Bang & Olufsen Overture 9/10 - Date Posted 29/08/2002

Just like their other products this is amazing! The main problem is that it is expensive. Although mainly touted as a CD Player, it also has a radio and a tape player. There is a slightly cheaper machine, without a tape player though. The CD playback is very crisp and the radio quality is nearly as good. The onboard D-A converters at the heart of this machine excel many I've heard (better than the Yamaha amp I tested it with), but it is doubtful that they would be better than a similiarly priced CD player from a specialist maker like Linn. What you are paying for is mainly the design and the unusual features. For example the glass door does not open using a button, but by an infrared sensor. There are also lights which are illuminated whenever it is turned on. However, the only time you'll want to open the doors is when you wish to change CD, since you can buy an additional Beo4 remote to control it. If you already have B&O equipment, you therefore won't need to spend an extra hundred pounds on the remote.

Like most CD Player-combos you can do CD-tape copying, with the quality being good, but hardly as good as a cheaper combination of a CD player with digital out connected to a Minidisc. It is a pity that this machine does not have a digital output, for this purpose. It does have outputs to the Beolink system, so it can be hooked up to other B&O equipment, such as a television or video, so that you can record from any source at the touch of a button. The newer multi CD machine from B&O does however have a coaxial digital out.

Bang and Olufsen say that you can only connect it up to their speakers, through a special B&O cable (not on any other brand of equipment). However, I managed to connect the Overture through its DIN output to an ordinary amp. If you have a good amplifier (with decent speakers) it is probable that the sound output will be better than using Bang & Olufsen speakers (which are incredibly expensive, so much so a separate amp with speakers will probably be cheaper).

This machine will give you hours of good quality crisp audio at an expensive price. With DVD Audio here, it might be worth waiting for a DVD Audio version.