The new B&O

I did ask about the Beocenter 2 when in Struer - apparently if a blue ray disc was fitted, it spins faster (?) and the increased noise was thought unacceptable. I also wonder what happened to the transparent aluminium that was promised a good few years ago - this was extremely finely machined aluminium with micropores that let light through.

Peter:

Have to agree with this. I would however happily buy a Geoff Martin branded speaker knowing it would be great!

As much as Geoff and I have argued in the past over speaker design theory, I also have to agree!

Maybe abandoning TVs and going back to audio (ie. speakers and portable "Play" devices) wouldn't be such a bad move, I think this is where B&O's core competencies have been for many years.  I think B&O's dilemma may be that TVs are the products to draw customers into their stores, even if they come away with speakers and headphones........

At least with exceptional engineers like Geoff Martin and Brian Bjorn Hansen on the board of directors, B&O have the best chance they have ever had to stay at the cutting edge of audio technology.

Kind regards, Steve.

Steve at Sounds Heavenly:

As much as Geoff and I have argued in the past over speaker design theory, I also have to agree!

You and Geoff have argued?

That intrigues me big time!

I'd love to hear your ideas on taking loudspeaker technology forward for sure! Wow. Perhaps using speakers to steer, beam and cancel out isn't the only way.

Read on Fraunhofer website of their audio dept working on work to produce a better surround sound effect from anywhere you're sat in an auditorium by using a wall of speakers emulating the instruments in different positions on the same plane rather like a Beosound Shape with hundred of small speakers.

Hi seethroughyou,

Yes, Geoff and I have very different views on speakers...... (although I haven't yet convinced him that I'm right at any point!)

We spent an interesting evening a while back (whilst visiting Venø island, near to Struer) where Geoff tried to convince me that DSP could be used to perfect any loudspeaker system by correcting the inherent design flaws in the driver/cabinet assembly; my view was that the speaker should be kept as simple as possible using low-order passive crossovers and a minimal number of time-aligned drivers to minimise frequency and phase errors so that the DSP isn't needed.

Whilst Geoff wasn't able to convince me by theoretical debate (which continued by email while I was building the cables for his prototype speakers that he was testing at home), I am slowly realising the benefits of DSP after hearing the results of his work on Beolab 50.  I haven't had the chance to test these speakers back-to-back with Beolab 5 or 90, but my gut feeling is that they are probably the most exacting of this trio in real-world environments.

The way that B&O's capabilities have been transformed by Geoff's DSP work really is astonishing.  I may not yet be fully convinced that digital signal processing is a panacea to cure all audio ills, but I am certainly starting to appreciate some of the benefits that it offers when applied to a well designed loudspeaker.

Kind regards, Steve.

Great post Steve, really interesting (no irony meant there by the way)

Peter:

I did ask about the Beocenter 2 when in Struer - apparently if a blue ray disc was fitted, it spins faster (?) and the increased noise was thought unacceptable. I also wonder what happened to the transparent aluminium that was promised a good few years ago - this was extremely finely machined aluminium with micropores that let light through.

I loved the design and look of the BC2, makes me wish that they would have been willing to redesign it a bit to add more noise damping, even if it made the unit a big thicker, and kept it going. It was brilliant, when opened it reminded me so much of an Egyptian winged solar disk, I was immediately floored by that when I first saw one and saw it opened up.

I'm finding this thread one of the most interesting ones in a while here, some very good opinions and observations posted. I may or may not be able to keep up for the next day or so, we're battening down the hatches a bit in preparation for Irma tomorrow. Fortunately it's supposed to be down to a tropical storm by the time it gets to where we are so I don't anticipate much of a problem.

 

@Steve

I really would have liked to be able to listen in on your conversation

I've enjoyed and been immensely impressed by Geoff's blog. It gives a glimpse into his genius way of working with sound.

I can understand it goes against the traditional loudspeaker design & tuning, but at the same time I can imagine how much can be achieved with DSP, now that incredible computing power can be built into speakers. I see the future in this approach.

