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I don't know if this has been revealed before, but I was wondering what the first speaker Geoff was involved with?
When? In 2002!
http://www.tonmeister.ca/wordpress/about/
MM
There is a tv - and there is a BV
Wow! Thank you for the link! It is nice to see what he has worked on.
I started with the BeoSound 8 which looks to be one of Geoff's first products! He has to have one fun job. I am jealous!
Hi,
The first B&O product that I tuned was the first Audi A8 system. I helped do the first Audi R8 as I was transitioning from Automotive over to the Acoustics department.
The first non-automotive B&O product that I tuned was the BeoSound 8 which, acoustically speaking, is identical to the BeoPlay A8.
I'm curious as to why you're asking...
Cheers
-g
Hi Geoff!
I didn't think I would have the pleasure of replying to you, and I hope that nobody takes my reasons for asking this the wrong way, but here is the reason I was wondering about this.
Bang & Olufsen has become one of my favorite companies, in a large part after watching the videos on the web site when I was considering buying the BeoLab 14. I already loved the looks of the speakers and I was wondering if it could replace my existing Celestion A-series speakers for my home theater. The video that really caught my attention was the one with you representing the customer, and watching all that was involved with perfecting the sound. My local B&O dealer at the time didn't have much of a listening room for the 14's, it was just shoved into a corner of the store. So the videos were a large part of making the decision to buy. I loved the system after I purchased it, especially when I paired it with a BeoSystem 4 later.
It seems much of what you do for Bang & Olufsen is documented to some degree. What comes across from all this is your attention to detail and desire for perfection, as far as it is possible. I have always loved music and that is my escape from the world sometimes (often!) For me the artist comes first, then the equipment. This isn't always great because some of my favorite artists are on some pretty lousy labels.
I still occasionally have some fun and go to hi-fi stores with my music just to see what the offerings are from other companies. I have had them play some of my "bad" music on top-end equipment where I couldn't even finish listening to a song. It was so unpleasant. The same bad music sounds very listenable on my Bang & Olufsen systems, so I started wondering why? I purchased the CD with "Bird on a Wire" after reading about it on your blog. That is an amazing skill you have and I think that speaks very highly of B&O speakers as that is one of your tests. If B&O, through your work, can make great recordings sound wonderful, and bad recordings sound good, it seems to me that your work with B&O is rather unique. I wonder if other companies put in as much attention to detail.
That lead me to wonder (please nobody take this the wrong way) was there a difference in B&O products before Geoff? Is there a specific Geoff Martin signature on B&O products (speakers in particular)?. I am a rather new B&O customer as the BeoSound 8 was my first product which I really loved. That product alone is what made me want the BeoLab 14. I purchased a pair of BeoLab 4000's and a BeoLab11 with the intent of using it in my bedroom. I had it set up side-by-side with the BeoLab 14 when I was testing it. They sounded really good but I did prefer the BeoLab 14's. I ended up deciding to get the BeoLab 17's instead and giving the 4000's and 11 to a friend (with an Essence). I have to admit that the overall reason for this is I knew the 17's passed the Geoff Martin test. I am still able to enjoy the BeoLab 4000 and BeoLab 11 at her house, but the BeoLab 17's are special to me!
I have since added a second BeoLab 14 5.1 system to my home theater making it a 10.2 system and I am absolutely thrilled with it! I couldn't ask for anything more from any of my systems!
I don't mean to infer that pre-Geoff Bang & Olufsen products are not as good, it just that with all that is documented about your work and your high standards it really makes the newer products very desirable for me!
I have: BeoSound 8, BeoLab 14 5.1 (x 2), BeoSystem 4, BeoLab 17, BeoSound Essence MkII (x 2), BeoPlay A6 (in my sister's room), BeoPlay A2(x 2), BeoGram 8002, BeoLab 4, and a BeoSound 1 at work! All this because I fell in love with a Bang & Olufsen system in the 1960's when I was a child!
I very much enjoy reading your blogs and I think that is what differentiates Bang & Olufsen from other companies for me. You are one of my most admired persons!
