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This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
New BeoSound 1 in Lifestyle
Photo: Pascal Photographe
The new B&O coffee grinder
The 21st century "rundspreder"
Nice Graves sugar bowl by Alessi.
Beo Century ,Beoplay V1, Beocenter 6, Ex-Beolit 12, Beotime , A8. Beolit 15 , Form 2i , Beolab 2000, Beoplay A3.Beosound 1
Beautiful!
BeoBoy68:New BeoSound 1 in Lifestyle
New BeoSound 1: The Sound of coffee
This thing is hideous. I'll say plenty of positive things about the brand and love it, but this new device looks stupid
Thanks BeoBoy68. That is really cool. I want one next to my coffee machine.
It's interesting, not the same kind of acoustic lens as the ALT, which is a fairly recent development, more like a number of classic omni-directional speakers of old. Seems not much is new under the sun. Check out Roger Russell's page on this, some very cool stuff there from the past:
Omni-Directional Speakers
Jeff
I'm afraid I'm recovering from the BeoVirus.
Jeff: It's interesting, not the same kind of acoustic lens as the ALT, which is a fairly recent development, more like a number of classic omni-directional speakers of old. Seems not much is new under the sun. Check out Roger Russell's page on this, some very cool stuff there from the past: Omni-Directional Speakers
Forgive the ignorant question, but isn't an acoustic lens that we Beophiles are familiar with, be considered half of an omnidirectional speaker, with some modifications to the shape to influence the 180-degree arc into a 360-degree sound spread? An acoustic lens positioned "upside down" would perform the same way as one right side up right? So if the current acoustic lenses were shaped the same throughout their 360-degree shape would they be considered "omnidirectional"? Apologies as these concepts don't come intuitively to me as others on these forums. :-)
Ugh, forget that question, Jeff. Now that I am thinking about it and trying to picture my thought experiment in more detail, I can see how the current ALT is positioned above the drivers and in order to make the sound-spread omnidirectionally, it would require significant reshaping to the lens and wouldn't be considered an ALT at all.
From what I gather from reading the paper on the ALT as compared with the usual omni cone reflectors is that the ALT is designed for 180 deg sound, with emphasis on smooth freq response and very controlled vertical dispersion. It's a bit more complex as it has to talke half the tweeters output and focus it to add to the other half without a lot of cancellation over the tweeters frequency range, whereas an omni lens doesn't have to do that, it only redirects the tweeters output into a full circle. It's also designed to do this as the tweeters dispersion changes with frequency which from what I gather is why the upper chamber over the driver has the shape it does,,if I understand it properly. If the output of the tweeter to the rear of the ALT chamber isn't combined properly with the front radiation you'd get interference that would make the frequency response very ragged. It's an interesting design, and I'm like Roger Russell, I've always been fascinated by attempts to make an omnidirectional speaker.
I remember in the 70's Design Acoustics made a speaker called the D12, which was a dodecahedron with a 10 inch down firing woofer, a cone midrange facing up, and a cone tweeter on every one of the other sides of the dodecahedron. The first ones were only omni, the later version had a switch that let you select omni or 180 deg dispersion, a very interesting and cool looking design. Years later I briefly had a pair, the sound was kind of like my BL9s in that you could get a decent stereo image over a wide listening area but was more susceptible to the effects of reflections off the back wall, kind of like a combo of a BL9 and a Bose 901. Severely hampered by the fact that the mids and tweeters were cheap and really horrible even for the day.
mine were blonde oak with bright turquoise grill cloths! They sat on chrome stands, the height of 70's chic!
Duels:I like the look of it and the concept from the first pic. As ever I expect to like it even more when I see it in the flesh.
Is this the new road for B&O to go. It looks to me more of a guidance system for a warhead missile. Let's wait for more pics and surprise me B&O
"Believe nothing you read and only half of what you see, let your ears tell you the truth."
The spout must be turned away from the view. Press the top down to dispense your coffee.
Graham
Just played with it for five minutes.
Surely looks very special, like no audio product I saw before, but for me it's not love at first sight.
Sound was ok but I doubt it outperforms my Beolit 15.
The wheel on top is nice to turn or press.
Around 1.400 € - Made in China.
At this price level it should at least perform like a Beoplay A6 !
Made in China and only "ok" sound? Thank you, but no, thanks. B&O becomes just greedy... wrong way to go. Yes, I will judge design and sound by myself when I touch it in the store. But "Made in China" for the real Bang & Olufsen product means that I don't buy it and I can not recommend that.
benoit: At this price level it should at least perform like a Beoplay A6 !
At my short listening session with the BS1, I think it certainly did.
Look forward to Lee´s review tomorrow, since he had more time to listen and compare in possibly a home environment.
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
Lee, PLEASE give a 100% HONEST review if you are reviewing it. I remember you reviewing the BS8 and you said if anything, it sounded close to the BL3. In truth, the two were a million miles apart and I expected a lot only to be incredibly disappointed. Honest truth, no sales talk or NO review please!
Chris: Is this the new road for B&O to go. It looks to me more of a guidance system for a warhead missile. Let's wait for more pics and surprise me B&O
Must be why I think it looks good!
Oh and Paul, bad form there insulting our host and benefactor Lee. As for how the A8 sounds, you are the only one out of the dozens of people I know who has heard it who's made the comments you do about sound quality, so I think it's you who are the outlier.
