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
Are the BEOLAB 2 a good investment
O - Yes, of course!
O - No. never
O - Maybe, depending on your favourites
Mark the preferred answer . . . .
Is this the correct answer? ;-)
Hi Nigel,
If you listen to movies, then Beolab 2 is a good (but not great) subwoofer to add extra bass. However, going for a different subwoofer that performs better (in my opinion the REL T7/i is one that outperformed the Beolab 2 in my own tests) is likely to be a worse INVESTMENT than Beolab 2.
This is because Beolab 2 values are reasonably stable, so you shouldn't lose too much money on it over a reasonable time period. However, it isn't likely to increase in value. For music listening, I personally wouldn't recommend Beolab 2 unless you like really bass-heavy music
Kind regards, Steve.
Steve.
www.soundsheavenly.com
Founder of Sounds Heavenly Cables and Brand Ambassador for Bang & Olufsen
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User Olivsab successfully protected me from buying a Beolab 2, too. He listens to some of the same kind of music like me and he said the same thing like Steve and many others:Beolab 2 for movies: GoodBeolab 2 for music: Please choose another subwoofer.If you want to stay with Bang & Olufsen subwoofers you can choose- Beoplay S8 subwoofer- Beolab 14 subwoofer- Beolab 19if you need earth shaking power please consider another brand or built your own.
I've had mine ten years. Attach it to a good Beosystem 4 based source and its excellent and controlled. You will hear different to this from people who've attached it to older sources and I would agree its a bit 'lazy' in those instances, pumping out a bass ideally suited to movies and dance music played loud. On an Avant, 11 or V1 its perfect!
Living Room: Beosystem 4, Beolab 7-2 (Center), Beolab 9 (Fronts), Beolab 8000 (Rears), no Subwoofer. Screen: Sony KD-85XH9096Dining Room: Beosound Essence MK II with Beolab 4000 on stands, fed by Amazon Echo Show 8Home Cinema: Beosystem 4, Beolab 7-4 (Center), Beolab 1 (Fronts), Beolab 4000 (Rears). Projector: Sony VPL-HW55Home Office: Beosystem 3, Beolab 7-4, Beolab 5000, Screen: Sony KD-55XH9005 on Beovision 7-40 stand, ML to Beosound 9000 MK3 and Beosound 5/Beomaster 5 (1 TB SSD version)Bedroom: Sony KD-65XH9077, Beosound Essence MK II with Beolab 6002 and Beolab 11 (all white, wall-mounted)
In storage: Beolab 5000/Beomaster 5000 (1960s).
Stan:Yes, of course. According to some on this forum, I either have poor taste, bad ears or listen too much with my eyes because I think the BL2 is great. I only listen to music. It is a great compliment to my BL8000 (first) and BL1 (now). Unfortunately, as you can see from the other responses, your results may vary, and the only way to know for sure is to listen yourself (which can be tough in the 2nd hand market). If you do buy one, please spend some time experimenting with placement and switch settings. This can be the difference between excellent and boomy, muddy bass. Stan
Stan
Thanks for your reply i too have BL8000 have been offered the BL2 for 500 pounds. Year of Manufacture is 2002
Placement,room acoustics,settings...I listen to music,and i have heard lot of subs,would not exchange BL2 for any subwoofer.But,of course,the way of music listening is personal.
Beogram 6500 MMC2,Beosound Ouverture,2xBeolab 8000,2xBelolab 4000,Beolab 2,Beolab 7.2,Beo4 navi, 2xBeocom2,Serene,Beosystem 3 mk3,H6 2nd gen,Earphones E8,A8,A9 keyring,Beoplay A1,Bottle opener,Beoplay A2 active(thanks Botty)Wine Set(thanks Botty),4Ktv Samsung 55'',Beolab 7.1 with 42''Panasonic plasma,,Oppo udp-203, LinTronic.
nigel123:Stan Thanks for your reply i too have BL8000 have been offered the BL2 for 500 pounds. Year of Manufacture is 2002
For being more precise, I would add that for music with deep bass (the type of music TWG and I are listening), the beolab 2 won't be fast enough and the sound will be disappointing.
