[Csaba]

So what does point 2 actually mean for us? Forgive my non-native English or my lack of exact context, but some of this seemed cryptic to me, so could you please help me understand it based on the following?

1. «Double» down? As in the rate at which they have increased prices wasn’t speedy or high enough?

2. What is it that really defines «luxury timeless tech»? Modular/Mozart/Cradle-to-Cradle with more longevity, which is more expensive on its own and as such I accept it (the «timeless tech» bit) BUT combined with their pricing strategy and what kind of brand they see themselves as it’s going to be even tougher pricing moving forward because of the word «luxury»?

3. What is this «strategic acceleration»? Implement more similar flagships like in Mayfair around the world?

4. Can you elaborate on «jam tomorrow»? Meaning getting a real picture in a year following the upcoming Q4 results?

5. In what way do you mean we should be patient? What results are we hoping for?

6. Most importantly, is the CEO succeeding after all?

[Csaba]

michaelmarcos wrote:

We (our tastes) are on a slow extinction process, the same way horses and carriages lost space to cars.

That too is interesting. How do people consume music these days? What kind of listeners are we?

Do we still connect with being a human? Do the things we do and the way we do them make us feel more connected with senses and less digitally connected?

Who buys cameras and proper lenses for stellar money when all you need is your iPhone? And once you use your phone, don’t you feel like Instagram is just flooded with billions of pictures? As if who cares about photographers, camera makers or photographs? Soon you won’t even need to take pictures, only ask your personal secretary (AI) to make a picture for you based on your description.

I don’t take notes in a diary or note book. Never really have. I’m quick at typing. My hand writing used to be nicer. I would love to but haven’t got the time to read books. It’s more of a life stage, but I still like a physical touch of paper rather than an audio book. I read the other day that experts/scientists suggest that we don’t use headphones as our brain works overtime all the time. We are never calm. The brain loves to be bored sometimes. As in no impulses. To give it a rest. But we keep lifting up our mobile phones. For some, headphones are a way of shutting the world out, and with that the disturbences we do not want.

So back to music. What about vinyl? A small customer segment rediscovering it. Cassettes and CDs too. Streaming? Do you ever get lost? It’s a flow and flood of tracks. Do you bother to actively curate your playlists? For me there is an even bigger problem: I simply cannot find all the music I want in one place. The past 25 years I have actively found ways to go farther and deeper into the jungle, finding music I loved, rather than getting some algorhythm-generated recommendation. Then once found, I purchase and download. That’s about as digital as I care to go. But I must be a very rare breed to get by without using a single music streaming service. I personally also like the imperfection of vinyl. The occasion of interacting with a record player. More so than a cassette or a CD. But even a CD gives you a sense of connection with the artist because you can physically flick through the album cover, photos inside and follow lyrics. Without staring at a screen.

So what about listening to music? My girlfriend is a drummer and a very good vocalist deep inside. Strangely she pretty much never desires to listen to music. Radio and news is what she cares about. For me that is beyond comprehension as I crave good quality music and a sense of a specific mood at least every two days. Therefore from time to time I continue looking for new music that speaks to me.

And when I finally do find new music, I get a different problem. I expect in my genres a certain length of time. A minimum length. However, I know that even music producers move on with times changing. They make less and less music with that same length I was used to 20 years ago when I was 20. Nowadays a track in the same/similar genre is 3 minutes and an extended version is 4. Not 7 or 10. I am barely able to start feeling the mood of a track, before it’s over. It never gets to get under my skin. Even if it has got the potential. Is that short length explained simply with our attention span? Our patience to listen to music? Sometimes I feel like I just wakt to listen to music. Sit down in front of a stereo pair of speakers and just listen for 2 hours straight. It can be so personal and immersive. I owe it to music, to the artists, to myself. But again, who does that these days? I admit, if I had one Balance, I’d be happy. Capable enough to fill my space. Give it the beans and it will make you move and get more into listening. Not only in the background. As such, why need a stereo pair? Because you will know once space transforms music into left and right. What have you missed all these years? But again, who cares these days? Music has always been like my best friend in my whole life. It’s important for me. For most, it’s background noise. Ambience. Care to pay for even a Beosound? Let alone a pair of Labs? Let alone an entire surround and multiroom setup? Let alone up there at the future pricing of 50s and 90s?

And if nothing else, people have got other concerns. Like losing their jobs as nobody is irreplaceable (not even Kristian Teär for that matter). Rising food costs. Rising mortgage costs. The cost of ownership of a car. The geopolitical environment. Climate change. People barely want to have kids any more.

[Csaba]

That image and link was available first on 21st July. According to Google at least. On 22nd you could still access it and instead of an error it showed that image on B&O’s website with a simple form to sign up to B&O’s newsletter. Later that day then the page was taken offline. Now you only get an error. Google search still returns the image, possibly from cache.

[Csaba]

I’m with you, for sure. Yesterday it was discussed on BeoTalk, it looked like 68% of those answering a poll did not like the new fonts in the app. I did not answer cause I have missed it but I’d further add to those numbers not very happy with this font :).

I also hope that the order of products can be changed if this is a bug. Maybe they have moved that option elsewhere?

Otherwise I think it is great to have this thread continued.

[Csaba]

Should be announced right after Easter. I also find it odd that some have already got their hands on them. I find it – sadly – less odd that reviews/unboxing on YouTube have been published. B&O not quite in control of leaks.

[Csaba]

Now removed from that website :).

