Puncher wrote:

It's a particular bugbear of mine that folk speak of the BS5 as if it doesn't need a "PC in the corner" when if fact it most certainly does (and a big ugly one at that) - the BM5.

If Andreas wanted to he could (more easily) hide his Mac Mini, and listen to high quality, lossless music, via hs BL5's whilst navigating his collection from the comfort of any chair in his listening room (or entire house for that matter) using a dedicated iPad if he so desired while hanging onto a sizeable chunk of change. The only thing he'd miss would be MOTS, which, while it may have smarter algorithms when processing the content, I've yet to hear any convincing argument that it's generated playlists are any more listenable than that of Genius or any other such auto playlist generator.

The only justification I can see for a BS5/BM5 system is if you absolutely adore the looks of the BS5, and in that case fair do's, it's the device for you.

Puncher, Puncher, Puncher (shakes head and smiles in a gentle fatherly way).

There are many justifications for a BeoSound 5 and they're no different or less numerous than any Bang & Olufsen product ever invented. Had the internet been around in its current form when the BeoSound 9000 came out there would no doubt have been a ravaging to best anything directed at the BeoSound 5. THOUSANDS FOR A SIX DISC CHANGER!!! HOW DAAAAARE THEY!!! THE UNMITIGATED GAUL OF THOSE DANISH VILLAINS!!!! DON'T THEY REALIZE SONY CAN STORE 400 CDS FOR MERE HUNDREDS!!! GRAB YOUR TORCHES AND FOLLOW ME TO STRUER!!! 

For certain people, there was a point to be made then and a point to be made now. But those "certain people" are not Bang & Olufsen clients in the sense that "client" means "person who buys things." They're fans, ex-clients, and amateur internet pundits. They're people who are not our intended audience and their "input" has value only in so much as their values, needs, and goals are in line with actual and potential clients. It's like reading a steakhouse review by a vegetarian. Is the steak terrible or is the idea of steaks terrible? 

Then there is the B&O client for whom a stable, beautiful, high performance solution is just what the doctor ordered. This client wants music throughout the home, ease of use, a single interface language, a high level of service, and understands that better things cost more. That's life on planet Earth. Welcome aboard. 

If Sonos suits your needs, you're not our audience. Having a system that's novel and functional in one narrow way is not acceptable. Sonos offers access to several sources, all of which sound terrible. There is no integration possible with larger systems and a unique remote or app must be used to talk to the Sonos. A switched on PC is a hidden cost, unlike the BeoMaster 5 which is included, so the Sonos is also not as cheap as you'd think and after you buy it, and then a computer, and then still get rotten sound and limited control you realize that you've waited in line for 3 hours for a free ice-cream cone. (But you can buy DACs for all the ZP90s they say! - Right, more hidden costs. Just how much money are you willing to flush down the toilet?)

B&O doesn't claim to be what it isn't. We're not for everyone. We're expensive. We're hand made. We're designed with clear intentions and ideas on usability. We offer our clients what they ask us for and if the nameless, faceless, chorus of complaints doesn't find resonance with us, well, what did they expect?

I personally find the BeoSound 5 to be the best option and my main quarrel with it vanishes with the Beo6 for link-room browsing. I have completely abandoned the use of Kaleidescape at home for music and even my wife favors the BeoSound 5 (she won't even load music onto her iPhone because it's "so complicated"). It meets every last one of our needs without having to encounter any road-blocks in usability or poor sound quality and integrates seamlessly with our existing televisions and link system. Why would we even consider anything else? 

 

 

Puncher wrote:

.......but beware of the Priests of the Temples of Syrinx!!

That is POTS, not MOTS.

Speaking personally, I have no real idea how to go forward. I have vinyl that only goes onto the turntable very occasionally, and Cds that currently go into the DVD tray on a BC1 now and then (having discarded numerous non-B&O CD players in the past).

I've thought about one of those

vikinger wrote:

Speaking personally, I have no real idea how to go forward.

Me neither... I find myself listening to the plain old radio 95% of the time.

