Michael has taken the words right out of my mouth! I am with you on all fronts and if you hadn’t of posted first I would have listed exactly the same products!
By the way, great thread OP! Very good topic and one I have often thought about.
I was first drawn to B&O 40 years ago now for the unique design of their products so I am 100% about aesthetics and nothing has changed. For this reason alone it would be almost impossible for me to replace B&O since nobody else does what they do.
Loewe would have been the closest but unless someone tells me otherwise, I thought they went bust a few years ago? I also read on another thread on this forum that someone who owns a Loewe hates it, so that didn’t paint a great picture as I always thought they were of a high quality, specially being a German brand. I think they said the menu system was terrible and they were having all sorts of other problems too. Design wise I sort of liked them but they didn’t really captivate me. With B&O, particularly the 70s-90s era, it was a love affair and I was totally captivated. Nobody else has ever made me feel that way towards or about their product. Kudos to B&O for a second time for that! They have some incredible achievements to be proud of and have set the bar very high many times. Love them for that.
Simon.