General Forum

Re: So.. why do you buy Bang & Olufsen?

TheMajor — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 07:23:13 GMT

Step1:

I am sure the touch glass will come back once more, but I suspect the overall looks dictate the type of interface used.

I am not sure if the glass look of the 9500 etc would have suited any of the models you mention Steffan! Also have any one of those models lost anything as a result of using standard buttons? They are all IMO great designs, very enjoyable to use and embody what B&O is all about, maybe apart from cd access with the BS4, a little too far for design sake IMO!

I agree with you on this. Touch glass was cool but using it again and again would have lead to the same design style again and again. I think it would have been nice on the BS1 instead of buttons. It will be back one day. Rubber buttons are fine IMHO.

Also I agree on the BS4 too. The CD access is why I didn't buy it. I was in the shop with the cash ready to buy but decided not to after a week of thinking and bought a BS7000.

Re: So.. why do you buy Bang & Olufsen?

Step1 — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 07:11:43 GMT

I am sure the touch glass will come back once more, but I suspect the overall looks dictate the type of interface used.

I am not sure if the glass look of the 9500 etc would have suited any of the models you mention Steffan! Also have any one of those models lost anything as a result of using standard buttons? They are all IMO great designs, very enjoyable to use and embody what B&O is all about, maybe apart from cd access with the BS4, a little too far for design sake IMO!

Re: So.. why do you buy Bang & Olufsen?

Steffen — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 20:11:26 GMT

Doctor:
The withdrawal from touch sensitive glass surfaces by B&O always astounded me as the 9500 showed they were complete masters at it.

I agree with this. The audio systems after the 4500 and BC 9xxx series lost some of the "magic". The 2500/Ouverture etc. -Nice design -but those rubber buttons... The same with BS 9000 -no touch controls. And BeoSound 4 -ordinary plastic buttons under the glass front Not what you'd expect from a audiosystem at that price level.
For many years the only "magic" (talking about operating the devices) was the sliding glass doors. With the Beocenter2 they brought a bit of the old magic back. And then the BS5: OK -no touch screen -but it's got the wow-factor when you use it.

Re: So.. why do you buy Bang & Olufsen?

Peter — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 17:35:40 GMT

For me its not as much what it can do, but how it makes me feel...

/Peter

Re: So.. why do you buy Bang & Olufsen?

SHEFFIELD — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 15:00:38 GMT

moxxey:

I must admit that, when I was up North for Christmas, I was very impressed with my brother's brand new 46" LED Samsung TV, which he bought for about £800. Good looking TV, superb picture, very easy to use, reasonable sound and decent remote.

When you realise you could sell your BV7-40, buy a Samsung LED 46", connect the usual Apple TV, Sky HD, Playstation etc, but you'd have nearly £5000 left after the sale, you do wonder about your "love" for the B&O brand.

Hardly a sad story, just realism.

Out of interest, does anyone know if the B&O UK prices have risen since the VAT increase on 4 Jan? I know my favourite Swiss watch brand used the VAT increase as an excuse to increase their prices by 10%!

Hi Moxxey

In the UK B&O dealers set their own prices, and whilst prices have gone up to the dealer network, it is up to the individual dealer to decide whether to pass the additional 2.5% on to the customer - we haven't

Re: So.. why do you buy Bang & Olufsen?

Seven — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 08:40:02 GMT

elephant:

Seven:
Now that the novely and love has worn off, and all the limits have come apparent, I'll probably switch to something cheaper.

that is a SAD story !

what are the limitations that you found ? (apart from price)

Glad you asked. Here are a few:

"Contrast" control doesn't change the picture one bit. I always looks the same way, no matter if it's in the middle, hard left or hard right. "Brightness" and "Colour" work fine, though.
Manual states "Format 0 will make the picture go blank". It does, but doesn't dim the backlight on mine, so it still lights up considerably, making it not that feasible to use as a simple loudspeaker.
Additionally, I tried out the teletext-subtitle function. Problem 1: the top bar of the teletext function (Page, Program, Point, Halt...) stays always visible, which distracts, and no other tv brand that I'm aware of does it that way. Problem 2: While in subtitle mode, tv doesn't display widescreen signals correctly (picture is terribly squeezed, like in mode "Format 3").
But mostly, it's the price. In the video landscape, things are moving really fast (HD, now 3D, next ones will probably be HDR, 4K and higher FPS sources), it's not efficient to always pay 5x the amount, at least not for me.

Cheers!

Re: So.. why do you buy Bang & Olufsen?

