Take you point of course, could change the value proposition to an extent - i'll defer thoughts on that until we get something more official and well explained from B&O on that.

That said, from a design coherence point of view, its hard to make modular stuff like this work in my view - what works for the Vitsoe shelving system doesn't necessarily for high tech stuff.

There are plenty of us on the forum largely because we have found added value in paying the premium in the past (and i'm very happy with what i've got, it cost me more than sum of the non B&O parts, but its cleanliness and performance make my life easier and more pleasant). 

Paying the premium is a harder sell these days - not impossible but harder.  It requires :

- Distinctive exterior design ( traditionally their strength) - still see some of that in their speakers, TV's are proving tricky.

- Modern and functioning software - think we all know the answer here, but something they must address or experiences just become poor or diluted.

- Performance - doesn't all need to be leading edge, but close-ish is good enough.

Anyway for the TV products, using someone else's UI and platform dilutes the experience to me - unless they can re-skin webOS to give it the B&O treatment.  

moxxey wrote:

Sal wrote:

Kudos to B&O for potentially allowing the panel to be updated for future-proofing as best they can.

Hold on. We're just assuming they are offering updates as it's detachable. Has it been confirmed? At a guess, the reason it's modular is that it's not a B&O component and, as it's not a B&O component, I'm assuming this part is serviced/updated by LG.

I'd be very surprised if B&O decide to produce an update panel in the future to drop into your old Eclipse.

I was assuming as well. Hence "potentially" based on some previous posts. Yeah, lots of assumptions. I think, as B&O fans we instinctively try to see the best in B&O, and sometimes take leaps of faith, too. LOL

Can't help but feel that B&O has lost its way on this one (and perhaps in general). :-(

The Eclipse's design is decent, but certainly not among B&O's best. I.e I doubt the Eclipse will ever find its way into MoMA's permanent collection. Seems the era of designs that were true works of art died with David Lewis and Jacob Jensen, may they rest in peace.

Using an LG panel (and even LG video processing) is fair enough, the picture is still miles ahead of yesteryear's LCDs. However, compromising on key parts of the heritage "Beomagic" such as exclusive use of premium materials (e.g. aluminium and glass), high build quality, simple / clean UI and the iconic electronic curtain completely ruins the Eclipse for me. Same story as with the cheap Android tablet embedded in the BS Moment, although they at least in that case took control of UI.

In the back of our heads we probably all knew that B&O's pricing was irrationally high, but somehow the combined magic of the various premium elements combined beautifully and made the past Beo-products greater than the sum of their parts. Well, no more! Without the full set of B&O heritage elements the magic is gone, the emperor indeed has no clothes and the Eclipse is perceived for what it is, a decent but overpriced TV that will likely be obsolete in a few short years (modular design or not).

I will stick with my BV11 for a few more years as it in many ways represents the last real Beovision (the BV14 and BV Horizon already suffered from the *** Android SW with all the issues that has so far entailed). After this, all bets are off.

So a sad day for us long time B&O fans indeed. There is always hope, but I feel this might have been B&O's last chance and that at least the AV business might soon be headed for oblivion (despite most of the BL speakers still being phenomenal design and soundwise). I could see B&O Play faring better due to its more Apple-like strategy of decently designed products at a reasonable premium. 

Reading some coments, it seems that after the BV 14 issues and the BV Avant Not Good, we now have the BV DEBACLE.

Will try to see it tomorrow with my own eyes !

Michael wrote:

Went to see it.

 

 

1. Stand menu now requires list - stand (ok) - manual move (ok) then arrows.

 

On my Avant it's list (stand shows up first as on the new one but I don't have to press ok even once - just arrows.

 

Now more cumbersome I think.

 

 

2. Speaker bar too wide. Just estethics I guess, too bad because it's now wider than Avant and that was wide.

 

 

3. It is very flimsy. Moving the tv by hand makes it bend.

 

 

4. The finish is so-so. Even the sound bar. Sad to say. A lot of plastic and gaps.

 

 

5. No contrast glass! Only on the plate below the speaker. 🤷‍♂️. I love contrast glass on B&O screens but now it's history at least on this model.

 

 

6. No metal frame on the tv. Bye nice aluminum and genuine craftsmanship.

 

 

7. Dodgy interface - shows a big HDMI2 logo while waiting for the sources connected to the soundbar to show up. However it boots instantly and with a B&O logo. Audio fades in/out but not the video. I miss the magic. There's a lot of glitches in the interface with different GUI and stuff blinking by in operation changes and turning on.

 

 

8. The GUI is all over the place. Several different designs. The settings app is clearly B&O custom and is really not too bad but since it has several styles I don't like it. Not even the right fonts used.

