Hi All!

Today I have a BV 3-32 as my main TV in my living room accompanied with BL 8000 as front and BL 6000 as rear speakers ( and a Canton sub)

I am extremely happy with the setup and the BV 3-32 has a picture quality that I still think is the best ever! However, I've been thinking that maybe I should slowly move to the digital age of flat screen TV's and at least get a screen size of 42'…

And I have been thinking of a BV 10-46 or so, but It seems to be a lot of money considering the quality problems i recently have been reading about here in the forum..

As an alternative, Beovision 5 have because of the looks, always been on my wish list, but been far to expensive as new for me. But now I can find several second hand one's over there for around 1500-2400 Euros, which seems reasonable.

Is a 5-7 year old BV 5 worth 2000 Euros? What about the plasma screen, do the picture quality fade a lot after that many years, or how long is the "life expectancy"? I've been checking the specs, but I can't see there are any digital inputs which seems strange..or have I missed something?

Please, let me know your opinions, tips & tricks and experiences before I got and find a used one for a proper test….

And most important: Would swapping my BV 3-32 with a BV 5 be a step up to even better picture quality?

/Peter

I am in the same boat as you to be honest I have an avant 32 dvd, which i love! I am also feeling like i need to embrace the flat screen era, I dont wish to lose picture quality either! I love the bv5 I always have done from the moment I saw one in the showroom and more so when a fellow beoworlder posted a picture of his light blue one in his apartment!  After having a chat with a old friend whom worked for B&O for years he said he thought a bv7 was a better bet, It will be interesting to see what others think!

I have seen the bargain prices of bv5's and have been tempted but they are 7-8 years old!

Cheers Nick

Hi Nick!

I guess there are a lot of us out there that haven't yet taken the step, mainly because the picture quality of the fantastic 100hz RF screen on Avant/BV3.

I have been looking at BV7 also as you mention, but they are usually around 4-5000 euros (40' that is, I see no point getting another 32') and in that case a new BV 10 is not that far away in price.

Did your friend recommend BV7 because it's LCD instead of Plasma, or was there any other reasons?

If I buy a used one, I am hoping for at least 5-6 more years of trouble free usage..I wonder I can expect that from a BV5..

/Peter

His decision was mainly because the bv7 is newer technology it has a dvd!  

I have seen a few cheaper 40" one was for sale for a long while on ebay for £1395 no stand or speaker I think that may have been a mk1 as well.

Another friend who was a B&O engineer said that a 32" lcd is bigger than a 32" crt and thought that a bv7 32 would be ok for me??  

Again I am in no rush to find the right thing as is it pointless with full hd etc etc!!  

I adore the bv5 for its looks and its also a bargain 2nd hand!  I agree that a bv10 is nearly the same in terms of price but I just dont like the set! I really hoped I was going to love it.

I understand the dilemma you are in as I am the same!

Will the bv5 last its anyones guess, if you can get a hd model brilliant! But they are fetching a lot of money to! 

I am hoping something will find me!

Cheers Nick 

Hi Peter,

I cannnot comment on the picture quality of the BV3/Avant RF (moved from a MX7000 to a Mk1 BV5) but I can at least say that I am very happy with the pq of the BV5. It definitely outperforms my current Mk1 BV7-32, Mk1 BV6 and BC6-23. The MX7000 is of course no match either. That being said, only the latest version (MK4 I believe) came with one digital connection - DVI - so if you look for a tv where you can hook up your bluray player, Mac Mini etc. the BV5 is probably not the tv for you. The Mk4:s are further not very common and still a bit more expensive I believe compared to the prices you mentions. If you want a great looking tv, are not bothered with specs which are not top of the line as per today (the specs don't say it all, look for yourself) and don't  mind if the tv does not have a lot of digital connections - the BV5 is with the currenct prices a great buy in my opinion.

/Emil

I have a BV5 which has taken over from an Avant as my main set with a brief interlude of a BV10-40 in between. The BV5 has superb sound - as good if not better than the Avant and a completely different class to the BV10. The BV10 picture is much better on HD but on SD, the BV5 is at least as good. I think cricket might be slightly better on the BV5 (or maybe it just seems that way! ) I actually have quite an old one and am very happy with it. It has a far better picture than an early BV7.

Thanks for the inputs!

I remember looking at BV7-32 and BV6-26 when they came out, and I didn't think any of them were even close to the picture quality of my BV3! And trying to see a moving tennis ball or bandy ball on one of those LCD's was almost impossible ( I can imagine cricket being even worse!)

So, If I get it right from both of you, Emil and Doctor,  a BV5 when it comes to the picture quality would be better or at least satisfying compared to my BV 3? 