@Andreas... we tend to think alike. I believe deep down -you want the BM5/BS5. I would wait and see what the Encore offers before making a final decision.

mawheele wrote:

The Beosound 5 does not provide a seamless connection to your iTune library. 

I still fail to see how this would even be helpful.  You want to be free of the constraints of a platform like iTunes (which on Windows is hideous, and I wouldn't touch with a barge pole), or indeed any other platform.  You also don't want to have to leave your PC on just for something like a BS5 to work.

Ask yourself, if you were buying a new PC today, would you buy it with Windows XP. No. But thats what a BS5 fundamentally is in embedded flavour.

Linking those two is a bit of a fallacy.  No, you wouldn't buy a PC with Windows XP on it.  But yes, you would buy something like a BM5 with XP Embedded on it.  The latest version of Windows Embedded is Windows Embedded 2009.  Which is still based on XP.  For a platform like this, you need something proven, reliable and as lightweight as possible.  The next version will be a stripped down version of Windows 7, but won't be released till next year.

The Media Player uses the same technology as on a Zune.

Windows Media Player to be more precise.  The WMP engine is proven, and it works, so what's the issue with it?  Do you want them to reinvent the wheel just to play files?

Get an AppleTV for £99 or $99 and you'll get the function of BS5 + so much more, with simplicity and elegance that if B&O knew how to write software, then this would be it. Then, get an iPad when you really want to enjoy complete media flexibility and install the remote app which completely redefines how remote controls should be.

Except you now have two remotes, the tv always thinks it's a video source so puts your music on in Speaker 3/5, multi-room's a pain, and you can't use it as a play timer reliably.  Sadly, there's downsides to both.

If I had a chance back when I bought my BL5, I would likely have purchased the BS5 to go with them. It is a beautiful unit in sight and touch. Wasn't out yet.

As it is, I have my lab 5 connected directly via dig coax to a Sonos zp90. I also have my bs9000 connected as well. I made this possible using a digital audio splitter which automatically sends the active signal to the speakers.

It's not a perfect system but it works. I can play lossless music via Sonos from a time capsule that serves as a NAS. Sonos also allows me to play net sources like rhapsody and Sirius radio.

Still, the BS5 is really, really nice and if you can go for it.

@ tripenglish

 

Hmm ... i have a lot of B&O gear for decades now ... but i am still interested in solutions that are innovative and meet the demands of contemporary lifestyles. And i think that your phrases are not getting any wiser by permanent repetition.

There are several innovative alternatives in the market, that can even be integrated into a B&O world. And a lot of people here experienced, that they may offer even better sound quality (not necessarily Sonos, although it delivers CD quality resolution). At the same time this gear is open for networking with significant players in the market and can adapt to new chanels of distribution. And me and some other people don't see why B&O shouldn't take care of these massive changes.

The Beosound 5 is far from beeing a successful product within the B&O portfolio ... you should know the sales numbers, as you are part of the sales organisation. How can you say it meets the demands of B&O customers, when it is such an underperformer saleswise. B&O customers expect excellence and the BS/BM 5 does not deliver. And it is not getting any better by refusing reality.

I personally stick to TV's and loudspeakers made by B&O, where they deliver excellence imho. And i am glad, that integration with superior products work pretty well. And it is not a questions of money at first hand. But i hate to pay a premium for an underperformer.

Yesterday the new B&O Gateway was explained to me. It makes sense with advanced and complex bus-systems in house automatisation and therefore will be a niche market. This is important to have for a brand like B&O because it shines down on the rest of the portfolio. But it is not suitable for bigger sales numbers in the sophisticated consumer markets ... and a company like B&O will need these revenues to pay future research & development to be able to compete in terms of technical and functional excellence.

I hope "we" is not "you" ... maybe the B&O organisation is starting to learn what life is going to be in 10 years time.

Regards

Tim

Rookie,

As your name suggests, you have a little bit to learn.  

Rookie wrote:

Hmm ... i have a lot of B&O gear for decades now ... but i am still interested in solutions that are innovative and meet the demands of contemporary lifestyles. And i think that your phrases are not getting any wiser by permanent repetition.

