Would you buy a Beosound 5 today?

Hi Joe

Welcome to the forum and thanks for posting. I think once you get the bs5 home and unboxed you won't think of the money once you have it and use it.

I also set mine up myself, the trickiest part is connecting the stand to the unit but there is a trick to enter a pin and twist it back prior to attaching. That may sound muddled up but trust me once you have the parts you'll see what I mean.

Other tricks are:

- make sure you attach all cables before attaching the stand, and even buy a large USB extension cable just in case.

- the bs5 encore only has one power link slot so perhaps ask for a power link splitter. But I think the version you have might have 2

- when attaching the display make sure you have a little spirit level so you ensure it's all level. This matters because once attached it will look odd if its not straight

- also buy a cable sock for all of the cables it looks neater

Also later on you can also add a playmaker to the mix which brings added flexibility

I noticed that it took a good day for the system to do its mots and ensure that it displayed the cover art.

Can't wait to see your pics and hear what your first song is that you will play. Someone on the forum was mentioning that hellagood by no doubt is a good song to test your speakers and that song was featured in my lounge yesterday :)

I'm looking forward to hearing how your new system works out, Joe.

I fully agree with Michael's advice about getting the cables in the stand correctly. You really MUST follow the diagram in the instructions exactly -- even though it might sound silly. Otherwise, the cables won't fit.

Also, remember that in order for the BeoSound 5 to perform and look its best, you really need to take some time to make sure all of your music is correctly tagged and that you have good resolution cover art. Otherwise, all of those shortcomings will become glaringly obvious on the BeoSound 5.

My home is fully wired for MasterLink in every room. After years of having the BeoSound 5, I've come to think of it as part of my home -- just like electricity or plumbing. It all feels so natural to move from room to room and continue listening to and have control of the music from the BeoSound 5. I, for one, absolutely cannot imagine having a BeoSound 5 Encore. The Encore seems to leave out a huge part of the whole BeoSound 5 experience.

The Beo6 certainly helps with link room control, but it just can't compare to the Apple "Remote" app on the iPad for iTunes. It really is time for B&O to come out with a proper iPad app to provide direct control, extend search functionality and retain MOTS -- something that the third party apps just can't do.

But if you would have an app to control the beosound, doesn't the function of the beosound seems a bit "lame"?

Why not just buy the playmaker then, and control the music from your ipad? :) 

I totally agree with you MARKFS, if an app is needed then why use the BS5 in the first place? 

I can collect all my music in some other place - a nas, a mac mini, using appletv or some other device that I can control with the apps on my ipad. Extremely much cheaper than in an BS5 - if I need the app.

One big feature with B&O is that you have only one remote, now other suppliers of highend stereo equipment have begun to solve this issue aswell.. 

Ok, not as good design as B&O, but the same feature..

I say no to an app any day of the week..

But it would be cool, if the beosound could control a little more than just music.

Perhaps lightning and room temperature. 

Another thing that I think is missing with the beosound 5 is the ability to use multiroom streaming. 

So that you could start some music in the kitchen and pick up on the beosound 5 in the livingroom on the control unit. 

With link speakers that works, it has been working for years! ML I had linkspeakers in the kitchen of our old apartment. I could start listening in the livingroom and send it to the kitchen. 

Just get a linksystem up and running. :) 

The BeoSound 5 does have multiroom playback. This is what differentiates it from the BeoSound 5 Encore. You can move from one room to another and continue the music as well as control it. The Beo4 and Beo5 provide basic functionality, such as selection of source, movement between tracks, and volume control. The Beo6 shows a visual display of the cover art being played and the ability to scroll through music to select it. An IOS app would merely provide one more option as a remote with even more control.

You'll probably point out that you mentioned multiroom STREAMING. That brings up another discussion regarding the future of a wired link network for B&O. Masterlink did this beautifully during the age of analog. Perhaps the need for a wireless network has become obsolete with the advancements in technology? I believe that B&O's position on this is that a wired network is preferred for the distribution of high definition video. However, I've been quite satisfied with how the Apple TV handles high definition video across a wireless network.

I do agree wholeheartedly with your suggestion that the BeoSound 5 (actually the BeoMaster 5 specifically) should be able to do more than just music. The BeoMaster 5 seemed like the ideal extension of a home control interface to any tv in the B&O portfolio. It also had the promise of being an opportunity for B&O to provide smart tv apps to any existing B&O tv. It truly amazes and disappoints me that B&O chose a DVI connection for the BeoMaster 5 instead of an HDMI connection. That alone made the unit already dated from the moment of its release. Does the BeoMaster 5 even support HDCP? I don't believe that it does.

Yes, I know that you could send music through the home with masterlink.

But what I want, is the option to have two beosound 5's and being able to choose in which room I want the music to play in. Almost like the SONOS interface.  

Also, being able to start one song in one room on the first beosound, and being able to see the cover art and changing track in another room on the second beosound, and not only on the beo4 or 6.  

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBGkSuaqWEE

XBOX SMARTGLASS!
looks great!

Im considering buying a beosound5, but, this thing here looks amazing!

Hi Beolion,

If I use an Ipad och Creation 5 app, how do I "activate" the Beosound 5 so I can use the app with the Beosound5? I have heard that I should make some change in the menus so Beosound 5 is a "Mediaserver". Is it in the Besound 5 or Beomaster 5 I do this change?

Regards
Martin Ström

Sweden

In beosound 5 , you should have mediaserver on

Hello,

The problem, if you put the beomaster 5 has a media server, it will always be in power mode and will no longuer be in standby mode.

More than the power consumption, if your beomaster is in a hi-fi furniture (not sure of the traduction) it will be hot after ten hours.

It's a shame, because with this mode (mediaserver) there is more possibility to control music.

It will be perfect if this option (mediaserver on or off) could be control by the Beo6 or the Beoplayer.

I have the Media server = On, and the BM5 is installed in a cabinet in my office with limited airflow. The temp. is about 40 degrees celsius, which is OK.

I have measured the BM5 to use 13W power when the Media Server = On, that is also OK with me.

The good thing having the BM5 in a kind of idle mode is that the startup time is very short.

I still love my BS5 system, just still wish an app that can be used as a remove on the link rooms :-)