Puncher — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 05:43:31 GMT

Doctor:

It has always been a bit like this though. An Avant DVD was over £5000 when new when you could buy another make for only a few hundred pounds. The quality of the picture and sound however was such that it was relatively easy to justify. I think the flat screens have narrowed the picture quality difference, though B&O do still offer an advantage to my eyes. The problem now however is the sound. The BV10 simply does not have the same sound quality as the earlier sets. This is purely down to volume of cabinet - you cannot have ultra slim and decent speaker volume. I buy B&O as much for sound quality as anything but the BV10 just doesn't have it for me. Happy to have changed back to the BV5.

I wouldn't have any other make though - none of the competitors I have heard have sound I would be happy with either.

.........although, to be fair, the BV7 & BV4 don't have any sound at all but rely on external speakers. The same will obviously apply to other manufacturers TV's.

Re: So.. why do you buy Bang & Olufsen?

Doctor — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 05:22:44 GMT

It has always been a bit like this though. An Avant DVD was over £5000 when new when you could buy another make for only a few hundred pounds. The quality of the picture and sound however was such that it was relatively easy to justify. I think the flat screens have narrowed the picture quality difference, though B&O do still offer an advantage to my eyes. The problem now however is the sound. The BV10 simply does not have the same sound quality as the earlier sets. This is purely down to volume of cabinet - you cannot have ultra slim and decent speaker volume. I buy B&O as much for sound quality as anything but the BV10 just doesn't have it for me. Happy to have changed back to the BV5.

I wouldn't have any other make though - none of the competitors I have heard have sound I would be happy with either.

Re: So.. why do you buy Bang & Olufsen?

moxxey — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 04:23:16 GMT

I must admit that, when I was up North for Christmas, I was very impressed with my brother's brand new 46" LED Samsung TV, which he bought for about £800. Good looking TV, superb picture, very easy to use, reasonable sound and decent remote.

When you realise you could sell your BV7-40, buy a Samsung LED 46", connect the usual Apple TV, Sky HD, Playstation etc, but you'd have nearly £5000 left after the sale, you do wonder about your "love" for the B&O brand.

Hardly a sad story, just realism.

Out of interest, does anyone know if the B&O UK prices have risen since the VAT increase on 4 Jan? I know my favourite Swiss watch brand used the VAT increase as an excuse to increase their prices by 10%!

Re: So.. why do you buy Bang & Olufsen?

elephant — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 22:35:19 GMT

Seven:
Now that the novely and love has worn off, and all the limits have come apparent, I'll probably switch to something cheaper.

that is a SAD story !

what are the limitations that you found ? (apart from price)

Re: So.. why do you buy Bang & Olufsen?

Seven — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 21:40:06 GMT

Fell in love with then brand when I was 10. A few years older, two years ago I was looking for a TV. I rarely actually watch TV, so it has to look nice turned off. I didn't like the design of 99% of them all - too similar (all flatscreens are similar black thingies), too "brandy" (big logos on the front), ugly from behind (most of them, as well). So I went for a BV6-26.

Now that the novely and love has worn off, and all the limits have come apparent, I'll probably switch to something cheaper. I also love big screens, so I'll probably get a projector, which B&O don't have per se.

Re: So.. why do you buy Bang & Olufsen?

Chris — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 10:24:55 GMT

Because you can buy a Beosound 3 in a box and mint for £200 from Ebay, and then hug it all day long. Just programming it now and love listening to Wagner. Life does begin at 40(ish)

Re: So.. why do you buy Bang & Olufsen?

AT — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 03:41:46 GMT

Olof:
Because its so idiotic expensive and everybody how visits you and see your B&O system had to recognise how rich you are !

Just another good example to my opinion, thank You

Re: So.. why do you buy Bang & Olufsen?

Olof — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 14:16:51 GMT

Because its so idiotic expensive and everybody how visits you and see your B&O system had to recognise how rich you are !

Re: So.. why do you buy Bang & Olufsen?

Electrified — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 12:44:11 GMT

Clakke:

Hi Electrified

Thank you, I have heard about it here and read about it. From what I understand, it won´t do so much difference with our BS4 for the moment

He he, no, that would probably be money out the window. Money that could be used on wine and beer (well, if I was to decide)

Clakke:
But this was what I mentioned in my post. They could be really good these future products. I just hope that it is not to late. If they had released the encore a little earlier, we might have bought it. Now we already have beoport and iPhone. Well, I will not say no already.

Me too. It does feel rather late but I (for one) clap my little hands with my fingers crossed hoping that this will finally mean a proper competitive entrance into digital media for B&O.

It looks like I just might be able to get me B&O "stereo" that fullfil my needs and wants.

(I have to say, it's difficult clapping with your fingers crossed, lol)