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 have seen almost nothing about the beolab 20 in terms of reviews. Has anyone bought one or listened to it? Would like to have your opinion, if any, particularly as is compares to the BL5.
BV11-55, BS9000, BL1, BL19, Transmitter 1, Beo4, Beocom 6000, BeoTalk1 200, Sennheiser HD600, McIntosh MHA100
I have listened to them and was absolutely blown away. The quality and sound reproduction was something I did not imagine it would be. I recently bought a pair of 9s as they are more than adequate for my purposes. When I move to a bigger home though, which I plan to do later this year, I will buy a pair of 20s if not second hand 5s. I was really impressed. I am sure professional reviews will follow very soon.
B&O products are V1-32, BS2, H95, E8 and an Essence remote.11-46 now replaced with Sony A90J 65”, Sony HT-A9, Sony UBP-X800M2 and Sony SRS-NS7.
It may sound good, but it's ugly in my view...Didn't like the 9's and this re-worked 9's called 20's are even less pleasant to the eye. However, sound is more important I will immediately admit. But from B&o I expect more than good sound.
I have to agree the beolab 20s sound incredible, I don't mind the looks of them either and would love to own a pair.
Beoplay A2
jc: It may sound good, but it's ugly in my view...Didn't like the 9's and this re-worked 9's called 20's are even less pleasant to the eye. However, sound is more important I will immediately admit. But from B&o I expect more than good sound.
Haven't heard them yet, but do expect an improvement over the 9s. How much? Won't know till I hear. But I agree, the 9s were never my favorite speaker with respect to looks, and I like the 20s less than the 9s. I'm not sure the new crop of designers for B&O are in the same league.
I will admit that the 9s have grown on me visually after living with a pair for a few months now. The sonics make up for any perceived visual issues.
Jeff
I'm afraid I'm recovering from the BeoVirus.
BeoLab 20 are superb. Whilst looking very much like an upgraded BeoLab 9, they perform much better, with the kind of bass response that questions the need for a sub woofer.
Half the price of BeoLab 5s, with in my opinion, 75% of the performance of 5s....
Thanks for the feedback. I will have to go for a listen one of these days. I have BL1s and have always liked them but they do miss bass at low volumes. Last time i was at a shop I listed to BL5s and they blew me away, so now i am thinking either sub woofer or BL20s...
If you can accommodate the 5s, which are obviously quite large, then those would be my choice, second-hand. If however, you want new and smaller size cabinets, then 20s are the way forward.
I have a gut feeling that the 20s will get 4.5/5 if not 5/5 reviews (thinking What Hi Fi particularly) when they get professionally reviewed. The 5s got a 5/5 rating.
As for looks, well I must admit when I first saw them I didn't think they had the 'Wow!' factor, but then neither did I, or do I, think that about the 5s. I really don't like the middle 'rod' part of the 5s, which doesn't look like a solid build quality to me. Of course it is, but to my eyes, perceptually, it just doesn't look or seem it.
It has only ever been the 9s that I loved at first sight, and really loved! They are so aesthetically pleasing to the eye and a wonderful interior design statement in the home. Just goes to show how we are all different and what one person loves, another does not. The 20s will grow on me over time, I know that, but there's something about the redesigned acoustic lens at the top, and the bottom part of the speaker that sits on the floor that I am just not that keen on visually. Sound wise though, absolutely wonderful. I am quite happy to rate them 5/5.
Good luck!
Hi all,
Im thinking of buying the beolab 20s to accompany with beolab 5s for beosound 5. Is it possible for 4 speakers to connect in to beomaster 5 without decreasing the sound quality ? Thank you
As far as I am aware, yes... but would you want 4 speakers for music rather than just the 2 BeoLab 5s?
Beolab 5s produced superb sound somehow i am still a bit curious how the music in my room would be if i put another pair of speakers into. More over, pictures taken on internet showed the 4 beolab 5s in same living room that made me thinking of those more than usual. Thanks
Looking at the technical spec's I hope that the Lab 20 has more 'midrange' than the 9's, as that midrange has been found lacking by some here.
