Hey guys. It's been a while since I posted... though I'm always around reading :-D

We're buying an apartment in the city. It's an old apartment circa 1906 but it will be completely renovated. I wanted to know if you had any ideas for the apartment. At the moment the only thing I think we are sure is we need either a BV9 (since the price has plummeted and can be had for a steal) or a BV10.

Other thoughts have been a pair or BL 8000 since they're classics. 

I just wanted to sort out what we are doing Beo wise before they rip the walls out. We want the place ready to go when we move our stuff in.

Our current Beo setup The BL 5's and BS 9000 will stay at our house.... since we will be living in both until we decided where we like better. (plus I think BL5's in an apartment with parquetry flooring is probably not a good idea. Though there will be no one in the apartment above and below... both business open between 9-5.

Here is the layout and a pic of the apartment building.

Another view

Here is the layout. (though we might swap the kitchen and dining around)

Very cool apartment.

Since you already have BL5's, and are accustomed to them, i wouldn't give up on the idea to have BL5's in your living room. The house probably have concrete or stone floor underneath the parquet flooring, I would give them a chance.

If you can get a BV9 up the stairs or lifted in, that's the one I would go for. If you can get a good deal on it, why not get it?

Bl8000 would be great for rear speakers (to get the iconic design) or dining room speakers etc... 

Thanks.. I think I am leaning towards the BV9. There is a lift... so hopefully it will fit in there. There is definitely no concrete floors.... Though we took the bottom apartment as it has a shop below... and a gynecologist above. Both open 9-5.

Though this is Switzerland. You're not really allowed to sneeze without the neighbours complaining.

I saw some BV9's brand new in the box for between 10 and 15 000 CHF. (which is about the same in USD now) A couple months ago I nearly convinced  my parents in law to buy one for 24 000 CHF which was already an 8000 CHF discount. Unbelievable. Thank god they thought it was too big.

Which door is the entrance? What is the room behind the bathroom? What is that small square room?

So the floors are all wood? I'm not used to that sort of building code, but it might very well be common down there. Over here it would be stone or concrete floors in a building like yours. 

PhilLondon:

Which door is the entrance? What is the room behind the bathroom? What is that small square room?

The small square room is actually the lift. The entrance is next to the bathroom(is has an arrow pointing in)... that is the staircase behind the bathroom......

Luke :

PhilLondon:

Which door is the entrance? What is the room behind the bathroom? What is that small square room?

The small square room is actually the lift. The entrance is next to the bathroom(is has an arrow pointing in)... that is the staircase behind the bathroom......

How big is that lift? Will the BV9 fit?

bayerische:

So the floors are all wood? I'm not used to that sort of building code, but it might very well be common down there. Over here it would be stone or concrete floors in a building like yours. 

That is also the same in Australia... you would never just have wood between the floors. I'm pretty sure it's common here. That's why the Swiss have so many issues living with each other. hehe.

Though I guess we don't have apartment buildings this old in Australia...

I'm guessing the floor under our apartment which is above the shop might have concrete.. As I was also looking at purchasing the shop and it looked like it had a concrete ceiling.

bayerische:

How big is that lift? Will the BV9 fit?

I think it looks like it's nearly 2 meters ? maybe it would on the diagonal. There is always up the staircase... but I certainly wouldn't want to carry it haha.

Luke :

bayerische:

So the floors are all wood? I'm not used to that sort of building code, but it might very well be common down there. Over here it would be stone or concrete floors in a building like yours. 

That is also the same in Australia... you would never just have wood between the floors. I'm pretty sure it's common here. That's why the Swiss have so many issues living with each other. hehe.

Though I guess we don't have apartment buildings this old in Australia...

I'm guessing the floor under our apartment which is above the shop might have concrete.. As I was also looking at purchasing the shop and it looked like it had a concrete ceiling.

Well if you actually have concrete under your wooden parquet there won't be a problem with your BL5's. I have the same, parquet flooring with concrete underneath. 

Luke :

bayerische:

How big is that lift? Will the BV9 fit?

 

I think it looks like it's nearly 2 meters ? maybe it would on the diagonal. There is always up the staircase... but I certainly wouldn't want to carry it haha.

I carried my BV5 with a friend up our staircase, since it didn't fit in the elevator. It wasn't fun, and it weights only 3/5ths of the BV9. Let's hope it'll fit in your elevator.

bayerische:

I carried my BV5 with a friend up our staircase, since it didn't fit in the elevator. It wasn't fun, and it weights only 3/5ths of the BV9. Let's hope it'll fit in your elevator.

I won't do the carrying.... if someone else does it they will be insured so that when they drop it down the staircase I can get a replacement one haha 

The BL5's was enough for us. Getting those things up a staircase .... awkward. 

More important than the real equipment would be to have proper cabelling and outlets wherever you might need. Which BV or BL you then put is second.

I would take care to have a discrete (without any routers or switches) Ethernet cabelling in each room to be used for Masterlink (I use that in my house and it is well working). In the same cable pipes you can put Powerlink cables for front and rear speakers.

Also take care to have power outlets on the right place. When also making the floor noew, you can think about floor flaps for these outlets.

Heribert

Heribert:

More important than the real equipment would be to have proper cabelling and outlets wherever you might need. Which BV or BL you then put is second.

I was thinking that too... do I just get them to put the piping in ? or should I actually get masterlink cabel put in as well ? I was thinking at least cable to the dining room and kitchen for some speakers would be important.... and maybe a cable to the bedroom and office for a second or third smaller TV (as they can be used as speakers for the music too...

I want to leave a few options open as to where we put everything....

The floor won't be made new as we want to keep the original wood.

It is very difficult to add new cabling inside tubing that is already there (unless they are straight and/or sewage pipe caliber...). Usually there are enough bends and obstructions from the old cabling that the only possible way is to use some old cable to pull in a new one in place of it, and even that can get very frustrating.

If possible, build a star topology so that all cables end in a single technical connection space somewhere. Connections can then be routed in just about any way.

I live in a factory to loft conversion and my floors are all wood on wooden beams etc.

Anything with a down firing bass (like BL5) is definitely a no go .... and yes I do have neighbours up and downstairs.

I did try BL8000 (works fine) but the best results I had was with wall-mounted speakers (BL4000). I did not try the BL9, but I think they will sound very satisfying in your apartment.

Luke :

Heribert:

More important than the real equipment would be to have proper cabelling and outlets wherever you might need. Which BV or BL you then put is second.

I was thinking that too... do I just get them to put the piping in ? or should I actually get masterlink cabel put in as well ? I was thinking at least cable to the dining room and kitchen for some speakers would be important.... and maybe a cable to the bedroom and office for a second or third smaller TV (as they can be used as speakers for the music too...

I want to leave a few options open as to where we put everything....

The floor won't be made new as we want to keep the original wood.

In our old house (victorian era) I had the baseboards replaced with (custom) newer (slightly bigger and thicker) ones holding powerlink and MCL cables. Cheaper, cleaner and easier to fix up if the number of cables is limited.