Being blunt

To put it bluntly, B&O has exited the TV business. They sell LG, with B&O audio.

LG G7 has a soundbar by Harman/Kardon. It does not make it magically a special H/KVision.

LG W7 has an impressive soundbar (sound system), with motorized magic & Dolby Atmos, and a wallpaper design – something truly new. The Eclipse has nothing new. Its design is a cross-breed of BV7/BV11, and the set doesn't really offer any new features.

Going further down that thinking, what extra does BeoSound Moment offer on top of a BeoSound Essence or a BeoSound Core & an iPad? The Moodwheel, which may or may not work? Spotify's "Weekly Discovery" or "Your Daily Mix" have not let me down yet. Why would I want a Moodwheel, when the music system trying to provide music to my mood is a headache? Spotify has playlists for moods.

In my opinion, B&O lost their way when physical media started to dissappear and music & movies became digital. You don't need to insert that disc anywhere anymore – and that is where B&O had magic.

Now the magic is in software – which doesn't mix all that well with B&O.

I think the only "mood" most Moment owners have is frustrated and annoyed at the products performance. Hmmm, what music goes with that?

But I find nothing to really disagree with in your post. Unfortunately, to me anyway, whilst the audio performance of the later speaker offerings may well be improved, visually none of them are as stylish. If I want good sound there are any number of monkey coffins that will suffice, what attracted me always to B&O was the sound was good but so were the looks, they integrated into a modernist house like mine very well. Not as much anymore.

The highest performance TV was the BV12, the last "real" Beovision to me was the BV11, it used the best LCD tech available at the time, and I can't blame them for not going plasma with it as the writing was on the wall about plasma availability for more than a couple of years. Every TV since then has been a compromise in performance, under performing the products of much cheaper companies. I liked the Avant style and drop down speaker, but to release a 4K set with such limited implementation of the 4K standards...well. There you go.

I really wish Loewe was distributed here in the US.

I think the look of the bl50's is one that'll grow on people. I like it a lot personally. The misses likes them too but funnely enough now likes the look of the bl5's more, although she appreciates improvement in sound quality. In the beginning she wasn't all that fond of the look of the bl5's. Just goes to show what time does i gues. When the bl5's where new, in my circles the reactions to the design was very mixed, almost negative. Everybody loved the sound, but it seemed to be too futuristic back in 2003 for many people. Therefor i wonder what we'll think of the bl50's in lets say 2024, i also wonder what other covers will be available by then. The sort of aluminuim little square block cover they showed as a prototype, on youtube somewhere, i loved and hope they'll start selling soon.

I gues with b&o design often time catches up with their designs in a good way. So give it a while :)

I never cared for the moment or the bs5 and have always stuch with my overture, all the digital stuff i do via my intel nuc. I think the idea and design of both are good, BUT they overextended themselves by releasing it before it was done softwarewise. The company seems to be very innovative, but also once they've innovated, they seem to stop caring and want to keep innovating. Unfortunately that only worked propperly in the time when devices weren't so software dependant. I hope they'll realise this sooner rather than later and gather some talent to fix this.

KMA:

Going further down that thinking, what extra does BeoSound Moment offer on top of a BeoSound Essence or a BeoSound Core & an iPad? The Moodwheel, which may or may not work? Spotify's "Weekly Discovery" or "Your Daily Mix" have not let me down yet. Why would I want a Moodwheel, when the music system trying to provide music to my mood is a headache? Spotify has playlists for moods.

In my opinion, B&O lost their way when physical media started to dissappear and music & movies became digital. You don't need to insert that disc anywhere anymore – and that is where B&O had magic.

Now the magic is in software

I agree with you on the need for a moment compared to iPad and core. There just is no need unless you particularly want something physical from B&O to hold. In terms of functionality it adds little for streaming. But if there is pleasure for people to gain from the unit itself with its touch sensitive oak (and the fact it does not require your iPad) then it has a place for some I'm sure.

I think the concept of the moment, like the BS5, was good initially but the world is moving so fast these products have quickly become less relevant. This has happened very quickly in the case of the moment, in fact before they could even get it to work correctly.

I agree completely. The hardware is fine but the software is horrendous. 

The Shape I have in my kitchen is almost unusable the software is so bad. With software that was fully developed it could be a good product.

I agree completely. The hardware is fine but the software is horrendous. 

The Shape I have in my kitchen is almost unusable the software is so bad. With software that was fully developed it could be a good product.

I agree completely. The hardware is fine but the software is horrendous. 

The Shape I have in my kitchen is almost unusable the software is so bad. With software that was fully developed it could be a good product.

We have all bought B&O for different reasons in the past. To my mind the products were always innovative and clever. Unfortunately the latest streaming and flat screen technologies leave no opportunity for the innovations of old, except perhaps in speaker design. Then B&O decide to drop the BL5 and replace it with a large lump of unimaginative form............

Graham

Guzzler:

The Shape I have in my kitchen is almost unusable the software is so bad. With software that was fully developed it could be a good product.

'The Shape in your kitchen'...

