My take on what's coming..................

The interface of the BS5 may well be magical (and I, for one, hope it is) but the guts is the BM5 which may well be hidden away but it needs to be 21st century!

Most folk here already have a digital music archive (I'm just about to rip mine again, in a lossless format, which hopefully is the last time I have to do it).

I'm still thinking about the lossless format I should use, FLAC has the advantage of "open standard" that I can download from LINN and band sites etc., Apple Lossless has that "manufacturer's" standard that I tend to shy awway from, albeit I'm an iPod owner.

I can see a need for a high quality, insert and forget, rip/store/backup system that the BS5/BM5 does't seem to address.

I really hope the "5" system meets everyones needs but (being an eternal pessimist) I fear a Serene/Serenata/Beo5 release where, despite the number of early adopters, it ends up being lacking in major areas and only a few diehards persist.

I do hope I'm wrong!

I'm sorry to sound so jaded!

Morning Puncher, you're up early!

The price of the BM/BS5 won't prohibit me buying one. I'll get one after I get my Beolab 5s (in about thirty years on eBay)

Andy T.

Andy T.

Ey up mate! - do I sound like I'm on  downer? ............... maybe. But I'm genuinely worried (I can't be an early adopter, its doubtful whether I would buy second hand...............third hand maybe) but then, if it didn't cut the ice when launched, why in the cold light of day would I even think about it??

Many posts in this thread, and others, have pointed out that I am not the target market but...................... but it has to be more than just fashionable to make a lasting impact.

I look forward to eating my words after it's release.

Just to get things straight, let me sum up what we know this far. If I´m wrong, please correct.

The new system constists of 2 elements: bs5 and bm5. Bm5 is the core component containing the content (audio and probably video) and distributing it. Bs5 is the supporting user interface for bm5, allowing the proud owner to navigate through his library (audio only) via some magic wheels and circles on a crazy mandel fractals desktop. With bs5 I´m not able to navigate through my video content on bm5 and let it play on an additional tv. This has to be done another way. Neither bm5 nor bs5 are supporting direct playback of any physical data medium like a cd or dvd. They are not able to rip the content themselves. You can not listen to analogue radio, only net radio. So it´s (just) an additional product.

If I want to add content to bm5 I need a "real" computer to (perhaps) rip and sync content. I need to do this ever so often. To listen to net radio bm5 has to be connected to the web via dsl with an always on connection. If I want to listen to analogue radio, I have to use another bs, let it be bs4, bs9000 or bc2. Same for a cd. If I want to see a dvd, I also need a dedicated player. Either the one in a bv7, bc2 or the glorious dvd2.

Am I the only one thinking there is something majorly wrong in here?! Just to listen to my digital music (which is nowadays as normal as it can be) I have to spend a whopping 5k euros. And what do I get? A bunch of additional boxes and cables and the effort of syncing my content like everyday. Just to flip through my library with an alu wheel? I don´t even get a two-way remote. To change tracks I have to lift my lazy ass to the machine or fiddle around with a remote not made for this.  Sorry, I´m not convinced.

B&O where once priding themselves in beeing the kings of integration. I don´t see this in this conecpt. Plus I have the feeling bs5 being an additional unit it may get a little too crowded in my living room with danish designer objects. Don´t get me wrong, I adore their products. But the idea of having a bc2, a bv, some bls and now the bs5 in one room is way to much for my taste. And I don´t even mention the supporting black boxes for bc2 and bs5 (bm5).

Regards, beoberlin 

hmmmmmm well beoberlin, seeing as you put it so well, I'm wondering what magic they can add into this equation to make use part with the money.

Then again if they say it's the base for new and exciting things to come, I only hope that means on the same day of release they also announce lots of nice add on suprises, otherwise as you kinldy summarised, it's going to be a bit, well, errrmmm..... flat 😛

Indeed, if the BS5 is just like a big ipod (fancy that!) then where is the connectivity with the rest of the BO equipment.

 Seems to me that even ipods come with their own little controls nowadays. It is hard to see this as explained by beoberlin, as anything less that infuriating. After all where is the userfriendlyness of it all. I own a BS1 and a BC9500, and it is not hard to use.

The BS5 seems like a lot of work for not much.

However, could it be that BO is keeping us nicely in the dark, and whence it comes out, the BS5 will be this magical interface that can access digital music, movies and all sorts of nifty things and be able to bounce them back on any BO equipment around the house...now that would be neat.