Thank you for your work!
Hi Mark,
I think this is a lovely response to Geoff's question and you reignite for me the passion I have always had for this brand. What has always made B&O special for me is the types of people they employ; the attention to detail from design to production; the whole thought process throughout and a beautifully 'formed' product at the end of it all.
For me, B&O is so much more than 'just another company or factory' churning out 'just another product.' It is the philosophy of the brand I am buying into. I have loved B&O for many years, also since childhood, but felt frustrated and disappointed by them at times too. At the end of the day though, what other company or brand could have such an emotional effect on me? The answer is none. Certainly not in my 46 years on planet earth to date. I admire and respect the company, all their achievements and all those who have worked there (and do still) and who have made B&O what it is today. I can't think of any other company like them.
I smile every single time I turn on one of my B&O products; my latest purchase being an A3 which I am really liking the more I use it. I still have my BV9 with BL9s at the front and get so much pleasure looking at it both on and off! What other tv could evoke such emotion in a person? If I had any other tv that's all it would ever be... just another tv.
Looking forward to seeing what's new on the tv front this year from B&O as I fancy an upgrade to a 4K model but one things for sure, the BV9 won't be going anywhere, it'll just move to a different room! Could never part with such a lovely product and I have similar emotional attachments with all my other B&O products.
Thanks for your great post and for sharing why you love the brand too and what brought you to it.
All the best, Simon.
B&O products are V1-32, BS2, H95, E8 and an Essence remote.11-46 now replaced with Sony A90J 65”, Sony HT-A9, Sony UBP-X800M2 and Sony SRS-NS7.
Lovely post, indeed!
Nice with this passionate posts, since many posts on the forum focus on the shortcomings of Bang & Olufsen.
Livingroom: BL3, BL11, BV11-46 Kitchen: Beosound 1 GVA, Beocom 2 Bathroom: M3 Homeoffice: M3, Beocom 2 Library: Beosound Emerge, Beocom 6000 Bedroom: M5, Essence remote Travel: Beoplay E8 2.0, Beoplay EQ, Beoplay Earset
HI,
Thanks for this very kind posting - but I think that you give me too much credit. The credit goes to all of the people that work on a given project - and the way that we work together. A hockey team wouldn't be very successful without a goalie. But the goalie doesn't get all the credit - since if (s)he were the only good player on the team, they wouldn't score any goals...
Also, although I did the final sound design (with help from my colleagues) of many B&O loudspeakers, it was certainly not all of them (for some of them, the tables are turned and I am the colleague doing the helping). For others, I have almost no input at all.
That said, every loudspeaker we develop is listened to by the members of the Acoustics Department throughout the final tuning stages. We discuss what's good and what's less good about the tuning, and changes may or may not be made through the process. So, although there's one person who is ultimately responsible for the final tuning of a loudspeaker, there are many people providing opinions about how it performs and how it sounds.
I don't think that there is an answer to the "before geoff" question for two reasons. The first is that I started working at B&O at a time when we were transitioning from loudspeakers with analogue filtering to DSP-based systems. This meant that a completely different level of control was possible. So the question is better framed along the lines of "analogue vs. digital processing". The second is that, as I said above, I don't do all the products. But I suspect that my "fingerprint" is on the products that I worked on - but that would be true of any of my colleagues...
What I can confirm is that we (in the acoustics department) are all a little obsessed with the details of what we do... That's why I like working here. :-)
-geoff
I know you are right about the magnitudes of people who work on a project and all of their efforts to go into making it the best possible. I saw the list you posted for the BeoLab 90 and have seen some of the videos that show this to a some degree. I guess as a customer you tend to envision the process in a more simplified manner. That is why I love the videos and your blogs, it gives an insight into all that is involved with bringing a great product to music and video lovers. This is what sets Bang & Olufsen apart from the rest for me, seeing the excitement, love, and devotion that all the employees have to create a product that can bring great joy to me as the end user. I do give great thanks to all the employees at Bang & Olufsen.
But it is still nice to know that my speakers passed the Geoff Martin listening test!