in my living room (just the beautiful BV7)

 5. Loewe Spheros or Connect: less cost than the cheapest option (BV8), but with integrated DVB-T AND  C AND S AND HDTV - tuner and recorder(!). Looks ok, build quality ok, ease of use very good, ok remote even. No integration with my existing B&O gear. Can't help but wondering why it seems to be so difficult for B&O to offer integrated digital tuners and hard disk when it seems be the standard for Loewe.

 6. Pioneer 40'' plasma, Topfield DVB-C(cable) HDRecorder + Linntronic. Experience, anyone - ease of use, integration...?

 

Thanks for help! 

 

 

sinuhe:

I have a MX7000 without STB-controller (a new STB-controller is not available). I'm based in Finland where it's almost all digital already now , and the cable companies are forced to switch to digital in one month.  Because of this, even my wife thinks it is a time to upgrade to a new TV in a month or so. We have a DVD 1, BS4 and a pair of BL3's and thus we'd love to get a reasonably priced, all-digital B&O TV. Since it is not available, the options are:

1. BV8 with a Topfield DVB-C(cable) HDRecorder. Pros and Cons: Great design, no digital tuner(!)-"TV" - button in Beo4 useless. Not full HD=photos do not look as good, maybe not that big deal when watching TV. No surround module. BS4+BL3+DVD1 are integrated and share the same remote. 

 2. BV7 ith a Topfield DVB-C(cable) HDRecorder but without the speaker (to be used with the existing BL3's. Super luxury product (in a good way), great build quality, surround module, a second DVD-player (handy since there are childre in the hoyse. Way overpriced (even without the speaker still much more expensive than the BV8-option), old-fashion(?). Looks just too big in a normal-sized living room, BV8 is much better in this respect.

 3. Second-life Avant 32 VCR. Cheap, surround module and STB-controller build in. Great picture quality, great value for money. Poor waf - my wife really wants a flat screen (not that she would be happily wiling to pay 5000-10000€ for a TV)

4. Swap the BS4 and BL3 and buy the all-inclusive-system (BV7 with the integrated CD+DVD-player and the 7-speaker). Great system, ok even for music but I'd certainly miss the BS4+BL3 - combo (although I could live without the memory card, since I can easily use my Mac + Airport Express to listen to the music in my hard disk, I love the sound of BL3's). In a way I'd like the fact that there would not be too many electronic devices in my living room (just the beautiful BV7)

 5. Loewe Spheros or Connect: less cost than the cheapest option (BV8), but with integrated DVB-T AND  C AND S AND HDTV - tuner and recorder(!). Looks ok, build quality ok, ease of use very good, ok remote even. No integration with my existing B&O gear. Can't help but wondering why it seems to be so difficult for B&O to offer integrated digital tuners and hard disk when it seems be the standard for Loewe.

 6. Pioneer 40'' plasma, Topfield DVB-C(cable) HDRecorder + Linntronic. Experience, anyone - ease of use, integration...?

 

Thanks for help! 

 

 

 

1. the bv8 even by B&O standards is supremely expensive, picture quality is good but not outstanding- design is a personal choice

2.BV7 looks nice TV - that choice depends if most of your viewing will be in HD, as it does not handle SD that well- check BEFORE you buy it!

3.2nd life avant is the way to go for BnO at the moment IMO

4.I would not like the option of getting rid of the 3s which are one of the few good bno products-

5. loewe is a nice product but still lcd with its flaws and you can buy a pioneer for half the cash that doesnt have any!

6.. This is the option you should go for the generation 8 series plasma- superb picture quality- handle SD very well- less than 1/4 price of BV7- not sure about lintronic ( others have used it with excellent results) even lintronic wasnt good I would forgo the use of beo4 for the sake of the quality you will get

1. If you want the best picture and a pretty cool design you should go for the Pioneer. The XD versions have digital outs, so it's easy to connect it to your BS4. The best looking 42" Pioneer is the 428XD (not the 4280 with the rounded speaker).

2. If you wan't a design tv for a good value, you should buy the Loewe Connect (really like the design of the white one).

3. The Beovision 7 with the 7.4 speaker is the best looking tv I've ever seen in my life. It has a good picture too, but like you said, it's maybe a bit overpriced.

