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
Got a newsletter from (one of) my dealer(s) today.
There will be a Golden Edition of the A9 - black with a golden ring and walnut legs.
Looks beautiful in the photo - wish I had a room for it.
Did not find any information on this elsewhere - seems to be quite new.
In the newsletter they also mention the special offer when buying a BV11 ( if you bring an old tv), and that this will be terminated on the 15th of March.
And after that? Maybe we will very soon see the new V100, then?
Seems that the BL9 has reached EOL (as written in a couple of the recent forum posts) - they are selling them with a discount of 30% right now.
MM
There is a tv - and there is a BV
The golden edition :
I saw this golden edition at my dealer the other day (photo). Not entirely convinced - I think I prefer the previous all-black A9 SE with walnut legs.
Has the previous all-black SE been discontinued now?
@Steph - thanks for the pic! I was writing on the iPad (as mostly), and you/I can't upload pictures from there.
@Moxxey - it doesn't seem so. The Golden is a limited edition, I suppose.
Millemissen: Seems that the BL9 has reached EOL
Seems that the BL9 has reached EOL
Because they are not selling?
Or because replacement is on its way?
Replacement is on the way according to another post in another topic.
Different design and wireless.
Beovision Eclipse gen2 (GX) w/ floorstand, Beolab 14.2, 4 speaker Shape and ATV4/Chromecast.
Beoplay A9mk4 GVA, Beosound 1 GVA, H2, H3, H8, E6, Beoplay EQ
Steph: The golden edition :
I love it. Probably my naff 80's taste, but it does look fantastic. How many are they making?
Just one more thing. Will it be able to play much better quality music in the future. i.e. In the future if Spotify etc does a premium lossless service, to the same quality of the Linn library will it be able to cope? Is its hardware capable of doing this or is it stuck at 320mps like Spotify?
Interesting that lots of companies are now chasing this audiophile download market.
http://www.stuff.tv/onkyo/onkyo-and-imagination-technologies-gunning-sonos-audiophile-streaming-systems/news
Beosound Stage, Beovision 8-40, Beolit 20, Beosound Explore.
js:Because they are not selling? Or because replacement is on its way?
Special Editions in the car industry are also to simplify production complexity into batches which are all the same .
Beo Century ,Beoplay V1, Beocenter 6, Ex-Beolit 12, Beotime , A8. Beolit 15 , Form 2i , Beolab 2000, Beoplay A3.Beosound 1
Simonbeo:Special Editions in the car industry are also to simplify production complexity into batches which are all the same .
Well yes. There are now two housing choices ; black or white . But you're right there's not that much complexity. It must be to make people think the special permutation will not be in stock for ever. I've noticed an audio dealer selling the A9 at quite a discount , but perhaps the specials are only for B&O dealers?
This looks to be directly targeted at the Asian market to me. The use of gold has become mostly passe in the West, but it's still hot kit in China and such.
Jeff
I'm afraid I'm recovering from the BeoVirus.
Chris Townsend: I love it. Probably my naff 80's taste, but it does look fantastic. How many are they making?
They only made 20 of the previous all-black SE A9. Sold out in about a week. Few or no dealers had one.
Chris Townsend:Just one more thing. Will it be able to play much better quality music in the future. i.e. In the future if Spotify etc does a premium lossless service, to the same quality of the Linn library will it be able to cope? Is its hardware capable of doing this or is it stuck at 320mps like Spotify?
Funny you should mention this, I had a self-titled audiophile at my home this morning viewing my new BL18s. I played him the Spotify "Extreme" quality Depeche Mode single, Heaven. Sounded great.
I then put the CD-ripped FLAC version and he instantly pointed out sounds you couldn't pick out in the streamed version. At first, I had my doubts, but he was right. You could. The FLAC CD-ripped version was wider, deeper, crisper. Better.
But I still find it ironic we spend £5K on a pair of speakers, then nullify the effect my streaming compressed audio! He's right, we're mad.
That is why you should go for WiMP HiFi or Qobuz HiFi, if you want music from a streaming service - at least untill Spotify has learnt the lesson?
