I would definitely stick to beosound9000 and link it to the imac via beoport. Complete the setup with an ipod touch and you get full and easy remote control of the setup, also in linkrooms if relevant.

I think it would make sense design-wise (although this might be highly subjective), feature-wise (cd-radio, although this also might depend on whether the beomaster5 would be attached to a beovision, in which case you could get access to your photo library - please note you cannot see photos on the beosound5 that is only a controler), and economicaly (save a great amount of money to get some other beo gear, in link rooms for example, or whatever you may fancy).

Also, as surprising as it might sound, I think it would be more futureproof. I think it is much easier and cheaper to upgrade or change your imac than upgrade the beosound/beomaster 5.

Just my 2cts

Christophe

This totally depends on your listening habits. If at this point you have already migrated mostly to digital music, you might well enjoy the BeoSound 5. If you still listen primarily to CDs and can't quite imagine the thought of discarding them, then attaching a BeoPort might be just enough digital music in your life. 

Either way, both audio systems are relatively future-proof for what they do CDs will always be CDs, even after they're barely produced just like terrestrial radio will likely be around in some form for the rest of our lives. 

Of course the BeoSound 5 is just a computer and monitor. New audio format? New codec. Install it and you're done. It supports audio, video, IP radio, and photo management. These are all the digital entertainment tasks that you'd need 15 years from now. So just as better CD transports have emerged since the BeoSound 9000 was designed, better DACs, better wireless stability, etc. may develop in coming years, but the BeoSound 5 will continue to be just as relevant among new technology as the BeoSound 9000 has been.

Again, though, really down to what you listen to. One of the happy problems with Bang & Olufsen is the emotional attachment we form to the products which makes them stay with us longer than they're truly useful sometimes.  

Dear TripEnglish:

Any thoughts on why the BeoMaster 5 has so little built-in space?  I doubt it is because of cost.  

I think at minimum its needs twice the current allotment, 500GB.  I know that its capacity can be expanded via the USB but that's not an elegant solution.  

B&O needs to address this issue promptly.  It is serious matter when contemplating getting one.  Plus, it would should just how serious B&O is about the digital era.  More importantly, it would indicate that they understand the need for extra space considering the BS 5's capabilities. 

I checked in on my own music collection. Mostly recorded at 320kbs with a few lossless. 36 gigabytes. I could start playing music and it would play for about 20 days before having to repeat. I could, in fact, increase the size of my music collection by 13 times for a total of 6,500 albums before I'd run out of space on the BeoMaster 5. So I guess if you have 6,550 CDs you may have a problem. But if you only own roughly six and a half thousand albums you should be fine.

Dear Trip:

True, music, even at 320kbs, does not take a lot of space.  But when we start adding pictures and what not, the space disappears rapidly.  

What about redundancy?  I could not tell from the current specs if BS/BM 5 makes copies of all the data.  It would not be a pleasure to have to reinstall all of that data.  You said the thing is a computer.  As such, the one lesson one learns sooner or later with computers is the need & responsibility for back ups.

Dario 

Pictures take up significantly less space than music. So after some quick math, you can store about 60 high quality photos for every 1 song. So at an average of 10 songs per album and 6,500 albums worth of space, you would have room for many many photos without asymptotically approaching a full hard drive. In fact, if you were to reduce your album collection to a mere six thousand albums, you would have enough room left over for three hundred thousand or so photos.

As for most computers needing back-up, all data is stored on a drive in what is essentially a computer. Whether it's a Mac, a BeoMaster, an AppleTV, a Sonos, a Sooloos, a Kaleidoscape, etc. Your CDs could also be be lost in a flood or fire. Things can be lost. It is the nature of them that such can be true. So BeoMaster 5 is no different. If you want to be extra safe, set up a backup drive with a macro to make copies for you. This is easy to do and the very minimum investment in time to preserve your six and a half thousand cds with no optical disc backups. Should not be any trouble.   

was having a further think.

just spoken to a mate who worked at the BBC in London and CDs are steadily on the way out for sure (he thinks more and more record stores will become obsolete )and although he's not a fan of B&o like me has recommended i get the sound 5 soonish. i think there are some reasons i can identify:

1. trading up or part-exchanging now whilst i can get a reasonable amount for my Beosound 9000 now is better than 3-5 years from now when it won't be worth anywhere as much as now.

2. the sliding clamp is so sexy but loading and unloading CDs is irritating.

3. i want to hide my CDs away from my lounge and with the cover art on beosound 5 that's a cool thing.

4. instead of burning compilation CDs on my laptop i can just make compilations on the Beosound 5 or use the MOTS which is so good there's 2 patents pending internationally.

5. i'm no longer confined to just FM radio on the Beosound 9000 and can listen to anything on the net on Beosound 5 using my Wifi unit rather than connecting it to my laptop.

6. Connecting my laptop to my Beosound 9000 for listening to itunes, net  music is not an elegant solution.

7. Instead of copying my friends CDs when they visit onto a CD without sleeve i can just download it onto the Beosound 5 with the album cover art.

8. The red unscrolling display on the beosound 9000 is looking dated...very dated now.

9. No moving parts unlike the Beosound 9000 which is one big moving part.

i really welcome people counter arguments rather just me getting carried away with my own justifications. the sound 9000 is cool but i am becoming increasingly conflicted...

perhaps the next progression is a new beocenter that does the same as the new beosound 5 but holds DVDs, blu rays, lossless uncompressed music all in one, downloads films off the internet...perhaps buying a beosound 5 is a bad choice given the likelihood of this system in the next few years the way technology is going...

what do you think?

I had just started a long reply then lost it…let’s try again..grrrr

Just spoke to a friend who used to work for the technical department at the BBC in London. He has advised me to upgrade soonish to the Beosound 5 from my Beosound 9000. He is certain from what he can see that CD sales will start to fall to the point more and more record stores close – the recent sales figures confirm this…

Here are some reasons for me upgrading – I would love your opinions and the more counter the better. It’s easy for me to get carried away with my own views and make a big purchase. The Beosound 9000 is so very cool but have a think about these points:

1.

Beosound 9000 is worth something at the moment on part-exchange and independent sales but in 3-5 years when people have moved more largely away from CDs it will be worth a lot less.

2.

Beosound 9000 display which doesn’t scroll is looking dated..very dated.

3.

Beosound 5 has little to no moving parts whereas the Beosound 9000 is one big moving part.

4.

Beosound 9000 requires a lead to an ipod or a laptop for net.music or if I have party and a friend brings CDs around – having a laptop in the same room as a B&O equipment is not an elegant solution.

5.

Beosound 5 allows me to finally get rid of my CDs from my lounge but still have the album cover art on its display.

6.

I love the Beosound 9000’s iconic design but I hate loading and unloading CDs especially as my Beosound 9000 is mounted vertically on a stand and there is just a small gap and sometimes need to crouch down for discs 4-6.

7.

I want to listen to music from around the world and Beosound 5 connected to my WiFi is so smart and intelligent without resorting to a laptop connected to a Beosound 9000.

8.

I no longer need to copy CDs from my friends onto a blank recordable CD on my laptop and then not have any album cover art as I do with my Beosound 9000. With the Beosound 5 I can just download their CDs on to Beosound 5 with the album art work.  Very simple and elegant solution.

But I have a sneaky suspicion that in a few years B&O will make a movie version of the Beosound 5 that will download movies off the internet and be able to hold hundreds of DVDs or Blu-rays, and all the music the Beosound 5 does on a similar hard-drive display system….

What do you think I should do – stick with the Beosound 9000 or make the jump to the Beosound 5????