Mercedes a car manufacturer - not joking, B&O AV products compete with car manufacturers for our money !!!

iPods will run easily below 30 Hz, although they do roll off around 15 kHz as you say.

Most people can hear easily down to 20 Hz though, and often below! The BeoLab 5s start their frequency sweep at 19 Hz I believe (although there's a crosstone, which results in a harmonic at something stupid like 8 Hz), and it's possible to hear this tone in the right conditions.

Also, the frequency response of B&O gear is out of this world in comparison to most other hifi. BeoLab 5s, 9s or 3s will completely destroy any of the competition if you simply compare frequency response (which you would never do anyway). Many of the other products are some of the best out there as well (BeoSound 1 springs to mind).

Just to be sure about this, on a couple of occasions I could have sworn I saw uneven paint on a BeoSound 1 grille, but it always turned out to be the lighting, or reflection off a nearby surface (I imagine this could be an issue if you have a tiled or bright wooden floor). Are you certain this isn't the cause?

If so, as many others have said, contact B&O head office directly. They need to know as soon as possible if defective units are rolling out (which is unlikely). 

Not sure we are going to resolve this one here as I have said before. There is no point in arguing with Tascam about what he saw as only he saw it and if he says they were scratched etc, that is clearly all that is important to him. I am very sorry your introduction to B&O has been so poor. At least it sounds as though you have an excellent system to take your mind off it! I am ending this thread at this point as I don't think the suggestions you are getting are helping!

Best wishes