With Geoff's DSP skills and golden ears, I'm waiting for him to produce a new small speaker (thinking about a BeoLab 3 replacement) that would sound better than BL3. And I hope such a speaker is in the works, now that the perfect beasts BL90 and BL50 are out.

Jeff:

I may or may not be able to keep up for the next day or so, we're battening down the hatches a bit in preparation for Irma tomorrow. Fortunately it's supposed to be down to a tropical storm by the time it gets to where we are so I don't anticipate much of a problem.

Stay safe!

This year's hurricane season seems almost unimaginable – even when seeing it only through the news!

Agree about the Winged Solar Disc! My father when he retired went back to Oxford and did an Egyptology degree and thence Egypt on a number of digs. B&O were very proud that they made touch sensitive aluminium by machining the aluminium so well - they had a wing on display in the old museum to show this off. Still have mine though I don't think it has proved as good an audio device as my old 7000 system, which always sounded superior.

My favourite audio piece of all time is the 9500 Beocenter though - ergonomic masterpiece and a real statement in design. Not a weakness in site - I have lent mine to a friend and it is still providing sterling service.

In my recollection of how the various BeoSystems and BeoLabs I've owned have sounded, I can easily remember the marked high-point of having a BeoSystem 7000, and later a BeoCenter 9500, with a pair of Pentas.

Of the Jacob Jensen era systems, these were definitely the crux.

Thanks KMA! Just got back in and am resting up from tying down what couldn't be brought inside, looking around I'm thinking we're in good shape as long as one of the many trees we have doesn't decide to fall over on the house. Downside of living on a heavily wooded lot, but I'm willing to take the chance for the trees are wonderful. I'm a native Floridian though I live in Georgia now, and have seen storms come and go all my life, and this is going to be a bad one. I'm old enough to remember Camile, and saw the remains of a "hurricane proof" condominium up in the panhandle, only thing left was the foundation slab and a few odd bars of rebar sticking up out of the concrete. So much for "hurricane proof."

Peter, very envious of your dad his opportunity to study Egyptology and go on digs. Always been completely fascinated by the culture. My wife has mentioned that to her, there's a subtle Egyptian look to my BS9000 and BL9s, she pointed out that the BS9000 reminds her of a painted wall of hieroglyphs and painted figures, the colorful and patterned CDs, and the BL9s kind of remind her of the statues, the pharaohs crown, or a stylized statue in their own right. After she pointed it out to me I can see it. 

Will see if we lose power (likely) and/or internet (possible).

Time for a hurricane party!

Someone's reaction to a design is personal, but I seem to have a much stronger attraction to the Jensen designs that the Lewis designs. So I guess that limits me to the earlier products. I've owned a Beocenter 3500 and both the 5000 and 6500 stacking systems and find them all very robust designs. The Lewis designed BS4000 is a little disappointing to me - it seems to be mostly plastic and not as sturdy in construction, but I do like the magic of the glass doors.

I prefer my speakers to sound good, and fit where I need to place them. The visual appeal is a distant factor to the sound quality. I have similar requirements for the TVs - I need them to have a very high quality picture - I'll supply a soundbar or speaker set for the audio. It's the image quality in a darkened room that means the most to me. I've had programmable universal remotes for decades, so that's not a real need either.

But, I do appreciate what B&O has tried to do my making their systems able to be integrated and bring in other brands through the PUC with a design flair. I would even pay a premium for that luxury, but there is no way I could justify paying 10 times higher price premium for B&O over let's say an LG OLED and some other brand soundbar or surround system for the audio.   

So maybe my "new B&O" started 10 - 15 years ago? Anyway, I don't think anything but some of the BeoPlay headphone and earbud products would keep me as a customer for current products. The rest I'll get on the second hand market to complete my old system(s). B&O can't seem to offer any other products at a price point I would be willing to part with for such luxury items.

