I tried to buy a Beosound 1. The quality control stinks; scratches, marks, etc. I looked at 4 of them. I think for these prices they charge for this mediocre equipment, ought to be cosmetically perfect. B&O can keep their overpriced junk as far as I am concerned. Goodbye B&O! You won't get a cent of my cash ever!!!!

Surprised at that. Every product I have bought has been cosmetically perfect and with very few exceptions has worked perfectly as well. I don't have a BS1 but those I have seen have usually looked good. I wouldn't get a white one (I believe you looked at one of those) as I don't think the painted finish sounds a very good idea.

There are plenty of other makes - I hope you find something to your liking. Have you seen the new Meridian stand alone which would appear to be occupying a similar role to the BS1? 

How does one know that the product left the factory in this condition?

Should the criticism not be directed towards the dealer(s) who displayed the item in such a condition?

Brand new in the box items with scratches and blemishes; unacceptable. Bang and Olufsen of Boca Raton, FL. I wonder if they are buying B stock goods

Sad to hear that you have gotten a bad view on B&O.
You are entitled to your opinion and most welcome to state it here.
Even if we can't really do much about it apart from trying to comfort
you a bit, it will almost certainly give a good discussion but
even better would probably be for you to contact B&O, your local dealer would be the first.
I take it that you were looking at things in a B&O dealers showroom ?
These things may or may not have been "tested", knocked
and otherwise got-at by potential customers so probably shouldn't
be used for cosmetics quality control reference.
If you haven't done so already, I suggest you ask your shop to show you a newly unpacked one.

I never unpacked a new B&O item not to my complete satisfaction.

Martin

My parents recently bought a BS1, and as they wanted the black one, he had to order it, as he wouldn't sell them the one he had, because the box had been opened.

There are things one can knock B&O for, but not the state of its products out of the box, in my experience. I have bought lots of B&O through the years, and pulling product out of the box has always been sheer pleasure over the quality of the finish and workmanship. Sounds as if you have looked at returned items that the dealer tried to sell you - or possibly items that had been used for an exhibit? These will sometimes be handled roughly, and should not be sold at full price. (Some dealers will arrange clearance of them, notifying established customers that the items are available, while listing the exact blemishes).

I still think it's overpriced and the sound is poor for the money. These were new unopened boxes, garbage

If you think that the sound is poor and the quality is not up to standards, then why did you buy it in the first place?

tascam:

I still think it's overpriced and the sound is poor for the money. These were new unopened boxes, garbage

compared to real stereo equipment. You can get the same sound for 1/3 of the money. The guts of this stuff are made by Philips and others. You pay a big price for the shell

I think you will find the "guts" of most equipment is made by other manufacturers. Most audiophile CD players actually use CD ROM drives which seems perverse. I am not a big fan of the BS1 which I feel has a limited stereo sound stage and being only FM means that it has limited appeal to me, but recognise it as filling a definite niche as a movable loudspeaker. It sounds as if you bought it for another role.

Rather than rubbish what has been a very popular product, maybe you should look again at exactly what you want from the music system you plan to buy. 

It sounds like you have some preconceived notions, and everyone is entitled to those. Coming out with a topic on a B&O afficianado's site like the one you have here is obviously going to produce some attention.

You have been discussing the BS1 for months now. I am amazed that, if theses are your true feelings, it took you so long to arrive at them.

Bose is always an option!

I was willing to settle for the mediocre sound (bass can distort above 60) because I liked the look of the product. For the money, the cosmetics should be PERFECT!

If you are playing at what is essentially full volume, and this is what you want, I would suggest you need, as you have identified, a proper Hi-Fi. A Beosound 4 and some big speakers should do. Some second hand Pentas would probably not break the bank and would certainly go loud without distortion.To expect a BS1 to be able to do this is a little unfair.

I have to agree and say that I find your experience very suprising to say the least. Also I have to question the reason behind your post? It doesn't sound like you wanted the Beosound 1 in the first place? As the obvious reaction would be to ask first if other people have experienced the same problem, what are peoples thoughts on the Beosound 1 and what could you do to rectify the problem. You have also clearly stated you don't like the performance either. Its plain that you had already made up your mind before posting your post. Of course you are entitled to your opinion and I cannot say that this is not what you have experienced. It would be interesting although to hear what your dealer has to say?

If you are after bass and volume then may I suggest an Apple iPod Hifi? It will save you £800 and maybe give you what you are looking for. By the sounds of things, it is possible B&O isn't the brand for you.

I was  simply disappointed that I didn't get cosmetically what I wanted, that's all. I think the quality control stinks

linder:

Bose is always an option!

If the quality control from B&O was bad I can assure this forum wouldn't exist and B&O wouldn't be the company it is today. Of course though if your dealer is selling questionable products you certainately should not settle for it. When buying a B&O you should receive the best and you need to take it up with your dealer or contact B&O headoffice in your country, but to make a sweeping statement that B&O is junk might be taking it too far. 

I had some problems with product quality a few years back.  Based on these comments, I wonder if B&O North America (or employees thereof) sometimes try to sell returns as new.  I bought a phone, supposedly "brand new, unopened box" and it had dead batteries installed and phone numbers programmed.  I bought a horizontal stand for my BS9000 (again, "brand new, unopened box") and it was deeply scratched (somebody really applied some force because it was a deep gouge in solid aluminum).  The store "swore" these were shipped straight from NJ.  Yeah right...  That was the last business I did with that store (a company owned store in a major shopping mall that has since closed).  Since then, no problem aside from a rather beat-up BL2 box... but it did make me go hmmmm....

I really cannot sit on the fence on this one, and must say that i have never in all my time in dealing with B&O, had one report of a single product in an unopened box being sub-standard in appearance.  Bang & Olufsen are pretty darn good at quality control before things leave the factory.

What they tried to sell me WAS junk