Perhaps a re-worked Lab 3 would benefit in the same way; they are superb speakers but miss a bit of 'midrange' energy in my opinion.
I've yet to see or hear the Beolab 20's, but given the Beolab 9's were first released in 2007, I would expect the Lab 20's to better them.
As an owner with a pair of Beolab 9's now 18mths old, and bought new, it would take a significant jump in performance to want to change, for which I would think the Lab 5's would still be the ultimate step up in the context of B&O's current range.
Mind you, I'm awaiting the inevitable update of the Beolab 5 which is likely to be made Wireless compatible in the not too distant future, and almost certainly upgraded in performance and overall design along with it.
However I'm looking forward to visiting my dealer soon, and checking out the new Beolab 20 speakers and Avant TV!
Exciting times for B&O, most definitely.. :-)
Cheers
John...
jc: Looking at the technical spec's I hope that the Lab 20 has more 'midrange' than the 9's, as that midrange has been found lacking by some here. Perhaps a re-worked Lab 3 would benefit in the same way; they are superb speakers but miss a bit of 'midrange' energy in my opinion.
Hmmm...the midrange on the 9s is about as good as I've ever heard. The only thing I could think of one could find fault with is if one preferred the kind of voicing that companies like B&W seem to favor, which to my ear seems a bit overexaggerated in detail due to a slight lift in that region.
But it depends on what you like to listen to. For me, speakers with a lift in the mids tend to get fatiguing to listen to after a while, whereas the 9s I can listen to for hours without strain.
Jeff: jc: Looking at the technical spec's I hope that the Lab 20 has more 'midrange' than the 9's, as that midrange has been found lacking by some here. Perhaps a re-worked Lab 3 would benefit in the same way; they are superb speakers but miss a bit of 'midrange' energy in my opinion. Hmmm...the midrange on the 9s is about as good as I've ever heard. The only thing I could think of one could find fault with is if one preferred the kind of voicing that companies like B&W seem to favor, which to my ear seems a bit overexaggerated in detail due to a slight lift in that region. But it depends on what you like to listen to. For me, speakers with a lift in the mids tend to get fatiguing to listen to after a while, whereas the 9s I can listen to for hours without strain.
I have B&W 802D and a basically new pair of BeoLab 5 that were acquired for resale purposes. I find the midrange on the Lab5's more forward, and in-fact more pleasing than the 802D, which I find a bit laid back and muddled somewhat by the bass/warmth of the 802D. This is in a rather small room, however, which is not ideal for the 802s.
Where are the BeoLab 20s made? One concern I have is that newer is not always better, though the 20s do seem to improve the 9s in some key areas. However, even in new versus older Lab5s some cost cutting measures are evident, such as the mains power plug being a simple two prong ungrounded affair now versus the older three prong IEC style plug which allowed the adaptation of nice heavy duty power cords.
Other than IWS and possibly playback higher than 96khz, not sure there is much that could be done to improve the Lab 5. I mean, it's been around for over a decade now for that very reason. I wouldn't expect anything significant.
Interesting, it's been a long time since I've heard the BL5s in anything approaching a decent room so I honestly have a hard time remembering their mids vs. say the 9s. I do know that I haven't listened to all B&Ws or even the newest ones, but the ones I have heard tended to be voiced more towards what I would call the modern audiophile "detail" oriented end of the spectrum, which to me sounds a bit too detailed, as opposed to a more "polite" and laid back sound. No doubt they were good sounding speakers, but their voicing was not my favorite way to voice a speaker. Reminds me of the old days, you had West Coast sound (JBL), New England sound (Advent), and British sound (Kef, etc.).
Jeff: Interesting, it's been a long time since I've heard the BL5s in anything approaching a decent room so I honestly have a hard time remembering their mids vs. say the 9s. I do know that I haven't listened to all B&Ws or even the newest ones, but the ones I have heard tended to be voiced more towards what I would call the modern audiophile "detail" oriented end of the spectrum, which to me sounds a bit too detailed, as opposed to a more "polite" and laid back sound. No doubt they were good sounding speakers, but their voicing was not my favorite way to voice a speaker. Reminds me of the old days, you had West Coast sound (JBL), New England sound (Advent), and British sound (Kef, etc.).