I was hoping B&O would keep the prices down for the Eclipse but using more content from LG. They used more LG content, but the prices remained just as high as ever. So just more of the same as far as I can tell. 

I find it likely that the multiroom products (the A9, A6, M5) might be rebranded as Bang & Olufsen products.

Have a look at the website - those are already there along with the BS1/2 etc in the same category (as wireless speaker systems).

But I would find it strange to do the same with the headphone stuff and the BT-speakers.

We'll see.

MM

Oups - this comment actually was related to the 'rumours' on the previous page.

MM

Good luck jeff, stay safe!

Steve at Sounds Heavenly:

Hi seethroughyou,

Yes, Geoff and I have very different views on speakers...... (although I haven't yet convinced him that I'm right at any point!)

We spent an interesting evening a while back (whilst visiting Venø island, near to Struer) where Geoff tried to convince me that DSP could be used to perfect any loudspeaker system by correcting the inherent design flaws in the driver/cabinet assembly; my view was that the speaker should be kept as simple as possible using low-order passive crossovers and a minimal number of time-aligned drivers to minimise frequency and phase errors so that the DSP isn't needed.

Whilst Geoff wasn't able to convince me by theoretical debate (which continued by email while I was building the cables for his prototype speakers that he was testing at home), I am slowly realising the benefits of DSP after hearing the results of his work on Beolab 50.  I haven't had the chance to test these speakers back-to-back with Beolab 5 or 90, but my gut feeling is that they are probably the most exacting of this trio in real-world environments.

The way that B&O's capabilities have been transformed by Geoff's DSP work really is astonishing.  I may not yet be fully convinced that digital signal processing is a panacea to cure all audio ills, but I am certainly starting to appreciate some of the benefits that it offers when applied to a well designed loudspeaker.

Kind regards, Steve.

Geoff's work with DSP controlling started years ago with his involvement in the Automotive (the Audi A8 was the first task, if I remember correctly).

This work has evolved over the years and has massively matured.

One of the fruits on that tree was/is the AudioEngine of the BSystem4.

The use of DSP was noticeable in the BS8/A8 as well - this is actually already a looong time ago ;-)

Then came further speakers (including the 3.0 speaker system of the Avant) and the BL90 (the masterpiece) and recently the BL50.

No doubt - without the use of DSP there would be no modern BeoLab speaker - this not to be realized 'using low-order passive crossovers and a minimal number of time-aligned drivers to minimise frequency and phase errors'

The latest fruit is the SoundCenter of the BV Eclipse...

....the value of which - sadly enough - is not recognized and nearly ignored by (at least some of) the Beoworlders.

 

Steve - I am sure Geoff will be able to convince you in the end ;-)

 

MM

seethroughyou:

Read on Fraunhofer website of their audio dept working on work to produce a better surround sound effect from anywhere you're sat in an auditorium by using a wall of speakers emulating the instruments in different positions on the same plane rather like a Beosound Shape with hundred of small speakers.

We'll see much more of that stuff coming in the next years.

A lot of sound engineers around the world are working on similar projects - small or big.

MM

KMA:

Jeff:

I may or may not be able to keep up for the next day or so, we're battening down the hatches a bit in preparation for Irma tomorrow. Fortunately it's supposed to be down to a tropical storm by the time it gets to where we are so I don't anticipate much of a problem.

Stay safe!

This year's hurricane season seems almost unimaginable – even when seeing it only through the news!

I once worked for a major US contractor in the UK. During hurricane season a couple of american colleagues would watch the weather online and, if necessary, fly home to tie down house roofs with elastic netting devices.

Graham

Jeff:

ust got back in and am resting up from tying down what couldn't be brought inside, looking around I'm thinking we're in good shape as long as one of the many trees we have doesn't decide to fall over on the house.

Good Luck, stay safe!

Millemissen:

seethroughyou:

Read on Fraunhofer website of their audio dept working on work to produce a better surround sound effect from anywhere you're sat in an auditorium by using a wall of speakers emulating the instruments in different positions on the same plane rather like a Beosound Shape with hundred of small speakers.