I personally think you should choose between Plasma and LCD first, because thats a big difference in the picture. I you watch normal movies or photo's I should go for Plasma. If you like to watch films like Ice Age and play games on a PS3 or whatever, you should go for LCD. 

 Btw, Sony has launcht his first Oled screen and Panasonic and Pioneer launch their new (full HD) plasma screens in a few months, so you could also wait a few months to get the best...

 edit:
 

This is gonna be a new Pioneer. It's 9mm thick !!! That's WAF

 

 

 

Beobird:

1. If you want the best picture and a pretty cool design you should go for the Pioneer. The XD versions have digital outs, so it's easy to connect it to your BS4. The best looking 42" Pioneer is the 428XD (not the 4280 with the rounded speaker).

2. If you wan't a design tv for a good value, you should buy the Loewe Connect (really like the design of the white one).

3. The Beovision 7 with the 7.4 speaker is the best looking tv I've ever seen in my life. It has a good picture too, but like you said, it's maybe a bit overpriced.

I personally think you should choose between Plasma and LCD first, because thats a big difference in the picture. I you watch normal movies or photo's I should go for Plasma. If you like to watch films like Ice Age and play games on a PS3 or whatever, you should go for LCD. 

 Btw, Sony has launcht his first Oled screen and Panasonic and Pioneer launch their new (full HD) plasma screens in a few months, so you could also wait a few months to get the best...

 

 

the screen launched at CES dont move the game on much. Pioneer has a 1 in thick plasma(who cares) panasonic brought in 24fps- nothing to write home about there!

Oled for the short term- forget it. Sony have yet to make a decent tv anyway. realistically oled in pricing and qualkity terms is 3/4 years away

I would get an Avant 32 DVD as a stop gap. It would seem screen size is not paramount and this set offers as good a picture for the majority of your viewing as is possible. I would also see if you can't track down the STB-C for the MX7000 - any UK dealers have one? I think flat screen is still developing as are transmission standards and investing heavily at present is a risky business. Personally, I think an external decoder box has far more going for it than an internal one - what will we do when all broadcasts eventually become HD? The present internal DVB-T modules will in all probability be history. I prefer to change boxes rather than TVs.

And on WAF, it would seem the usual problem is the size of the black screen. The depth is usually of little importance.

If you prefer to stay with the B&O brand then I would suggest buying a second-hand Avant 32 RF DVD if you can find one. It sounds like the screen size would be just right for your living space and the picture quality is the best in its class. I recently bought a 7-40 with 7-2 speaker but its not a great TV and definitely does not offer value for money. Pioneer will give you the best picture quality and of course you will have full HD and lots of connection capabilities but it depends if you want to change brands as I said. Definitly plasma over LCD. Very difficult times at the moment buying a TV with B&O. I just don't think they are up to it. Both the BV9 and BV7 are extremely overpriced for technologies that change so quickly.

Simon.

Peter:

I would get an Avant 32 DVD as a stop gap.

I probably would have to agree with Peter, as a previous BV7-32 and now a BV7-40 owner. Search the forum for my previous comments about the new BV7-40 MKIII. It's superb with HD, excellent with Blu-ray, decent with upscaled SD DVDs, reasonable for Sky SD but average for DVB-T/Freeview. The current BV7-32 is good with Freeview, but then only has one DVI socket - spending the money on this, at this stage, might not be wise. It must be updated sooner rather than later.

If you could pick up a Avant 32 DVD, keep that for a year, then trade it back in against an updated BV7-32.

The Beonic Man:

If you prefer to stay with the B&O brand then I would suggest buying a second-hand Avant 32 RF DVD if you can find one. It sounds like the screen size would be just right for your living space and the picture quality is the best in its class. I recently bought a 7-40 with 7-2 speaker but its not a great TV and definitely does not offer value for money.

Again, I'd have to agree with Simon. If I hadn't had my BV7-32 to trade-in, there's no way I'd have spent nearly £9K on the BV7-40. Indeed, it would be back with the dealer now, if I'd had. I watch a lot of football, and football through SD is far more pixelated than even my old BV7-32. MOTD on BBC1 last night was really poor, for example.

In 2008, I couldn't also justify a BV7-32 purchase. However, a latter-day Avant 32 DVD would set you back around £1500 and would give you the best picture you could purchase and, of course, you can link with your other B&O kit.

