Any opinions about Bang and Olufsen stuff? Looking for opinions on the BeoSound 2000

Long story short.... dad asked me what I wanted as a wedding gift... and offered me...

http://www.bang-olufsen.com/sw1595.asp

In flat black.

He has had it for a couple of years. It seems he's quite happy about his new system (I gave him my MartinLogans a couple of months ago - I'm a bad, bad son! ), and he told me the B&O would someday be "a classic".

I don't know about "classic"... but I always thought the thing was pretty cool. Still, I don't know... I think B&O has always had a reputation as a designer firm, and is not really about performance.

What do you think? Is B&O really all about fashion?

 

I haven't seen any B & O gear in years, but as a kid back in the 70s I thought it was the coolest thing since Armstrong walked on the moon. I have no experience with how it sounds, but it sure looks and funtions neat!

 

Most of the B&O stuff looks better than it sounds when compared to component level listening tests. That doesn't mean they don't make a good "wall" unit though. You might find it to be a tad more on the dressy side than on the audiophile side.

I think it was B&O that made the neatest looking CD player changer that goes against a wall and travels up and down, about 6' high, and puts the CDs back exactly how they are displayed on the wall. So, if you use picture discs, if you place them in right side up, they're put back after playing in the same position. Neat.

But I know mid-90's Denons that would whoop it for sound. <Shrug>

 

B & O make good products but you are paying for the look. If your priority is sound quality, you can do better for less. If you have the cash and want beautiful design and functionality, B & O is great.

 

Didn't they make a pretty good linear tracking turntable back in the 80's?

 

They did.

BUT (always that "BUT"), the TT was technologically good only. The sound was wobbly. A conventonal TT made by Dual sounded better at a fifth of the price.

 

Well it sounds a lot better then anything from BOSE. That being said dollar vs dollar list price you can do a lot better for sound quality. However little else made will have the looks and styling like it and have the sound that it has. Plus the fact the doors slide open as you wave your hands..wayy to cool....

 

I prefer sound first, then looks and functionality and I did just that with the equipment I bought.

 

Hmmm...that one was always a favorite of mine. Too bad they couldn't engineer it a little better for all that dinero. It was always the "awe" items at the local stereo shops, but I never knew anyone who owned one.

The Revox linear tracker was another neat looking rig...anyone here ever see one?

 

Ooooh, yeah. That's the one dad has. You come close to it, or wave your hand at it, and the door moves, the CD tray opens, and the whole thing turns on. It seems... sexy. Heh.

It's incredible how people barely glance at the MartinLogans, yet go "ooooh" and "aaaaah" when the little B&O does this trick.

 

I took the B & O home for a day and was very dissapointed with the sound. It looked cool though. I saw the Revox but never gave it a critical listen.

 

Although I prefer sound, the unfortunate news as we already know is that the average buyer cares more for looks.

 

Well, the thing doesn't sound bad at all (for a boombox, that is). I don't think I've ever heard a minisystem that sounds as good as this one does.

But retail price for that thing is $1,400 (I think). Around here, it's $2,000. I could buy a *very* nice B&W / Rotel system for that money around here.

I don't know who, in his right mind, would pay that kind of money for a boombox...

oh, wait. Sorry, dad

 

Every now and then, a local B&O store hires salespersons for their upscale shop in a trendy mall north of us. I don't know, really...it WOULD be selling audio, but then again, I don't know if I could work there for the same reason I couldn't work at a Bose factory outlet.

 

The commission structure is quite nice in a B&O store. Coupled with the fact that most people who buy B&O are very financially well off so they buy more then just a single piece you have the potential to make a very good living as a B&O salesmen. I am not one, but I know some who make well over 100K a year selling it. I am sure your disdain for selling someone what you consider "sub par" audio equipment for the money they are spending, would be overcome by the pay check you get and all the equipment you could buy...

 

Interesting. I didn't know about the commision but that would explain why my favorite high end audio salesman moved to the B & O store in Toronto.

There's nothing in the least immoral about selling B & O. Bang and Olufsen make an excellent and innovative product. The people who buy it want style and convenience and good sound. Their priority is not the best sound for the money (unlike most of us here). The B & O customer doesn't want to be fussing over subtle sonic differences, nor does he want a big fat Mac tube amp cluttering up his elegant living room. Give the people what they want.

 

Exactly..the people generally purchasing B&O have very specific ideas about interior decorating and even making a statement with the equipment. So it is definitely form over function...

