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Well, since this doesn't claim to be a HI-Fi Guru's conference I'll
put in my twopence worth.
I've had a Bang & Oluffsen system for about 8 years now and it still
sounds great to me. I was talking to one of the moderators of this
conference recently and mentioned that I owned B&O equipment and
was greeted by the fashionable sneer (Oh yeah, more money than sense
sort of thing) that I get from many people.
As I said I don't claim to be an expert on Hi-fi and probably couldn't
tell a Linn from a Quad (or is that a really stupid comparison?),
but I bought my system because it sounded vastly superior to anything
else on offer at the time at the price. I also reckon that you would be hard
pressed to find anything from one manufacturer that could compete
with a modern B&O system at any price.
A lot of people look at the units and don't believe that they can
be good sound producers because they look too good (although I know
some people who prefer the look of stack systems with lots of flashing
lights! For them I believe Amstrad do a nice range :^) ), but in
fact in a normal room a B&O system will probably sound as good as
anything else you can get. Certainly, I've never been over impressed
by friend's component systems, possibly I suspect because they strive
after the ultimate bass at the expense of a good all-round clarity
and sound.
The biggest thing against a B&O system has to be the cost. They
are very expensive and I would imagine that you could spend less
on equipment from other manufacturers which would not sound any
worse, but then that will look more like a 50s B-film rendition
of computer hardware than anything else and what's wrong with having
something attractive in the middle of your living room?
Mark
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| Thanks,
B&O have long had a reputation for charging a lot for the design aspects of
the system. We are looking for something that will have a furniture function as
well as an audio one. I might even look to merging TV with audio (B&O make
a TV with integral satellite system for example).
You never get design (=looks) for nothing and so I expected to have a price to
pay. I am glad that they are also apparently reliable. Sound quality of the few
I've listened to is more than acceptable (though I might use speakers from
another source).
I suspect B&O offers all the sound quality I need for the application I want it
for - an entertainment complex for my wife and I, and our occasional guests.
/. Ian .\
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Until recently, I was using a B&O receiver, sound was reasonable (although the
speakers, non B&O, left a bit to be desired), and it still looked OK despite now
being around 16 or so years old.
The only things that I have had go wrong with it were that the slider used for
the tuner snapped at the back, but an addition of araldite soon solved that, and
more recently, there was transformer hum getting through to the speakers, but my
brother is still usiong it as that hum does not worry him.
Alan
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