[Stan]

Oops, I guessed wrong about the Beoremote behavior.  The “my buttons” on the Beoremote one are automatically linked to the “my buttons” on the BS1.  If you program a button on the BS1 to “get the weather”, pressing the corresponding button on the remote will get the weather (regardless of microphone status).  If you long press the Beoremote mybutton to “program” the button to the current settings (as you do on non-GVA devices), it behaves the same as long pressing the button on the BS1: it prompts for you to speak another command regardless of whether the microphone is muted or not.

I don’t know what happens if you’ve never registered the device to Google as mine is registered and I’m just turning the microphone on and off.  I don’t feel like re-setting up my BS1 just to test this since I don’t mind using Google – like I said, it’s helpful in the kitchen when the hands are wet or dirty (and we’re careful to only discuss our plans for illegal activities in other rooms without listening devices) 😀

[Stan]

9 time out of 10, it’s the mother board… unless you’ve already had this repaired.  My repair guy told me the original board had some issues with heat so if you operated your BM5 is an warm environment or the ventilation wasn’t good, then it tended to fail.  The only solution I’m aware of for this is to get the part replaced by B&O.

It could also be the hard drive – these fail too.  It’s not hard to replace the hard drive if you have a backup of the old one.  If you search the 2012 – 2022 forum archive, you can find threads about doing this.  You will want to find the service tool which has been posted to the forum in the past.  This gets loaded to a USB drive and you boot the BS5 from it, and then can rebuild a new disk.  I guess I’d start here.  If the BS5 will not boot from the service tool USB drive, then it’s probably the mother board that has failed.

[Stan]

Just to be clear, you can do the initial wifi setup without Google.  I was just pointing out an issue that came up here recently with respect to changing the wifi network after this initial configuration.  You need to go into Google to do this, but you can always setup from scratch if you need to change the wifi network and don’t want to use Google.

That’s an interesting question about Beoremote operation.  My guess is that the remote “my buttons” work the same on a Google vs non-Google Beosound, especially if you never go through the Google setup.   That is, you would use the app to select a B&O Radio station or other source, then program the remote mybutton… so you would get your 4 buttons without Google, but they are on the remote rather than the unit.

I do have a BeoRemote so I will test this when I get a chance.

[Stan]

The center button action is selectable in the configuration menu.  It is either:

Single tap toggles between sound and silence.  Double type cycles sources.

Or

Single tap to Play / Pause.  Long press to Join in on a multiroom experience.

I turned off the microphone on my BS1 GVA today, and it announced that the microphone was off, and the 4 little dots that blink during a normal GVA voice command turned red.  The 4 “my button” dots disappeared leaving just the center dot and the red little dots glowing steadily.

It stayed this way through power cycles and extended off time and operated just like a non-GVA BS1.  That is, it remembered the setting – it’s not like you need to do this each time you turn it on.  Also, there was no periodic “microphone is off” announcements.

When I turned the microphone back on, the red dots disappeared, and the 4 my buttons reappeared and were programmed as before.

As far as I can tell, you will still need Google if you want to change your wifi network (without going through a new setup) or connect bluetooth devices.  I see no settings for those in the configuration menus.

[Stan]

As far as I know, it’s still the case.  You cannot use the buttons to activate B&O Radio, but rather it will use TuneIn or Audasey or whatever service Google can use in your country.  In the US, I get some stations via TuneIn others via Audasey.

Also, if you have other Beosounds, you can’t join to a Google started audio stream unless you set it up via Google home.  The BS can join to other devices – so you can start a B&O Radio source on a different device, and press the middle button and it will join.  If you start the B&O Radio source on the BS1 using the B&O App, then the others can join… just not when you use voice or my buttons (which are essentially saved voice commands).

You can turn off Google, but I think that just turns off the voice command capability.  I also think I’ve read that it gives you an annoying warning from time to time that the microphone is turned off.

Also, bear in mind that there are certain configurations that can only be done through Google.  For example, for some reason, bluetooth and wifi setup are done through Google Home rather than the B&O App.

I thought there was an option to get a non-Google BS1, but I might be confusing that with other Beosounds.

I have a Google enabled BS1.  Maybe I will play around with it so I can answer more definitively about what happens when Google is turned off… as I’ve never turned it off because it’s pretty convenient in the kitchen when your hands are wet or messy and you don’t want to touch the machine.

[Stan]

I also have a stereo pair that I used in my office for about 6 months.  I usually did NOT use the app to pair.  I found it was easier to use the button method.  I also used them with my computer.  Also, to use them as a speaker phone, they must not be stereo paired.

Yes, they were a little wonky from time to time, and had to be setup each time they poweed off – you can pause for less than 10 (maybe 15) minutes and restart in stereo, but once they power off, you need to repair.

Not to make excuses for B&O, but every bluetooth device I’ve used is wonky from time to time so maybe I have a higher tolerance for that stuff.  I also thought it had something to do with all the other electronics I have running in my office.  I’ve had some devices that I had to leave the office to pair successfully.

