Hi all,
this will hopefully be the start of a series of threads which will give everyone an idea of how easy it is to get hooked on B&O
I´ve already invited some members to write something which I´ll post in the coming weeks hopefully every Monday evening.
If you feel you would like to put your experiences on paper send me a PM and we´ll include it in the series.
What you write and in what style is up to you (after all it´s your story) though what I´m aiming for is the personal human interest touch.
Please don´t feel excluded because your first language isn´t English happy to help if needed.
So I´ll start off with my offering, happy to answer any questions or to see comments BTW.
Cheers,
Kevin
It was a Saturday, school was finished and I was looking forward to
catching the train home but there was still one thing I had time to do
before
it went. All week morning and evenings I´d managed to get a
glimpse through the shuttered windows and finally there it was a full
stack of Philips Hi-Fi all in a deep burnished black with a stunning
sound coming from it. This was the Hi-Fi of my dreams.
Over those
school years I got to see a variety of Hi-Fi´s, not just in the shops
but also in the school where boys who spent 3/4 of their year there had
a huge range of different setups. There was everything from the latest
Japanese music centers to Ferguson systems with speakers made from
orange crates but no B&O. Well I say that, I just wasn´t aware of
it and then it was only a glimpse. One of the teachers who took us for
History decided to have a study session in his flat (that meant coffee
and biscuits!). It was touch control so I think it must have been the
BM1900/2400 but the sound was astonishing from such a small system.
This was at the time before real miniturisation and serious HI-Fi was
was 19" rack.
Television just wasn´t really available (for the individual), three channels and most of it rubbish so music was the mainstay.
The
Music listened too was pretty much a three way split: Classical, then
the Genesis/ Pink Floyd crowd and Punk! Quite a noise when it all got
played full blast. Of course Sham69 played at full volume just improved
as the distortion kicked in.
Radio became my favourite listening
medium (well it didn´t cost anything) so I spent a lot of time
recording onto cassette tapes (mostly TDK which still play well 20 ish
years on). The main program was John Peels show which aired late every
week day and through the sessions I got to know the Northern Irish
music scene (strange that that´s where I would ended up living for
almost 20 years) The Undertones and Stiff Little Fingers are still all
time favourites. Most of this was done on a cassette alarm clock so the
quality was pretty rubbish.
The time came to save up for my first
"decent" music machine an Akai Boom Box bought on the Tottenham Court
Rd in London which did me very well as I went into the Army. Again
music was the main entertainment in the barracks (apart from the
occasional sherry)
and I was able to sample a whole new range of music, Northern Soul, Ska
and of course all the latest bands that people had been to see while on
leave. We had a lot of Geordies so were the first to hear of the Toy
Dolls (you may remember Nelly the Elephant?).
It was while on
Leave I had my first close shave with buying B&O. Walking through
my home town I passed a dealership which had started to sell B&O
and there was the second love of my Hi-Fi life a BC2200
Even
better the speakers were part of the package and it had 0% interest for
a year, which in those days was a pretty new thing. So I swallowed hard
walked into the shop and said I´ll have one of those. Now to be fair to
the dealer he did suggest that I buy the BC7000 as it was a better
system but it was a bit more expensive. But no I knew what I wanted and
hit the first snag which showed how naive I really was about hi
finance, I needed to be 21! So off to my Father I went to get him to go
down and get his signature on the guarantee. He duly came back with the
system which he´d bought for himself. I was devastated!
I went
back to Germany from leave and ended up buying a pioneer system which
did very well for almost 15 years till the speakers got foam rot.
That´s when I remembered the BC2200. After my Father passed away it had
an unfortunate life ended with a pint of beer being poured over it and
then being shoved in the garage.
I´ve always had a go at fixing
things so had a go. That´s when I found Beoworld. To my rescue came
Chris and Martin (and of course others) with advice on getting it up
and running. It has to be said though that in those days the BC2200 was
considered one of B&O´s worst creations the x25 speakers
especially, but I loved it to bits and more importantly I was hooked,
completely absolutely. Not just with B&O but Beoworld where I´d
found a group of people who without self interest were happy to help
and advise a new comer.
Reading and learning as I went along I
started collecting my first serious system the 5000 set under the
understanding and even now watchful eye of my wife
It´s come a long way since then. Most of the items I bought as broken
and repaired and most aren´t mint but are still a joy to have and own.
The youngest item is the families absolute favourite the Avant 28" 50Hz
which is hooked up with the BM550o system that is the music mainstay in
the house and is linked to other rooms as well.
The music is of
course still important, radio is still my listening mainstay with CD´s
following a close second but my ultimate listening experience still
has to be a glass of something warming in my hand watching the needle
of my BM4000 tracking across a favourite LP.
I don´t buy as
much as I used to and decided to follow Peter´s long standing advice
"Never sell!". The prices of the new and old items are really
reflecting the true value of the brand and often put them out of my
reach but that doesn´t stop me having the odd punt on an item on Ebay
that would be just right. Must have a look and see what´s on
offer...................................