355f:

Beobird:

1. If you want the best picture and a pretty cool design you should go for the Pioneer. The XD versions have digital outs, so it's easy to connect it to your BS4. The best looking 42" Pioneer is the 428XD (not the 4280 with the rounded speaker).

2. If you wan't a design tv for a good value, you should buy the Loewe Connect (really like the design of the white one).

3. The Beovision 7 with the 7.4 speaker is the best looking tv I've ever seen in my life. It has a good picture too, but like you said, it's maybe a bit overpriced.

I personally think you should choose between Plasma and LCD first, because thats a big difference in the picture. I you watch normal movies or photo's I should go for Plasma. If you like to watch films like Ice Age and play games on a PS3 or whatever, you should go for LCD. 

 Btw, Sony has launcht his first Oled screen and Panasonic and Pioneer launch their new (full HD) plasma screens in a few months, so you could also wait a few months to get the best...

 

 

the screen launched at CES dont move the game on much. Pioneer has a 1 in thick plasma(who cares) panasonic brought in 24fps- nothing to write home about there!

Oled for the short term- forget it. Sony have yet to make a decent tv anyway. realistically oled in pricing and qualkity terms is 3/4 years away

Surely these ultra thin screens don't hold the electronics that power them behind them, do they? I am guessing that there is an additional box of tricks that has to be hidden away somewhere.

Simon. 

I would buy a second-hand Beovision Avant 32 RF DVD, for the reasons mentioned in earlier posts.

By the way, have you considered a second-hand Beovision 3 32 with a seperate DVD player? The design of the Beovision 3 is not a particular favourite of mine, but the picture and sound quality is very good and they are very good value for money.

Wow!

Thanks for your clear and super-quick ("on-call" -type) responses. So it seems the majority of the active members agree that at the moment the reason for buying (a full priced) B&O TV may be questioned. 

I don't care that much about HD material-I'm positive that it looks good enough on any of my options. I do, however, care about the quality of picture when watching SD broadcast - it drives me nuts if the news on the new, expensive TV actually look poorer than on my MX.

Thus, based on your comments, Pioneer could be the way to go. Or, the Avant RF DVD. The problem with that may be the availability; at present it seems that here in Helsinki only VHS/VCR - Avants can be found (950€). Also, WAF may not be that good-as you suggest, the screen size is optimal, but as an object Avant is HUGE. 

I could buy time if I could find the STB-C for my MX, thanks for your effort, Peter. 

Like Beobird, I do like the design of Loewe Connect, which seems to be a good product, remembering the limitations of LCD. I also like the looks of BV8.

 So, I try to locate STB-C as well as Avant DVD! Waiting may make things only better here, it seems.

Sinuhe

Helsinki, Finland 

I'm a Pioneer (508XD) and BeoVision 8 owner. Satisfied with both. Bought a Pioneer 428XD for my parents this Christmas, and they were ecstatic over the improvement in image quality from their Sony Trinitron CRT (high quality CRT image - but the transition was huge for them.)

You might want to consider a flat RF BeoVision 3 - since "everyone" wants non-CRT these days they are on the second-hand market at ridiculously low prices compared to what you get. Same technology as the Avant, without the size - and full integration with your other B&O.

I feel the BV8 is being knocked about needlessly here - very happy with my own, particularly as I have cable and would need to use the STB anyway. 

Don't ever get rid of your BL3s!  

soundproof:

I'm a Pioneer (508XD) and BeoVision 8 owner. Satisfied with both.

To be fair, I can imagine the BV8 picture quality would be fine with SD - much like my old BV7-32. However, I'd still consider the Avant + B&O speakers, then trade-up to a next-generation B&O LCD TV in a year from now. The Avant won't be worth a great deal in a year, but then you'll have only forked out just over a grand for a fantastic TV.

I think you are spot on that the BV7 is too big for most living rooms. I am hoping for the BV7 32 for the US some time soon.

I am guessing you want 32" since you didn't consider the BC6, which I would in conjunction with a projector. 