They do sound surprisingly good so, to me, it was worth the occasional dropouts, re-pairing, etc. However, I do see that if I had these in my living area I’d not like to pair them every time.  So, yeah, not for everyone or every use case.

[Stan]

I looked through settings for my Balance, and it looks like Mozart based products need to be re-configured from start to change their network.  I’d be happy to learn otherwise, but I don’t see a “Configure” menu item like on the ASE equipment.

[Stan]

Not sure what you are asking.  If you buy a new LG, then you’ll have change left over, but no  soundcenter or stand.  Or are you looking at an aftermarket integration of a new LG panel with the old soundcenter/stand?

If it was me, I’d probably go with the replacement screen, but the soundcenter, stand and sleek integration between them all are very important to me.  I’d only go with the aftermarket option (assuming one exists) of mounting a different LG on the soundcenter if B&O could not help me.  If your friend is considering dumping the entire Eclipse in favor of an LG, then I suppose audio quality and integration is not very important.

[Stan]

I agree that the current Balance colors are uninspired.  I have black.  They work fine in my office.  More disappear vs a “statement”.  I wished for a dark wood + charcoal, but it hasn’t happened.

[Stan]

I have a stereo pair of Balances.  I like them very much and would buy them again (at the sale price I paid, not sure about today’s prices).  With some music, they sound better (to me) than my BL1s + BS9000.  Granted, I use them in my office so I don’t drive them too hard.  They are also the first speakers I’ve owned where I can fairly consistently tell the difference between Spotify and Deezer HiFi sound quality.

From what people have said on this site over the years, I think the A9s would probably sound better, but I’ve never really listened to an A9 too closely since they don’t really fit into the places where I want speakers.  They take up a lot of space.

I also agree with MM.  Wait for the BL8s…

[Stan]

Completely agree that the VHNWI’s will not stand for the current software quality.  Heck, my wife (not a VHNWI) gives me crap every time the system hiccups – “when are you going to buy something that just works?”.  B&O support?  Ha!

Now, my “defense” is that nothing works now days.  Every company has crappy software  (even Apple has been disappointing lately), but part of me knows I’m stuck with B&O because I have too much invested, and it will be far too expensive for my non-VHNWI household to replace everything with Sonos (for example).  If I was VHNWI, I’d probably pitch it, tell my all my friends and buy something else (and if my theory of everybody is bad is true), repeat.

In defense of B&O… As bad as we think their software is… I’m talking about NL beosounds, not the Theater and BL50/90… their competitors seem to be mostly worse.  Reading reviews about Kipsch and other competing wireless speakers sound like these are worse.  I think B&O has been at this longer so they are a bit more mature, but let’s see if they can keep their head start.

[Stan]

Glitch wrote:

… and here(?)

I wasn’t expecting that!  Then again, the B&O site says you need a Beoamp 125.4 which doesn’t seem to exist so who kows what is going on here.

I also noticed that if you download the manual, it is branded as “B&O | Origin Acoustics”

[Stan]

Agree that this looks like a nice speaker.

With all the talk of VHNWH, they are actually somewhat reasonably priced (on the B&O scale, of course).  Similarly priced to a pair of Balances.  Yes, the Balances have more drivers per speaker and more powerful amps (100W vs 50W for midrange), but they have similar spl levels so chances are they will sound similar… maybe.

Assuming they sound similarly, I may have gone for them instead of the Balances that I bought as I like their style better.  Then again, maybe not, since they don’t have an analog line-in for my turntable.

It also would have allowed me to test pairing with my Eclipse (unsure about stability of WISA or speaker placement in my weirdly shaped room).  I guess I can still do that next time I find ~$7K under the sofa cushions :D.

[Stan]

I have a gen1, but it is currently being used.  I have a gen2 that is available.   I don’t really want to buy a 2nd hand gen1 because of age/battery life.  However, it is good to know that analog input to the gen2 is not an option.

[Stan]

Thanks for the answer.  Not the one I was looking for but confirmed I’m not overlooking anything.  I was hoping to avoid Bluetooth because it can be flakey, but it looks like the way forward… at least until she decides to upgrade to something better.

[Stan]

The mk11 actually includes mk11 in the product name on the product information sticker. An essence mk1 just says “essence”.  An essence mk11 says “essence mk11”.  There should be no confusion so long as you can see the sticker with the product name, model, serial number on the bottom of the unit.

[Stan]

Thanks for the clarification and warning.  I guess I didn’t read the listing close enough. Given the price, I thought it might be used but missed it anyway.

[Stan]

It says there are 2 black balances for ~1600.  Get ’em before they are gone.

[Stan]

I’d be interested to know who looked at it in Chicago. I’m in the area and my BS9000 is broken. I’d prefer not to ship it to get fixed.

[Stan]

I don’t have a Core, but on my Essence, when I check the local sources, they immediately show up in my sources pick list

The fact that you’re not seeing B&O Radio, maybe you need to upgrade your app?  Also, go into the TuneIn/B&O Radio tab on the app (the little transmit icon in the lower right corner of the app), and click on the B&O Radio tab, this might prompt for a TuneIn -> B&O Radio upgrade.

[Author]

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