It seems like Friday afternoons might be the sweet spot for thrift store hunting.
This past Friday I stopped into the Cause for Paws store and came across two items that, at their price, I simply couldn’t pass up.
One of them I didn’t even fully understand at first glance — it looked like a black geodesic dome with a Bang & Olufsen (B&O) logo on top. Price: $7.99. Into the cart it went.
The second find I recognized immediately: a Sony BDP-S570 Blu-ray player for $11.99. That one I knew was worth grabbing because it’s one of the Sony models that supports SACD playback.
The SACD Rabbit Hole (Again)
I actually already had one of these players from a previous thrift store run, and that ties into a lesson I learned the hard way.
After picking up my first SACD — Fourplay – Between The Sheets — I tried playing it on my Cambridge Audio DVD89, which is connected to my DAC. That’s when reality set in:
- SACDs are encrypted
- The DSD signal does not output over coax/optical
- It is restricted to HDMI (or analog outputs on certain players)
So my DAC setup was never going to work with SACD. The DVD89 was doing exactly what it’s supposed to do — just not what I wanted.
When I tried the same disc in my Sony BDP-X800 through my AVR, it worked perfectly. The AVR handled the decoding, and I was able to hear the multi-channel mix in 7.1.
And honestly?
It was… interesting.
I’ve listened to that album many times in standard stereo, and the surround mix definitely adds a different dimension. But for me, it’s not compelling enough to start investing heavily in SACDs. It’s more of a “nice to have” than a “must have.”
That said, having a second SACD-capable player like the S570 gives me options:
- keep one in the office setup
- pass one along to a friend
- or stash it for a future system
Quick Troubleshooting Note
When I first hooked up the S570 to a computer monitor, I ran into a strange issue:
- Magenta-tinted menus
- No video playback
That turned out to be a color space mismatch. Switching the output from YCbCr to RGB fixed it immediately.
Classic case of: not broken, just misconfigured.
The Mystery Dome – B&O Beoplay S3
That $7.99 “dome” turned out to be a Bang & Olufsen Beoplay S3 Bluetooth speaker — and honestly, this was the real score.
What you get in that small enclosure is pretty impressive:
- Bi-amped design (2 × 35W Class-D)
- Separate amplification for woofer and tweeter
- Solid B&O industrial design
- Surprisingly full sound for its size
It’s also an AC-powered unit with an internal power supply, so just a standard figure-8 power cord — no wall wart.
After a quick cleanup, it fired right up and sounds excellent.
First Impressions
The S3 is one of those speakers that makes you do a double take.
For its size:
- bass is tighter than expected
- mids are very clean
- it projects sound better than most small Bluetooth speakers
- It would make a great:
- desktop speaker
- kitchen or office system
- or even a Bluetooth bridge into another system via the 3.5mm line-out
I checked eBay out of curiosity and saw listings in the $200–$250 range, though real-world selling prices are likely lower. Still, at $7.99, it’s hard to argue with the value.
Am I going to sell it? Probably not.
I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’m an audio hoarder.
Cleanup and Refurb
Neither item needed much work:
- General cleaning with a cloth
- Toothbrush around buttons and seams
- For the S3 grille: packing tape used like a lint roller to pull out debris
That was enough to bring both pieces back to very respectable condition.
Final Thoughts
All in, about $20 total for both items.
That’s the kind of thrift store run that keeps you checking back every week — because you never know when something interesting (or unexpectedly high-end) is going to show up on the shelf.
Bang & Olufsen Beoplay S3
| Feature | Specification |
|---|---|
| Amplification | 2 × 35W Class-D (bi-amped) |
| Drivers | 1 × 4″ woofer, 1 × ¾” tweeter |
| Frequency Response | ~42 Hz – 20 kHz |
| Bluetooth | 4.0 with aptX |
| Inputs | 3.5 mm AUX |
| Outputs | 3.5 mm line-out (daisy chain) |
| Power | Internal PSU (IEC C7 “figure-8”) |
| Dimensions | ~6.4″ × 5.2″ × 6.8″ |
| Weight | ~5.5 lbs |
| Other | Stereo pairing via cable, DSP crossover |
Sony BDP-S570 Blu-ray Player
| Feature | Specification |
|---|---|
| Disc Support | Blu-ray, DVD, CD, SACD |
| Video Output | HDMI (1080p) |
| Audio Output | HDMI, Optical Digital, Analog Stereo |
| SACD Support | Yes (DSD over HDMI or analog) |
| Streaming | DLNA, early internet apps (legacy) |
| USB | Yes (media playback) |
| Network | Ethernet (wired) & Wifi |
| BD Profile | Profile 2.0 (BD-Live) |
| Year | ~2010 |
| Other | Good CD transport via digital out |