Neither is anyone else's, but that's life on the forums.

Rookie wrote:

There are several innovative alternatives in the market, that can even be integrated into a B&O world. And a lot of people here experienced, that they may offer even better sound quality (not necessarily Sonos, although it delivers CD quality resolution). At the same time this gear is open for networking with significant players in the market and can adapt to new chanels of distribution. And me and some other people don't see why B&O shouldn't take care of these massive changes.

I'm interested in which solutions you're referring to? Kaleidescape? Maybe, but it needs a TV screen in every room and costs 5 figures just to get a basic one-room setup. Interactive iPod docks? Same issue and you're limited to what's on your iPod. Apple's Airplay? Same issues as Sonos. Too much extra gear needed to correct for poor sound quality and the interface isolates you from the system at large. None of these are terrible solutions, mind you, but they're all far from perfect.

Rookie wrote:

The Beosound 5 is far from beeing a successful product within the B&O portfolio ... you should know the sales numbers, as you are part of the sales organisation. How can you say it meets the demands of B&O customers, when it is such an underperformer saleswise. B&O customers expect excellence and the BS/BM 5 does not deliver. And it is not getting any better by refusing reality.

The issue here has little to do with the BeoSound 5 specifically and more to do with the role that audio plays in the home. It's as much a philosophical sea-change as anything. The two-channel world thrived on and bred dedicated audio listeners and people were as likely to listen to an album on their home audio system as watch television. 

These days video rules the home and music has been relegated to a soundtrack in the background for many users. It's not unusual to leave audio out of a very large sophisticated system just because the client doesn't listen to much music. In these cases an AppleTV does the trick and, for all its failings, is my go-to media box.

It's highly doubtful that dedicated audio players will ever comprise as strong a position in the sales mix as they once did, with TVs and loudspeakers gobbling up more of the budget. This makes sense and reflects a portfolio with two options rather than 4-5 as in the CD world. 

Rookie wrote:

I personally stick to TV's and loudspeakers made by B&O, where they deliver excellence imho. And I am glad, that integration with superior products work pretty well. And it is not a questions of money at first hand. But i hate to pay a premium for an underperformer.

I'm glad you see the value in the video. As you may have heard, many here don't. I've recently learned to sleep through the night despite this fact. (-;

As for the BeoSound 5 being an under-performer, I might suggest that mis-performer is a better description. You failed to offer specific alternatives that sparked your interest, so I'm not sure what you actually find wrong with the BeoSound 5 and what you find right with other media products, but given that the BeoSound 5 is price competitive with its true peers, unimpeachable in its sound performance, dazzling in its physical beauty, lighting fast in its operation, and offers complete integration in a way no other product does, I'm interested in hearing just what you think is the matter with it. 

Rookie wrote:

Yesterday the new B&O Gateway was explained to me. It makes sense with advanced and complex bus-systems in house automatisation and therefore will be a niche market. This is important to have for a brand like B&O because it shines down on the rest of the portfolio. But it is not suitable for bigger sales numbers in the sophisticated consumer markets ... and a company like B&O will need these revenues to pay future research & development to be able to compete in terms of technical and functional excellence.

I hope "we" is not "you" ... maybe the B&O organisation is starting to learn what life is going to be in 10 years time.

Regards

Tim

B&O has never gone after the mass market and has expanded and contracted around the very top few percent depending on broader economic conditions. You should also do a little research on how electronics firms actually develop new technologies. 

It should be noted that ML Gateways offer benefits at any scale of system and most successful shops include them as a matter of course in their system designs. Integration is the watch-word of our industry and the public has less and less tolerance for the sacrifices required of certain novelties.

-T-Bone

Hi Trip,

As I mentioned in a previous answer I am considering two options when available:

1) The BS5 Encore / Beo6 combo

2) The Olive HD server.

 

By any chance you or anyone have any experience with the latter?

 

Thanks

Tim (Rookie), you have a wonderful setup like you described on the previous page. The iPhone/iPad app for Sonos is a joy to use. Better and faster than any controller on the market. Plus the benefits it can do lots of other things other than controlling your music-library.