I would not say it crashed and burned. It is a little less volume on Ebay since about a year, however prices for BL6000 or BC2 if one shows up haven't changed much in the last 2 or 3 years I would say.

Of coure there is product that is very hard to sell, i.e. BV5 due to shipping complexity or BS2.

Not sure why it does not take off here, the brand is known not just for their presence in the Apple Stores. With the BV7 and BV8 they have products now.  It could be, that people are less design conscious here. I like modern furniture and had a hard time finding stores that carry it outside NYC until design within reach came along.

This one is for Trip English I guess ..... 

My sister lives in the US and I have noticed on my visits there that the Average American consumer is very, very conservative. 

All the upper middle class neighbourhoods she has lived in and surrounds them, in both LA and now Chicago are both filled with classically styled homes, and it is all very pretty and picturesque, in a leave it to beaver sort of way. You see almost no modern homes unless you go into certain neighbourhoods such as the Hollywood hills in LA and the Chicago inner suburbs. Then you look to the middle market brands that are popular, for home its Pottery Barn and Crate and Barrel , fashion Ralph Lauren, JC Crew, and Bannana Republic etc. This all fits this very preppy, relaxed, classic and very conservative style.

It always surprises me when I watch things on entertainment TV and I see rock / pop / movie stars homes, they outwardly appear very hip, fashionable and you would expect that they would live in some incredible loft style, modernist home / apartment. Instead you get this classic manor!

So generally I would say the appreciation of great modernist design and therefore B&O would be perhaps somewhat limited. 

Nobody is buying anything here just as in the EU.  Circuit City which is a large electronics retailer announced today the closing of 135 stores nationwide.  The only stores with crowds are the Apple stores.

Used B&O on Ebay can be tricky because many of the sellers are not B&O owners.  They are selling used B&O from what we call estate sales.  Estate sales are conducted due to a house being seized by a bank because of a mortgage default or because the home owner is deceased. These sellers usually under estimate the condition of the item.  However sometimes one can find the mint rare item at a good price.  I recently purchased a Beocenter 9500 in mint condition.

B&O is largely unknown in most of the country except in the larger coastal cities like New York and Los Angeles.  There are several US Beoworlders in this forum who live far from a B&O store.

I think the recession is worldwide. 

Lee,

The US is a diffcult market for 2nd hand B&O, it's out there but it is hard to find.  I am constantly searching E-Bay and the local market.  I am also fortunate enough to have a top notch B&O store in my City, and they will, on occassion, mention a possible client that is selling some of their B&O, but it never materializes.  I'm that way too, once I have some B&O products in my possession, it's hard for me to get rid of it.

The others comments regarding contemporary design are also very true.  We have a traditional style home, but have contemporary furnishing and art work.  Our neighbors are all traditional and pretty much the same on the outside and inside.

My wife had very traditional tastes when we met and she really embraced my contemporary tastes has enjoyed the change and is proud of being different. 

Hi,

In addition to the above, buying 2nd hand items seems to be frowned upon by both dealers and B&O America.  I recently purchased a 1-year old set of Beolab 5 speakers and was not able to purchase a set of shipping boxes from my dealer.  They initially quoted me $160 for 2 boxes but when I called two days later to ask for a delivery date they had canceled my order without telling me (their policy is that they do not sell packaging material to second owners).  Eventually the seller of the pair of speakers bought them on my behalf but only one box was delivered two weeks later at a final charge of $180.  The seller (or I) never received the second box. 

I called B&O America twice to talk to somebody about my experience but both times the manager was going to call me back, which they never did. I can only imagine what warranty service I will receive if I ever need it.  I am planning to file a complaint with the BBB.

Quadracci Pavilion in Milwaukee north of Chicago.  A link is below

Usually the near wealthy and wealthy buy Bang & Olufsen products and don't bother with Ebay.  One time in the B&O store on State street I witnessed a person buy 5 Beovision 9's for a single house.  There were no questions asked.  When the Beovision 7 was introduced, the event was held at the local Bentley dealer.  Amazing cars but not exactly a B&O style.

http://www.arcspace.com/architects/calatrava/milwaukee_art_museum/ 

 

Lee,

Many dealers don't take used B&O in trade nor do they extend much of a discount.  Some salesman seem a little detached from reality but most are attentive.  Sometimes the salesmen will ignore younger customers thinking you have to be 40 and in an Armani suit. However I like my dealer and work with the same salesman for all my purchases.  They have repaired items I have purchased on ebay without question.

 

They should never frown upon 2nd life buyers. They should be treating this as an opportunity to present the brand in a very nice light, and sofar every dealer I visited was very nice.

The discussion around modernism I find very interesting, I always felt that B&O does not fit into more classy home. 

http://www.bang-olufsen.com/page.asp?id=343

For the Beocenter 2, they took a picture in sort of a mixed home that combined modern and old. That is something that I found as well in Hotels designed by Starck and for me this is a very interesting style. But in a true old school home it does not work, neither does any other TV.

JK 

Hi Linder,

You perhaps missed it but I have been to your beautiful city, my sister now lives in Saint Charles outside of Chicago. And, yes I have been into the city numerous times, how could I not!.... which is filled with so many wonderful buildings and works, by the likes of Mies, Gehry etc, and not to mention all the early skyscrapers! Also went to see all the wonderful Frank Lloyd Wright houses... master of linear forms, beautiful spaces, light and proportion!

Yes I agree, beautiful, Calatrava is another master, his public works are very poetic. Have you seen his bridges?  Exercises in tension and sensuous curves, quite breath taking.

Really, I don't usually like to make sweeping generalisations, but it was my opinion (and I guess a little bit of surprise to be honest) of the feeling I got of the 'average' consumer during my trips there.... I know there are many world renown examples of modernist design in the US and people who are passionate about design like yourself.