Yep, I've heard that before and about the different "house" sounds, too. Apparently McIntosh gear used to have a rather dark character to it, and then suddenly beginning with the MC601, MC452 and the 2.0Kw they shifted to a more neutral and brighter presentation in the voicing of their amps.
Now don't get me wrong, the treble end of things on the 802Ds is rather "crispy" because of that Diamond tweeter, but I never find that portion fatiguing or hard to listen to. My main problem with them has ironically been a yearning for MORE neutral, accurate midrange. But because of the room size the bass is just overpowering sometimes. They're a little slow. This is something that was supposedly improved upon on the 802 "Diamond", which came after the D.
And though I consider the Lab5s more forward in the mids, it is never fatiguing in any possible way. It is how I like it. My suspicion with the lab 5, since B&O don't play much with or talk up the material make-up of their drivers, is that the basic "bones" of this speaker will remain unchanged, with the exception of wireless and possibly higher bitrate formats. But they'll add the biggest thing the Lab5s have lacked, and that's diversity... So likely several color choices, or new designs for the grilles or what not.
I will also be eager to hear the Lab 20s next time I am in a B&O store, but I too am not keen on their design.
french review
http://www.hautefidelite-hifi.com/images/gratuits/NET-HF2.pdf
Thanks for the link, unfortunately it is a PDF so google translate doesn't work on it. Looking at the ratings on the final page of the review, I dare say it is a good one. Can someone who has read it maybe give a high level rundown of the magazine's thoughts, please? Thanks in advance!
My previous post got sent to moderation. Can someone give a quick rundown of the review, please?
Thank you so much, BeoGreg!
Beolab 50, Beolab 8000 x 2, Beolab 4000 x 2, BeoSound Core, BeoSound 9000, BeoSound Century, BeoLit 15, BeoPlay A1, BeoPlay P2, BeoPlay H9 3rd Gen, BeoPlay H6, EarSet 3i, BeoVision Eclipse Gen 2 55", BeoPlay V1-40, BeoCom 6000 and so much else :)
You must either have the ears of a bat or live somewhere with a particularly vicious RFI environment. I hear nothing out of my BL9s after I got the correct cables for them with the additional ground. And I've never heard anything out of my 8000s, the only exception being when I have the gain turned up way high with no signal, and I mean really high.
Jeff: You must either have the ears of a bat or live somewhere with a particularly vicious RFI environment. I hear nothing out of my BL9s after I got the correct cables for them with the additional ground. And I've never heard anything out of my 8000s, the only exception being when I have the gain turned up way high with no signal, and I mean really high.
I hear the electronics make different sounds on my microwave in the kitchen, when I am in the living room, when the screen blinks. And I can hear the electronics in my H8 headphones as well, the sound the bluetooth radio makes, it sounds like a ringing phone sometimes when it is changing frequencies or doing something strange. I hear different noise from my MacBook Pro when it is working or not. But I don't think the noise from BL9 is very high frequency, its just quite loud and reflected straight towards my ears.
Michael:ears of a bat
Michael: Michael:ears of a batYes, my name is batman . I actually have quite good ears, at least for a few more years I hope.
Back when I was younger I had excellent high freq hearing, I used to be able to hear the ultrasonic motion detectors in store security systems, felt like someone shoving an ice pick in my ears and twirling it around. Back then in the dark ages we didn't have the variety of machines that might make noise we do now, though a tube TV with a noisy flyback transformer would drive me nuts.
Don't worry though, age will "fix" that problem for you as it did for me!
Jeff: Don't worry though, age will "fix" that problem for you as it did for me!
Just visit a couple of rock concerts (without hearing protection) - that will speed up things 😉
MM
There is a tv - and there is a BV