Best source for BeoLab5?

16 replies

Hi Iam going to get a used pair of Beolab5 but iam unsure which of the sources will sound best between Beosound9000 or Beocentre2-any other options?

Have any of you owned other brand highend systems before,if so how did you rate the B&O in pure 2ch??

 Any detailed advice much appreciated,Thankyou 😐

I would go with BS9000, purely for looks! (I have the same setup, and it's great!)

BC2 with DVD if you want a complete AV solution.

Before I switched back to B&O I had a very good high-end system. ELac 609 speakers, Pathos endorphin CD player, Pathos Logos amp etc...

But I enjoy listening to my music much more with the B&O system. Yes the old system was better in reproducing mid and high-level details, partly for having "Air motion transformer" trebles instead of the classic dome tweeter B&O uses. But moving down to lower mid and low frequencies, there's probably nothing in this price range of the BL5 that can beat it. The power and control is simply mind-blowing.

 

I have a masterlink system, and have the BL5 connected to my BV5, but watching TV and movies, I seldom use them this way.

 

So simply put, I wouldn't go back to my old system, costing just as much, and the Hype that you don't get your money's worth with B&O in sound is just pure BS.

 

Get the BL5's and BC2, BS9000 or BS5 and enjoy. Use these, because you get a digital out (SPDIF) this way you will feed the BL5's with a uninterrupted digital signal. You can buy a third party CD player, but things like synchronization etc between the speakers come into play, and I actually tried this with a Mac Mini only to find out that my BL5 was a too early model to work in sync using the sync cable from B&O. It's there, but can't be used. 😭 I did ponder more than once about keeping the Endorphin CD player, since it such a beauty:

 

But I wanted the whole experience with Masterlink and what not...

 

Thankyou for the reply,the Bsound9000 was my original choice, I plan to add BV7 at a later date.

While searching for info on the BL5 I found this video!

That is a question i have always wanted to ask about best source for bl5 

surely there are much better specified cd players than b+o 

the pathos looks much better than any other cd player i have seen  pity it didnt work as well

 

 

Well I'm sure the Pathos would have worked just fine, especially with a newer set of BL5's than mine.

But on the other hand, sending the BL5's a pure digital signal, then there might not be a point using a very expensive CD player, since it's only used as a transport.

Easy! Get a hard disk transport either from Zero one www.zerooneaudio.com , Nova Physics www.novaphysicsgroup.com, Sooloos www.meridian.com, Olive www.olive.us , Naim www.naim-audio.com or you can simply get B&O's own Beosound 5. Rip all of your Cds in wav/uncompressed and you have a digital transport with internet radio and unparalleled cd playback performance. Investing in a cd only player is not a worthwhile investment anymore, not only you are not getting the most performance you are paying for but you will have to fuss about CD handling (scratches) etc. 

Well, Wonderful electric, that's a highly personal opinion you have there. I would never invest in a pure HD transport option. 

Well, Wonderful electric, that's a highly personal opinion you have there. I would never invest in a pure HD transport option. 

I dont really understand the practical workings of hd transport they look very complicated i want something that is reasonably priced and can interface with a cd player without using a computer.

 

 

Thanks for the reply but I really like mechanical engineering and the Bs9000 is the stuff of dreams for me.

 

Very unlike B&O's own Beosound 5, most of the HD servers out there works just like a cd player. No complications there. Plus you immediately get album/ track details and artwork once you hook it them up to the internet. Lab results and general audiophile consensus have come to a conclusion that memory/hard disk players are clearly superior so no personal opinions there.

DirtyDiana Beosound 9000 might look very good but it is very high maintenance are you prepared for that. You might want to consider B&O's other options. 

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