We'll see much more of that stuff coming in the next years.

A lot of sound engineers around the world are working on similar projects - small or big.

MM

I once, a few years back, read an interesting paper on how best to perform, in live spaces, works where it was necessary to use an electronically generated or recorded "instrument" along with live acoustic instruments, such as violins and other orchestral instruments. One thing they pointed out is that most loudspeakers have very different directivity than "real" instruments which, despite things like most sound coming out of say the bell of a trumpet and being somewhat directional, radiate more omnidirectionally. The authors experimented with a dodecahedral speaker, with drivers on each side, which most resembled a pulsing sphere acoustically. They also experimented with using different configurations or volumes of the different drivers to shape the output from purely spherical to biased towards one direction or another while still maintaining some omni radiation, in order to match the directivity of particular instruments. This approach worked much better than using simple box speakers of the pro audio type which are commonly used, with the best results seemingly arrived at by tuning by ear from the audience position while comparing different directivities and adjusting, though even a straight, simple omni spherical approach was superior to a traditional speaker approach.

Which reminded me of a number of "marketing demos" passed off as tests which "proved" the accuracy of a particular speaker in the past where said speaker was played next to a live player, say a violinist, someone who wouldn't tax the power output and such of the speaker setup much if at all, which proved said speaker was perfect as it sounded indistinguishable from the instrument. Interesting proof of how fallible the human ear can be when guided in such a test by a marketer.

This also dovetails into things like the BL90 which uses adjustable directivity to overcome certain room acoustic issues. People in the horn speaker communities have been playing with this for a while now, about 60 or 80 years, but horns often have other issues to deal with with resonance and such, difficulties matching drivers to the horn throat size, etc. All of which also leads to discussions of speaker power response into a room, prior to such DSP and multi driver setups like the 90, going for something like the BL5 which, compared with a traditional approach, had a wide dispersion over a wide frequency range and a much more uniform power response.

Steve's appreciation of minimum phase 6 dB/octave crossovers is also an argument that's been going on in the domain of speaker crossovers for a long time, with each side having their arguments. I think B&O were well ahead of the game with their phase link designs, which were quite novel for the day. Today, they push the boundaries with DSP. I have not had any issues with the sound but with the design and what kind of company they are, design oriented first or engineering oriented with less design focus.

Thanks for the good wishes re the storm! Sitting here now, dry as a bone, watching it move up Florida towards us. High winds and squalls won't start here until tomorrow morning apparently according to the weatherman, so that means who knows? Not a group with spectacular accuracy.

Hey at least we don't get blizzards.

Also watching the usual news media insanity of, for every storm, sticking the lowest ranking reporter they have out in the field to try and keep from drowning and being blown away to tell you that yes, there's a storm here! 

I was sitting here today thinking about the thread title, The New B&O, and thinking back to when I really first encountered the brand, trying to separate out the eras.

First things I encountered were in the 1970s, which I think of as early Jensen. At the same time I also first encountered Scandinavian Modern furniture, which then was characterized by gorgeous woods, teak, rosewood, muted fabrics, and also splashes of bold colors. Jensen's and B&O's work in this time seemed to mate very well with this furniture, black or matte silver with lots of wood, teak, rosewood, and pale oak, in very thin, stylish components, but still recognizable as what they were. Receivers looked like receivers, etc.Also saw the birth of the stunning Beomaster 1900 lines. Speakers were stylish but still mainly wooden boxes.

Then there was the "Late" Jensen period, marked by the 80s thru early 90s, no wood but instead brushed aluminum or polished aluminum, with dark tinted plastic and black/dark gray. Less warm, but still stunning. The era of the Pizza Box systems, and the Pentas. The beginning of the aluminum speaker era. Also wooden speakers went away to be replaced by the Red Line gray plastic and cloth Beovox line. Wood had gone away.

