The best choice for your first B&O speaker?
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Hi Beoworlders,
If you were to start a B&O collection now, which speaker would you choose first? Here is my vote, the answer may surprise you…
Kind regards, Steve.
I have an original BS1 Gold Special Edition – the 1st 1000 units. (Somewhere).
In the day, it was great but compared to latter-day “Beoplay”, I don’t think they compare that well?
I’m doing some cruising on eBay at the moment looking for some useful bits here and there but the original BL8000 and BL6000 on there are looking great value at the moment.
Apart from the fact that FM radio – where I live – is almost dead, the only and main drawback of this unit is, that the AUX has no autosense.
I’d prefer to use the headphone out to a Playmaker’s line input…..which has line sense.
And then connect a set of e.g. BL8000’s there.
This way you – in addition – you are able to use the AUX of the BS1 for a turntable or maybe even for a small tv!Even better would be to use an Essence MK2/Core – this way you could transfer the CD playback (and the sound of an optional vinyl player) to a modern NL/Mozart based setup in the home.
If this just is about a simple ‘first time B&O unit’, I’d personally recommend the Beosound 8 instead of the BS1.
This has autosense on the Aux/line-in…..which makes it very handy, if you connect an Airplay/Chromecast/BT device there.
And it should come with its own small remote control.
The BS8 is in my opinion a very underrated unit.MM
Thanks MM,
That is interesting, I also love Beosound 8 (especially after hearing a talk from Geoff Martin in “The Cube” at Struer about how much the digital signal processing had improved the sound). I hope to be able to feature this in a video soon.
Yes, auto-sensing on the Aux input would have made the Beosound 1 even better, but on balance I think the addition of a CD player makes it a better all-round solution for someone wanting their first B&O product.
Adding a turntable via the Aux input, now that would make it really great, what a good idea!
Kind regards, Steve.
That’s an interesting choice, Steve. The original Beosound 1 rarely gets much attention. A problem that I see with all of the aluminum grill speakers, though, is that they show dings very noticeably. It’s challenging to find them pristine on the second-hand market after all these years.
My choice of speaker to suggest to someone new to B&O would be the Beoplay A6 or Beoplay M5. These speakers are very affordable, have the modern streaming services as well as aux input, have that B&O tactile magic (especially the A6 where you just run your hand along the top to adjust the volume), and beautifully fit into any decor. Even better is to get both so that you can begin to appreciate B&O’s multiroom benefits and expandability.
I am very pleased with my BeoSound 1 – bought for £120 on eBay a couple of months ago. I used a small hammer to gently hammer out (from the inside) a couple of dents in the front grill and now it looks very presentable. I mostly use if for FM radio (still going strong in UK), but occasionally for CDs and there’s an AirPort Express connected to the Aux input.
EDIT: The older ones (like mine, SW version 1.3) don’t have the clock or timer. There is just a ‘sleep timer’ function.
EDIT 2: Having watched Steve’s video more closer, I noticed that he selected AUX by pressing CD < and > simultaneously. On my older SW version, you select AUX by pressing the search buttons (<< and >>) simultaneously. (Or A.TAPE or AUX on the remote.)
Adding a turntable via the Aux input, now that would make it really great, what a good idea! Kind regards, Steve.
like this?
Steve do you sell a cable PL to Aux-in (DIN-DIN or RJ45-DIN) to use the BS1 as “speaker”.
That looks awesome!
Yes, you can use the Beosound 1 as a speaker with a system that has DIN or RJ45 Powerlink outputs via these cables (you will need to turn the Beosound 1 to Aux manually as it doesn’t auto-sense on the Aux input):-
DIN Powerlink (1990-2012): https://soundsheavenly.com/tv-masterlink-control-and-sync/15-264-datalink-cable-for-bo-beocord-etc.html#/9-length-18m
RJ45 Powerlink (2013 on): https://soundsheavenly.com/playmaker-and-essence-wireless-streaming/84-378-rj45-to-aux-input-cable-add-core-essence-or-playmaker-to-your-bo-system.html#/9-length-18mKind regards, Steve
I’ve always wanted one but those are expensive around here, at least not the price I would be ready to pay for it. Also most of them have faulty CD player…
Yes the grill is fragile, but If I had one with damaged grill I’d try to “wood” it. Should look nice!
But I rather like a nice gold or silver BS1 with floor stand.
No doubt, the mighty MS-150s.
Then a pair of Pentas, both missing in my collection.
A black BS1 was in fact my gateway to B&O. As Steve suggests, it has since gone to university (and back) with my son. I had a turntable connected at one point, but my son has always had it connected to his computer. I recently offered him some BL4000s as an upgrade, but he thought they were too flashy. He said he likes the BS1 because no one in his age group has ever seen one (quite rare in the us)…and it does all the audio stuff quite well.
Another vote for BS8, absolute timeless design and preloved dirt cheap….
The full development process, then you want it even more :
I would vote for the BS2 because I really like the way it sounds. Very clean, very clear, but also with a little bit of warmth. It’s everything that I expected from B&O and if it was your first speaker I think you’d be very happy indeed. The only downside is that it has become very expensive since I got mine.
