ARCHIVED FORUM -- March 2012 to February 2022READ ONLY FORUM
This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
I was in the neighborhood of a relatively local B&O store, and I decided to spend a bit of time there. In a nutshell, I re-auditioned a pair of Beolab 20 speakers, as well as a pair of Lab 5's.
Incidentally, here's a picture of a 20 next to a 9, I know folks (including me) were curious about their relative scales:
Before I get into a very short accounting related to the topic of this posting, I'd like to comment on how surprised I was when comparing the physical size of the 20s with that of the 9s. On paper the dimensions of the 20s aren't all that much bigger than the 9s but in the flesh they're larger in almost every dimension. And they're larger in a very good way (to my eyes at least). Additionally, it appeared to me that the acoustic lens on the 20 is tilted ever so slightly up, toward the listener's ears in a comfortable listening position. Be that as it may...
I spent a little over an hour at the dealer. Most of my time was spent listening to the 20s, but a portion was also spent listening to a pair of Lab5s as well. Let's just state up front that the Lab5's sounded "different" to me than the 20s. Yes, they had a fuller sound, but I was also aware that the room these speakers were in was large, open, walled by glass on one side, etc. The 20s did sound like they were close to 80% the capabilities of the 5s. That made me smile.
But the point of this post is that I had to ask the store clerk multiple times to lower the volume of the music to a manageable volume. Each time a song was played, the volume was cranked up to 70. I don't think I've ever listened to ANYTHING from my B&O equipment at that volume, let alone music. Maybe he was trained to do that due to the size of the room, but as the title of this post states: loud isn't necessarily better. Sometimes more can be heard at lower listening levels than not. In any case, have any of you had that experience? That store personnel maybe by habit or by training, raise the volume of speakers thinking loudness is meant to impress?
To end, I loved the 20s... my wife isn't going to be happy. lol
BeoGreg:My dealer does exacly the same : full volume on any speaker I ask.
Mark Twain, "The banging and slamming and booming and crashing were something beyond belief. The racking and pitiliess pain of it remains stored up in my memory alongside the memory of the time that I had my teeth fixed..."- A Tramp Abroad
I have never experienced that, when I visited one of the stores in Denmark.
MM
There is a tv - and there is a BV
BeoGreg:Where is the pleasure of the listening when it hurts because it's far too loud ?
BeoNut since '75
It's what the public want.
My wife made the mistake of getting tickets for the theatre musical 'Hairspray' based on several 5 star reviews.
Disaster. Too much bass. So much treble that the voice parts were shrill and inaudible. We left the theatre with our ears ringing.... And we were sat a long way from the PA systems lined up in front of the stage.
Graham
Brian:Mark Twain, "The banging and slamming and booming and crashing were something beyond belief. The racking and pitiliess pain of it remains stored up in my memory alongside the memory of the time that I had my teeth fixed..."- A Tramp Abroad
"Deafness as the price of ecstasy"
- Richard Powers, Orfeo
Loud is better if they're good speakers. I loved turning my speakers up when I had Beolab 1's , Beolab 2 and also the Beolab 9's. That visceral experience is impressive because they're beautiful speakers and it's not what you expect if you're new to the brand. I know sure as hell i'll want to hear the Beolab 90 turned up, why drive a Ferrari at 40mp/h?
Dave:....why drive a Ferrari at 40mp/h?
Dave: ....why drive a Ferrari at 40mp/h?
....why drive a Ferrari at 40mp/h?
Well, driving along a narrow country road it might be the better choice...
....but driving down a four-lane highway I would push it a bit more ;-)
Actually what they should do is let you adjust the volume, bass and treble to the way you like it - not the way they think you should be hearing it
Andrew:Actually what they should do is let you adjust the volume, bass and treble to the way you like it - not the way they think you should be hearing it
BeoBoy68:
Looks like a weather forecast for a surfer 😸
vikinger: It's what the public want. My wife made the mistake of getting tickets for the theatre musical 'Hairspray' based on several 5 star reviews. Disaster. Too much bass. So much treble that the voice parts were shrill and inaudible. We left the theatre with our ears ringing.... And we were sat a long way from the PA systems lined up in front of the stage. Graham
Related, here's an NPR article/survey about whether concerts (at least here in the US) have gotten too loud. I'd say a resounding yes. My wife and I are lucky enough to live in Southern California, and we have the opportunity to go see a lot of our favorite artists live. I can count two, yes TWO concerts and concert venues where I'd say that I actually enjoyed the volume and clarity of the sound. The rest were as Graham described above.
Also, my wife and I both take earplugs to concerts, and more often than not, we use them for a more pleasant experience.
Means - we need earbuts, when visiting the Bang & Olufsen stores.
Maybe some with a nice B&OPlay logo on ;-)
Millemissen: Means - we need earbuts, when visiting the Bang & Olufsen stores. Maybe some with a nice B&OPlay logo on ;-) MM
For loud concerts BeoPlay H6/7, for very loud concerts BeoPlay H 8 with noise cancelling ...
It's a pity that most sound ingeneers have a serious hearing damage or noise cancelling headphones.