Then, David Lewis, and systems that were less recognizable as traditional components as in the 70s. The end of normally shaped speakers, B&O used their increasing expertise in active speakers to free the designers from the clutches of traditional boxes, that plus their expertise in shaping and finishing aluminum created some truly amazing speakers, and the B&O "magic" of silently sliding glass doors made the music centers into amazing works of art.

Then, the modern era where it all seemed to fall apart design wise. Speakers are even better, but design suffers. No music centers (which makes sense as no one uses the old sources much), but there is, as has been noted, a loss of a cohesive design language and approach. Is this due to the company, the death of David Lewis, both, neither, some other factor? How did they become so defocused?

@jeff

To the latter part, i think its mostly "the company". Iam not sure how it all went, because back then customers never had a reason to pay attention to beo corporate. But for the current board of directors i have a feeling that david lewis was a legacy("product") of the company. As in they couldn't just fire him or anything. And many people basicly have said that he and the president basicly where the only ones with veto power. So his death was eventfull for the company, that is for sure. But as of right now the board of directors hasn't given anyone else the old "veto power" david lewis enjoyed. It is understandable that you don't just want to do that, as in business sharing power is scary and possibly bad for one's own position. But that situation/blame is on the board of directors, because they can change that situation but haven't. The result of that is that now they pick from a bunch of designs which they can come to a consensus on, but that doesn't necesarily translate into cohesive design. It's more like gambling on customer perception, or atleast that is what it feels like.

They could get somebody to function is that role, and maybe the "old garde" of fans won't like the new direction that much, but atleast there will be a vision from a designers perspective. And who knows, maybe it'll be more atractive to newer customers, therefor losing less old customers compared to new customers gained.

There is no lack of design inspiration in either the BL90 or BL50. Or even the Eclipse soundbar

Barry

Jeff - couldn't have put it better and had the same experience.

@Jeff

What a perfect summary.

I was bitten by the B&O bug during the late Jensen era. Even though my first B&O was the BeoSystem 2500 (by David Lewis) when it was launched, I did venture into the late Jensen era BeoSystems on occasion.

Today I can see myself going for an audio setup built around BeoSound Core, or choose from the standalone BeoSounds / BeoPlay audio systems. Mix & match, as there is no coherent design language with B&O anymore.

For me, B&O audio lives on (for music, not surround sound or TV). BeoSound Shape is the most interesting sound system they currently have. New B&O in a very good way.

I believe B&O is perfectly fine with me buying some BeoPlay products from time to time, and buying from the pre-owned market to help keep resale values high enough for customers that will buy new products. A win-win as far as they're concerned, I'm sure. So I shouldn't be shocked or disappointed by the products prices, since they were never really meant for me anyway. 

Wow, thanx for sharing all your thoughts about B&O - this is maybe the best thread I've read here by far.

@KMA
Good work on your post, you really nailed some of my own issues regarding the way B&O are moving.

I was about to buy the Eclipse at launch, but I'll keep my Avant for a little longer because I like the Beomagic. I some case this also goes about BL50, sounds good but I like BL5 design more and have been hooked on these for several years. Just bought at pair pre-owned some weeks ago, great sound and looks

Cheers

 

You know, looking back on when I first encountered B&O, I should have bought it then. I had a whole apartment full of teak Scandinavian Modern furniture, but unfortunately for me my audiophool prejudices made me not take them seriously. I never even listened to them seriously. So, I wound up with more "audiophile" gear that generally didn't make me happy and didn't look as good with my stylish. furniture.

In the 80s I bought my first house and became very much focused on style and design, as I had an environment I controlled, the carpet color, etc. I chose it all when they were building the house. But, I was also house poor and the B&O prices would have required saving and of course I was impatient. So i got more conventional gear and paid for a custom cabinet to house it stylishly. Another mistake on my part, should have learned to get what I want in the first place. I did get a B&O table, my Beogram 3000 tangential.