 

The Lg interface also looks very out of place. Huge, enormous font for channel and source and volume which looks nothing like the webOs startbar that it also has. Very annoying. I prefer elegance and a dark discrete interface. Get used to big white, or blue or whatever kind of text in all kinds of sizes and fonts - all over the screen without any kind of real idea behind it.

 

 

9. Speaker fret/grille pokes out in the center as on Beosound 35 almost. Looks like a nice touch but also a bit like the designer grasped for help. We will never know.

 

 

10. Netflix and amazon buttons on the remote? I know this was aa necessity but come on. I don't want them.

 

 

11. The colors pop, the black is great. Sound is great I think but didn't listen that much.

 

 

12. Stand is smaller than the Avant stand and the pipe is thinner too. Looks cheaper and won't extend from the wall as much of course.

 

 

13. The aluminum grille looks much better than the dark red cover. It was ugly I think.

 

 

14. The 65" I saw was labeled OLED65C7BOZ which turns up as a LG tv license for webos. Guess it means it's the C7 model of LG.

 

 

15. There's a lot of plastic on the back. Not very well oriented but I guess people don't usually connect pheriperals all the time.

 

 

The Avant and Bv11 was more cleverly designed with easy access ports. The plastic is flimsier than I've ever seen with B&O.

 

 

16. The back seems to be fake metal or very thin. Differs from the metal that's nice (on the sound bar). When you look at the set from behind the finishes differs a lot and you can see that much thought went into the soundbar but not to the rest. It's really nicer on the back than on the front! (The speaker bar that is).

 

 

 

All in all these are my first impressions. I was hoping to be ecstatic and I can't say I am. I think the partnership is good but they didn't work on the interface and it's a huge fail. Huge fail. I can't accept an interface that badly designed. It goes totally away from what I believe in. If the interface was designed to fit the tv I would like it much better.

 

 

The different materials and unevenness makes me struggle to like it. And the width of the speaker bar makes it hard to love. A bad design choose. Not only does it make it turn less since the speaker will hit the speaker bar sooner than the rest. It also makes it unnecessary wide. Strange choice when everything else is thinner than ANY other B&O Tv.

 

 

Not sure what they want really..

 

 

I would buy the soundbar alone if it was available. And preferably less wide. I would then buy any TV to use with it and just have the TV be a panel that turns on by HDMI - CEC. That's what they should have released at the same time. Would give B&O a lot of money.

 

Thanks for the feedback. A shame for the "stand" trick + go !

moxxey wrote:

Sal wrote:

Kudos to B&O for potentially allowing the panel to be updated for future-proofing as best they can.

Hold on. We're just assuming they are offering updates as it's detachable. Has it been confirmed? At a guess, the reason it's modular is that it's not a B&O component and, as it's not a B&O component, I'm assuming this part is serviced/updated by LG.

I'd be very surprised if B&O decide to produce an update panel in the future to drop into your old Eclipse.

I would love to see a BeoVision with a panel than could be upgraded every few years. However, I doubt that will be the case. Let's remember how B&O would not even sell us the brushed aluminum BeoVision 4 bezel unless we traded in the old bezel! So tight they were on keeping us from making other panels have the "look" of a BeoVision. I view tv panels in a very different way than I view other B&O purchases. I will spend the (often 10x) premium for B&O loudspeakers, music system, and telephones because I know that they will last me for easily a decade or 2. However, I view the TV market as one that is so fast-paced that TV's are much more "disposable." It's not that costly to replace a TV screen every few years to keep up with technology-- that is, unless it is a BeoVision!

I've had high hopes in the past for B&O taking a modular approach and have been sorely disappointed. For example, do we remember how exciting it was when B&O announced they would be offering a DVD2 and HDR2 in brushed aluminum to match the BeoSystem 3 in a modular system? This concept quickly died. Also, we were excited by the concept of having a BeoCenter 2 that had a separate socket unit. There were high hopes that the socket unit could be replaced with future connections, such as HDMI. Now, my BeoCenter 2 just sits collecting dust.

I am _actually_ kind of relieved. For many years now, I have had this obsession with B&O due to their design and philosophy -- and with the LG partnership and the outcome of that, I do feel the B&O-DNA has been completely lost at last (with the Avant still having a certain style). This is not to say the Eclipse may not be a great TV, it may very well be - but so are many other options.

Lee got out just at the right time. Will look into Sony and Loewe now (since my Beovision 9 is starting to show its age), but definitely will not go for the Eclipse. Thanks, new B&O team, for saving me from spending way too much money on a TV!! ;-)

kai wrote:

Interesting design bit making the speaker bigger than the tv does not work for me, and it looks like to me S if they have looked to the last bvis7 ? That worked as the speaker was separate but being part of tv. I personal don't like that aspect, and as other people have said price, well people will decide that one

Not sure what B&O are playing at.  April 1st has been and gone.