Beolit 12 vs Beolit 15

I am buying one of these. Would like some opinions from you other guys.

I have a full apple setup at home. By using airfoil I can stream my spotify music to several airplay enabled speakers.

I think that the Beolit 12 would be the smartes choice, as a bluetooth enabled speaker would not integrate properly.

The Beolit 15 will use less power since it is bluetooth enabled, but will it be any difference in battery life from a Beolit 12 used "hard-wired"?

I have seen that the aux input will be moved from the side (beolit 12) to the inside (beolit 15), but will an iphone fit inside, and will the aux connector be mounted in a way that I can connect the cable between the port and the iphone and still close the cover? (Then again this will not give the option of changing songs while listening)

I am leaning to the Beolit 12 for use with Airplay at home, and with an iphone connected via aux when on the run. 

Are there any connection issues with the lates software/firmware update for the Beolit 12?

 

 

A lot of Beloit 12 users are still very very upset with the terrible drop outs when using airplay on the BeoLit 12 - this is why I simply didn't consider one - i'd read so many bad reports of that problem. Luckily the A8 seems very consistent when using Airplay.

Chris and a few others will be able to confirm how reliable it is this week, if not the Bluetooth method may be a wiser bet!

The Hut Group are selling the BeoLit12 for £350(grey,black & white) and A8 for £599 at the moment.

I am getting a Beolit 12 from my dealer cos of a "favour" I did him. But I can wait and get a Beolit 15 instead.

 

I can manage some drop outs, they happen with airplay.

Even with the A2 that I got today, I am experiencing dropouts from time to time.

But of course, if the Beolit 12 is a horrible product, I should stay away..

If you can, ask the dealer for a weekend trial to see how well it works with your wi-fi. Sound wise, it's really great for the size - plenty of bass! 

Chris T is the man to ask with regards to Airplay on it! He's had two of them I believe...

Sounds like a good idea..

I will ask my dealer tomorrow.

Best of luck with it and enjoy!

My first 12 went back because it was simply unusable on AirPlay, and the second which I specifically bought for a holiday is permanently wired to an iPad etc. I just accept it's hopeless at that, but benefit from its compact size and warm sound.

My A9 started playing up a few months ago, and after consulting somebody about what router I should get to negate the Airplay drop outs nothing changed(except I'm again out of pocket) I'm getting rid of it on Wednesday as it just sits there taking up floor space, a mere 6 metres from the router and 1 metre from an airport express!

I'd wait until the Beolit 15 or whatever it's called comes out. If it uses this new Bluetooth aptX technology then I'd dump Airplay in a shot. aptX is easier to connect, maintains a far more reliable connection and at a very good quality.

Chris would the Airplay problem be solved if you wired your A9 or BeoLit12 to your router? I can't believe that Apple does not state the exact make of chip that goes into the HiFi etc, surely it's in their best interests that others brands play well with Airplay, for instance iPhone or MacBook to Apple TV is flawless.

Probably, but what's the point of having an Airplay speaker that doesn't use Airplay because it's unfit for the purpose. EVERY other device in the house works flawlessly.

I'm a big fan of the Beolit 12, and haven't had drop out issues as mentioned here.. Paul, did you have issues with yours?

This is just a snap shot of the Beolit 12 reviews from the Apple store......

http://store.apple.com/us/reviews/H7355LL/A/bo-play-beolit-12-by-bang-olufsen

https://www.facebook.com/beoplay/posts/422682817759327

When a device has a Facebook page dedicated to an Airplay problem, id say listen to the masses and wait for the Bluetooth enabled 15!

I used to have many drop outs on my Beolit 12, until I changed my wifi access point to an apple Time Capsule (I needed the storage and the time machine backups are nice too). At first, there was no improvement, the accesspoint was in a cupboard under the tv, in the center of the house. There is a metal frame in the cupboard, which blocked much of the wifi signal, as I couldn't get wifi outside the house (a mere 5 meters away from the accesspoint).

I moved the time capsule outside the cupboard and bam, perfect wifi throughout the house, on the terrace, no more drop outs on the Beolit.

Probably, the dropouts would have been less frequent with the old accesspoint outside of the cupboard as well.

Occasionally, there are still some drop outs when it is used in the bathroom, but it's quite far from the wifi source.

Anyway, I suppose bluetooth speakers also appear under an airplay icon in itunes, or on an iphone. Therefore I would wait for the Beolit 15. 

It would even work wirelessly on the go, without draining your iphone battery (now, you have to use your iphone wifi hotspot function), which is a big improvement over connecting it via a cable.

