Bang & Olufsen

[kcolston]

I have been reading a good bit lately. I'm looking for some great sounding speakers primarily used for movie watching but needs to handle music properly as well. I have gotten a lot of good info on a lot of products but my father is in love with his B&O stuff which I don't seem to read much about. Does anyone have any opinions on their products vs. say the Axiom, RBH or maybe the Mourdant.

 

[Mort Corey]

KA-CHING $$$$$$$$$. B&O makes some really nice equipment and charge handsomely for it too. To compare their offerings with Axiom etal is an apples and oranges thing. You are also paying heavily for style and name brand with B&O.

Mort

 

[kcolston]

I definitely understand they have a very different appearance and I can afford to go with B&O but won't pay for them if the sound quality isn't so much better then the others to warrant the price. That was the only reason I began looking at some of the cheaper products. A lot of people were telling me as far as sound goes I could get real close if not match it and not pay B&O prices but if it is enough of a difference I wouldn't mind paying. I have set up a listening session but hard when I can't compare directly. Thanks for the reply.

 

[Privateer]

How much room do you have for your speaker set up? I would only use B&O if you are limited on space. Nothing out there will match a B&O setup for the size. If you have the space go look at something from martin logan or if you want to go further go for mcintosh.

 

[sjdgpt]

A good portion of the B&O price is paying for the artwork of their equipment, AND the fact that B&O is a Danish company that designs their equipment for the smaller rooms typical in Europe. Combine the high end styling of B&O, space saving designs, and the current exchange rate of the US dollar, you could get as good or better better equipment than B&O for significantly less money.

US brands, such as Martin Logan (my favorite speakers) combined with high end separates (PS Audio, Amber etc) would give you some serious tunes for less money than the B&O.

But, B&O is pretty. And offers onebrand shopping.

Spending these kinds of $, you should be able to do some serious in home listening. Just drop off your visa with the local store and spend the weekend with their loaner equipment.

 

[warpdrive]

Sonically, anything B&O is not going to live up to their pricetag. The sound is ok, but takes a big backseat to their style and ease of use. I would say that any stereo system based on the speakers you mentioned could beat a B&O system for less than half the price. But of course, it will not be as pretty.

I have a B&O telephone that I got free that is the best sounding phone I've ever heard, but it costs a fortune, and looks really cool.

If I was uber rich, and had some amazing $3M apartment in central NY, I could imagine that a B&O system in the den would be a nice addition. For best sound, I would still stick to a regular speaker system driven by good audiophile electronics.