Emil, I understand from your post there were as many as 4 revisions of the BV 5?
The DVI you mention, do you by any chance know if it is DVI-D ( which should be HDMI compatible in that case..) on the Mk 4? So that version was actually HD?

Also, I can see on the specs that there should be a RCA inputs also, I guess those are composite and not component..right?

/Peter 

Hi Peter, 

I have unfortunately never owned a BV3 so I am not able to compare the pq between the two sets. What I can mention is a that the picture might be a bit "blurred" around fast moving objects such as a tennis ball (and are not bandy balls almost impossible to see even in real life?). My set is as mentioned a non hd-ready MK1 so it is possible that this would be better on a HD-ready MK4 set. I do however wonder if it has not more to do with the inbuilt Beosystem 2 rather than the amount of pixels and HD-ready connections or not. Maybe someone else can fill in? In my case I have never considered this a major draw-back. I am perfectly happy with the pq as it is. The day I can afford it I will try to lay my hands on a good second hand BV9. It has however not so much with the pq to do as that I would like to be able to connect my BeoMaster 5 to it, which unfortunately is not possible today. 

As regards the different versions of the BV5 I think there were three different versions for the European market, Mk1, Mk3 and Mk4. The Mk2 were intended for the US market. The Mk4 should be HD-ready as far as I know. You can check out the specs at the B&O product archive page.

http://www.bang-olufsen.com/product-archive

According to the information there the DVI is of the DVI-D type. Not sure about the RCA inputs though.

I've had my BV 5 for 3 years now and had a MX6000 immedeately prior to that.  I bought the BV 5 for my new living room after having a large extension built, but when it first arrived it was set up in the smaller sunroom (3m x 4m) and I was surprised at how "bad" the picture was after watching the 28" MX6000.

But "bad" is not really the right description - "different" is better because I thought it lacked detail and obviously had the blurring on fast moving objects. I had to get my head round that, and the fact that the picture was massive in such a small room. Being such a big picture made things look less defined (picture did not seem as sharp). That all had more to do with the fact that once we were sat watching, in that small room, we were only about 2 to 2.5m from the screen - not ideal.

Now it has been moved back into the bigger room (5m x 10m) when you sit at the proper viewing distance the picture is excellent and I am so glad I kept it. When it first arrived I was very dissapointed at the picture, but looking back, I can see it was beacuse your eyes focussed almost on the individual pixels as we were just far too close.

I love my BV5 and even now when I look at newer TVs the same size, from the same distance it is better than many and still equivalent to some of the top priced "general" TV and certainly still holds its ground with newer B&O TV's.

That is the opinion of someone who is a techie, but not someone who looks into every little detail and I will accept the technology has not yet caught up with what we all think is perfect. I liked the look of the BV5, and love the experience of watching it (now I'm not too close). It was a big shock moving from CRT to Plasma and going from a small to big screen at the same time because you need to learn to look at the TV picture in a different way. Visitors were stunned at the picture on my 20yr old MX6000 right till the day I sold it.

Stoobie

Hi All,

Since a few monthes I am the happy owner of a BV5 (2004 model); it's for me THE best TV. The quality of its contrast and the sharpness of its picture can rival the best HD LCD televisions. The sound also is the most beautiful that I can hear from a stand-alone TV.
Here are some advices coming from my own experience.
Compared with a BV10-40, for example, the BV5 is an imposing and impressive TV; it needs a not too small room.
If you can, prefer a BV5 with motorized stand, it adds something magical to this stunning piece of art when you switch it on or off.
BV5 MK4 are pretty rare to find. BV5 MK3 (since 2004) are a bit more common and they already have a 1024 x 768 screen panel and thus can be considered as HD ready.
If the BV5 is not fitted with a B&O DTV card, discuss le price, this card would cost you more than EURO 500.00 (without labour) at your B&O dealer.
The BV5 plasma screen (Panasonic origin) are very robust and very reliable; they are used in some Airports 24 hours a day 7 days a week!
Though, if you want to know how much your future BV5 has been used, press MENU on the Beo4, select SETUP and press GO. Then press 0 0 and GO. The Service Menu appears. Select  MONITOR and GO. Select Service counters and GO. Then you can see the number of days in video mode; for a BV5 from 2004 less than 500 days can be considrered as a BV5 few used and in very good condition.
Have also a look at the anti-reflecting coating. It is often damaged because of the use of unappropriate liquid on the screen.
Last advice, carry the BV5 always in vertical position and (if fitted) never directly on its motorized stand; put the BV5 on two pieces  of polystyrene of 15 cm high on either side of the stand.
If you find out such an amazing BV5 (like this one on LifeStyle AV) go for it you will never regret your purchase!

Marc

That looks stunning! I love it in black, I see the pentas as well! I will be pairing mine up with pentas

Cheers Nick