Can one B&O audio system work for music and movies?

[AdamS]

Oh, yes indeed – it certainly can!

[Millemissen]

Very well, yes!
I have done that for 30 years now.

No going back…..it has gotten better and better – especially since I got the BS Theatre.

And, by the way – music is not limited to two channels (usually called stereo)……the more channels, the better ??????

MM

[Steve at Sounds Heavenly]

Hi Beoworlders,

I would be interested to hear your thoughts on whether one B&O audio system can give you the best sound for music AND home cinema? I met up with Ian from B&O Manchester to find out his views in this video, please let me know your thoughts!

Kind regards, Steve.

[Ianc2]

Steve at Sounds Heavenly wrote:

B&O audio system can give you the best sound for music AND home cinema? I met up with Ian from B&O Manchester to find out his views in this video, please let me know your thoughts!

this ian from Manchester , noted the other ian from Manchester was quick to interject with a proviso when you asked him this question .

i agree with him , though i have dynaudio speakers and they might make an argument from that side of things and im sure Lyngdorf/steinway might give a little wave …..

b&o have allways made good products , but to say they are the best is all down to what you are working with.

are they the best at integrating the all the technology needed to achieve “both” into products than can suit most rooms and decors ? I would say yes to this .

are they the best at making products that can either disappear or stand out in a room ? To this I also say yes

‘are they THE BEST at sound ? Highly subjectible  , but I would strongly say no .

not that they are bad , and in fact rather fantastic in what they can do mixing great design AND great sound !!

‘if you had a real home cinema room with acoustic cloth or some other design hiding/covering all the speakers and electronics , I would wager better results could be had .

and likewise with proper design around a dedicated listening spot , it could do stereo music (or any permutation of) better .

but in the average “living” room , from a 1-bed flat to a penthouse , I believe b&o do it right .

note: I used to be heavily into stereo many years ago when I lived back in England , and I was HARD to find a happy place where you wasn’t thinking of or trying yet another upgrade . With hindsight I put this down too making stereo my hobby rather than making music or listening to music , and therefore reading magazines etc and getting crazy ideas !!!

The last system I tried was a simple pair of meridian balanced m3s and cd player/pre-amp shoeboxes , absolutely fantastic in such small and well designed “boxes” and I started to see the error of my ways …

that all changed when I decided to go with “surround sound” , and dump the hi-fi only hobby . I got 4x BL800s and an avant (with vcr built in !!!) … the ambience of the room changed for the better …

no more 2x 5-shelf racks full of mono-blocks and other electronics etc , no more “wooden box” speakers , no more things being seen that didn’t need to be seen !!

was the sound better ? No , but I no longer needed to look at where the sound was coming from ….

i see lots of pics online with people having bl5 , bl50 etc in much too small a room to be effective , and with the design too big and too bold that it takes over the room .

imho , this is not what b&o are about ….

they are about getting control , and the designs complimenting decor in “normal”homes . Or in the case of BL100 being a work of art that dominates a large space !!

sorry for the essay , but this is just my opinion . And it’s not just rose tinted glasses , I have a music room in the house with nuemann desk monitors and dynaudio studio monitors mounted above , with a pair of meridian Dsp actives at the other end all hooked up to the mixer/console . And they play music rather well . Could I / would I put them in the living room ? Hell no !!!
‘Allthough I think the new BL8 I got would fit rather nicely in there with them …….

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