Good choice!
There are some great speakers out there. for this video, I tried to look for one that would work for everyone, old or young, for existing CD collections or for online streaming, plus one that is underrated and forgotten about…
Kind regards, Steve.
My first B&O speakers were Beovox 1702s. The smallest of the range of aluminium-edged wooden pressure chamber speakers. They’re still in use today and were given to me by my Mum. They came from her Beogram 1500 which fell out of favour during the cd boom (my Dad bought a Beosystem 3500 when they were on offer for £1k back in the 90’s).
I took those 1702s with me to London when I left home and they have stayed with me ever since.
I was using them at a party once and someone knocked one off the sideboard to the floor – the tweeter fell out! (It was rattling around against the inside of the baffle.) Something had happened with the wood where the tweeter was screwed in – might have been at build stage, which is not expected. But nobody had had the grills off in our ownership, let alone the drivers out. Or maybe the shock from the fall was so great that the weight of the tweeter forced the thread in the wood to fail? Those little drivers are heavy.
Anyway, I carefully repaired them and they remained the mainstay in all sorts of non-B&O set-ups until I bought my first BM5000 (pizzabox) in 2009 where they worked as secondary speakers (speakers 2) in the dining room in a basic (non-Beolink) multi-room setup. (My main speakers at the time were Celestion Ditton 44s – they’re fabulous.)When I changed the BM5000 for a BM6500 and a pair of Penta Mk2, the Beovox 1702s remained in full use but this time in the kitchen (room 3) in a MCL2A set-up.
And now they serve my other half and me well as our bedroom speakers, providing the sound from a BS2500 (via MCL2P) – which looks just stunning as a bedroom system. The lighting is glorious and the sliding glass so calming and graceful. The power from the MCL2P works really well with the little 1702s.
Oh dear I’ve been rambling on again………..
Hi pepps,
That is great to hear! I grew up with a 1970s Beocenter 3300 which I spent months repairing, I was amazed by the power of that system. Looking back, there are two systems that I wish I had been able to buy when they were released: one was the Century, which I later owned (lovely lighting as with the BS2500!) and more recently the Beosound 1. That was why I thought it could be interesting to feature in the video as it is often forgotten but it is a superb first system for anyone wanting to try out B&O on a budget.
Kind regards, Steve.
One thing I learend from this forum (or atually the previosu one that is now archived) is that the choice of best speaker depends on lots of vairables but most imporntantly one’s preferences. We all have our favorite speakers and whether a Bosound 8 is the best or a BL18 is the subject for never ending discussions.
Personally I’m happy with all B&O speakers I’ve ever bought but if I could wish for a new device, I would wish for an updated NL/ML so it could become NL/ML/MCL compatible so you could connect a Beogram (or any MCL unit) directly through a DIN contact to your system, regardelss of the system.
B&O used to be about simple and elegant integration allowing you to devleop a system that works for you. That integration I mention is of course possible but only if you get yourself quite a few boxes to enable all the necessary system transitions, like I did, of course, with loads of help from many of you guys in this forum. It still took me several months to find all the required units and althoug the Solution does the job, It can’t be called elegant, not to mention tjhe fact that I need to hide most of the boxes as although many of them are beautifully made, they are not compatible in size and/or form.
Basically I wish they could sell us a box that included the commande unit of BM-65000 (or 4500 or 7000 , …, so it could communicate with a Beogram or Becord), a BLC, a NL/ML, and, a Beolink power box, a ML-delay box so the DSP-delay problem could be remedied, and finally a WISA transmitter. Since wihses are free, I also need the solution to be based on Mozart platform!
I’ve always liked the original Beosound 1 but my good friend Tim Jarman isn’t a fan and so I’m apparently banned from buying one!
Then again, he said the same thing about the Beosystem 10, then promptly bought one from under my nose at a vintage audio sale and loves it, so I may choose to ignore him…
I’ve also always fancied a Beosound 8. Oh, hell, this thread is going to cost me money isn’t it? Thankyou very much Steve!
Hi pepps, That is great to hear! I grew up with a 1970s Beocenter 3300 which I spent months repairing, I was amazed by the power of that system. Looking back, there are two systems that I wish I had been able to buy when they were released: one was the Century, which I later owned (lovely lighting as with the BS2500!) and more recently the Beosound 1. That was why I thought it could be interesting to feature in the video as it is often forgotten but it is a superb first system for anyone wanting to try out B&O on a budget. Kind regards, Steve.
Aha yes the wonderful Century….I’m gently trying to guage whether or not our 12y/o would enjoy a Beosystem. He currently has my old pair of Beovox 3702 proudly on his desk (they’re 1/3 of his desk space!) so a Century would certainly free up some space. He loves the movement of my other B&O items, don’t we all love the theatre of owning B&O pieces?
It’s a good comment Steve…*scratches chin in ponderment*1. Beovox Redline 60.2
2. Beovox S 80
Both speakers offer great value for money. They have a decent quality. You can find them on ebay regularly. Other speakers like the m150 are quiete rare. People sometimes suggest speakers that are ultra rare, for example the M150.
If you like the sound you can try the big ones like Rl 7000 speakers.
🙂
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