Losless quality music for BeoLabs
Jeff: The use of gold has become mostly passe in the West, but it's still hot kit in China and such.
The use of gold has become mostly passe in the West, but it's still hot kit in China and such.
That's what the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England want you to think!
I have to admit that other than on some types of picture frame I would not entertain anything embelished with gold. Silver, stainless steel, chrome and aluminium are fine in the right places.
Graham
moxxey: Chris Townsend: I love it. Probably my naff 80's taste, but it does look fantastic. How many are they making? They only made 20 of the previous all-black SE A9. Sold out in about a week. Few or no dealers had one. Chris Townsend:Just one more thing. Will it be able to play much better quality music in the future. i.e. In the future if Spotify etc does a premium lossless service, to the same quality of the Linn library will it be able to cope? Is its hardware capable of doing this or is it stuck at 320mps like Spotify? Funny you should mention this, I had a self-titled audiophile at my home this morning viewing my new BL18s. I played him the Spotify "Extreme" quality Depeche Mode single, Heaven. Sounded great. I then put the CD-ripped FLAC version and he instantly pointed out sounds you couldn't pick out in the streamed version. At first, I had my doubts, but he was right. You could. The FLAC CD-ripped version was wider, deeper, crisper. Better. But I still find it ironic we spend £5K on a pair of speakers, then nullify the effect my streaming compressed audio! He's right, we're mad.
Not to rain on your parade but I've seen the exact same thing from people when I presented them with the same audio file for both choices as long as they thought they were different. Unblinded and non level matches its impossible to tell if they are really different, but if it makes you smile that's what matters.
The other explanation might be, that those people aren't capable of hearing any difference under the chosen circumstances.
Jeff: Not to rain on your parade but I've seen the exact same thing from people when I presented them with the same audio file for both choices as long as they thought they were different. Unblinded and non level matches its impossible to tell if they are really different, but if it makes you smile that's what matters.
This guy pointed out subtle differences and I had to agree. There were ever-so-subtle background differences between the compressed/streamed version and the uncompressed FLAC of the same track. So, he was right.
I'm not saying it applies to every track (sadly, 80% of modern music is produced specifically for the 'headphone generation'), but as he also pointed out, when you have a well recorded/produced track, it pays to get the CD. A lot of Sony-produced music tends to be well recorded, as an example.
Barry Santini: So if you tell us to pay attention for possible differences...we do. And the results often have, IMHO, undue weight and emphasis.
So if you tell us to pay attention for possible differences...we do. And the results often have, IMHO, undue weight and emphasis.
Much like listening to the same track on a pair of £500 speakers from Argos? When someone points out the audio nuances in my £5K BL18s, I hear them. Without the person pointing them out, hey, I would never known the difference!
This is just people justifying listening to an iTunes stream via their BL5s, as they are too lazy to buy and rip from a CD, let's face it. People just talk themselves in to this scenario, much like saying that the standard Dolby Digital 5.1 from your Apple TV "HD" movie is just as good as an uncompressed Blu-ray DTS-HD source.
"The average person on the street can not tell the difference between....". Fair enough, but these average people generally don't buy B&O kit either.
The sooner Linn, B&O or Spotify do a lossless subscription service just like Spotify the better.
moxxey: Jeff: Not to rain on your parade but I've seen the exact same thing from people when I presented them with the same audio file for both choices as long as they thought they were different. Unblinded and non level matches its impossible to tell if they are really different, but if it makes you smile that's what matters. This guy pointed out subtle differences and I had to agree. There were ever-so-subtle background differences between the compressed/streamed version and the uncompressed FLAC of the same track. So, he was right. I'm not saying it applies to every track (sadly, 80% of modern music is produced specifically for the 'headphone generation'), but as he also pointed out, when you have a well recorded/produced track, it pays to get the CD. A lot of Sony-produced music tends to be well recorded, as an example.
As its likely that the streamed version is from a different master of a different mix you should trying compessing your FLAC to 320kbps, make sure they are rms normalised and repeat the exercise. I suspect the subtleties may become even more so. It is the recording industries interest to have audible differences between formats and levels of "fidelity" , real or not, to persuade punters to keep re-purchasing their back catalogue.
