Hard to sell what you don't have on display....

StUrrock wrote:

Outstanding or not everything comes to an end or is updated eventually.

Also the sales numbers will have a big say in how long they remain in the range.

I visit dealers who don't even have 5s on display!

SHEFFIELD wrote:

The BeoLab 5 is still an outstanding speaker and there are no plans to discontinue the model.

I sold a pair yesterday to a new customer that thought they represented great value against the opposition...

If I write: link I get a blank - but online - site.

Here is the info, that I found about it:

link

Technically, I am shooting myself in the foot by posting the following since I like to play with and resell the occasional 5. But then, I don't try to get $26,000.00 for them!...

So... the Lab 5 is a *fine* speaker, I'm listening to them right now, but technology marches on and if you consider that the B&W 800 Series was still ONLY in the NAUTILUS revision WAAAAAY back in 2003, this speaker has since been superceded in its technical abilities.You don't have to look too far to even see this. The Beolab 9 dealt a not insignificant blow to the 5's "necessity", then 'Lab 20 came along and put another kink in the armor. We've had some members here who have had little to no regret in their downgrade from 5s to 9s or 20s. That's efficiency. Further squeezing the 5 from outside directions, B&W's Diamond D3 is now out and it would be very hard to take seriously the opinion of anyone who doesn't think the 802 D3 would easily exceed the BL5 in resolution and imaging. In terms of dynamics, the BL5 probably still holds its own because of its enormous, almost hilariously so, bass driver and its massive built in amplification. If you want to argue design, OK THEN. But the new D3 makes a pretty damned impressive statement all its own, if not in a more traditional sense. 

There's nothing exotic or special about the drivers in the BL5. The only interesting tidbit of this speaker anymore is the massive power reserve in its Class D amps, its 15 inch bass driver, and the fact that its mid and high range drivers shoot up into a curious contraption that spreads the sound out in a versatile pattern. From what I hear B&O have actually abandoned ALT in the new high end speaker so I will tell you exactly why the BeoLab 5 would stick around if it did... It's the "G Wagen" effect. Our G Wagen from 2005 is identical outside to a 2015 model and not far removed from the original 1979 debut, yet Mercedes still happily sells these for 130-200,000.00. Why the hell not? It's an icon and the tooling and development costs were paid off *DECADES* ago! So as long as they can keep the safety requirements met, it will continue to hold its position in the lineup with nothing other than cosmetics and engine/transmission changes. I think B&O use this same approach on BL5... The development and tooling costs have probably been covered by now, so keeping it alive, especially with the backstocks that probably exist in a warehouse somewhere, is no harm no foul. But don't make the mistake of believing the BL5 is kept around because it's better than something equivalently priced today. In fact, as much as I love the BL5, it really should have at *least* been updated with WISA (how hard could this possibly be?) and 32/192khz DACs now. The very top of the speaker with the little green LED also looks outdated now compared to the other ALT speakers in the lineup and the interesting placements they did with the power and standby LEDs on those. BL5 is desperately in need of a V2 and it can probably done without too much cost if the core of the speaker remains unchanged. Instead we are getting a 50, 90k ridiculous halo product few will even be able to afford... *sigh*.

Now... here's the interesting part. That does *NOT* mean that being old is necessarily a criteria for being "bad". In some ways, as I've stated here before, I think my Penta IIIs are a "funner" and "more involving" speaker than the BL5, even if not technically as accurate. The bass that those "little" towers can produce is absolutely unreal, even if not very accurate. But then... Penta IIIs were only 5k for the pair so technically at their given price the Penta III has probably held up better to time than the price range the BL5 attempts to play in. It's also curious to me that all of these renderings we are seeing for "Beolab 90" seem to be tall elongated shapes, like the old Pentas. I don't know how much accuracy there is to that, but I can see why B&O continues to return to that form factor time and again. Somehow, it works. 

SHEFFIELD wrote:

Hard to sell what you don't have on display....

I know exactly what is coming and it isn't any fancy coloured Lab 5s 😀

Millemissen wrote:

Peter Pan wrote:

🤒

No way!

MM

So show me Millmissen how BeoLab 90 will look like!  😕

Nothing like it...