Ask for spare parts and a service manual.
That'll tell you.

Martin

100% agree.

B&O was once known for top quality products, unrivalled customer service and high prices. All that is left are high prices, the rest is gone. I seriously doubt that this is a sustainable business model. Good luck B&O, you will not be getting any more money out of me.

After 25 years of being a loyal customer, I am cutting the ties.

Interesting to see this thread and I'm surprised it hasn't had more discussion to be honest.

Do most people feel exactly the same and are actually past caring to the point they can't even be bothered to join in the discussion, or do people disagree and dismiss this as not being the case at all?

Could you say, if you feel this is true, that B&O simply have to do what they have to do to survive?  If they become profitable again will they then focus on high quality items to keep for many years - or has the pace of technology simply outdated that romantic notion?

We saw B&O go totally 'tinpot' the last time they were in real trouble. Look at the BeoCenter 2100 and a pair of X25's.. Absolute crap turned out by a company in severe trouble riding their reputation and their loyal customers... but it worked.  After that, boom times of the BeoSound 9000, Avant, BeoLab 8000's and so on.  People forgot about the junk then.

However, if B&O has indeed switched to mass-market, unreliable, disposable garbage with a few flagship products to act as the braces to hold up the trousers - then what next? What does the future hold for Bang & Olufsen as a company, and more importantly as a brand?  

Lee

‘If you can't stand the heat, just get out of the kitchen' - it is as simple as that!

Do we really need another thread where the same person(s) complain about what B&O currently is doing?

If you don’t find anything that suits you, stick to the/your old stuff or go looking somewhere else.

Be happy with whatever you choose.

MM

Millemissen wrote:

Be happy with whatever you choose.

I'm sure he'd like to choose B&O, hence the frustration and comments on here.

Isn't a forum about discussing the good things as well as the bad things rather than just blindly worship?

I am on a football forum. When we lose, people complain about the performance of the players or the tactics of the manager. Therefore, if we lose - should I just go and support another team?!  

@9 LEE

You asked for a contribution to the thread….there you got it.

Let’s see, if others agree/disagree.

MM

Millemissen wrote:

‘If you can't stand the heat, just get out of the kitchen' - it is as simple as that!

That my Cat is why B&O are up a creek without a paddle. 

Make good products >> keep arrogantly to your own standards >> price yourself out of the market >> come back to industry standards (behind the 8 ball).

Lose/Haemorrhage cash >> stop servicing equipment >> Die a slow death.

As a quick side note. I am for now, very fortunate and in a financially comfortable place. I suspect better placed than many. I can and have afforded many of the flagship products over the last 20-30 years. I don't believe in changing a TV every two minutes to be the latest and greatest in disposable electronics because some marketing team got shoved to invent something nobody wanted but needed to sell. I purchased B&O because of longevity of product and because it sounded good. 

1. B&O is generally not serviceable. It is a disposable product.

2. It (with one or two exceptions) does not sound particularly good or cutting edge (source and loudspeaker) either.

So why am I buying again?

Simply put, B&O is focussing on making boom-boxes with Bluetooth that sound good to Millennials i.e. better than the completion but it is not HiFi anymore and it is only a matter of time before the Competition figures out how to make their own gear better at half the price before that revenue stream finally dries up as well.

It is coming and it shocks me how much in denial a lot of people in this forum (and at B&O) are to this. 

Millemissen wrote:

‘If you can't stand the heat, just get out of the kitchen' - it is as simple as that!

Do we really need another thread where the same person(s) complain about what B&O currently is doing?

If you don’t find anything that suits you, stick to the/your old stuff or go looking somewhere else.

Be happy with whatever you choose.

MM

The worst thing that can happen to a product and a person alike is indifference. Customers who complain have an emotional relationship with the brand and the product. So, they can be positively influenced with the proper action taken by customer service.

Indifferent customers, however, are lost customers, because they simply don't care anymore.

And mind you...behind every dissatisfied customer that voices his/her discontent there are between 5 and 20 more unhappy customers who don't bother complaining.

Of course, you are entitled to keep wearing your rose-tinted glasses. I don't think you do a good service to B&O with that attitude. But hey, I may be wrong. To each his own.

schatzoy wrote:

Millemissen wrote:

‘If you can't stand the heat, just get out of the kitchen' - it is as simple as that!

Do we really need another thread where the same person(s) complain about what B&O currently is doing?

If you don’t find anything that suits you, stick to the/your old stuff or go looking somewhere else.

Be happy with whatever you choose.

MM

The worst thing that can happen to a product and a person alike is indifference. Customers who complain have an emotional relationship with the brand and the product. So, they can be positively influenced with the proper action taken by customer service.

Indifferent customers, however, are lost customers, because they simply don't care anymore.

And mind you...behind every dissatisfied customer that voices his/her discontent there are between 5 and 20 more unhappy customers who don't bother complaining.

Of course, you are entitled to keep wearing your rose-tinted glasses. I don't think you do a good service to B&O with that attitude. But hey, I may be wrong. To each his own.

Complaints are worth nothing (apart from letting steam off, of course).

I want to see (read) some positive critisism….with profound suggestions how to do things better.

According to your previous posts, you ditched B&O long ago, so why worry?

By the way - we might just as well never hear from the happy costumers - mostly people only come around to complain (on Beoworld more than ever, it seems).

Yes, you are wrong - each to his own.

I (still) find options with the B&O gear, that I could never find with products from other companies…..be it because of a sw update or just because I did not think of the possibilities yet.

They recently released a new software that makes the new Mozart platform work pretty seamless with the older NL/ASE platform.

Just as they made a converter, that made it possible to integrate older ML products with the then new NL products…..just as the did when the products moved from MCL to ML.

Lots of things going on behind the scenes - however, if you don’t need that, it does not matter…I guess.

I don’t need all the new IE and headphones, they make and I have no use for new streaming speakers (my setup is pretty complete as of now).

But I appreciate, that they are keeping on inventing - some day I might need something new….and the newcomers certainly aren’t interested in the old stuff from yesteryear - no matter how much of that has found a place in art museums around the world.

Things are moving on, B&O as a company is trying to keep up. And they need to sell products to survive - to pay their staff and to keep on investing in hard- and software development…..even if you - or I - don’t like/need what the currently sell.

Be positive - make good suggestions….and you might even not need any glasses - tinted or black.

MM