Hifi exists to play music (weird, I know) - so it has to fit into your house and life.
Only comment I’d make is that I’d trial the B&O for a couple of weeks or more, and then play the 500 system again - it’s much easier to tell what you gain/lose once some time has passed. If the 500 is not much better, or worse, then change. If you find it’s fantastic again, and worth keeping, then great.
No, you are not mad, actually you are one of the majority ‘normal’ people.
Ditto all of this.
If considering a radical change of this sort, I would wonder what I was going to think a month, or 6 months, or 2 years down the road if I suddenly woke up one day wishing I could have my Naim system back.
This applies especially to this change where you admit at the outset that the new audio system sounds worse than your existing one.
I just had the experience of a system SQ downgrade when I borrowed an Auralic Aries G2 streamer to temporarily replace my ND5XS2 for a few weeks.
The reduction in SQ literally made me feel out of sorts for those weeks and I moved on to listening to YouTube music videos through my hifi instead of Qobuz.
I have the Beolab 1800 active speakers in a second home. They just don’t engage or excite but are competent and wirelessly connect to TV and Airplay via TV so are convenient
You should also consider the Dynaudio Focus XD30 or 60 for actives. With or without a Connect box they have convenience and sound and look great. The finish is extraordinary
Hi Ross,
You are not going mad at all.
Many of us reach the point where we simply no longer want a huge multi-box system.
If you have found a way to simplify and to have a more visually discreet music system, then good for you.
We are on a similar path, albeit in a more measured way.
Best regards, BF
Not at all silly, in fact rather sane if you ask me, HiFi can become the ‘master’ rather than serving us, B&O see their range as ‘lifestyle’ products, but their range of larger ‘stereo speakers’ are a marvel of engineering and design and are far from glorified Bluetooth speakers.
If it wasn’t for the price tag. I might have bought a pair of B&O Beolab 50 loudspeakers for myself. From what I heard of the Beolab 20s they were probably all most would need. The Beolab 90’s look quite extraordinary to me.
Possibly the ugliest speakers I have ever seen, imo of course. SWMBO would not entertain them no matter how good they sound.
Yes! Total nutter!
Really full active system was sold up and I bought a Bose Apple Dock 
Just make sure your happy if so then it’s right.
With the OP’s lack of interaction with the responders, I can’t help wondering if this a wind-up!? 
Why would anyone get wound up about someone making a personal choice with valid reasons.
Better to start a thread about cables 
To me it’s somewhat akin to driving say an Audi Q7 for many a year but life changes and as a consequence priorities and deciding that in reality a Golf will suffice. Good luck.
Fiat 500???
B&O are inferior to any decent hifi brand. But guess what it’s your choice and your money. But if soundquality is your main priority……, think twice.
Weird looking things. At first glance they could be mistaken for an upright hoover.
This is unfair I feel. Yes, B&O does not sound as good, for the same money, as perhaps Naim, but they’re not quite cheap bluetooth speakers either. It’s not as if they don’t offer anything in the department of sound quality. They simply also offer, and as such what you also pay for is, design. Value for money I think they’re quite good, as long as you appreciate both.
Let’s face it, our living rooms are full of stuff we chose, at least partly, based on looks. Or did anyone go into the furniture store blindfolded and sat on every single sofa and just got the one that was most comfortable regardless of looks?
So why not make that choice for HiFi? I think the OP has clearly described his reasons for going this particular route, no need to bash his choice as if B&O is complete rubish, or essentially, because you would choose differently.
Also, the car comparison doesn’t quite work. It’s more like going from a Nissan Juke-R to a BMW 2 series coupe. Looks tons better, performance is great, just not at the level of the former.
FWIW my parents have had several B&O systems for years, so relatively familiar with them, even if I myself have always gone more down the traditional brands route.
Yes you are mad. Really. You will not be satisfied with that steep of a drop.
Well I thought by using the Golf as the analogy I wasn’t dumbing it down.
