Hi Simon

Their website is still up and running and their latest TVs run a customised UI / OS 

How does the 800series ex.802d3 compare to the Beolab 50s?

lawrencejmcook wrote:

Hooters is very much alive and kicking in 2020.

I wouldn't replace a brand with another brand. But If I would get rid of B&O:

- To replace my Beovisions, to me all TVs are the same today, almost. So I would go for Sony or LG, probably.

- For music it is different. I would keep my Lyngdorf TDAI (link) that I already use to correct the room response with my Beolab 5 and would add passive speakers to it, something like Triangle link . Or maybe update the Lyngdorf for a Trinnov ST2-HIFI or Amethyst (

I've tried.  I periodically question the $$$ I have tied up in B&O. Unfortunately for my bank account, I keep coming up with B&O.

If B&O were to disappear, I'd probably go with Sonos.  Nothing to look at, but then it doesn't try to do that.  From what I've read/heard from friends, it works well from a UI standpoint, and has decent audio (but nothing exceptional).  It wouldn't bring me "joy", but it would free up resources to find joy in other areas.  As my ears age, I think I'm getting less critical of audio...

Stan wrote:

I've tried.  I periodically question the $$ I have tied up in B&O. Unfortunately for my bank account, I keep coming up with B&O.

If B&O were to disappear, I'd probably go with Sonos.  Nothing to look at, but then it doesn't try to do that.  From what I've read/heard from friends, it works well from a UI standpoint, and has decent audio (but nothing exceptional).  It wouldn't bring me "joy", but it would free up resources to find joy in other areas.  As my ears age, I think I'm getting less critical of audio...

 

You are right, the monitor portion of our TV is a large brimless monitor with slight differences to suit our own needs. As for Sonos, I have auditioned the Arc and it is a bit bright for me. Having said that, I will be surprised if Apple don't come up with something for that particular market segment. After all, their Homepod can do stereo already. (Yes, I like the design from both B&O and Apple)

I agree with the comment that it makes more sense to replace products rather than brand. My history unfortunately is that I used to have ALL Bose products, then switched entirely to B&O - including Beovision TV, then switched entirely to Sonos and Pioneer (TV) and now I have a mixed environment with mostly B&O speakers and headphone, with Apple ecosystem and Sony TV. 

In general, I like B&Os design and quality and the software to me is getting much better - to the extent, I have no complaints. Not sure I’ll ever buy a Beovision again mainly due to price/performance value for me. 

Aesthetically B&O would be hard to replace, sound wise there are tons of choices and it would all depend on the purpose.

Here in Miami I am running an all B&O speaker 5.1 system together with an LG Old, Marantz AVR, Clearaudio TT,  and B&O Transmitter 1. Looks fantastic and sounds great, especially understanding that it is a compromise between home theatre and solid audio performance.

In our house in DC I am running an all Audionote system, with AN tube amp, AN TT 3 turntable and AN E speakers - clearly does not have anywhere near the look of B&O, but in terms of quality of sound it absolutely in a different league  - but then again it is a single purpose system.

Also in DC I am running a BoseLifestyle 5.1 hometheatre system which does an excellent job and because the speakers are so small they disappear.

Net, net there are horses for courses. However, in terms of appearance nothing really comes close to Bang and Olufsen and after some initial glitches I have ( knock on wood) had no issues whatsoever!

For us, nostalgics of the late 80s & 90s, we remain at B&O and our Beocenter 9500.

His design stays in ! The sound is good ! The connectivity is enough with his 3 inputs, 4 loudspeaker outpouts, 2 powerport outpouts, headspeaker.

Ok, we are in 2020 and everything needs to be connected, interconnected, sofware updated every 2 weeks, bluetooth, wifi, 4G, 5G......



But we think there are enough parasites in the air, so our system with a little bluetooth adapter offers enough for an iphone / ipad sound input.

The loudspeakers, we tested a few years ago from Netherlands some electrostatic panels, Final Sound 300i with an english sub REL Studio, it was amazing experience : nice design, nice sound, bass at right level (neutral sounding), but those electrostat speakers are quite fragile and need every 4-5 years a cleaning or ribbon replacement.
We saw also from Loewe some interesting design pieces.....


If budget isn't a ''topic'', there are a lot of TV/electronics with nice design and nice quality.... but nothing from only one supplier. B&O remains forever an exceptional company !