Bang and Olufsen

They are currently doing very well in the digital amplifier arena, with their "ICE module". It is being used under licence by some of the most highly regarded solid-state amp makers now. This is a state-of-the-art digital amp, at this time.

The new Beolab speakers are also supposed to be quite a treat, but I haven't heard them myself. They are quite different, using some unusual technology, but they are "active" speakers, with the "ICE module" used in a multi-amping active configuration. Not cheaply priced.

Most B&O stuff is more show than go, though it's well-made, relatively speaking (expensive to repair though). Aesthetics-wise, many of their pieces are historically regarded as classics of modern industrial design, and some of the vintage models appeal to me very much on that level. In my experience, the only way one usually uses any B&O piece is within an all-B&O system, with the onetime exception (in certain locales) of their turntables. Given that their speakers didn't sound very good, and their turntables didn't play records very well (albeit that most others didn't either), it was always hard for me to make any evaluation of their electronics sandwiched in between. For at least the last decade, the company's focus shifted toward compact 'lifestyle' stuff that didn't have much pretense of hi-fi, and to me they also lost some of their sense of design integrity as well.

Their corporate participation in the development and marketing of the ICEpower technology and product could change their image within the high end segment, but I went to a B&O store to hear the new Beolab speakers which incorporate ICEpower (among many other feats) and they sounded, not just poor, but really quite incompetent. Not enjoyable or convincing at all - you could hear better at Circuit City any day of the week. Since I strongly suspected they couldn't truly be as bad as they sounded, I had to assume they were being used incorrectly. But even though I had the salesman reset the speakers' built-in measurement and self-calibration system in my presence after pointing out to him that they sounded like ca-ca, things were no better afterward. This is a problem, since you can't sell $15K (or whatever they cost) speakers if you either: don't know how to set them up right; or display broken ones; or in any case don't even possess the expertise to realize they're not remotely coming close to sounding as they probably ought to...

I had a very different experience than Zaikesman. I listened to the Beolab 5s about 9 months ago and was very impressed. They were poorly set up so it was hard to know how much better they could sound at home but I found their presentation very musical, coherent and convincing. My frame of reference at the time: the Aerial 20ts and now the JM Lab Nova Utopias. I decided against the Beolabs purely on the basis of leaving behind the flexibility of choosing my own amps, having to leave behind my EMM Labs Dac 6, and the lack of any real discounting by B&O. Other than that, I would have definitely taken them for a spin, they were that enjoyable IMO.

The Beolab 5 is awesome but the normal presentation is ridiculous. I heard them in a mall store along a 60 foot long wall from 20 feet away. The front of the store to my left was completely open to mall traffic and there was a television system playing about 20 feet to the right of the Beolabs. The
salesman was friendly, slick and gooey.
This was in January of 2004 when they were first being introduced at $17,000 a pair in a mall. Naturally they were not at their best but they were very impressive. The room reset feature broadcasts a signal, reads and interprets it, and adjusts accordingly. When furniture is moved or many people are present you have to recalibrate. At home this would work. In a store, with people milling about and salesmen prattling, it doesn't.
I gave them a pass because of the investment level, the unknown resaleability, and the fact that I am nearly 300 miles from the dealer, they are hard to ship and who fixes them?
If they were marketed through the normal high end channels with the normal high end support, they would be very famous by now.
As for other B&O stuff, very innovative reasonably durable, aesthetically thrilling, costly compared to Japanese alternatives and completely inappropriate for obsessive audiophiles.
I too was turned off by the take it or leave it pricing.

I have a pair of Penta 3's and use my EAD TM for my pre. I use them in two channel and they are tremendous. I bought these for about $1K and had to replace one of the amps for another $500. For this amount of $$, I would stack them up against just about anything. Including some pretty good i/c's, I am under $2.5K for the whole system. The nice thing about B&O is that it is a perfect fit for a small to medium sized room. The one thing I am lacking now is a good transport/player. I am looking at a number of different ones, but nothing seems to grab me....any help?