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dccski · Feb 1, 2004, 02:20 PM

can you only buy their products from their retail stores? or is their other outlets? I cant find any

Vader�s Pinch of Death · Feb 1, 2004, 03:10 PM

Retail stores, but I recommend you don't buy any. They LOOK great but the sound is mediocre at best.

tooki · Feb 1, 2004, 03:17 PM

...and hard to use.

tooki

hardcat1970 · Feb 1, 2004, 04:49 PM

I tried the earphone on one time, and it wasn't a pleasant experience. The sound wasn't that good compared to the sony M71, and it was hard to put on.

Vader�s Pinch of Death · Feb 1, 2004, 05:07 PM

Really, other then the design they have nothing going for them. And they still use designs from the 80's

PeterKG · Feb 1, 2004, 05:09 PM

Originally posted by hardcat1970:
I tried the earphone on one time, and it wasn't a pleasant experience. The sound wasn't that good compared to the sony M71, and it was hard to put on.

I made the mistake of buying the overpriced B&O earbuds, and they sit in the drawer now as I think the Sony in ear buds are the best.

Also, with B&O you are paying for the design more then the quality or performance.

echosphere · 11:42 PM

woops, my bad!

echosphere · Feb 1, 2004, 11:41 PM

Originally posted by echosphere:
Ironic...PC people say (said) the same thing about Macs.

Sorry, jk, had to say. But I feel that I paid for premium for my Al 15", but I wouldn't change it for the world!

~Echo

Vader�s Pinch of Death · Feb 2, 2004, 12:13 AM

Ya well the difference is that Apple actually has good modern hardware. They don't just update the guts every 15 years.

talisker · Feb 2, 2004, 12:20 AM

Absolute tosh, most of these replies. B&O do make beautifully designed equipment, but the sound is also pretty good. It'll probably be possible to get better sound for the price by buying from more conventional hifi companies, but B&O are certainly not bad, or even mediocre. Not like Bose for instance, who are complete sh*t. In fact, I recently read a review of B&O's amazing new integrated digital floorstanding speakers in a fairly upmarket hifi magazine, which compared them to some very esoteric high end audiophile equipment, and the conclusion was that they were pretty impressive, and more or less in the same league. If in doubt of course, try it out.

thirsty · Feb 2, 2004, 08:45 AM

B & O = all show and no go.

The Stuff is way to overpriced for what you get, many other brands sound so much better and still look awesome.

Vader�s Pinch of Death · Feb 2, 2004, 09:51 AM

Originally posted by talisker:
Absolute tosh, most of these replies. B&O do make beautifully designed equipment, but the sound is also pretty good. It'll probably be possible to get better sound for the price by buying from more conventional hifi companies, but B&O are certainly not bad, or even mediocre.

So in other words you are paying 10x more for the design, just like we have been saying

talisker · Feb 2, 2004, 07:35 PM

Originally posted by Vader�s Pinch of Death:
So in other words you are paying 10x more for the design, just like we have been saying

No, that is not what I'm saying. 10x more?

The design and build quality of B&O products are to a large extent what makes it a premium brand, with a high price. But the sound is also good, and some of the technical design is definitely innovative. Yes, they do cost more than many other brands with similar, or even better, sound quality, in the same way that PC's are cheaper than Macs on a straight performance basis.

It's horses for courses really. If you are an raging "audiophile" who puts sound quality above everything else, then B&O isn't for you. However, if you're a "consumer" who wants good sound quality combined with fantastic design and a great "user experience" then they would be worth considering.

Ambassadeur · Feb 3, 2004, 05:24 AM

Originally posted by Vader�s Pinch of Death:
So in other words you are paying 10x more for the design, just like we have been saying

I have to side with talisker here: maybe you do pay more for a given performance, technical-wise, than for products of some other company, but you don't only pay for pure performance, with B&O you do pay for design and ultimately for a certain lifestyle. And anyone who is willing to do so and values what he gets from B&O products will be satisfied. For everyone else, it might seem like a pure waste of money and they'd be better of shopping elsewhere.

B&O's products' technical performance might not always be top of the line, but it's not bad either as hinted at in this thread, IMHO. My sister has a B&O television for 10 years now and it's doing fine and everyone goes "whew, B&O, nice", although it's common knowledge that back then they'd use normal Philips CRT screens as a basis for their products, which could be had for far less under the Philips brand. But still, a B&O remains a B&O, as well as a VW remains a VW and an Audi remains an Audi, even when they share quite a lot of parts with the cheaper Czech Skoda brand (probably only known in Europe), and people are willing to pay for that perceived difference. That's what branding does for companies. And in the end, it's up to the consumer to decide whether the feeling to own something "special" is worth the money to him.

And obviously apart from the first reply in this thread, no places were mentioned where B&O stuff can be bought, you only tried to persuade dccski not to buy B&O. Why shouldn't he? I suppose he's aware of the above-mentioned fact of paying more for design and lifestyle, so why shouldn't he if he values it? Anyone envious? I hope not! In case I had the money, I'd get B&O stuff - and the nice big apartment to go along with it