10-year old Beovision 11 - wise or foolish?

I have come across several BV11 units all about 10 years old. At present we have a Panasonic bought from Costco for £/€ 600 but the kids have broken the doors to the wooden cabinet below, after generally torturing the cabinet for last 3 years. They’re very young so all is forgiven and collateral damage (as the Americans call it) leaves the dead carcass of a TV cabinet. The sound for this TV is atrocious. We watch terrestrial digital TV, Netflix on the lowest and cheapest resolution 480p package and the odd Bly-Ray. We also stream ripped DVDs and family videos off our QNAP.

I’m not interested in the latest and greatest 8K, billion Hz refresh, Dolby Stratosphere 32, trillion by trillion pixel count super-extra-XXX-wide-gamut TV.

I think the BV11 was the last of the in-house Beovision before B&O closed down their TV research department and this is pre-android. My only concern is the age of the LCD panel and wonder if at best there is only 5 or so years left before this panel becomes too tired and faint or fails.

The B&O-fan in me is considering this but the logical side of me is saying that I’m as mad as a hatter to even consider a 10 year TV when I could buy a new LG and a Stage. Strange that even a used ten-year B&O TV seems unachievable.

Any thoughts and reflections would be appreciated.

Not too sure a BV 11 can be 10 years old at this point, sure they came out around 2013/4. 
aside from splitting hairs, my 11 year old BV 10 is still performing flawlessly if that gives you any kind of reassurance at all.  

seethroughyou:

I have come across several BV11 units…... 

 

Any thoughts and reflections would be appreciated.

Just do it - you’ll be amazed and won’t regret it (provided it is fully functional) - the BV11 is still a great tv.

I am looking forward to hear about you discovering all the audio options of this tv - especially, if you would add more speakers (you could start with a BL11).

If you don’t already know it, this thread would give you great insights into the BV11:

https://archivedforum2.beoworld.org/forums/t/3372.aspx?PageIndex=1

Which size do you concider (important for the speaker part)?

 

By the way, the BV Avant 1 gen was the last one that came complete off Struer.

 

MM

seethroughyou:

Any thoughts and reflections would be appreciated.

I swing both ways on this, having owned a BV11 and now an LG G1 77" 4K.

BV11: amazing design, looks stunning and I sold mine in March 2020 as I was supposed to move to the US, didn't happen to to covid/pandemic, regretted the sale. I look at photos now and wonder why I sold it. Picture is good, sound decent, why not?

However...

LG G1 4K: sport in 4K is stunning, simple as that. I can watch HD TV, HD movies, but there's quite a big difference, in terms of picture and colour, watching a 4K HDR UHD channel. Everything is noticeably improved. For this reason alone, if I was a sports fan, I'd consider a 4K TV. If not, BV11 ticks the boxes.

 

Also, I agree, is a BV11 really 10 years old? I bought mine in 2016 and it felt new then!

The costs for a BV11 are negligible compared to other solutions, I think. BV11-55 are sold for around €1500,- - €1700,-
It depends what you are going to connect to the BV11. If its a going to be a standalone tv, then you will find the combination of a newer LG and Stage presented as the Contour.
It has the 4K, better picture quality, newest streaming apps built-in and the appeal of the BV11. I find it even nicer with all the different settings (wooden/fabric) you can choose. The same combination with nice frame around. 

seethroughyou:

I’m not interested in the latest and greatest 8K, billion Hz refresh, Dolby Stratosphere 32, trillion by trillion pixel count super-extra-XXX-wide-gamut TV.

 

 

If the picture size is enough for you, go for it. Beovsion 11 is still a piece of art, has NO Android (which is a big PRO) and Bang & Olufsen's own software.
Everything can fail and there's no security, so you shouldn't mind about that point.
The new LG's still appear as - in my total subjective view - only half baked hybrids from LG and B&O.
The mechanical B&O design is nice and well done (as expected) but the "bonbon style" LG software ruins the experience. It gives the impression that there wasn't enough time or money to have the user interface fitted to the B&O experience.

TWG:

The mechanical B&O design is nice and well done (as expected) but the "bonbon style" LG software ruins the experience. It gives the impression that there wasn't enough time or money to have the user interface fitted to the B&O experience.

And there it is, the difference between the expectations and the experiences.

 

B&O has it own app in the LG telly. It is only once that you enter that to setup your complete configuration. Once done, some settings will be transferred to the Beoremote 1 BT.

With that, you will hardly or never see the LG menus. On daily use you control the LG with the BR1BT without seeing these. At least, I don't see them. Only when you want to change a specific setting, you enter the LG menu with the Home button. Changing speaker settings are done by choosing them on the BR1.
I admit that a B&O juice spread over the LG menus would have been nicer, but this solution is, imho, better and more future-roof when a panel breaks down.

But then again , a BV11 with an ATV or Chromecast will do all the things a nowadays panel can do. Except the 4K feature.

 

I had both a 55 and 46 inch BV11. I traded in the 46 when I got a 65-inch Harmony which is now sitting in the living room, while the remaining BV11 is now in the bedroom.

Call me crazy but the picture depth and the video processing of the BV11 are not matched by the LG G1 panel. Sure, the picture is amazing on the Harmony but there is something which makes the BV11 unique. I don’t know what it is but I’m keeping my BV11 until it dies in my arms.

So go ahead and you can overcome the lack of ‘smart’ features with an Apple TV or a shield, whichever platform you prefer.

very foolisch buy.

Panels are obsolite

this means you buy a timebomb

Enjoy as long as it works.

I have a friend with an bv 11 55 panel broke now  this tv needs to go to the dumpster

Bang&Olufsen no longer supports any old stuff.

There headphones are more importenet then giving service to older tv or audio system.

 

Great service from b&o 

Justasyou:

I have a friend with an bv 11 55 panel broke now  this tv needs to go to the dumpster

Bang&Olufsen no longer supports any old stuff.

A bit unfair I would say.

B&O is not manufacturing the panels. So expecting B&O to keep a storage of panels for like 10 years is asking a bit much.

I had the ICE amplifier replaced some months ago on my BV11-46, so that part was available. But panels is another thing.

Panels are available, the 46" of my parents is being changed right now (but VERY expensive !).

BeoGreg:

Panels are available, the 46" of my parents is being changed right now (but VERY expensive !).

Impressive.

What panel do they fit it with?

If I may offer another perspective on this –

You clearly fancy a BV11 and, though the price and portability differences between a 40 and a 46 or 55 are not inconsiderable, may I suggest buying one, then buying a second when the opportunity comes along.

If you have a pair of Beolab 90s cost probably isn't the priority, but prices are coming down quite quickly, so the wait might not be that long even if it is. Reliability as a daily driver for the family is probably most important for you: buy one, decide if you like it and, if you do, get around to buying a spare to put away.

Though I'm not quite there yet myself, I'm partial to a 10-32 and, upon seeing the first one I bought, so were my parents. With three in the current extended family fleet, I know there's a chance the t-con could go pop in any of them at any moment with no chance of a new panel. So my plan has been to have an extra one hanging about, just so no one is left without a telly while waiting for something to come up on eBay.

It's not ideal but, short of parts being readily available, that's my own conclusion of what's needed when dailying a late pre-LG Beovision.

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I guess you just have to decide which is more important. The look of the TV cabinet or the look of the content you are watching.  Seems like you already chose cabinet over picture quality though so I say go for it.

If it were me I would go for the Beovision, great picture, sound and cabinet  and the Beovision experience.