swestland wrote:

If that's going to be the case many Eclipse owners will be slapped in the face again. As with the v1 they have been told the screen would be upgradeable. Then v2 came out as LG changed the panels, and now with v2 it could happen again. So this supposed 'partnership' is just B&O buying LG screens...

Who said there's a partnership? I think that's just something speculated here and sales people at your dealership like to tell you to get people to buy an Eclipse. LG doesn't design panels for B&O. It might help them link up their products through software, but not much more beyond this.

Thinking you can drop in a new LG panel in 5 years is bizarre. Would you truly believe the LG 2021 panel (G1) will be exactly the same shape and design as a 2026 panel? Incredible.

Not sure what the right term is to describe the relationship - but B&O themselves talk about the agreement / partnership (whatever), and referred to it a couple of investor presentations ago, as the agreement has been renewed / extended for another few years. 

That all said, not sure why some dealers sold Eclipse V1s as upgradeable - none of the dealers in London I spoke to used that description, and it was never sold as a modular screen future proof unit around here. 

The V2 may be different to some extent though - in that the changes made do make dropping in future screens much more plausible.

But like you, I always remain somewhat sceptical - too many uncertainties over the next 5 (or so) years to be able to rely on such "promises".

A new limited ultramarine color BeoPlay EQ in Japan .....

https://beostore.jp/blogs/brandnews/20210107-01

ooooh, I see still 4 other items from the new "Moment Collection" in blue

Ushering a prosperous Lunar New Year with a new limited edition collection from Bang & Olufsen, featuring four classic products in a bold Indigo hue which symbolizes vitality and the future. Stay tuned for more information on local arrival and availability.

https://www.picuki.com/media/2745114620877447883

https://www.picuki.com/media/2744322064608341200

moxxey wrote:

swestland wrote:

If that's going to be the case many Eclipse owners will be slapped in the face again. As with the v1 they have been told the screen would be upgradeable. Then v2 came out as LG changed the panels, and now with v2 it could happen again. So this supposed 'partnership' is just B&O buying LG screens...

Who said there's a partnership? I think that's just something speculated here and sales people at your dealership like to tell you to get people to buy an Eclipse. LG doesn't design panels for B&O. It might help them link up their products through software, but not much more beyond this.

Thinking you can drop in a new LG panel in 5 years is bizarre. Would you truly believe the LG 2021 panel (G1) will be exactly the same shape and design as a 2026 panel? Incredible.

No speculation, quite clearly stated by B&O: 

swestland wrote:

I'm not believing the G1 panel will have the same shape and design as in 2026 but as many people said in the forums, the Mk2 eclipse is sold as upgradeable in the future. On the other hand, B&O rather wants you to buy a total new system instead of just having to swap out and change to a new LG panel. Thats no business for them. 

This is why I suggest that B&O make an Eclipse-grade soundbar/soundcentre. On the contrary of not generating sales, my "belief" would be that it generates more sales:-

1. The Eclipse is a GBP12k TV system. The OLED screens get wreaked in 2 minutes with burn-in. Why have a throwaway GBP9k every few years. Makes. No. Sense. To. Anyone. But. The. stupid. or. wasteful.

2. By having a long-lived Soundcentre and replacing a disposable Screen commodity, it gives a degree of confidence that your investment will get a half-decent return.

3. It will also generate a trade-in pathway once more which will act as a gateway to younger/more cost-conscious purchasers to start buying into an ecosystem. I think every single source B&O has made over the last 10 years has lacked this upgradeability (BS5, Moment, Eclipse, etc..) or tradability as second life product.

Extra thoughts/edit.

As previously indicated, think how the game would be with an Almando-type sound processor. All your legacy, current and future loudspeakers locked-in. What if there was Bluenote-grade streamer (not a fan of by the way but demonstrates my point) - ala BC5000-7000 (modular box styling - if not in a soundcentre). It would be no more expensive than a Moment but clearly upgradeable in terms of feature sets and quality but could be a "rolling replacement" as one decides to upgrade. 

To me, this lack of thinking by B&O (in my mind I should add) is why the big systems dont sell, the TVs are struggling and B&O is forced to downsize to a boom-box/headphones retailer. They have simply made products that are too grand in execution with a new threshold in life cycle expectancy, with a cost comparable to upper-end hi-end but now only delivering mediocre performance. 

I used to defend B&o against a couple of crazies who were on this forum some time ago with the exact same arguments. I think they were unfair and premature. Not any longer. sound/vision quality has exponentially improved elsewhere and B&Os pricings do not match that quality (aside from the 2-3 exceptional products they still continue to make).

Normann wrote:

I hope they will integrate with Roon!!

This one seems like it should be doable and would be welcome but not sure if B&O is motivated.

I mean, is there any reason B&O shouldn't offer native integration of the major streaming services like much (or most) of the less expensive competition does? Look at the enormous list of streaming services supported natively by BluOS. Can't we at least have the major ones?

Apple Music

Amazon Music

TIDAL

Qobuz

etc.

This is a software and licensing issue and seems like it could be addressed.

Hi Matthew, good to see you back.

Even Roon only has Tidal and Qobuz and their entire business is packaging music content.

Apple and Amazon are very different beasts and no amount of licensing fees will get them to disturb their eco-systems. It’s great that the B&O modern speakers are Roon endpoints but with only 100k users (it takes Apple about 24 hours to get this number of subscribers) what is Roon’s future?
Rumours are that there is a Roon rival coming soon with no annual fee and the big question is whether Roon will even survive.

If/when the promised Spotify HiRes arrives it should offer a real alternative given B&Os long term integration but the landscape is changing very quickly.

Rum 

Meant to say that BluOS and Rose are streaming hubs and it’s a great pity that B&O haven’t got one to be able to compete in this market 😒