OT: Bang and Olufsen Store in Salt Lake

[masjah]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Rob

 

These enjoyable and entertaining (IMHO) off-topic diversions crop up from time to time - as they did on the old forum. ("Mostly harmless" as the Guide says?)

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[KevinA]

B & O, if they put the effort into making them sound as good as it looks, then it would be worth the money. As it is, it's livingroom paste jewelry.

 

Kevin.

[JHAG]

I second John.

The best sound engineer in France, Yves Cochet, who's creating

wonderful sound system for a fraction of B&O, and working

for distinguished firms as Deutsche Grammophon or some

japanese studios, makes systems

that are far, far up regarding B&O and consort.

 

There's unfortunately a huge hype with expansive systems

which does NOT compare with Leica's true excellence.

 

B&O is hideously expansive and it is not true to real sound.

The only question (like for Leica images) is : does the sound I

listen to is faithful or not to the instruments I would listen in a

concert (acoustic or amplified)…

Does that violin, or piano, or voice, oy cymbalum which is

coming out of these speakers get any close to the real thing

or not ? If you ask yourself this question genuinely, you should

feel that, in most cases, systems re-invent another sound (ugly

or attractive) which is not what real instruments creates.

Two schools, here : some engineers feel that

sound should be not faithful to reality, some others feel it should.

 

Anyway, the whole new thing of compressed MP3 (which a bit

the same in music as fast food regarding real food) will alter

sound perception of many people who know only canned music

(and never ever listen to musicians playing…).

 

Hope it helps (I admit I am a bit touchy on the subject,

which I know well enough, having spent years to listen

to many systems).

 

I wish I could invite you all to listen my Cochet amps with

Klipschorn loudspeakers…

 

Regards to all eyes and ears…

[Overgaard]

The CEO of B&O back in 1996 actually said that the bigggest threat to B&O televisions in the future would be the content; if it was worth watching television in terms of technical quality as well as in intellectual terms.

 

Interestingly for me as we sold our B&O televisions some years ago for that very reason (and do not have televison anymore).

 

Their televisions are based on the idea that it is the picture and the sound that is important in a television and not the amount of features or buttons. Thus their sound has been good enough with build-in speakers so that you could clearly hear what was said (especially witht their active speakers). A basic thing that has beeen misssing in most televisons (and as most of the hifi freaks will know, one way of judging if hifi is good is how clearly you can hear spoken words).

 

And their remotes and the way to opertate their televisions is very "D2-like" in its simplicity. Not like a japanese VCR where you can't remember how to use it because it is so complex setting up..

 

As for their sound systems, they have their own sound which is not a natural sound. Their key force has beeen the design an simplicy - as well that you could set up a complete home with sound from one sound system; but listen to different medias in each room via remote control (each set of speakers are seperate 'systems'). Very neat.

 

These days their ICE amplifiers seeems like a great future. It's small amplifiers that does not get hot at all and can thus ca be fitted inside speakers. Like 150W is the size of a pack of ciagrettes. These allow them to make very small active speakers - as for example in the (the larger) Audi cars that are delivered with B&O sound systems.

[JHAG]

I'm afraid we don't speak about the same thing : a front panel design has nothing to do with the quality of sound…

As for the remote control, many acoustics expert are definite on this one : it alters

sound due to redundant circuitry introducing electrical disturbance.

 

Great sound systems are of simple design. Over-complexity kills the sound with unuseful gadgets…

 

Johan

[jpmay]

Bang and Olufsen is hardly audiophile equipment!

 

It is not meant to be, and doesn't claim to be. It's meant to:

 

(a) sound "good to very good"

( be [articularly CONVENIENT (no messy wires, etc)

© look sexy (if you like that sort of design)

 

It does all of those things very well.

 

But if you think B&O sounds really amazing, simply drop in to any high-end audiophile store and listen to some major speakers. (I think in SLC there is a good audio store in that small mall just near the large Wild Oats store, kind of where those cinemas are.)

 

If you are a hard-core audiophile (like, if you are in to speakers like Leica are in to lenses) and you go in to a B&O store, they simply tell you that B&O is not for you.

 

I can't think of any analogies between Leica and B&O.

 

(Bose is total crap, by the way.)

 

 

Personally I think the only speaker analogy to Leica is Magneplanar. (This would surely spark a "hifi argument" among any hifi buffs here ..... unlike in the camera world, there are a NUMBER of top speaker manufacturers and everyone has a preference. There aren't really that many major lens makers, I guess.)

 

JPM

[marknorton]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

..... well "suck my left tit" thats all I have to say

 

I'll pass, thanks.

[albertwang]

Indeed, I agree that B + O may not be the best out there in terms of musical accuracy but granted I do need looks. No chick is going to want to hang out in a house with a Cannon-shaped speaker system that looks like a PVC Gatling gun. B + O looks impressive and the sound is what it is.

 

Homemade best for the basement listeners but B + O for the cocktail parties with Danny Craig...

 

But doesn't B + O provide the "bigger bang" for the buck?

[silvergull]

Since the thread started in Salt Lake City, in the US, I would urge the audition of Balanced Audio Technology (BAT) gear. I love mine. I do play my music through Dali speakers, however, ... from Denmark.

 

I also use an Imacon scanner, from Denmark. Mmmm...

 

Cheers, Jim

[albertwang]

Also one for Denmark on their great philosopher Kierkegaard whom I respect very highly!

[TimF]

No chick is going to want to hang out in a house with a Cannon-shaped speaker system that looks like a PVC Gatling gun. B + O looks impressive and the sound is what it is.

 

You obviously know your lady friends better than I do, but doesn't that come over as slightly patronising? A bit like saying that women all want dinky little cameras to complement their handbags and/or shoes.

[albertwang]

That's true... as much as I love audiophile dream equipment, I have a friend whose marriage went to shambles due to his obsession with building the stuff and not spending enough time with his wife... very sad!

 

Of course, Leicas have never caused divorces! Lucky guys we must be.