Recommandation for stereo music system

[20cen]

Hi BeoWorld Community,

I am in search of a stereo music system. Currently, I am considering:

• BeoLab 3 paired with BeoSound 5 Encore or BeoCenter 2
• BeoSound A5 or BeoSound Emerge

I intend to use this system for listening to CDs, radio, and/or local music (from USB storage, for instance). Hence, I lean towards the first option, but I have some concerns regarding older Bang & Olufsen devices.

Do you have any recommendations for purchasing used Bang & Olufsen devices? Is a device that’s 20 years old too old and not reliable?

Additionally, have any of you ever bought online from a second-hand store like BeoStaeren or SoundAffairs?

 

Thanks a lot,

[Stan]

From my experience, older B&O devices are built well so 20 years is not that old.  Then again, there are some trends – BL3s rubber coating can get sticky, BL4s have some issue which I don’t recall (power supply maybe?), certain older BL4000s have sound dampening material that degrades and damages the circuit boards.  Meanwhile, my 20-ish year old BL4000s, 8000s and 1s are working without problem and give no indication that they’re running short of life.  A lot probably depends on how they were treated over their lifetime.

I don’t know if I’d recommend the BS5 Encore.  I have no experience with it.  It didn’t seem like B&O ever put much into it.  Maybe I’m wrong, but in my recollection, it kind of came and went pretty fast.  It runs linux under the covers so while it looks like the BS5, it’s quite a different piece of kit.  I have a non-Encore BS5, and it is running fine but is on its 2nd mother board.  Then again, if it suits your needs and the price is right, why not?  However, I don’t think it plays CDs directly (need to digitize), and if you’re going to digitize, you might be better off with an Essence Mk2, Core or Core Connect.  No B&O wow (as these are mostly meant to be hidden away), but much less to break.

I don’t know much about the BeoCenter 2.  Seems like the wings sometimes need repair and there might be a long-term durability issue with the translucent metal controls and maybe the laser, but don’t take my word for it.  Never had one or paid much attention to it when it was a current product.

I haven’t heard the A5 or Emerge.  I really like my Balance, BS2 and BS1. The stereo pairing of the Balances works fine so I would assume the same about the A5 and Emerge.  I imagine a stereo pair of A5s or Emerges would sound very good.  However, if you like loud music, I don’t think Emerge is the right way to go (according to one of Steve from Sounds Heavenly videos).  To my ears, the newer Beosounds are more dynamic/punchy whereas the BeoLabs are sort of flat (not necessarily in a bad way).  It’s personal preference.

I know, I know, a lot of rambling and not much else.  However, no one else answered so I thought I’d share what I know about your questions which isn’t much.  In the end, it’s personal preference.  We all hear differently.  We all think some products look better than others.  I don’t think there’s any one right answer.

[Stan]

From my experience, older B&O devices are built well so 20 years is not that old.  Then again, there are some trends – BL3s rubber coating can get sticky, BL4s have some issue which I don’t recall (power supply maybe?), certain older BL4000s have sound dampening material that degrades and damages the circuit boards.  Meanwhile, my 20-ish year old BL4000s, 8000s and 1s are working without problem and give no indication that they’re running short of life.  A lot probably depends on how they were treated over their lifetime.

I don’t know if I’d recommend the BS5 Encore.  I have no experience with it.  It didn’t seem like B&O ever put much into it.  Maybe I’m wrong, but in my recollection, it kind of came and went pretty fast.  It runs linux under the covers so while it looks like the BS5, it’s quite a different piece of kit.  I have a non-Encore BS5, and it is running fine but is on its 2nd mother board.  Then again, if it suits your needs and the price is right, why not?  However, I don’t think it plays CDs directly (need to digitize), and if you’re going to digitize, you might be better off with an Essence Mk2, Core or Core Connect.  No B&O wow (as these are mostly meant to be hidden away), but much less to break.

I don’t know much about the BeoCenter 2.  Seems like the wings sometimes need repair and there might be a long-term durability issue with the translucent metal controls and maybe the laser, but don’t take my word for it.  Never had one or paid much attention to it when it was a current product.

I haven’t heard the A5 or Emerge.  I really like my Balance, BS2 and BS1. The stereo pairing of the Balances works fine so I would assume the same about the A5 and Emerge.  I imagine a stereo pair of A5s or Emerges would sound very good.  However, if you like loud music, I don’t think Emerge is the right way to go (according to one of Steve from Sounds Heavenly videos).  To my ears, the newer Beosounds are more dynamic/punchy whereas the BeoLabs are sort of flat (not necessarily in a bad way).  It’s personal preference.

I know, I know, a lot of rambling and not much else.  However, no one else answered so I thought I’d share what I know about your questions which isn’t much.  In the end, it’s personal preference.  We all hear differently.  We all think some products look better than others.  I don’t think there’s any one right answer.

[Madskp]

A few inputs:

– BS5 Encore and BC2 probably have sticky coating on the bottom parts by know. This can be removed with IPA (not the beer), but is quite time consuming.

BC2: will probably need new belts for both the wings and the CD clamper. The CD clamper belt I have no seen any source for, so i tried with some different belts from Ebay. Don’t know about the long term relaiability of this though.

BC2: Some members have mentioned that the display can miss pixels if it has been used much

[Madskp]

A few inputs:

– BS5 Encore and BC2 probably have sticky coating on the bottom parts by know. This can be removed with IPA (not the beer), but is quite time consuming.

BC2: will probably need new belts for both the wings and the CD clamper. The CD clamper belt I have no seen any source for, so i tried with some different belts from Ebay. Don’t know about the long term relaiability of this though.

BC2: Some members have mentioned that the display can miss pixels if it has been used much

[20cen]

Hi,

 

Thank you so much for your advices.

Regarding BS5 encore, I actually really like this device because you can stream music from netradio, aux inputs, usb, cd (with an addition cd player), and the BS5 encore is a standalone device (No need for additional beomaster 5 as BS5 requires, or a socket with BC2).

On the other hand, I agree with you @Stan, it seems like B&O has never promoted BS5 encore, and it is a shame (maybe they wanted to promote BS5 and BM5 instead?).

Do you know what you can do with BS5 + BM5 that you cannot do with BS5 encore only?

 

@Madskp, what is the IPA you mention to remove the sticky coating? I was not aware of the issues you mentioned (except the sticky coating), so thanks a lot for reporting them, I will keep them in mind when buying my used stereo system.

Do you know if Bang Olufsen can still repair these devices ? (BC2, BS5, BL3?) or are they deprecated?

 

Again, thank you very much!

 

 

[Madskp]

20cen wrote:

@Madskp, what is the IPA you mention to remove the sticky coating? I

isopropyl alcohol. I use toilet paper as wipes, and on the systems I have done this on it required quite a lot.

20cen wrote:

Do you know if Bang Olufsen can still repair these devices ? (BC2, BS5, BL3?) or are they deprecated?

Some dealers with own repair shop might still be able to do so, but spare parts can be an issue. There might also be other repair places that can do this depending on where you are located.

[Tignum]

A key difference between BS5/BM5 and BS5E is that BS5E has no (MasterLink) multiroom capabilities.

Regards, Johan

[Author]

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