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It sometimes beggars belief how dismissive of anything other than your 8000 you can be John.
To call the 5000/5500 "not good amps" is nonsense. Not the best amps ever built for sure (neither is the BM8000 for that matter) but still better than most.
And the 6500 WON'T struggle for power driving the M150's for most peoples use - even in party mood. To drive them at full welly would be unbearable in a normal setting.
Chris.
I can really appreciate Johns passion for the BM 8000, like I am for the BM6000 Quad. I also realise that the 8000 would be the best amp for the M150's (Not MS150's John). Unfortunately I am not able to acquire one although I have asked the seller of the speakers what he intends to do with his broken 8000.
Bottom line is that the Beosystem 6500 serves my purposes perfectly, much more than a BM 8000 even if I had to find one in working order and I have to be honest that I am glad that I have been reassured that I can use my 6500 with the speakers and I was rather depressed at the thought of two unusable speakers.
I think we will have to agree to disagree. I think the 6500 more than capable. It has a power output of 55W per channel which is more than adequate for almost anyone. From a circuit design point of view, it is a continuation of the same B&O design as the decent B&O amplifiers.
John, I'm using a pair of M150s with my bm7000 in my livingroom and I have been doing so for 15 years.
However, I also have two recently renovated bm8000s and a recently renovated bm6000 (as well as a bunch of lesser-specified amps). Yes, the 8000 and the 6000 performs better, but in my opinion the difference is not that big as one might believe from reading your post. I would definitely say that the 6500/7000 can handle the M150s well - the differences in sound compared to the 8000 are about the same as when I compare these amps using other smaller speakers. Yes, there are better b&o amps than the 6500/7000, but it's still an ok amp and I have been quite pleased with its perfomance even when using better speakers than the M150s. :-)
Well not only have a learn't that I didn't really make a mistake....I have learned a lot about speakers too!! Thanks for all the posts. Its been SO interesting and informative. Now I just have to wait for the Beovox M150's to arrive!
It's never a mistake to buy some vintage B&O! By the way (as Burantek wrote) -you should try to get the Beomaster 8000 too -it is not beyond repair.
Question is, if you want to spend the bucks to get it back in shape...If not, i'm sure you'll find someone who will buy it. Don't let the owner just dump it... 🙁
My B&O Icons:
It sometimes beggars belief how dismissive of anything other than your 8000 you can be John.
To call the 5000/5500 "not good amps" is nonsense. Not the best amps ever built for sure (neither is the BM8000 for that matter) but still better than most.
And the 6500 WON'T struggle for power driving the M150's for most peoples use - even in party mood. To drive them at full welly would be unbearable in a normal setting.
Chris.
You're being unduly harsh Chris. I don't know how much time you spend on the site these days reading my posts, but you'll see that as an enthusiast, I am enthusiastic about lots of other B&O amps. For example, I have repeatedly lauded the Beolab 5000, the 1980s Beomaster 6000, the Beomaster 6000 Quad, the 'ironing board' Beomaster 2000, and to an extent the Beomaster 5000 that is the first in the 5000/5500/6500/7000 series. It's not just the 8000 that I am passionate about, but what I can say is that compared to many people voicing opinions on this thread, I have owned the majority of the amps in question for several years. Some I have moved on, and some I have kept, but they have all been with me for a considerable period of time and therefore I am confident that at least I am speaking from personal experience and not just making unfounded assertions based on esoteric performance figures. I had thought that as we were all enthusiasts together we could have a knock about and exchange strongly held opinions in an environment where no one gets offended. Peter repeatedly dismisses the Beomaster 6000 Quad as nothing more than two Beomaster 901s bolted together, but there is never a need for anyone to step in and ask Peter to tone down what he says. Why? Because that's his strongy held opinion and he's entitled to it.
Hopefully Ben will be pleased with the performance of his 6500 and M150 combination - actually Ben, you should report back and let us know how you get on once you have had chance to try everything out. Perhaps you could even try using your 6000 Quad (even though it is made from poor quality materials and has a rubbish circuit design) and let us know how that compares to the 6500 ;)
John
Aren't we just arguing the difference between sounding fine and optimal?
Ben may well find that there are better amps out there for his speakers (I am not doubting your advice on this!) , but he didn't ask what the best amp for these speakers is, he wanted to know if the 6500/MS150 combination would work and I very much doubt that he will experience any difficulties at all in getting a perfectly listenable sound out of his amp/speaker combination and I don't really understand why you are getting so frustrated with people who believe that this is the case.
Simon
It sometimes beggars belief how dismissive of anything other than your 8000 you can be John.
To call the 5000/5500 "not good amps" is nonsense. Not the best amps ever built for sure (neither is the BM8000 for that matter) but still better than most.
And the 6500 WON'T struggle for power driving the M150's for most peoples use - even in party mood. To drive them at full welly would be unbearable in a normal setting.
Chris.
You're being unduly harsh Chris. I don't know how much time you spend on the site these days reading my posts, but you'll see that as an enthusiast, I am enthusiastic about lots of other B&O amps. For example, I have repeatedly lauded the Beolab 5000, the 1980s Beomaster 6000, the Beomaster 6000 Quad, the 'ironing board' Beomaster 2000, and to an extent the Beomaster 5000 that is the first in the 5000/5500/6500/7000 series. It's not just the 8000 that I am passionate about, but what I can say is that compared to many people voicing opinions on this thread, I have owned the majority of the amps in question for several years. Some I have moved on, and some I have kept, but they have all been with me for a considerable period of time and therefore I am confident that at least I am speaking from personal experience and not just making unfounded assertions based on esoteric performance figures. I had thought that as we were all enthusiasts together we could have a knock about and exchange strongly held opinions in an environment where no one gets offended. Peter repeatedly dismisses the Beomaster 6000 Quad as nothing more than two Beomaster 901s bolted together, but there is never a need for anyone to step in and ask Peter to tone down what he says. Why? Because that's his strongy held opinion and he's entitled to it.
Hopefully Ben will be pleased with the performance of his 6500 and M150 combination - actually Ben, you should report back and let us know how you get on once you have had chance to try everything out. Perhaps you could even try using your 6000 Quad (even though it is made from poor quality materials and has a rubbish circuit design) and let us know how that compares to the 6500 ;)
I'm not doubting your enthusiasm one iota John - I just cannot accept your opinion that the 5000 types are not good amps and the way you simply dismiss some equipment which others may cherish.
Peter may well not be a lover of the BM6000 quad but I've never seen him denegrade it nor dismiss it out of hand on any post.
As to how much time I spend on here & read your posts? The answer is plenty, not just your posts but everyones which hold an interest to me.
Chris.
Actually I rather like the 6000 quad which is one of the most stunning designs that B&O have come up with. I do have one still! I call it two puffed up 901s because, from a circuit design point of view, that is what it is. The design in this case is more impressive than the sound. It is however an ergonomic triumph in many ways - back buttons and power switch excepted - to even think about such a design is incredible given the year.
Would I buy one - well yes I did! Is it my favourite amplifier - no and I would always recommend a different one for sound quality and indeed ease of repair! But most collectors will regard it as one of the jewels in the crown. A bit like Beovox 2500s which really have very little point these days!
Well the infamous speakers arrived today...rushed home instead of going back to work lol and furiously unpacked them and set them up to the Beosystem 6500. Cd in and press play....hmm...at first I wasn't sure as the sound is different but after trying a cd or two I decided I absolutely love them. Fills the whole room with music!! They are absolutely mint as well, even came with B&O speaker cables. The loudest I went was up to 50 then it was too loud for me. So I think they match absolutely fine, they look great and sound great!!
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