I wouldn't drop the BS4, for me Music and TV should be seperated and I think it might be a bit fiddly to use the BV as a CD player (manyu buttons to push, not intuitive). I would check with a dealer if you can get a deal on a current BV7 32". I don't think they sell it much anymore since it is a bit outdated and everyone is expecting an upgrade soon. If you get a few % off it might become an interesting option.

 Some people here posted that they go good deals.

 

Cheers

JK

 

P.s. I hope the IRTRANS is still working for you. I am still using mine with my Imac. 

Hi mate,

If you plan for surround sound I would recommend a BS3 (w built in DVB S/T module) with a Panasonic Plasma. This way you could keep your existing kit and have a future proof system. The module works well for YLE broadcasts as well including subtitles. Downside is that you need the center speaker.

IMHO you can never have too big screen.

There are not that many Avants available in the local market like you well know. Hifistudio Oulu appears to have a VRC 32" for 600€. Based on the posts in this arena and elsewhere I would not buy a fragile Avant eventhough it is beautiful.

If you decide to separate from your BL3's I am interested. To be honest, in your case I would not.

Mico:

IMHO you can never have too big screen.

Depends on the room! My BV7-40 is a tad too large for my sitting room - dominates the room and people have remarked on that a few times. However, a 40" isn't large, but the BV7 has a wide border around the screen and the 7.2 makes it appear even wider than it should. Size wise, the width of the BV7-32 is fine, but bear in mind that has a wide black border around the screen too.

moxxey:

Mico:

IMHO you can never have too big screen.

Depends on the room! My BV7-40 is a tad too large for my sitting room - dominates the room and people have remarked on that a few times. However, a 40" isn't large, but the BV7 has a wide border around the screen and the 7.2 makes it appear even wider than it should. Size wise, the width of the BV7-32 is fine, but bear in mind that has a wide black border around the screen too.

Well, you are right. Especially if you have the BV7 on a stand. My rationale is that sometime in the future your wall is the screen. With current systems and resolution it is not that simple.

Terve!

I have a STB-C for an MX7000 which is currently unassigned.  Would you be interested in it?

t, Neil
 

Terve ;)

Yes, I sure am interested in it!!!

 

Jk,

I think we share about the same likening for smallish screens. However, BV/BC26 may be just too small. I haven't been using the IR Trans lately - to tell you the truth I have forgotten the whole thing. Now that you mentioned, it would have a role in my set-up! It was easy to program, but eventually perhaps even that little was too much for me(?). Is it better/improved by now?

 

 Mico,

This is good to learn (taht the texts are ok)! Although I have to say that BS3 + Pioneer/Panasonic plasma is bit out of my price range. Besides, at the moment the TV has to be on a stand (in front of a book shell).

 

Sinuhe 

Just a small point on the Loewe connect as we have had two to play with instore since november.

1. You can integrate the B&O you list bar the DVD1 without any problem.

2. The connectability is unbelievably easy, I remember the advent of Beomedia and everything it promised, and like so many dealers I stood there going "What?" dont get me wrong this may have improved but the connect is a case of plug in search for network and play your music, photos or videos, Is very impressive and at a retail price tag of around £2300 for a 37" and probably around £2500 for the 42" with hard drive and media centre a pretty decent price too. and a freeview box which decodes in the HD format of MHEG5, plus you can add in DVB-s modules incase you wish to have freesat instead of freeview.

Anyway just thought I would let you know how sweet a set it is from experience.

Hi Wilson,

Thanks for your input. Do you mean the Loewe remote (assist 1) can control DVD1 through Loewe Connect TV? 

Hi Sinuhe,

No sorry, my bad english, I meant everything except the DVD1 as it needs the B&O tv to control it, sadly, However with the connect you can play all your movies off a hard drive through its media centre. Anyway hope that helps and any more questions please feel free to ask.

Regards

Dave

I fitted a STB-C once to an MX7000 and it worked brilliantly - you have to remove the satellite module though to fit it (if it has one) the only reservation I'd have is that it's not future proof and I don't know if it would support future boxes.

I can recommend the Lintronic box which I'm using as it is a fully programable IR Converter so allows you to use your BEO4 to control all sorts of non-b&o devices - iPod, STB, DVD etc. etc. and with a bit of programming is almost seemless. Might be a cheaper alternative. Downside is that if you have a link system instaleld in other rooms it doesn't integrate, although you can get round this with additional Lintronic equipment.