I am in the mood for a new B and O toy. Any suggestions which one I should I should get? A Beosound 5 or a Beosound 9000?

Current system is one room with a BV7-55 with BL 9s and 4000s. Second room has BV10-40 with BL1s and 6000s. Also in that room is a Beosound 3000. Both rooms are  Masterlinked to an iMac with BL4000s. N.Music and N.Radio for the system is through the iMac and Beoport.

Any suggestions to help me decide will be appreciated.

Well, chalk versus cheese.

My opinion is that the BS9000, is heartbreakingly impractical now. I don't listen to CD's very often, only on special occasions or if i borrow / buy an older CD.

Agreed. I wouldn't give up my 9000, but I also wouldn't buy a new one at this point. BeoSound 5, on the other hand, continues to please and I've used it more than any B&O stereo I've ever owned. I never listened to too much music at home before getting it.

Thanks. And sorry to ask you this question Trip and sorry for my confusion. Am I correct Beosound 5 with a Beo 6 is a better choice with my system than waiting for the Encore?

I own both, and I barely use my BS9000 anymore.  On the other hand, iMac + BeoPort does do some things better than the BS5 - like displaying the song title / playlist name / etc. on BeoSound displays - I don't think this works with BeoVisions so maybe you would not miss this much - and iPhone remote control.  Also, the BS5 works best with Windows, as WMA is the only format that supports gapless  - although maybe FLAC also supports this now too... I haven't had a chance to mess with this yet.

Having said this, I did replace my Mac Mini + Beoport with a BS5 and have not regretted it.  My Mac + Beoport was a bit finicky and pressing N.Music was always a bit of a crapshoot.  Would it work, or would I have to futz with the Mac a bit?  My wife stopped trying to use it after a time because of the unreliabiiity.  I also prefer MOTS over iTunes random/Genius... although I do have a Window machine in the house to work with it.  If you are into creating playlists and are very particular about what song is played in which order, then the BS5 is not for you.  There was a time in my life when I had the time and energy for this, but no longer...  I like having the machine pick the music.

I still get a smile from loading up the BS9000 with a set of CDs and turning on random and watching the head fly back and forth, but I also get a smile from spinning my BS5 wheel.  I'm looking forward to seeing the Beo6 2-way integration...

Do you want a timeless classic (that could be approaching obsolescense) or a step toward the future (that is still a bit of work in progress)?

Stan

Well I had your same doubt and I am planning buying both. I just bought a used mint condition BS9000 because now they have great prices and I am planning buying the BS5 new but I will wait until the BS5 Encore is launched to see what version is a better fit to my needs. It seems that according to your description BS5/BM5 is a better fit because it has masterlink and yes the beo6 will give you 2 way capabilities in the near future.

I am more of a CD guy I am not always in the mood to bring the CD into iTunes, tag it, download cover art etc. I just rather pick a CD that I am in the mood and play it. Yes I understand that they are approaching a point of obsolescence but I also see them as the "vinyl" of the future where they are going to still exist. At some point I stopped buying digital music and came back to buy CDs again just because the quality of the digital music is subpar compared with a CD.

In the other hand visually the BS9000 is like a moving sculpture, is just very beautiful and a real pleasure just to watch it.

I'd say neither.  

I've had a Beosound 9000 for over 10 years and never really loved it.  It's main asset of playing multiple CDs is well and truly outmoded.  OK it looks great, but it's soooo fiddly to use as a CD player and employs a mish-mash of buttons all over the unit.

From what i've seen of the Beo 5 it's a nearly product.

So why not go for a Beocenter 9500.  Gobsmackingly beautiful to look at and still offers great performance and connectivity.  An amazing unit which in my opinion epitomises the B&O doctrine of form and funtion.

BeoFab:

Well I had your same doubt and I am planning buying both.

That would be the perfect solution.

Razlaw,

In your place, I.ll buy them both! Actually, I.ll buy an used Bs9000 and a NIB Beosund 5.

I have a BS9000 at home and along with Beolab 5 is one of my favorites B&O stuff....

regards

Raz, you're correct. The current BeoSound 5 with Beo6 will give you the ability to get visual feedback on what you're listening to as well as browse by name/album art/etc. 

