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Hi All, I am new to the forum.
Sorry to bother you with something so basic and I am sorry for such a long message, but I am about to invest in a new multi-room system and wanted to get some feedback from people in the B&O know.
I have always been a Bose fan having owned several of their systems over the last 25 years. However we have recently renovated an old barn and my wife is not so keen on having traditional looking hi fi speakers about the place; As such I am looking more to B&O to achieve a unique blend of both design & function. So heres my criteria -
What is everyones recommendation/thoughts on the best set up??
Thanks in advance.
LL
Welcome.
Peter (one of the creators of beoworld) uses and swears by Alexa.
Use the Forum Search to look for Alexa to understand his use cases.
I suspect that after many years of listening your ears by tuned to the Bose sound rather that the BeoSound !
Also your price expectations may present a challenge
However I suggest you visit a dealer and listen to following (in order)
- BeoSound 2
- A9
- BeoSound 35
note these are not “pure” speakers by which I mean they contain streaming source system Access built in I.e. TuneIn and Deezer
BeoNut since '75
With regard to Alexa, a BLGW should be considered in your future when your budget allows. Until then, you CAN connect a Dot to B&O speakers, but the sound quality is not acceptable. A BLGW will give you great control once you're ready.
I LOVE the idea of your barn interior. B&O has some perfect options with Kvadrat wool speaker covers to blend in gorgeously. Considering your budget, I would take a loot at 1x BeoPlay A6 and 2x BeoPlay M5 speakers. These are not bad investments since you can always re-purpose them to other zones/rooms as you grow your B&O multi-room system. The options of Kvadrat covers: light grey, dark grey, moss green, dark rose, and dusty blue would all look amazing in your barn interior. The A9 is more costly, but would give you a sound improvement in the future with the same aesthetic when your budget allows.
Where is your barn? A few barns around these parts.
Beosound 8, Beotime, Beocom 4, Beo 5, Lutron Rania, MacBook 15" (Mid 2015), iPad Pro, iPhone 6S, B&O Play H3, Beolit 12, Form 2, A8 Headphones, B&O Play A1, B&O Essence
SOUND: You didn't say: 50 feet by how-many-feet in the other dimension? Regardless, with 16-foot ceilings and 50-by-anything-but-a-hallway, I would expect bass to get "sucked away" like it does outdoors. Based upon that (possibly shaky) theory, plus a brief experience I had testing an A6 in a room 20'x25'x8.5', I believe the A6 will not give you the "decent bass" you desire. But a single A9 would exceed your entire budget! Nevertheless, the A9 is what I would suggest you stretch for, if it just *has* to be B&O. It's hard to tell from your post whether you already own the Bose Soundtouch with the separate bass speaker; if so, what do you think of it now in your space? If that's enough bass, the A9 should be fine. But the A9 might not be "crisp" enough as you also requested -- not because its treble is lacking, that's good -- but because the stereo imaging simply isn't as precise as a pair of separated speakers would be, and that's part of what makes "crisp" for some people. (The Soundtouch doesn't have great stereo separation either, but they at least try to throw the sound. Plus you can move the Bose bass speaker around the room to get the smooothest frequency response. You can't do that with the A9 without moving the rest of the sound.) The A6 does look a little bit like a loudspeaker, which is a strike against it for you. But the BeoSound 2, which looks different, probably cannot stand up to your large space. Especially the other suggestion of a BeoLab 35 I think will be awful for you, except maybe for near-field listening (like you would use your Bose Wave table-radio). But listen for yourself -- you might be surprised. Alas, if the USA B&O dealers are any example, they will be loath to move their speakers around, like the BeoLab 35 will always be mounted to a wall, in a space about the width of a hallway! At least the BeoSound 2 they'll pick up and place in open space, like what you have. As you can tell, I am partial to the A9 for your looks and bass criteria, but... listen! listen! listen! for yourself.
BUDGET: I hate to say this in a B&O forum, but for your budget, a pair of Sonos Play:5's (oriented vertically so used as one stereo pair) plus a Sonos woofer is almost spot-on at GBP 1547. (Don't buy used, because the 1st-gen Play:5 was abominable, but the 2nd-gen sounds OK.) Then use the "Trueplay" feature in their app to tweak the frequency response (including the bass) for a single listening position in that 50-foot room, and let the rest of the room fall where it may. Sonos's just-announced Alexa integration seems right up your alley too! So although I never chose to buy any Sonos gear for myself, I have used it and installed it for others, and it seems right for a multi-room starter, as you described. I am sorry that these look like traditional loudspeakers, which you don't want.
