Beosound5 & Beolab 12.1

9 replies

Hi, my name is Adriano , I'm writing from Rome, Italy ... I have yet a Beocentury but I'm thinking to buying a Beosound5 & a couple of Beolab 12-3 (all these items are obviously preowned ...); do you think it's a good choice? . Hi Adriano

As for the Beolab 12-3 active loud speakers --- YES!!! They give an amazingly high quality sound no matter if they are placed on the wall or on floor stands. I have had mine on a walI since I bought them. I recently added a Besoound 2 subwoofer which truly boosts the overall bass, especially when viewing films. I can hardly recommend a Beosound 5. I purchased one in 2011 and after one year realized that I had made a rather expensive error. 3 or 4 years later when Spotify no longer was a part of the Beosound 5 system in the USA, like so many others, I became even more  disenchanted with the produc and ended up selling it. Would you ever consider purchasing a Beosound Core with the 12'3's? 

My B&O Icons:

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Beolab-28.png Beolab-28.png
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Thanks a lot Gary. I consider purchasing Beosound 5 because I have a lot of jazz cd , I want to create a storage and cartel of the better audio tracks ...

I didn't know the existence of such a product as the Beosound Core until this moment : thanks a lot for the information !

Hi

Maybe i can give some points :)

I heve in my living room BS9000 ( just for looks ) + BL 12.3 on the wall + hidden sub integrated behind 55 inch TV.

sub is ging down to 25HZ +-3db and it more than ok for music and movie.

Sound is 8/10

If we take reference soud 10/10  from BL50. so it's close enough :)

With aux selector i have connected on my BS9000 TV+my old ipod GEN1 + music server with logitech vortexbox and 3TB  HD with top electroinc and soudcard with CD ripper+...ectI

In vortexbox I have 3000CD with flac + internet radio+local radio+ phone ot tablet remote...so i do not need BS5 at all.

That is in my living room as i can not going to loud due to my queen :)..ha ha

From BS9000 have out signal to multiroom amplifire for my dining area, garden, office,...ect

have all wires for home cinema 7.2...and i think will never install speakers.

As i say..have BS9000 just for looks as my personal opinion is that is most iconic B&O ever made and it's not tiny like Moment or BS5.

b.r.

 

 

 

 

Bs9000 is really marvelous, but I have yet the Beocentury and I'm looking for a storage like cd ...

Aggre ...that is why i have music sever :)

 

My music server has been a MacMini since 2010.

Initially driven by LinkPlayer and a BeoPort.

Migrated to LinkPlayer II before Philippe moved on.

I have some 20,000 tracks:ripped, iTunes purchases, and LINN purchases & Xmas freebies πŸ™‚

I moved to an Essence Mark II, and then a Core.

I did use PLEX to get DLNA access to my MacMini library.

I found I was always streaming once Deezer HiFi arrived.

Eventually I disconnected the BeoPort and retired LinkPlayer.

I sometimes use the MacMini with AirPlay2 to broadcast with WiFi and bypass my ML/NL setup.

I am not sure how AirPlay2 will go long term: ask me 12 ~ 18 months from now 😁

What I do know is that streaming now satisfies me.

It’s not the best discovery experience but it is adequate.

What does all that mean for you ?

Think carefully about what outcomes/ experiences you want.

Then look how rapidly technology is evolving.

Then decide on the system for the next 10 (I am optimistic here) years.

Beolab 12's, brilliant speaker, can't go wrong.

Beosound 5? Already obsolete and not supported anymore, including the OS, sadly. Not recommended.

For what I do, I use a Beosound 9000, and connected to the Aux input I use an Auralic Aries Mini. I did use a Playmaker but the Mini offers more reliable wifi and much better functionality. I put a 500 GB solid state drive in it, and moved all my ripped music from iTunes on my PC to it, so I don't have to use the PC to stream. The Auralic has an iOS app that lets you control it, so I have access to all my ripped music, Internet radio stations, and can stream Spotify to it, with ease. You could use it stand alone to drive the Beolabs with an RCA to Powerlink cable, you can set the Auralic to variable output.

Sad to say, compared to B&O gear of late, the Auralic is one of the most trouble free and satisfying audio purchase I've ever made. It just works, flawlessly.

elephant wrote:
What I do know is that streaming now satisfies me.

[...]

What does all that mean for you ?

Same here.

I left the CD era for the NAS era, but today I almost only stream (Deezer and TuneIn).

I think it's very difficult to answer your question Ed if you have not spent the previous ages ...
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