When the BS9000 came out, it was just so sexy and slick I had to have one. At first I used it to drive my McIntosh MC240 tube amp and normal speakers, but eventually I took the BL8000s home and fell in love with them. It's been all B&O since, I used the 8000s right up until 5 years ago when I moved to the much larger house I have now, and I replaced the 8000s with BL9s and moved the 8000s to a link room, the dining/kitchen area where they sound great (in the cavernous living room they just got lost).

I seriously do think I'd have been much happier, and not gone through the gear swapping I did over the years, if I'd just gotten into B&O in the first place.

@Michael

Thanks. And congrats for the BL5! Of all the post-2000 B&O speakers, BL5 should get a place in the MOMA collection. Their design broke all conventional thinking, with the sound to match.

Jeff:

I seriously do think I'd have been much happier, and not gone through the gear swapping I did over the years, if I'd just gotten into B&O in the first place.

I have a similar regret *sigh*

For the future of B&O's surround AV setups:

I'd see most value in a SoundCenter that connects to any TV over HDMI-ARC: a soundbar with the audio engine, powerlink connections, PUC and wireless music sources built-in.

For such a SoundCenter, the setup screens could work on any TV connected to it over HDMI. Take Yamaha's YSP soundbars for example: they work this way, with on-screen setup. You don't have to bolt the TV on the soundbar / sound system for the settings to show up on the screen.

So why force users to one television make & model, if you have nothing to offer in the TV department? I know there are two debateable reasons, from B&O's point of view: design, and being able to take a good margin for a 3rd party TV.

Yet I think more people would get into B&O and buy their audio & speakers, if they didn't have to first get a €10.000+ center piece to get started.

It seems interesting to me that David Lewis is listed as one of the designers of the new Beovision Eclipse?  Maybe it is more what David wanted the BV7 to look like. Or is it just in homage to his Beolab 7 series.

 

 

expoman:

It seems interesting to me that David Lewis is listed as one of the designers of the new Beovision Eclipse?  Maybe it is more what David wanted the BV7 to look like. Or is it just in homage to his Beolab 7 series.

David Lewis has long passed away. That's his design studio.

KMA:

For the future of B&O's surround AV setups:

I'd see most value in a SoundCenter that connects to any TV over HDMI-ARC: a soundbar with the audio engine, powerlink connections, PUC and wireless music sources built-in.

For such a SoundCenter, the setup screens could work on any TV connected to it over HDMI. Take Yamaha's YSP soundbars for example: they work this way, with on-screen setup. You don't have to bolt the TV on the soundbar / sound system for the settings to show up on the screen.

So why force users to one television make & model, if you have nothing to offer in the TV department? I know there are two debateable reasons, from B&O's point of view: design, and being able to take a good margin for a 3rd party TV.

Yet I think more people would get into B&O and buy their audio & speakers, if they didn't have to first get a €10.000+ center piece to get started. KMA

B&O product history since 1991: Ridiculously long to list in a signature.

I disagree. I want a 4K HDR capable 65 inch OLED Tv. If I buy the LG version it costs £2,900, or the B&O version of the same LG Tv albeit with a sound bar approx, £13,000

Now even a fanboy like me is struggling with this, well not really. Yesterday I got the Tv and a full Sonos system(sounbar/sub/2 rear satellites )demonstrated at a local hifi shop. I was blown away by the clarity of speech, the effects whilst watching a scene from Gladiator, and the advanced app that controls and calibrates everything. Amazing.

It was easily the best setup I've ever heard, outside of a full home cinema speaker array. Now here's B&Os problem. If I don't buy their Tv, I don't inevitably buy their speakers. There are tons of decent speaker manufacturers, but only one that has a Tv as it's homehub if you like. If you don't buy the hub, the rest doesn't follow and they then join the masses ranks of speaker manufacturers.

Their unique selling point for me, is disappearing fast I'm afraid.

Torsten Valeur , as head of David Lewis Designers, is the new David Lewis. Google him and you'll find they also work on LG designs.  I really feel the Eclipse was not a good week for them. I can't afford one but don't feel I'm missing out on a design as I would with something striking like the Beovision 10. I was told the back was as good as the front. More a reflection on the aesthetics of the front being as good as the back.

