The Hut Group sells brand new B&O A8 for £599

H6 headphones for £199. As an owner of a A8 (bought last year from an Apple store with a friend's staff discount), this price is more realistic performance wise. The Hut Group is now selling the A8 at £599.

http://www.thehut.com/electronics/audio/bang-olufsen-beoplay-a8-dock-with-airplay-white/10918714.html

Whilst I never warmed to the lifeless, bland flat sound of the A8, it did make a lovely addition to one of the guest bedrooms of our house and is very convenient for charging ones iPhone. Lovely piece of design!

Lifeless flat sound??

You must have something wrong with the BeoPlay A8. I have one in the bedroom, and it has clear highs and incredible bass — sound that is anything but flat & lifeless. In my opinion, sometimes the sound is too full with bass, something I did not notice with BeoSound 8, the non-Airplay model.

I'm personaly amazed by the performances of BS8.

So from the B&O site :

What can I do to improve the sound experience on BeoSound 8?

There are several things you can do to change the sound from BeoSound 8.

To allow BeoSound 8 to use its own sound adjustments for optimum sound experience, the most important thing is to switch the ‘equalizer’ function off on your iPod/iPhone/iPad.

Also you must se the ‘position switch’ described in the Guide to the correct position:

The upper position used when BeoSound 8 stands on a table or shelf

The middle position used when BeoSound 8 is mounted on the wall bracket

The lower position used when BeoSound 8 is placed in a corner

Apart from this, you can make settings on your iPod/iPhone when it is docked in BeoSound 8; Select ‘Settings’, then ‘Speakers’ – You can then choose between the 3 equalizer settings:

'Sound Enhance', 'Flat' and 'Bass Tilt'.

When your iPod/iPhone is undocked, the sound adjustment resets to 'Flat'.

I find placement of mine makes a huge difference..

I find myself using the TuneIn Radio App a lot with it, with the added bonus of charging my iPhone.  

Lee

9 LEE:

I find placement of mine makes a huge difference..

I would agree and would also say that B&O speakers seem to take an age to settle in, too. When I first bought my BS8, I thought it sounded muddy and flat. Really opened up after a year.

Hi Guys,

Thanks for your views and recommendations! I bought the EQ app and that's helped to make a brighter sound. I'm with Moxxie when he said that he liked the brighter sound from the BL18s! 

I think that I was expecting a sound as good as my B&W CM1s due to the high price. But the BS8 / A8 is an awesome piece of design! I find it timeless and I really hope that it continues in the range.

Lee, TuneIn is excellent isn't it! The radio industry here in the UK are regarding apps as the highest quality to listen to radio now. DAB is very much dead (most mono, 92/64kbps etc). We are launching a new station in Barcelona next year and that will have a lossless option in the app.