Dolby Atmos 7.2.4 setup using B&O speakers

Hi all,

Just joined the forum.  Learned alot over last couple of days reading your post.

I recently received a pair of used Beolab 5 from my friend.  This was rather unexpected as the friend is moving overseas and don't need the speakers!

Anyway.... I am currently building a house with a dedicated home theater room.  Initially I did not think of using B&O there but now that I got Beolab 5... I'm thinking if it would be possible to have a dolby atmos setup using B&O speakers.

From what I gather, it seems that B&O speakers are very different to other speakers and has its own amps, etc...

Would it be possible/compatible  to use a dolby atmos preamps like Marantz AV7702 (or other Yamahas, Onkyos, etc...) and connect Beolab 5 to it as a two front speakers... and use Beolab 14 5.1 setup for center, side and back surrounds... (or 2*beoplay S8??) and get extra 4 speakers (any suggestions from B&O range??) for ceiling setup?

In theory, I don't see any reason why it would not work but I'm not familiar with B&Os and not too sure if it's going to work without too much difficulties and damaging any of speakers.

Anyone tried it?  Any suggestions, comments will be appreicated.

 

Thanks in advance!

In principal I think you can do a setup as you describe.

I´m however unsure how the speakers will sound together.

You can feed the Beolab 14 from an ordinary surround receiver. Beolab 5 you have to feed from a pre amp output on your receiver.

I think its up to the receiver if you actually can mix ordinary output and pre-amp outputs for e.g a Bluray source.

I think its better soundwise (and a lot cheaper) to actually get (passive) speakers from one brand, since you will need quite many for a Atmos setup.

 

Or you can do my dream: surround setup with Beolab 7.4's

Maybe the Beoamp 16 could be used for this?

http://beointegration.com/uploaded/sheets/BeoAmp%2016.pdf

It is intended for multizone setups, but a skilled B&O installer might be able to 'tweak it' for that purpose.

If you can combine it with the BL5's, you wouldn't need additional subwoofers.

Could be an interesting project ;-))

MM

 

Thanks MM - never knew of that one's existence.

OP: have you read Geoff Martin's blog posts on B&O speakers and sound design and philosophy.

I think you would find them highly informative.

http://www.tonmeister.ca/wordpress/

Some on the forum have 4xBL5s for surround sound and perhaps that would be the backbone of your setup.

And then the remaining speakers should be that member of the B&O speaker family that offers the best counter balance.

Ideally the processor would actually be a B&O BS4 replacement :) but who knows how long we will be waiting for that !

However it would have the smarts of knowing the individual characteristics of all family manners and automatically compensate any given configuration.

leosgonewild:

Or you can do my dream: surround setup with Beolab 7.4's

I have 2x BL7-1 Back and 2x BL7-1 Sides running in mono configuration,- would that do ?

Most impressive to give a friend a pair of BL5s! Amazing.

I would not put to much energy into the atmos thing however. So many speakers.

I think the Beolab 14/Beoplay S8 would be an extremely poor choice for mating with the BL5. Remember that the center channel carries almost 3/4 of the sound of a movie, vocals and centered effects. One 2 inch driver will not handle that well compared with the BL5. If you're using a projector or a large screen TV mounted higher up, something like a BL20 or BL9 would be an ideal center channel, or an older dedicated Beo center.

I'm very envious of your BL5s, especially for that price. An outstanding speaker, but going Beo for your whole surround system will be pricey. Dolby Atmos also requires a lot of speakers, and I'm unsure if it will really succeed or be abandoned for the home market, as 3D has been. Most people won't even do what's needed to setup a proper 5.1 setup let alone Atmos. I see it as primarily a system to try and get people back in theaters, the same way wide screen movies were invented to try and lure people away from watching movies on 4:3 TV sets.

Hope you enjoy the BL5s, they truly are spectacular.

elephant:

OP: have you read Geoff Martin's blog posts on B&O speakers and sound design and philosophy.

.

.

Ideally the processor would actually be a B&O BS4 replacement :) but who knows how long we will be waiting for that !

There are different ways of obtaining an immersive sound experience.

of course you can use the native Dolby/DTS/Auro formats and have these decoded from an adequate receiver/prepro.

However, you won't find much source material - at least not at the moment, and only on discs.

Also setting up a cinema home theater for all immersive formats will lead to several compromises, 

since the layout for the speakers aren't quite the same.

 

I tend to agree with those, who advocate for a proper 5.1 or 7.1 setup with  good B&O components.

This might in most cases be more than sufficient - and certainly easier to realize.

 

Dolby Atmos users e.g. often use the (new) Dolby Surround upmixer 

(See this: http://www.klipsch.com/blog/upmixing-with-dolby-atmos/ )

 

If you want more than 5.1/7.1 and you want to stay with recent B&O components, it might be worth experimenting

with the audio upmixer contained in the video engine of the BSys4-based devices (such as the Avant or the BeoSystem 4 itself).

For inspiration on this see: http://www.tonmeister.ca/wordpress/2013/12/06/bo-tech-trueimage-upmixing/

 

When and if B&O ever will bring a solution, that has native support for Dolby Atmos, DTS:X etc is imo (very) uncertain!

One thing is for sure - if you start out building an immersive setup with the BL5's, it will become a rather expensive undertaking,

since all other speakers idealy should match these (in some way or another).

However, building a setup with two BL19's and several BL17's could end up very nice ;-)

I wish I had the room (and - well - the money) for something like that ;-))

MM

 

It's the acoustic lense I want. No don't you have the power, but the BL7.4 has a clarity that can't be matched

leosgonewild:

It's the acoustic lense I want. No don't you have the power, but the BL7.4 has a clarity that can't be matched

I tend to agree, except for the BL-10 of course,- which basically is the 7-4 on steroids!  

I also agree with this and am a bug fan of acoustic lens speakers. The sound is crystal clear on my 9s and brings a smile to my face every time I listen, be it music or movie.

Hello,

             i have done my setup with Marantz AV7702 mark II with 

Beolab 18, Beolab 17, beolab 14 5.1 Beoplay S8, Beolab 8000, beolab 6000, Krk 12s Sub. 

The sound is Just out of the world. I am sound engineer, works for bang & olufsen Australia :) 

Dolby Atmos, DTS X and Auro 3D got all 

 

 

Doing 9.3.4 with bang and olufsen  

Yasin1:

Hello,

i have done my setup with Marantz AV7702 mark II with

Beolab 18, Beolab 17, beolab 14 5.1 Beoplay S8, Beolab 8000, beolab 6000, Krk 12s Sub.

The sound is Just out of the world. I am sound engineer, works for bang & olufsen Australia :)

Dolby Atmos, DTS X and Auro 3D got all

Well done

Not an interior design that my wife would accept though.

Would be interesting if you could provide a drawing showing how everything is setup.

i guess i am so lucky. my wife is super good and she loves watching movie with me all the time as well...

all the bang and olufsen speakers are active and my AMP has preout of 13.2 channels.. so RC from the speakers to back of the amp. 

9.3.4 setup