I have not commented on the current situation as I have been thinking things over for while.

It appears now that it's a matter of opinion and I find myself back where I was a few years ago when I found that the automation side of things was lacking and I moved away for a while until I missed the B&O feeling and came back

Some of my thoughts are

The new TV is basically rebranded LG for a shed loads more money with a soundbar stuck on it. I don't find it appealing at all and the wider picture to me is that slowly Bang and Olufsen are selling off all their departments which piece by piece is removing the interconnectivity we all love. Masterlink was the start for me and then NL. Currently TV's are outsourced and making me feel like I would be ripped off.

I would/will buy an avant at some point but that might be my final TV unless something amazing changes.

The TV's are like the home hub as chris mentioned but this seems to be dying with sets released without all of the jazz we all love and have become used too.

I have a moment but not really sure why anymore as the essence / core can do what I need. More than likely I will sell it and get a core.

Maybe some BL5's next year for my kitchen.

I feel they have lost the plot and are now just a multi room speaker company perhaps fighting to survive in a market where electronics are cheap and almost disposable.

My BLGW may become pointless if all future devices may not be integrated anymore.

What sets them out from the rest going forward

I am not negative or brand bashing at all as I cherish my amazing stuff. I am concerned that after my avant a few years down the line I will be looking at my stuff and wondering what next like I was a few years ago and there may just be nothing that interests me.

Perhaps we don't see the bigger picture perhaps the BLGW could control the LG fully and will pass commands back.

I think the current CEO has nearly destroyed the company selling off everything, I am sure he has lined his pockets massively and patted himself on the back for a job well done but as a leader he is supposed to be strategic and I cannot see any forward vision here apart from short life span products all outsourced.

Maybe we are missing something and I really hope we are, I hope the plan is to keep everything integrated so it works as a simple ecosystem or it's a step back, my washing machine is even smart now and alerts me when the wash is finished.

Just my thoughts and I think I will have at least another 5 years of Bang and Olufsen and who knows allot can change in that time with product development.

Happy Sunday

Seanie-

You touched upon an important point that I've been realizing. Some of the new B&O products lack IR support, which poses an issue in communicating LIGHT/CONROL commands to the BLGW. For example, my BeoSound 1, 2 x BeoPlay M5, and 2x Beoplay A6 speakers cannot transmit commands to the BLGW. To make matters worse, I connected a BeoLink Converter to my bedroom BeoVision 10 (disconnected from the main ML system as its own stand-alone ML) to be able to control it by the Bang & Olufsen app for multi-room. Once I did, the BeoVision 10 could no longer transmit LIGHT/CONTROL commands to the BLGW. I had to connect an IR eye to the BeoLink Converter just for the purpose of sending LIGHT/CONTROL commands to the BLGW.

This shows how important it is for B&O to extend BeoRemote One BT support to the music devices. Otherwise, it's going to become difficult to keep using the BLGW throughout the home. 

Beojeff

your thoughts would suggest a hint of long term planning by B&O. I'm not sure there's a vision at the moment. Who buys the core products such as Beovision and are they expected to come from existing customers or are new customers expected to start afresh then adopt speaker updates etc starting now. The loss of IR from Beolit12 to 15 was the first sign of degradation of products to me but this was "only" Beoplay.

Simonbeo:

Beojeff

your thoughts would suggest a hint of long term planning by B&O. I'm not sure there's a vision at the moment. Who buys the core products such as Beovision and are they expected to come from existing customers or are new customers expected to start afresh then adopt speaker updates etc starting now. The loss of IR from Beolit12 to 15 was the first sign of degradation of products to me but this was "only" Beoplay.

Very good point, Simon. Also, I often get the feeling that the various software development teams are not working together (with the exception of when they are testing and fine-tuning the speaker-infused BeoBeer).