Hi

I'm looking at buying my first Bang & Olufsen and would like some advice please. This is my first post so apologies if its in the wrong section. 

I like the style of the upright David Lewis systems such as the Ouverture, Beosound 3000 and 2300. (I've ruled out the 3200 as the cost at the moment is too much) I've seen Ouvertures on ebay and second hand dealers from anything between £300 and £800 but what I would like to know is what to look out for and the advantages of a particular system over another. I'm not too bothered about the cassette deck but I would like to be able to connect my ipod and my Sky box so I can listen to digital radio. If it helps I have a medium sized house with 2 reception rooms and eventually I would like to be able to have a multi room setup. I've heard talk of small & large clampers but don't understand the difference and if I buy one from ebay I'm concerned about the glass doors functioning correctly. Also I was going to start with some Beolabs 2500 or 6000 (again 8000's bit too pricey) but again would like advice on this please. 

Many thanks in advance.

David

Hi David,

Welcome aboard - I bought my first B&O just last summer and now the house full with these products.

Most important for me would be the Masterlink ability, which the Ouverture and 3000 have, the older 2300 misses this function that you need for multiroom. Beosound Systems usually just have 1 AUX input for 1 external source. If you need more sources B&O requires a TV with more possibilities. You might want to add your Computer´s music library as a source - then a Beoport is needed - works really nice.

Small and large Clamper is not really important - more a design issue - large Clamper is newer.

Regarding Beolabs I would go for a pair of BL4000 instead of 6000 or 2500 - better Sound and highest flexibility. 

Please also have a look into the "products" section of Beoworld - it helped me a lot. 

Thanks for your advice, I decided over 20 years ago I wanted a B & O after seeing my uncles Beocenter 2200 and his CD X as a child just taken a while to get around to starting a collection.  

I will check out the BL4000 might be more "wife friendly" than the towering 6000's !! I think the Masterlink is well worth having, are you saying that the Beoport will work with any masterlink product or just the 3000? I'm not concerned about only one aux socket as I've seen a switch box on the sounds heavenly website that should allow me to switch from Sky to ipod.

My thinking for the multi room set up is to get a BL2000 or BL3500 eventually then in a few years I can complete the set up with a Beovison TV (once I've saved many more pennies)

Regards

David 

Hi David and welcome to Beoworld.

Be sure that everybody here will assist you on their best to make a joyful first contact with B&O products.

Since you do intend to go for a linked system definitely you should go for either an Overture or a 3000. HOWEVER, my opinion would be to go for the 3000 (N.Music ready version) since this product will be very useful in your future link and as mentioned you will have the ability to distribute your digital music along with your internet radio all around the house.

Of course it's a bit more expensive than the Overture but for sure a better investment since it is not considered out of date product.

I will also agree on the speakers that it should be Beolab 4000 but if in any case you want to choose between 2500 and 6000 then my opinion is to go for the 2500 as there is no significant difference in sound between the two but only a big price difference and a matter of personal design taste!!!!!!

Feel free to ask and we are all here more than happy to reply!!!!

Once again welcome to Beoworld.

Best regards

Spiros

If you want the Beoport then the 3000 is the one to get. The other systems do not support Beoport (N.MUSIC). Not all Beosound 3000 support N.MUSIC, if the software does not support it, it can be upgraded by a dealer.

If N.MUSIC is not important for you, then you can also go for the cheaper 2300 and use an adaptor with Masterlink. There are solutions to use an iPod dock with the B&O remote and the Beosounds you mentioned as an alternative for the Beoport (use the search function for more details).

Cheers,
Frank

Thank you all for that useful information, I shall now start hunting down the right kit. I'll be back on the forums soon.

Cheers

David