Anybody have suggestions on Bang & Olufsen?
 

I have been looking to buy the Beosound 3000. But before I spend $3,500 on the system, I would like to know what others think about B&O. I know you have to pay big money for a good stereo system, but the Beosound 9000 is beyond my budget.

I especially like its feature that you can play downloaded music right from your PC or iPod.

BTW, I have the B&O Beocom 3 2-line phone for my home office. The sound quality of the speaker phone is excellent. People on the other side cannot even tell I am on speaker phone at all.

I don't know a lot about high end stereo, but I do know that B&O and Bose are laughed at by real audiophiles. They are way over priced, low on features and sound quality, and immoral businesses.

Both companies continue to claim they have high technology and science integrated into their systems, like special acoustic chambers and what not. Audiophiles, however, see their enclosures for what they are, the same particle board junk that every Chinese factory makes.

And whenever a reviewer doubts the science or slaps the product with a harsh review, Bose or B&O sues the publication.

Think twice before buying Bose or B&O. Your dumb friends might be really, really impressed ... but audiphiles will think you are a fool. You will get a lot better system for that money if you are careful and spend some time planning it.

Here is a good audiophile forum:

http://www.decware.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi

I've found B&O systems in homes where the brushed aluminum, smoked glass and danish finished wood was more important than the sonic quality of the pieces. That doesn't mean that you have to have industrial, EIA rack mount equipment in your house, there's plenty of stylish components that will make a packaged system sound like a boombox.

Bang and Olufsen is Philips in an very nice package. Are you willing to pay $3500 for a Philips audio set?

www.outlawaudio.com
 

go to outlaw audio & check them out, I have the 1050 receiver & love it..built like tanks (or the W123)

I never linked B&O. I spent a bundle on one of their amps a few years back and one side quit right after the warranty ran out, and I got screwed big time. Repair costs are astronomical and I was never really that impressed with the sound. If your going to spend real money, go macintosh with Kplisch speakers. The sound is singulary spectacular and the equipment is utterly reliable. See if you can get a test listen between the two brands and you'll see what I mean in about 10 seconds. B/O is fancy European furniture. Macintosh is for serious audiophiles.

Myself, I've moved away from the expensive big box - now I buy lower priced boxes, but I by more of them. I'm running front speakers on one amp, back speakers on another, and sub woofer and center on another, and then I heve a seperate AV amp tho run the surround speakers. I've got separate equalizers on the front and back amps. All the amps are HK. All the speakers are Infinity. I love the fine point of control I can get over the sound with all those adjustment points, and I have about 3 grand total into it instead of 3 grand for one amp. If thats not your bag and you want just single fine components, go Macintosh. If you want decor to match your designer living room, by the BO.

Bang and Olufsen is overpriced fancy packaging with little substance.

Buying hifi is one of those things where you wanna buy solid engineering. Brand names like Bryston, Magnepan, VTL, Classe, Paradigm, Audio Research, and Rega come to mind.

$3500 can get you a lot of good sound. $500-1000 for a pair of speakers like Paradigms/B&W's or something similiar, $1000 for the new Rotel CD player, $1000 for the absolutely ass kickin' Creek 5350SE amplifier or Jolida Tube/SS hybrid. $500 for cables.

Cheaper if you buy used off audiogon or audioweb. Heck $2000 can get you 80% "there."

i spent good money for maggies over 20 years ago,

still perform well, and ... are you ready for this ...

are also very unique speakers



so, nice packaging doesnt have to suggest poor quality!
nor does a industrial cage necessarily mean high quality.

The vote here seems to be not going well for BO. And I thought I was unique. You guys are throwing out brands I've never even heard of. Considering how long its been since I played serious audiophile, thats not surprising.

I'm running Maggies now and I'll be running Maggies forever till I die.

I googled them up. Pretty hi-tech, very unique looking. I am running older model Infinity Studio 15's, made before HK ran the name into the ground. They still sound great after 10 years. When they finally smoke I'll take a look at those. Where are they made?

McIntosh of any vintage is great equipment. They are built like tanks, made in Binghamton NY, USA.

http://www.mcintoshlabs.com/

http://www.roger-russell.com/aboutmc.htm

Roger Russel is a former MAC speaker engineer. He has a good history of the company and a lineup of all the models.

I really want to get an older MAC 1900 receiver. Built like a tank and simple too.

IMHO

I don't have any experience with B&O, but my opinion of Bose is that it's produced for the mass public that thinks a lot of sound, regardless of the quality, is good. You'll get a lot of volume on the low end with Bose, but the quality isn't quite there.

McIntosh is excellent! My dad had a receiver/amp by them years ago and it was the best sound he achieved in years of trying new amps and receivers. You can find some great stuff on ebay, if you want to risk buying something that may not work as the seller advertises. Otherwise, I know Meyer Emco sells McIntosh.

How do they compare to the expensive end Nakamichi SoundSpace systems?

I wouldn't go with ebay. Google McIntosh on the web. There are all kinds of businesses that specialize in selling used mac equipment, with guarantees. It is a major industry. I got burned on three power amps over ebay. Don't waste your time or your money.