Paul W:Lee, PLEASE give a 100% HONEST review if you are reviewing it. I remember you reviewing the BS8 and you said if anything, it sounded close to the BL3. In truth, the two were a million miles apart and I expected a lot only to be incredibly disappointed. Honest truth, no sales talk or NO review please!
I don't want to stoke the fire here, but for the sake of argument, what if the B&O products didn't have any indication of where the products were made. Would that change anyone's opinion about the products? Can someone discern where a product was made just by looking at it? The Beosound 1 appears to be of aluminum construction, and from those who have seen it, they've remarked as such (and the picture too), if it was merely the same engineering, the same materials, the same everything, but made in Denmark, why would that product be better?
I don't have a position on this, but it strikes me as more of a political statement... Heck, maybe it is. C'est la vie.
I hope B&O is successful regardless of where the products are made. If it is a good product, it is a good product. Period.
P.S. I respect members of Beoworld, so please don't take my post to be pointed at any one person, sincerely. I've been thinking about this a lot whilst reading the forums, and Beogreg's post made me think about the topic it again.
P.P.S. Guess a new music system (sans speaker) is not in the cards for B&O. They seem to be sticking with the Moment & Essence for the long haul.
Sal: I don't have a position on this, but it strikes me as more of a political statement... Heck, maybe it is. C'est la vie.
I think that pegs it, but if people want to have that opinion and let it influence their buying decisions that's their option and I hope they find some products that fill their needs and are made where they like. It does limit what they are able to buy a lot. I find it interesting that people seldom seem to care that Apple products are made in China though.
I guess with every purchase you have to decide if you want the product enough to overcome any objections you might have as to place of manufacture.
TWG: Made in China and only "ok" sound? Thank you, but no, thanks. B&O becomes just greedy... wrong way to go. Yes, I will judge design and sound by myself when I touch it in the store. But "Made in China" for the real Bang & Olufsen product means that I don't buy it and I can not recommend that.
Apple is made in China designed in California.... Who complains?
BeoGreg:I suspect StbBrackets will make a wall bracket for BS1 if B&O doesn't. Placed at the good spot (no corners or walls) the Beolit 15 knows how to fill a room with good loud sound.
Placed at the good spot (no corners or walls) the Beolit 15 knows how to fill a room with good loud sound.
Is that a good idea to place a 360° speaker on a wall ?
I think it's place is on the table, in the middle of the room, hence the battery...
Anyone know how heavy the BS1 is? Does one lift it up by the top? If it is all aluminum, I would suspect it is of substantial weight, not "light" but heavier than a Beolit 15 perhaps.
benoit: Apple is made in China designed in California.... Who complains?
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Present: BL90, Core, BL6000, CD7000, Beogram 7000, Essence Remote.
Past: BL1, BL2, BL8000, BS9000, BL5, BC2, BS5, BV5, BV4-50, Beosystem 3, BL3, DVD1, Beoremote 4, Moment.
Duels:I would say it's slightly different. "Swiss made" is the definition or minimum standard of a quality watch for many people. It defines the whole industry. I don't think the same is true for Denmark and A/V equipment. If Denmark was the spiritual home to all other high quality A/V businesses too then I'm sure B&O would be manufacturing everything their too but at greater cost. It's not greed to try to reduce a cost base to make profits. It's good business sense. I'm sure some will disagree and may not buy B&O made in China (and that is their prerogative) but I suspect not enough to justify transferring production back to Denmark.
It's not greed to try to reduce a cost base to make profits. It's good business sense.
I'm sure some will disagree and may not buy B&O made in China (and that is their prerogative) but I suspect not enough to justify transferring production back to Denmark.
B&O is perceived as a Danish brand and I believe the provenance is important. To charge the premium for the assumed source and pocket the savings does not seem to have integrity. I spoke to a member of the Alessi family a while back about their guidelines for sourcing their goods from places other than Italy and they were prepared to pay a little bit over the odds to avoid passing off non-Italian goods as being from their lakeside factory. The new Fiat 124 Spider is a Fiat rather than an Alfa Romeo as its produced by Mazda in Japan.
Simonbeo:B&O is perceived as a Danish brand and I believe the provenance is important. To charge the premium for the assumed source and pocket the savings does not seem to have integrity. I spoke to a member of the Alessi family a while back about their guidelines for sourcing their goods from places other than Italy and they were prepared to pay a little bit over the odds to avoid passing off non-Italian goods as being from their lakeside factory. The new Fiat 124 Spider is a Fiat rather than an Alfa Romeo as its produced by Mazda in Japan. Beo Century ,Beoplay V1, Beocenter 6, Ex-Beolit 12, Beotime , A8 , MX 5500 . Beolit 15 , Form 2i , Beolab 2000, Beoplay A3.
Indeed. They'd be losing even more money if the products were as people assumed them to be sourced. Some would buy a Danish assembled Danish product but not want anodised alumium created by a low -paid dorm-living Chinese worker.
Duels:...and I don't mind where things are made as such.
Agree, for as long as:
- product's pricing category is not "luxury product" (Apple is premium, but B&O is luxury)
- product is not positioned as a "design item" rather than mass-market item, and
- there is a significant component of design and origin ethos bulit into a brand as a part of its UVP
But I guess that's very individual decision for every customer, and it won't prevent me from buying if the product is "right". Only I would never be 100% delighted.