EDITORIAL OPINION: The Sonos app doesn't have the annoying B&O button-press delays, and dare I say, the pure flakiness that the B&O apps have exhibited. Just go into a B&O store and keep asking the salesman to switch back and forth between the A6 and the A9 for a listening demo, and maybe try out the new BeoSound 1 vs. 2 for a few seconds each, and by the time you're done switching back and forth, they will have had to power-cycle one of them, or will have asked you to wait for several tens of seconds while they keep pressing things on their iPhone. Maybe it's the result of having too much equipment in close quarters, but I found it laughable. Also for me at home the A6 had troubles resuming AirPlay after it went to sleep.
You will probably have *some* TV at some point, so if you go the Sonos route, bear in mind that their PlayBar sounds poor but PlayBase sounds OK, and better when you use their app to tune it for whatever little room you stuff your TV into. To me the Sonos PlayBase with their woofer sounds just as good as the speakers in my BeoVision 10. It looks totally junky by comparison of course...
Also sorry for my long and opinionated message, and for its non-B&O tilt. Probably others here will steer you to a stable multi-room combination. But I doubt they can do it within your budget, even for a starter kit.
Hi and welcome to Beoworld Lloydyboy100:I have a main room which is 50 ft & 16 ft vaulted ceiling.If you’re looking for a « multi » rooms system, you may also talk about the others rooms...
Lloydyboy100:I have a main room which is 50 ft & 16 ft vaulted ceiling.
B&O is in the multi room since a long time. So if it’s possible, others more knowledgeable people here will be able to suggest you « vintage » products that will also fulfill your criteria.
Indeed a great summary.
trackbeo: sounds just as good as the speakers in my BeoVision 10
sounds just as good as the speakers in my BeoVision 10
Just don't agree with this one... We had a BV10-46 for a few months but sound was not B&Oesque...
Ralf
Living Room: Beosystem 4, Beolab 7-2 (Center), Beolab 9 (Fronts), Beolab 8000 (Rears), no Subwoofer. Screen: Sony KD-85XH9096Dining Room: Beosound Essence MK II with Beolab 4000 on stands, fed by Amazon Echo Show 8Home Cinema: Beosystem 4, Beolab 7-4 (Center), Beolab 1 (Fronts), Beolab 4000 (Rears). Projector: Sony VPL-HW55Home Office: Beosystem 3, Beolab 7-4, Beolab 5000, Screen: Sony KD-55XH9005 on Beovision 7-40 stand, ML to Beosound 9000 MK3 and Beosound 5/Beomaster 5 (1 TB SSD version)Bedroom: Sony KD-65XH9077, Beosound Essence MK II with Beolab 6002 and Beolab 11 (all white, wall-mounted)
In storage: Beolab 5000/Beomaster 5000 (1960s).
kallasr:Just don't agree with this one... We had a BV10-46 for a few months but sound was not B&Oesque...
1) Sorry, forgot to type the size above: yes, I was comparing to a 10-46 also, not the 10-40.
2) But your comment confuses me, Ralf: you don't agree with my characterization of its sound, but then you are also saying the BV10-46 is not up to other B&O standards? Does a BV11 or a BV14, or even an Avant, sound much better than a BV10? [EDIT: Ralf, nevermind, I remember now the BV10 was considered inferior sound when the BV11 came out. So, using a BV10 above was a weak comparison, OK.] (TVs only, obviously an A9 or 8002 etc. in a barn will be totally different.) My comparison also might be off because my 10-46 was mounted on the wall rather than a floor stand or tilt-easel out in the room. By its very construction a PlayBase pushes the sound source 2 feet from the wall, which by itself makes a big difference.
3) Was thinking about the barn some more, and though I initially dismissed the idea of buying an A6 and couple of M5's as being totally inadequate, one idea might to be have two zones in one room! Both would have volume turned way down, thus near-field listening at either end, even though the other end is playing the same thing at the same time -- like the kind of systems that restaurants use. But it depends on the furniture layout -- how many bookcases or etageres do you put in the middle of your Grande Loft?!?
Hi...i am a new user here. As per my knowledge you should take a loot at 1x BeoPlay A6 and 2x BeoPlay M5 speakers. These are not bad investments since you can always re-purpose them to other zones/rooms as you grow your B&O multi-room system. The options of Kvadrat covers: light grey, dark grey, moss green, dark rose, and dusty blue would all look amazing in your barn interior.
hdi pcb
NoellEagan: Hi...i am a new user here. As per my knowledge you should take a loot at 1x BeoPlay A6 and 2x BeoPlay M5 speakers. These are not bad investments since you can always re-purpose them to other zones/rooms as you grow your B&O multi-room system. The options of Kvadrat covers: light grey, dark grey, moss green, dark rose, and dusty blue would all look amazing in your barn interior.
You just copied directly from my post....
I'm not sure if you would consider pre owned equipment but my advice would be to go for a pair of BeoLab 8000's linked to a BeoSound Essence. The 8000's will fill the room with amazing sound and in my opinion have a classic style that would suit almost any room. You could add a BeoLab 2 in the future if you feel the need for more base.