ARCHIVED FORUM -- March 2012 to February 2022READ ONLY FORUM
This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
TheBeoplay S3 on B&O's site is £229 with a free pair of headphones. I've been seeing a lot of S3's on ebay for around £150. Is ebay worth a punt?
At least over here on this side of the pond, an awful lot of B&O shops have closed, so I wonder if a lot of this is them selling off their stock.
Jeff
I'm afraid I'm recovering from the BeoVirus.
I brought two a while ago off ebay for the same price. I think a number were put on ebay after something like a phone company had an offer where you brought a phone and you got a free S3.
I know a lot of H3 headphones are turning up on ebay now with the LG logo on them as well after a promotion to get the headphones for free
It's only the boxes with the LG logo on them. I've bought about seven pairs of these H3's in total for between £50 and £70 a pair, brand new and unused!
My Son, Daughter, Wife, Sister, Best Friend and myself have all benefitted from these! I use mine for the gym.
Don't be afraid to buy these - they're not sub-standard or fake, it's just the box.
Same with the S3. I don't think anyone has faked them yet. I do know there are fake A2's out there. I've handled one - and they're awful.
Lee
interesting that a company would give away a pair of £130 pair of headphones for free!
As for the Beoplay S3, I watched this video and was impressed, although I shouldn't be surprised because they sue what I think is a tymphany/peerles sds-106 or at least a variation of. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bM4to_99jFcI know in B&O use the peerless sls 8 subwoofer driver in the A9, and what look like peerless full range drivers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nqtu_fP8l7k - 0:33
http://loudspeakerfreaks.com/Product.asp?Product_ID=5045
http://loudspeakerfreaks.com/Producten_c.asp?Productgroep_B_ID=1877&Productgroep_A_ID=153
And they use many scanpspeak revelators and illuminators in the flagship Beoplay 90.
http://loudspeakerfreaks.com/Producten_b.asp?Productgroep_ID=85
I currently use 2 x peerless sls 6.5 subs in a transmission line, and have used many vifa/peerless drivers in the past, including in my car audio install. They're good speakers.
captain:interesting that a company would give away a pair of £130 pair of headphones for free!
Headphones that retail for £30 maybe, but headphones that retail for £130 ... somewhat degenerates the product/brand IMO, and makes it look like B&O aren't doing so well, so much so they have to give their high-end products away free with a cappuccino (type scenario). Doesn't look good either way. If you can find me another company/brand giving away their high-end or £130 product free with i'm all ears. Just seems very strange. As for the Beoplay S3 I'm certainly considering it.
captain:Headphones that retail for £30 maybe, but headphones that retail for £130 ... somewhat degenerates the product/brand IMO, and makes it look like B&O aren't doing so well, so much so they have to give their high-end products away free with a cappuccino (type scenario). Doesn't look good either way. If you can find me another company/brand giving away their high-end or £130 product free with i'm all ears. Just seems very strange. As for the Beoplay S3 I'm certainly considering it.
The same could be said for every other phone brand. I can just see some poor sucker lashing out £130, bragging to his friends about how high-end they are, only to discover that they come free with a Happy Meal. Don't get me wrong, B&O have obviously seen sense in the lower-priced market, hence my shock when i saw the price of the S3. I bought my Beosound 1 .... I saw the Beosound 1 when they first came out @ £750. I bought it when the price went up to £925 for some inexplicable reason. Then they went up to over £1,000 ... i think it was £1,150 or whereabouts, again for some inexplicable reason. This was in the day when the only real potable high-end system was either the Bose Acoustic Wave or Beosound 1. I traded in my Cyrus 3 amp and speakers and other bits and pieces for the Beosound 1 because portability was my main parameter. I was thinking the B3 was going to be about £500 range. Not uncomplaining about the price, but in a world where Pioneer their most popular division, and Dynaudio has sold to a Far East company with some dubious explanation that High-end is dying or if not already dead. The likes of the Boxster and Jaguar X-type more or less saving their respective companies, it looks as though B&O are going the same way, shifting more cheaper units rather than trying to sell a few high-priced units. Personally I never forgave B&O giving up on the original BeoLab 8000 and 6000 speakers. But on the other hand I welcome the use of Peerless/Tyhmphany/Scamnspeak drivers. But even B&O headphones, albeit highly counterfeited, had an air of high-end about them., They were something one would aspire to even though realistically they weren't that expensive, certainly not in comparison the the many Ultrasone and Sennheiser, AKG's headphones I've owned. But there was something different about them, like Saab, but in a good way. But to be lowered to the realm of 'Free With' is in my mind, simply unthinkable. "How the mighty have fallen" springs to mind.
In May I bought two brand new white S3's from eb*y UK for £149.50 each - at that price I couldn't resist, but I WAS a little nervous initially as it seemed too good an offer.
At the time there were lots of black ones around being sold privately following a mobile phone promotion, but I specifically waited for white ones; the ones I bought were actually offered by a B&O dealer in Kent, so I felt it was safe enough to buy from them.
They arrived a couple of days later - delivered to my local Argos store - securely packaged. They worked perfectly and impressively straight out of the box, and I couldn't be happier with them - they are great little speakers.
The only tiny gripe was the £9.00 delivery charged for each as no combined postage - but really for the saving I was making I'm being really petty!
Best of luck with whatever you decide.
Thanks.
I'm here because my latest Arcam amp (Alpha 7) has given up the ghost. I don;t seem to be successful when it comes to Arcam amps. really I need to invest in another amp, seems though I build my own speakers/subwoofers (https://transmissionlinedesigns.wordpress.com/), and with the amount of them that I have. However I just want a bit of a break and favour a simple set up over tons of boxes everywhere. I seem to do a lot of listening via headphones anyway.
But I love my bass, and TBH the Beoplay S3 seem to be one of the few options that satisfy the urge, albeit not at the levels I want, but I go for bass depth, not loud bass, and the likes of many an ipod dock, simply dont have the depth.
Captain,
Using the S3 with the Beoplay App also gives some options to tailor the sound - either using the 'Tonetouch' option to select degrees of Warm/Bright/Relaxed/Excited, or using the presets.
I find the S3 in the neutral position fine for my circumstances, but it should be possible to enhance the bass to suit your own musical tastes with a bit of customisation through the App.
I just had an email from Groupon and it was about to be junked when the word "Beoplay" caught my eye.
They are knocking out (only black or white ones) for £119 including delivery. (I see on eBay they are being sold in the UK for anything between £345.38 and £119.99. (One odd bod is selling for £1,154.50, but must be shipping from Mars)
I assume this is dropping out of the B&O catalogue, if it hasn't gone already
Gary
Re the S3. If you're using it for Bluetooth music (i.e. digital) then you can use the app to dial back the bass of the speaker DSP and its OK. If you intend to primarily use the Line-In connection then be aware that the DSP is not in-line and it the speaker is then, IMO, far too bass heavy and non-adjustable.
Ban boring signatures!
For a hobby i design transmission line enclosures, mainly for car audio subwoofers (https://transmissionlinedesigns.wordpress.com/), so when it comes to bass, i say; "Bring it on!" The bass performance is what drew me to the S3 in the first place!
captain:For a hobby i design transmission line enclosures, mainly for car audio subwoofers (https://transmissionlinedesigns.wordpress.com/), so when it comes to bass, i say; "Bring it on!" The bass performance is what drew me to the S3 in the first place!