You already have a BS Shape - congrats on that....could we see pics?

MM

 A fair summary.

The TV/ screen sector looks bleak for B&O - but if they can build on and consolidate/push/promote  their world-leading loudspeaker abilities, ( inc stuff like headphones, in car, PC peripherals etc)  they could become the de-facto high end ancillary company for good sound.   

That could include integrated web music streaming and add-on TV bar type stuff - but it seems top quality audio, at different price points,  is the only way to go.  TV's and stand alone HiFi units are dying a death.   Acknowledged worlds best audio company is the way to go - like many people think Bose are (even though they aren't).

 

 

 

Millemissen:

You already have a BS Shape - congrats on that....could we see pics?

It might look good, but it doesn't work. But, as long as it looks decent. If I had a brand new B&O product which I'd stated was "almost unusable", the the last thing I'd be wanting to do was grab shots of it to show it off.

I don't see that it is all B&O's fault - the market moves to quickly and everyone wants the latest as cheaply as possible. Most people are not really that bothered about sound quality so long as it looks good and is good value - yes, there are a lot that still are bothered by the sound but there is a lot of competition at the end of the market where B&O were never taken seriously until the likes of Beolab 5 came along. Not sure how many people actually listen to an album all the way through or just flick from song to another on an iphone or music is just background.

Interesting point about the lack of physical magic, I think that has played a big part in the way things have changed. At the moment there is nothing I would particularly get excited about buying from B&O as I have no interest in having to get my iphone or ipad out everytime I want to listen to music or the radio And I still want to be able to connect a turntable and reel to reel player to my system, alongside this press a button and listen in where I choose - not have to connect something using my iphone all the time. When I need to replace my BV8 I will most likely do so with an Horizon. Maybe it is part of getting older but streaming all my music, watching something just because it is in 4k or whatever,  nterests me, also, like Jeff my house is full of mid century and Scandinavian furniture which the newer stuff doesn't integrate well with - even the 80's and 90's stuff from B&O integrated well and sounded amazing. Part of the magic before was that the equipment was made in Denmark not China - I understand the reasons behind that and no argument to be made - however it does seem that the magic has gone and that is just part and parcel of the times we live in. 

I wonder, if we had had this forum in the 80's or 90's we would have been saying the same thing about technology from the 60's and 70's?

KMA:

To put it bluntly, B&O has exited the TV business. They sell LG, with B&O audio.

 

 

LG G7 has a soundbar by Harman/Kardon. It does not make it magically a special H/KVision.

 

 

LG W7 has an impressive soundbar (sound system), with motorized magic & Dolby Atmos, and a wallpaper design – something truly new. The Eclipse has nothing new. Its design is a cross-breed of BV7/BV11, and the set doesn't really offer any new features.

 

 

Going further down that thinking, what extra does BeoSound Moment offer on top of a BeoSound Essence or a BeoSound Core & an iPad? The Moodwheel, which may or may not work? Spotify's "Weekly Discovery" or "Your Daily Mix" have not let me down yet. Why would I want a Moodwheel, when the music system trying to provide music to my mood is a headache? Spotify has playlists for moods.

 

 

In my opinion, B&O lost their way when physical media started to dissappear and music & movies became digital. You don't need to insert that disc anywhere anymore – and that is where B&O had magic.

 

 

Now the magic is in software – which doesn't mix all that well with B&O.

Agree 100%. Thanks for posting...

Stefan

Millemissen:

You already have a BS Shape - congrats on that....could we see pics?

Haven't you seen it in the shops?

On topic: I agree regarding the TVs. I guess it was inevitable but it makes me sad anyway, even though they kind of lost me way back (when the AV9000 and the Avant became the norm, it got to expensive for me (up until the V1 and to some extent the Horizon)). However, I really like that B&O is better than ever when it comes to loudspeakers!

Andrew:

I wonder, if we had had this forum in the 80's or 90's we would have been saying the same thing about technology from the 60's and 70's?

Well I wouldn't have been as I bought most of my B&O in the 90s so I was totally in love with the brand and their products at that time. I take your point but can't share it given my experiences.

BAND'OH!:

Andrew:

I wonder, if we had had this forum in the 80's or 90's we would have been saying the same thing about technology from the 60's and 70's?

Well I wouldn't have been as I bought most of my B&O in the 90s so I was totally in love with the brand and their products at that time. I take your point but can't share it given my experiences.

Wasn't the debate in those days about the development of transistors and the printed circuit, and how the tube/valve amplifiers of the pre 60's were so superior (and continue in use to this day in some audiophool units). 

Graham

Guzzler:

I agree completely. The hardware is fine but the software is horrendous. 

The Shape I have in my kitchen is almost unusable the software is so bad. With software that was fully developed it could be a good product.

Surprised to hear this - not had one issue with the Shape. What is the problem you are experiencing?

Graham - yes I think it was tube/valves v transistor debate - the valves not having the distortion of transistors then made them popular in some circles - probably those in the arctic thanks to the amount of heat they generate. That said I would love to try a valve amp.