 

Oh, trust me, I've considered it from that angle too. If the drive weren't so bad, and it weren't a "retail" job (I come from an industrial sales background and, quite frankly, am tired of sales), I would have even applied for it. Even if the product isn't to my liking, making some nice dinero wouldn't exactly be a bad perk, would it? (Although I wouldn't stoop to the level of a Best Buy or Circuit City...even *I* have my standards. )

But how could honesty prevail when someone asks which one sounds the best? I think there has only been one time I've been in a store that told me I'd be better off looking in a high-end shop...and I appreciated the honesty. At some point, you have to ask yourself if you want to make a commission, or point a customer in the direction they would be most happy with.

 

While quite frankly that question rarely gets asked in that kind of store. A question your more likely to hear is "how do you think it sounds?" Which is of course a subjective question because they aren't asking you to compare its sound against something else, just what you think in general. You should have no problem giving a general answer. If a comparison does ever get asked, its against something like BOSE or other type systems in that level and in that case you could honestly answer that the B&O sounds better. I think your kinda missing my point about what kind of customer shops in this store, if you think pointing a 'typical' B&O customer to something that sounds better for the same money is what would they would be most happy with, then your probably wrong about that. The design, and as such the way it looks, and the uniqueness of that look are all JUST as important to the buyer in this case, no actually MORE important to the buyer in this case. You would be making them most happy by selling them something they want and that sounds decent. There isn't a lot of 'selling' per say in a B&O store, it's much more 'lay-down' type sale. They say I need sound in my house, you ask the size of the room, which ones do you think looks the best for your room, and other qualifying questions, and then basically just sell them that after a short demo. The terms typical and decent as used above of course are subjective and just my opinion.

 

My approach to B&O is different than yours--I remember them more as being a product sold at high-end audio salons than having their own upscale stores in uppity shopping malls (like ours is). I forget which local salons carried it (I'm thinking at least Pecar's did).

You're right though--a serious audiophile wouldn't set foot into a mall. I usually wander into a "brand" store in the mall more out of curiosity than anything else...usually boredom. I don't know if this means B&O has "devolved" into fashionable mid-fi gear for overpivileged yuppies or not, but I certainly have a different feeling about today's B&O gear than I used to 20 years ago.

 

I'm pretty sure you're right here.

My first job out of university was selling hi fi. We carried B & O and I was fortunate enough to experience their sales training. The highlight was Danish food with much Aquavit and Tuborg chasers. I actually remember some of the training.

We blind A/B'ed B & O to Harman Kardon amps at the same price point. Only I and a B & O rep (ironicaly) could tell that the HK was better but the other sales guys couldn't. The point was that the B & O is still good but it is much more elegant. B & O is aimed at a different customer.

If an audio purist walks into a B & O store, he is probably misinformed. It would be bad business to pretend that he'll get what he wants there. That rarely happens. The savvy but honest salesman wil cultivate a rapport with a reputable high end audio store and send the few wayward audiophiles to that store. They in return will send lost B & O types to him - everyone wins.

A B & O customer is a different animal from a sound-above-all person. The salesman who does not recoginse this is doing his customer a disservice. Neither is better than the other. Different strokes for different folks.

 

Right, different strokes for different folks. I'm not the person who would want B&O or Bose but my mother would like it. She can't tell the difference about speaker placement, etc. I told her that putting speakers behind the entertainment center muffles the sound but she couldn't tell the difference. I told her about the Music Choice oldies channel sounding better on the Music Choice oldies channel than they do on the "Local Access" channel on Channel 2 but my mother couldn't tell the difference either which means that for her, Bose or B & O sound decent and just the way she likes it.

 

Bradley,

I'm like you, I wouldn't pick B & O or Bose for myself.

We can't pick our mothers either but we love them all the same.

John

 

I know, but I know what kind of sound quality my mother would like. I used Bose and B&O and my mother as an example on what most people would buy.

 

Even if a customer doesn't want your product right now, it still makes a good impression. Maybe customer Joe doesn't think B&O is all that good and the salesman recognizes this, sending Joe on his way. BUT, maybe down the road Joe's buddy Fred IS looking for a B&O, and Joe will remember the nice guy he encountered there.

Competitors' products are a way of life when you're in sales. I was in industrial sales...and while I would say our products were good, sometimes the competitors' products had something ours couldn't offer, and we recommended the customer buy the other product instead. We never lost a customer doing it that way either. Honesty and a desire to HELP the customer is the best attitude to have.