[Csaba]

I don’t think the EX will be cheap. As far as I recall the E8 Sport was at a very similar price point to that of the E8 3rd Gen at the time. The EQ was more expensive than the E8 3rd Gen, so I’d say perhaps a price between the EQ and the E8 Sport.

Thanks for the additional images. I like the colour options but I agree that this just looks horrid in my view. The earbuds remind me instantly of Apple Earpods and I get it that the “architecture” they are referring to has got its benefits, but in my view it blows up one of the core ideas about B&O, that being simplicity. This is basically admitting that they are unable to make the earbuds small enough without protruding parts. The most extreme I can go and that I have is to get a pair of EQs.

I do find a good pair of earphones great to have where using headphones would be less practical, and I have got E6, E8 (1st, 2nd, 3rd gen), E8 Sport and EQ, I am definitely skipping the EX. Never been more certain about not wanting a B&O product :(. But then again, there are more practicality-focused customers than me. I just wish B&O could fix the size issue with the EQ first, instead of making compromises like the one we see with the EX.

As for the “soul-stirring sound”, for that I have the H95.

So the next one up is Beoplay 500. Hope those headphones will not be a similar disappointment.

[Csaba]

Hi JK,

I myself have two Balances which use the same Mozart platform as the Level and while I don’t use Spotify a few months ago B&O released a big Spotify Connect update so I think it should be supported on the Level now. I’d say it should work in stereo even if the B&O website doesn’t mention it specifically here other than that the Level supports Spotify Connect:

https://support.bang-olufsen.com/hc/en-us/articles/4418029319825-Does-Beosound-Level-support-Spotify-Connect-

John from B&O Manchester gave an update on the latest way to stereo-pair Mozart products here so that I know from my Balance works with the Level:

B&O Manchester also sums up the other recent big software update that enables Beolink multiroom as well:

So I think it is very likely that you can now do all those things.

Anybody that can confirm?

[Csaba]

That’s a very difficult question. First of all, products you own or would love to own :).

For me, any Beolab really, but realistically I could only get as far as Beolab 28 if I really wanted to. I have yet to listen to them but I don’t dare to, in fear of falling in love and craving them at the expense of selling what I already have, which are current products I love :).

My Balances and Beosound 1, my two pairs of H95s (I’d even get a third pair in the right colour). I also like my EQ but wouldn’t place it in front of the others.

I also love the sound of the Beosound 2 which is why I’d like to buy one, because together with my two Balances it would sound absolutely epic.

I agree that more people should buy the A9.

[Csaba]

Hi JK,

I’ve tried to link in YouTube links that the forum didn’t allow to post here.

The Level now supports:

– Spotify Connect

– stereo-pairing using the native B&O app (note that you need two of the same version, so either two Levels with Google Assistant or two without)

– Beolink Multiroom using the native B&O app, so you can now connect to your other B&O devices that are pre-Mozart and Beolink-enabled.

My two non-GA Balances that I have work flawlessly both in multiroom and stereo  (as you probably know the Balance like the Level uses the Mozart platform).

[Csaba]

I don’t have a full overview of the B&O portfolio dating back decades so I am going to assume we are mainly discussing the current line-up and products from 1 or 2 generations ago. For me any B&O TV is crazy expensive when comparing to regular TVs but of course I do understand the craftsmanship going into them and that they are not just a TV but also speakers. A Contour is much more appealing to me than a Harmony or Eclipse but I don’t watch TV these days so I don’t care about them.

On the speaker front it is also a bit relative. Within the current line-up I think the Emerge should deliver more punch for the price. For the price, even the black one should have more performance. It is easy to overlook this colour option when the oak version is even more expensive. Comparing to the sound of the Beolit 20 it is way less powerful and I am not sure the design is so much worth a price tag that is 1.5/almost 2 times that of the Beolit 20. I do like the oak one though.

Looking at the Beosound A1 Dune edition, I seriously cannot appreciate it the way 100 people find it justified, when I feel like some of the standard options for much less are actually prettier and more balanced in their overall looks.

Personally for me it was more worth it to spend more on a Balance Bespoke, so that supports the idea of the conversation being based on personal preference.

I’m also going to compare the current Beosound 2 to itself. It is definitely less value for the money today compared to last year.

Then we’re into price increase territory…

[Csaba]

Let’s hope that won’t be the case. I wonder how B&O sponsors the team and how this will benefit B&O apart from the name being carried around the world. E.g. will the drivers provide feedback for improving noize cancellation? Also wonder why they showed off the Beosound 2 exactly and not something else.

[Csaba]

That’s what I think as well. The E8 Sport has been around for a while now. It would make sense now that the regular earphones have been updated from E8 to EQ. Although I won’t be rushing it, very happy with both my EQ and E8 Sport. The EX will be more appealing to those that specifically need their first pair for sports. To me the E8 Sport has always served a specific secondary purpose and it has checked the right checkboxes, while the regular model has been more important to upgrade due to it being my primary use case.

[Csaba]

That’s a steep price for an A1. I was a tually interested in the colour, although I am not sure if it is a bit of a lottery if you order online and don’t know if you might get something leaning more towards green or sand or rust… From the pictures I have seen so far.

Another thing I find annoying is that in certain colours the gap between the colour of the top and that of the bottom plate is too big, making the A1 overall a bit odd. The anthracite or natural versions have closer matching tops and bottoms in my view. Not sure if the bottoms of the Dune version also matches each top.

I’d really rather see they did a new color for the Beosound 2 and Level finally. I’m okay with just looking at pictures of a special edition A1 :).

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