Agree with you! I think B&O are in need of a quick period of upgrading. Obviously some BL9s could be a good start and the BS3 is now excellent. Which BV4 did you have? The true Full HD one? However I will not deny that B&O are lagging a bit at present. I think Masterlink needs to be upgraded and that the LCD screens are still not that impressive. Hopefully the new BS3 based BV7 could be the answer.

Maybe until they do you should keep what you have and get a bit of vintage equipment to keep your hand in! When we finally get ML2 and some truly innovative products, then I would buy.  

Hi Pushkin,

I think your reaction is perfectly legitimate, and it is also the kind of reaction that a top-end manufacturer (of any kind of product) must listen to. I dropped away from the B&O brand in the late 90s and am coming back now. But I am also very critical of what I would buy from the range.

One simply has to recognize that there are lots of manufacturers out there who are turning out quite excellent products -- and that the B&O price premium is hard to defend unless it's backed by a performance that rivals other offerings. I am hugely impressed by the BL5s, BL3 - have spent some time listening to the BL9s, but not at home yet. The BL4000s/6000s remain great for their use.

B&O should have gone for SACD in their players - it's not that hard to implement, and it provides richer sound for those who desire richer sound. A lot of classical and jazz recordings are made available in that format, and it's quite an experience when the recording, and the speaker setup, match!

The brand has to deliver FOREGROUND MUSIC, and not be satisfied with giving background music to people who don't sit down to listen attentively. 

As to screens. For a rectangular flatscreen, wall mounted, such as the one you let go, it's hard to justify the B&O price unless the performance matches what's otherwise available.

Pioneer is making it hard for a lot of manufacturers, as they are making a serious effort to achieve the ultimate in Plasma with their

In the days of CRT (weird saying that not long after we were saying 'plasma won't take on that quickly'), B&O were ahead of the game. It's pretty safe to say that the latest and greatest version of the Avant was the best CRT TV ever made and still has just about the best picture on the market.

However, when B&O dropped the Avant (not literally) and replaced it with the BeoVision 7, they took a supermassive leap back in terms of picture performance (although everything else got better). It's only very very recently (BeoSystem 3 introduction) that I feel the picture performance of the BeoVisions has started to get anywhere near what the Avant could do. Sure the Avant wasn't HD, but it didn't need to be. IMO the only BeoVisions which have surpassed the Avant in terms of picture are the BeoVision 4 and 9, which are essentially the same television! Even then, some may still prefer the Avant's picture.

The BeoVision 7 looks like it's going to be a cracker when it's updated though, as at the moment I feel it's performance lags very far behind the other BeoVisions. The US members who have seen it so far have said the performance surpasses the BeoVision 9, which means a pretty amazing picture.

I think you should wait for a bit, until B&O have updated all their TVs. It's a shame they seem to be doing things in large leaps, rather than updating the sets more often. This was fine with the CRTs, as technology moved much slower then. However, now we're just over the edge of the never ending HD-upgrade abyss, B&O need to keep on top of new technology much quicker. I think they can do this with the BeoSystem 3 though, and implementing it into the BeoVision 7 will give them a much better stance in comparison to other brands out there at the moment.

In terms of sound, if you've gone from BeoLab 8000s or 3s to B&Ws, then you will have definitely noticed an increase in performance. I swear by B&W speakers, and only since B&O has introduced the BeoLab 9s and 5s do I feel they have managed to rival other manufacturers such as B&W's performance in terms of bang for your buck.

I'm interested to see what B&O does with the speaker range though, as to me it looks a bit divided at the moment, with BeoLab 5s and 9s in one group which can easily compete with speaker/amp combos of the same price from other brands, and 4s, 4000s, 6000s and 3s in the other and 8000s somewhere in the middle, both kinda struggling to make their price tag seem acceptable in terms of their sonic performance. I hope B&O release more speakers in the same group as the 5s and 9s, as they really need sound performance to match the picture.

Very good thread.

 With the price of the BeoVision 4, WHY HAVEN'T B&O USED THE PIONEER PANELS?!

I agree with you, Mecca

I do not actually NEED a EUR.8000 tv, but that stuff is as beautifull when switched off as efficient when switched on, in terms of integration, simplicity, excellent if not best picture  and sound. Design is more my religion than best and latest technology...

Cheers, Laurent.