Long term B&O/hifi fanatic saying hello ;-)

[soundsheavenly]

Good morning everyone,

My name is Steve and I am an audio enthusiast/addict from Leicestershire, England who has been collecting 1980's Bang & Olufsen gear since it was new. I currently use a Beosystem 3500 with the matching turntable and CD player, plus Airport Express as sources. Thanks to the "wonder of B&O", I can play music in any of 6 linked rooms around the house and set my B&O alarm clock in the bedroom to wake me up by playing a record or CD from the lounge ;-)

My main speakers are Royd Minstrels (also 1980's era) which I absolutely love.

I turned my hobby into a business about 13 years ago - as an Electronics Engineer I was regularly helping friends set up the audio systems, this took over my life to the point where I set up in business making specialist audio cables for a living back in 2004. I mainly focus on B&O cables, but I also love working with Naim and Quad systems (of which I have owned several classic examples over the years). Unfortunately my wife made me sell my favourite Quad 33/303/ESL57 setup, as it left us without any space in our lounge.......

My latest purchase was a Behringer Xenyx 302USB mixer, which I use in my office with a pair of active B&O Beolab Penta speakers - I can then play my collection of 1980's synthesizers through the speakers when I'm not working, as well as using my PC to stream movies to the Acer projector on the ceiling.

I guess I will be in the minority here with my B&O-centric setup, but I hope I won't get ridiculed too much ;-)

Look forward to hearing what people think!

Steve.

[oldius]

Hello Steve. B&O made some exceptional items and still do. A warm welcome.

[walpurgis]

Hi Steve. Welcome to AOS.

B&O equipment has its advocates here. I'm sure there'll be interest in your setup.

No doubt your skills will be of interest too.

There's plenty going on here, so take a look around. Just about every audio and music topic is discussed.

Feel free to join in the chat.


Enjoy the forum,
Geoff.

[andyrlb]

Hi Steve and welcome


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Macca]

Hi Steve

Welcome to the forum. Quite a few of us have at least one or two pieces of B&O - and we have the world-famous Beobloke, who has piles of it.

[Wakefield Turntables]

Welcome, you need to speak to Adam (BEOBLOKE) who frequents this forum.

[soundsheavenly]

Hi guys,

Thanks for the friendly welcome! Also a special thanks to andyrlb for telling me about Art of Sound - I wish I had found this forum years ago!

Yes, I met Adam (Beobloke) at the Scalford Hall "pie-fi" show a couple of years ago, he is a great guy. I live less than a mile from Scalford Hall, so I always make sure I get to the show every year.

I'm always happy to help if anyone has any questions about connecting esoteric/unusual audio equipment, as my day job is making specialist audio cables for B&O, Naim, Quad, Leak, A&R, Revox and Meridian systems.

Thanks, Steve (Sounds Heavenly Cables).

[walpurgis]

Nothing to stop you opening a trade account here Steve, if you want to generate some business. You'd need one in any case if members start making significant enquiries about any services you may offer. Speak to Marco if need be. He's the Guv'nor!

[soundsheavenly]

Thanks Geoff,

I will contact Marco. I'm mainly here for pleasure rather than business, but I wanted to be honest at the start so that you know I'm in the trade as well as being an enthusiast!

Kind regards, Steve.

[walpurgis]

We have a number of small, one man band, specialists in the trade section. Some are regular contributors to the general chat as well as conducting business here. Please join in with the banter, you'd be welcome.

[soundsheavenly]

Thanks Geoff,

Will do!

Kind regards, Steve.

[TazSob]

Welcome Steve,

Your system sounds lovely and the way you describe it conjures up images of some 80's view of a futuristic B&O kitted out home...

[petrat]

Hi Steve.
Without my glasses, I read your post as 'long-time B&Q fanatic' ... now, that really would be worrying :lol:
No real experience of B&O, but I do remember a fellow 1970s university student blowing his grant cheque on a brand new B&O system, and then living on beans on toast for months, so it must have been good stuff :D

[soundsheavenly]

Hi Peter,

That sounds just like my university experience (eating beans on toast to afford B&O) - not the B&Q fanatic bit :lol:

Having old B&O is like living on the bridge of the Starship Enterprise (1970's version) just as Taz described.......

[The Black Adder]

Hi Steve.

I remember buying some cables from you quite a while back. Excellent job too! :)

Welcome and enjoy AOS :)

[soundsheavenly]

Thanks Josie!

[Barry]

Welcome to AoS Steve,

Yes I'm a bit of a B&O fan too. Despite being disparagingly called "Habitat Hi-Fi" by ill-informed detractors, B&O make some very good gear.

I have a few items: a B&O 1700 tuner, and I'm a big of a fan of their MM cartridges.

Not quite a fan of B&Q though!

Shame about the Quad gear though - my wife bought me my pair of 57s as a wedding present, and I'm an even bigger Quad fan.

Enjoy the Forum
Barry

[hifinutt]

just for you steve !!

https://hifiwigwam.com/forum/topic/125882-beolab-90s-coming-to-harrogate/#comment-2186075

[soundsheavenly]

Thanks Phil and Barry,

I had the pleasure of hearing the jaw-dropping Beolab 90 speakers at the ISE trade fair when they were launched - Geoff Martin who designed them for B&O is a friend of mine, so I got to see some pictures of the prototypes along the way :)

They may not be truly transparent "audiophile" speakers in the way that their predecessors Beolab 5 were, but they use state of the art DSP to adapt the music to the room so effectively that the sound literally seems to come to life all around you. The effect is so incredibly good that it has to be heard to be believed.

Rumour has it that a "little brother" of Beolab 90 will be launched imminently, to be pitched at around half the price but using much of the same technology, these will be sold as Beolab 50.

I share Barry's love of the MMC cartridges that B&O made back in the 1990s, I had new ones made for me by Sound Smith in USA and they really are good. If I recall correctly, B&O actually designed a special stylus tip profile (the "Pramanik" profile?) which corrected the inherent tracking errors between the two channels on the disc.

I wish my wife would buy me some nice speakers, I've been hinting for 20 years now....... :lol:

Kind regards, Steve.