Hi all :) 

I'm 28yo and approaching the verge of buying my very own B&o setup and wanted to ask for your wisdom and advice.

My father has a BeoSystem 2500 with Pentas MK3 , I grew up around these, polishing them , cleaning them, and putting them together and taking them apart whenever we moved so I feel like I've been a part of this community for years without ever having owned my own B&o haha

The thing is I've always wanted my own setup and now having been working and saving for about 2-3 years I'm somewhat in a position to do so - ideally I wanted a Beolab 18 with essence setup because to be honest I'd only ever use it wirelessly through my phone as I don't own any music physically. I know I'm a little below the average age of this forum haha but I use streaming services for all of my music or the radio.

That kit however is WAY out of my budget considering I'm renting at the min so I was going to put it off into the future but a friend of mine convinced me I need to live a little and maybe get something I CAN afford until I can get the ideal setup I dream of. So I was thinking of going for the Beosound 2 for 1500GBP odd but it has a lot less presence but then I stumbled upon the second hand market for BeoSound 8000s and there are ALOT of them out there of varying conditions and ages.

Don't mean to be so long winded but I suppose what I want to ask is considering the music I listen to is quite bass heavy should I opt for Mark 2 8000s?  (I gather these have enhanced bass? but I don't know for certain and tend to go for 2x the price of the MK 1 online , MK I can get for 400-500 a pair , MK 2 nothing is below 800 GBP) -  is this worth the difference?

Secondly, would an essence work to make them wireless and would the essence be better or a Core which I think is now the replacement for the essence since the "shape" came out.

So that is what I'm thinking BeoSound 8000s (MK1 or MK2) with an essence but if I go MK2 I may as well get the BeoSound 2 for that price no? I'm really at a loss and would appreciate some advice on this - I don't want to shell out more that 1500 GBP tops but I really want some B&o in my life right now I've waited too long for this! 

Lastly, I'm so too pleased to finally be posting on this forum I've been reading, learning and laughing along with you all for years from the sidelines feeling as though I didn't belong without having my own but the thread "Show off your Bang and Olufsen" really showed me you don't need to have the newest most expensive kit to really enjoy and appreciate the beauty of B&o - so I will now update my signature with my only B&o product that I own in the hope I'll one day join the lofty ranks of you lot ;)

- Thank you in advance for the help love from Scotland :D