Ban boring signatures!
Listening to identically mastered but different bit rate tracks with another person in the room to reinforce prejudices, and without level matching, unblinded, will never produce accurate results unless the differences are far from subtle. And I mean far, as in the difference say between a pair of Lab 5's and Lab 18's. This only gets worse when you do all of the above, and with differently sourced tracks of different provenances. And Puncher is right, it's in the people who sell music's interest to make them sound different, remember that Sony was caught doing just this when pushing SACD in the past. The CD quality version on one side of the disc was deliberately recorded at a lower level to make direct comparison difficult, and people who looked at the spectral content of the music noticed some not so subtle frequency response manipulation when they remastered to SACD.
If you are really curious about your abilities, get someone to make you a CD of the original track, the track converted to say 256kbs AAC and back to wav, and randomly distributed either the original or the AAC converted track, for 10 samples. Sit back, listen however you want, write down your "guesses" as to which is which, and ask the person who made you the disc for your score. I guarantee you will be surprised as to the outcome.
we tend to forget there is more to design than designing.
Mark:Interesting topic and I do wonder if the art of music production has been lost somewhat. Taking away music mediums I still find many of 70's and early 80's albums have a better production quality than my upto date 2014 offerings. Not sure if this is down to more home/small scale recording systems or skill set. Please all keep posting such detail postings.
Not sure if this is down to more home/small scale recording systems or skill set.
Please all keep posting such detail postings.
An interesting question. On the one hand some pop music is now horrendously recorded, it seems the loudness and overmodulation wars have really taken their toll in a lot of genres of music. On the other hand, some modern, well recorded jazz and other types of music I hear are just staggeringly good, better than the best recordings I have from older eras.
Then there were bands like the Beatles and Steely Dan who did excellent recordings, Becker and Fagen were obsessive about it, and Steely Dan recordings are among the best of the era. Same with Fagen's solo work. The Nightfly is just amazingly well recorded.
It is an interesting question if, overall, there are more or less good recordings, and I think it will vary a lot by genre. If it's top 40 and designed for radio play I suspect the majority are worse than ever, if it's jazz and folk and classical, I suspect the opposite would be true.
Jeff: Mark:Interesting topic and I do wonder if the art of music production has been lost somewhat. Taking away music mediums I still find many of 70's and early 80's albums have a better production quality than my upto date 2014 offerings. Not sure if this is down to more home/small scale recording systems or skill set. Please all keep posting such detail postings. An interesting question. On the one hand some pop music is now horrendously recorded, it seems the loudness and overmodulation wars have really taken their toll in a lot of genres of music. On the other hand, some modern, well recorded jazz and other types of music I hear are just staggeringly good, better than the best recordings I have from older eras. Then there were bands like the Beatles and Steely Dan who did excellent recordings, Becker and Fagen were obsessive about it, and Steely Dan recordings are among the best of the era. Same with Fagen's solo work. The Nightfly is just amazingly well recorded. It is an interesting question if, overall, there are more or less good recordings, and I think it will vary a lot by genre. If it's top 40 and designed for radio play I suspect the majority are worse than ever, if it's jazz and folk and classical, I suspect the opposite would be true.
As always, Jeff, your input is thought provoking. I just heard a new live album by Rock Candy Funk Party (another Joe Bonamassa super group) on Spotify and the sound is incredible. Does this suggest that great recording, mastering, and playback can overcome a lossy codec?
Perhaps it suggests there's nothing to overcome in the codec, that it's transparent...
Of course, different types of music are more or less capable of illuminating the differences in codecs. The more there is going on, the more instruments the more complicated the harder it will be to hear the encoder.
Jeff: Perhaps it suggests there's nothing to overcome in the codec, that it's transparent... Of course, different types of music are more or less capable of illuminating the differences in codecs. The more there is going on, the more instruments the more complicated the harder it will be to hear the encoder.
Jeffrey, you just blew my mind.