I've owned a lot of B&O kit over time (and still do) and the BeoSound 5 was one of the most disappointing purchases. Lasted less than 6 months, before it was traded in against another purchase.

I can't remember any major reason, just lots of small things that proved frustrating. Usability, BS5 interface, BM5 crashing, tons of cabling and so on.

My favourite B&O audio device is the BeoSound 4. In fact, I'm seriously thinking of getting another in another room.

Simply get yourself a Mac Mini, which you can setup, leave running (it never crashes!), connect to your TV and even access it remotely from another computer. I simply share my Mac Mini Server screen from my MacBook Pro, if I need to perform some admin. No need to have it connected to a monitor.

The Mac Mini is then connected wirelessly via AirPort Express devices, which connect to the BeoSound 4 and other devices. I control the Mac Mini via an old iPod Touch, which is used as a wireless remote.

Question....Dealer says the shortest cable available to connect the Beosound 5 to the Beomaster 5 is around 15 feet long. Is that correct?  I will be placing Beosound 5 on top of cabinet with Beomaster 5 in it so would only need about a 2 foot cable.

Correct. 4.5m is the shortest length

As I mentioned above, I found there was just too many cables/cabling for a fairly "simple" product.

You could try getting the engineer to make a custom cable?

Also, congratulations! You'll love it. 

Thanks!  Now that I have made the decision to get it, I can't wait for it to arrive.

I had a BeoSound 9000 (MKIII), sold it for a BeoSound 5.

I wanted to go digital and the BeoSound 5 was the answer.

More discreet and less show-off than the 9000 but it has the real B&O touch.

I like the design, the materials and love the Graphical User Interface, very simple, very clean with a touch of magic.

I like the MOTS concept too, very clever.

There are some drawbacks : the long and numerous cables, the big size of the BeoMaster 5, the computer-dependent CD load.

But all in all, i really love my BeoSound 5 and look forward for the new Beo6 and its 2-way and wi-fi integration in the system

I am very eager to get it. Now I just have to learn how to convert my Apple Lossless files to a Beosound 5 friendly format.

Raz,

I'm in the same boat.  I have a MK3 BS9000.  Have had for quite some time.  I have now acquired a BS5.  It should arrive tomorrow.

I'm curious to see how the two will work in concert with one another in a masterlink system.

Like you, I am VERY excited to get the BS5 in.  I have been working on tagging all of my N.Music with cover art, etc.  (a tedious process)

Are you planning to connect your BM5 in to a television?  Or keep it isolated to the BS5?

THanks

MJM

I am planning on using the Beosound 5 just for music. Actually was planning on calling dealer today to see if I need to have it connected to the TV for set up or any other purpose if all I want to do is use the Beosound 5 for music.

I just received my BS5 last week.

Admittedly, I was a bit nervous when ordering as, in my opinion, when advanced software in introduced in any product, it usually increases complexity and the risk of problems.

However, I have been positively surprised. It really is very easy to use, including copying playlists from iTunes/WMP with one click. There are a few beginners problems with the settings which the dealer is currently looking into, and you will need a few hours to play around with it and familiarise yourself with the functions, so in that respect it does take a bit more "work" than a plug-and-play solution like the BS9000. But once that is done, it's a great piece of machinery! And a stunner!

I am told that if you connect it to the TV it will display the cover art and song info. .

not that important. .BUT, if it is not in the same room as the tele it might help for navigation purposes.

When you say 'copy' the playlists from iTunes. . what do you mean?

are you able to set these as 'seeds' or assign them to colors?

THanks

MJM

Razlaw:

Actually was planning on calling dealer today to see if I need to have it connected to the TV for set up or any other purpose if all I want to do is use the Beosound 5 for music.

I have my BeoSound 5 connected to my BeoVision 7-55. I have all my music in WMA lossless and have used mp3tag program to add 500x500 covers to all files. 

It looks amazing on both the tv and beosound screen.

I have all the speakers connected to the BV7-55, and the BeoSound 5 MasterLinked. When pressing CD there is just music and cover on the BeoSound 5. When pressing PC the cover and title is also displayded on the TV.

As a tecnical note I can add that if you have the right cables between TV and BeoMaster 5 then the music will be transferede digitally to the BV7 when using the PC option. When using the CD (N.Music) the sound travels between BeoMaster and TV via MasterLink (analouge).

/MikaelB