Vintage B&O

A good friend of mine is using one of these...



...with Wilson Benesch Arcs

Actually they look fab together and if one doesn't push the volume too high it sounds very good indeed.

 

I got an old B&O system for £25 from a charity shop a couple of years back:
- Beomaster 901
- Beogram 3000
- and a pair of Beovox S22 speakers

Not as flashy as your 5000 but worth every penny. Somewhat soft and veiled, but relaxed and pleasant and serving as a combination of an extension system (a cheapskate's multiroom configuration) and PC amplifier. Fed from an external aerial I also get good FM reception.

The foam surrounds on the bass/mid units are finally shot now, so I need to work out if they're worth refurbishing (probably DIY) or they should be scrapped.

Remember that B&O's continuous move towards 'style over substance' wasn't really to supress the importance of substance - I think they have always believed very strongly in audio quality and not just based on measurement - but just that (perhaps) a higher proportion of the original purchase price went on the style element than with other manufacturers. You pays yer money and you takes yer choice.

Chris

 

certainly b&o have the style thing down (if you like that kind of thing) but what I didn;t realise was that they seem to always been at the cuting edge of functionality. my kit is from the 1980's yet you are able to programme very crude playlists using multiple sources, control one device while another is playing, tweak volume levels for each source individually, send music to a second room. the remote control is bidirectional too so it is synched to the kit - so altering the volume onthe unit or pressing play on the tape will mirror on the master control panel.
i'm really hoping that this sounds not too bad. getting the cables today so should be able to report this evening or tomorrow.

 

well got the right speaker plugs from the local b&o shop and a cable that connects my squeeze box 1 to it (which didn;t work so i dug out an old naim din to rca and a kak red and white phono cable which does)
speaker cable is qed 2.50 a meter cheap crap.
speakers are sealed box eltax rears with spring clip terminals.
sounds bloody good - for something that cost about £150 quid (if i factor in the 2nd had cost of an sb1 and the cable).
sound is clear and clean with good bass (considering the speakers) it throws out a credible sound stage even with mp3 source material - not tried a flac yet.
i'm really chuffed with it. was expecting it to sound ok but not great but this sounds damn good. my respect for b&o just went up again.

 

Nice one Julian!

The photo above doesn't do full justice to the 9000. It just oozes style. Everything on it is touch control. The cassette deck and cd player are hidden behind panels which glide out of the way. In a darkened room that red and green light show looks a million dollars. I love it.

 

yeah i'm actually tempted to keep my eye out for a beocenter to use in the bedroom of my new place. the current one will be going in the office but i quite like the idea of tunes in the bedroom now (which is where my current one is residing). i;ve got a nice 70's ambiance going there at the moment - do they still make shag pile carpet......
e-bay here i come...

 

I've been looking for some active speakers for the bedroom to use with a Squeezebox.

Does anyone know if B&O did an earlier version of BeoLab 4000 -- http://www.beoworld.co.uk/beolab4000.htm -- that might cost less than £200 on eBay?