No device will fit inside the Beolit, it is not made for that, your phone should be placed on the top, only the cable will run inside. (The ports are much better positioned on the Beolit 15 than on the 12. 

Enough reasons to wait for the 15 if you ask me!

crossbytje:

Anyway, I suppose bluetooth speakers also appear under an airplay icon in itunes, or on an iphone. Therefore I would wait for the Beolit 15. 

Using bluetooth you will have to enable bluetooth in the sending/streaming device, and pair it to the receiver.

Has nothing to do with AirPlay.

A BeoLit 15 is only an improvement to the 12, if it has bluetoth technology in addition to AirPlay/DLNA.

Otherweise (with bluetooth only) it would be a new device - sort of a bigger A2.

In that case it would certainly be sad if the 12 would be EOL'ed.

MM

the BeoLit 12 seems to be a living organism... some days it works perfectly and others it's like a Mediterranean mistress.

Since I threatened mine to be banished to the spare room it has picked a healthier attitude... 

It's a beautiful looking speaker and for its size the sound is good but it should never replace or be your main music source, my biggest gripe is the sensitivity of the buttons, the amount of times I have grabbed my phone when it rests on the top and disconnected the AirPlay.

Interesting what Crossbytje says, I am looking to upgrade my WiFi access point as it must be 5 years old and streaming has moved a long way in this time (I must have 10+ varying streaming devices and wonder if this reduces signal quality)...

 

I have always found the B&O Play AirPlay devices work flawlessly with an Apple Airport Express or Time Capsule. The Play product needs to be within the transmitters range, normally up to 8m away.

If using another type of router ensure they setup with B/G and not N only.

The Devolo 500 wifiwork well at home alongside my new BT home hub,the other homehubs were terrible at handling DHCP leases and they often need resetting even though the B&O appeared to be connected. I would always recommend changing an old router and can highly recommend Draytek or the new Cisco Linksys EA6900.

The other thing that people dont realise about the BeoLit 12 is that it works with the Beolink remote controls! Also if you change the volume using the B&O remote it actually changes the volume on the iPhone/Mac etc. I'm not sure that the Beolit15 does this over Bluetooth. My drop outs are settling down, but it is a problem because I have weak broadband. I have also had it connected to the Apple TV directly which helps. I know it's not quite in the spirit of wireless, but I think the Beolit 12 has amazingly good sound. I tested it for ages in the shop against the A9. The A9 is better but not 3x better, even though its 3x the price!

I'm really quite happy with my Beolit 15, in fact I'm also very happy with my NIB A3 I picked up for 100 bucks. Owning and using both of them has seriously changed my plans for Beolinking the rest of the house. I have enough Beolink equipment to link 5 other rooms in various configurations, but I find that for listening to the main Beo setup, I only use that in the living room and nearby dining room area, which is a kitchen/dining/sunroom kind of setup. Since the living room is pretty open to this area, it makes sense to be able to play the same music both places. However, since the rest of the house is more isolated from this area, I find that having a couple of things like the Beolit/A3 work even better and are cheaper than wiring the house.

The ability to be able to carry a high quality music source to whatever room I'm working in or even relaxing as in the bedroom, or outside by the hot tub or in the laundry room, etc. works very well. All I have to do is take one of these with me and I have entertainment without being tethered to the main system by wires. For me this works out very well. The A3 is great to carry downstairs to the exercise area since I can sit it in front of the stationary bike and either listen to music or watch Netflix videos. Great for listening to music while having a recipe up to look at in the kitchen too.

Major shift in my plan, from a total house Beolink to portable devices...

tabulator:

The other thing that people dont realise about the BeoLit 12 is that it works with the Beolink remote controls! Also if you change the volume using the B&O remote it actually changes the volume on the iPhone/Mac etc. I'm not sure that the Beolit15 does this over Bluetooth. My drop outs are settling down, but it is a problem because I have weak broadband. I have also had it connected to the Apple TV directly which helps. I know it's not quite in the spirit of wireless, but I think the Beolit 12 has amazingly good sound. I tested it for ages in the shop against the A9. The A9 is better but not 3x better, even though its 3x the price!

I was aware of the 12 reacting to the Beo4 . In fact I pointed  out to the guy in the local B&O shop that it was missing from the 15 but as AirPlay never worked on our 12 , apart from the inferior grille and leather handle , the new one has been much better.

 

 

My BeoLit 12's white edition are very nice.

They sound amazing and very neutral.

I will keep them until they die. What else !!

The BeoLit 12 is the Best Boom Box