For a reasonable bass use, then it could be usefull.
But again if you want to use it only for music and not also for movies, it is not the best bang olufsen sub. That's not a risky buy because there is still an hard demand for it.
4 beolab 5, beolab 9, beolab 10, beolab 5000, beolab 8000 mk2, beolab 6002, beolab 3500, beovision 7 55 mk2, 2 beovision 11 46 mk4, beotime, beosound ouverture, beosound essence, beoplay A8, beomaster 900 RG de luxe and the collection continues...
There is no such thing as a "fast" subwoofer, that's a misapplication of terms that drives me nuts. A fast subwoofer is called a tweeter. What there are are either poorly damped subwoofers, that continue to ring after the tone is gone, an overhang, or poorly located subs that excite room modes that result in significant peaks, and poorly chosen crossover points.
The BL2 is designed to use passive radiators, which has the poorest transient response of any bass alignment, other than perhaps one or two vented alignments that are rarely used. It does let you make a very small cabinet though as you don't have to have room inside for a large vent tube. Th BL2 also suffers from only having three xover points, and three level settings (corner, wall, and free). This can make it problematic to get a good set of settings, depending on the room and where it's located. Which is why I think opinions about it are so varied, in addition to the personal taste question.
All of which goes to illustrate that setting up a subwoofer is not as easy as most people, and most marketing departments, think. One approach I've seen done is to locate the sub at your listening chair or area, and then walk around the room and listen for where the bass sounds best, then put the sub there.
Good luck, for 500 pounds, that's a steal. I'd buy it, try it, move it around and experiment with settings, and then if you can't get it right sell it on, might even make a bit of money.
Jeff
I'm afraid I'm recovering from the BeoVirus.
Jeff: The BL2 is designed to use passive radiators, which has the poorest transient response of any bass alignment, other than perhaps one or two vented alignments that are rarely used. It does let you make a very small cabinet though as you don't have to have room inside for a large vent tube. Th BL2 also suffers from only having three xover points, and three level settings (corner, wall, and free). This can make it problematic to get a good set of settings, depending on the room and where it's located. Which is why I think opinions about it are so varied, in addition to the personal taste question. All of which goes to illustrate that setting up a subwoofer is not as easy as most people, and most marketing departments, think. One approach I've seen done is to locate the sub at your listening chair or area, and then walk around the room and listen for where the bass sounds best, then put the sub there. Good luck, for 500 pounds, that's a steal. I'd buy it, try it, move it around and experiment with settings, and then if you can't get it right sell it on, might even make a bit of money. Jeff Beovirus victim, it's gotten to be too much to list!
Beovirus victim, it's gotten to be too much to list!
Quite agree with the thoughts on the passive radiators, they just make music sound too flabby, with the bass sounds reverberating way after the bass note has ended. Its a bit like listening to music in St Paul's Cathedral, the echo is charming for a while then just gets irksome.
With regards to room alignment also agree, for example the BeoLab5s, which have excellent bass sound, but quite often after running the room alignment process the speakers would actually seem to sound worse in certain circumstances,.
It is a shame that the new BeoVision TVs have excellent potential for setting up perfect bass, but to my knowledge there is no guide to assist installers and owners through the complex software possibilities.
Most important of all its your eyes ears and pocket that counts. So if you like the looks, sound and cost (@ £500 one fitth less then when new!) go for it.
StUrrock, you're a man of few words!
..or too quick a mouse finger :)
StUrrock: It is a shame that the new BeoVision TVs have excellent potential for setting up perfect bass, but to my knowledge there is no guide to assist installers and owners through the complex software possibilities.
You should be able to find some inspiration here:
http://www.tonmeister.ca/wordpress/2014/01/10/bo-tech-subwoofer-tweaking-for-beginners/
MM
There is a tv - and there is a BV
Jeff:A fast subwoofer is called a tweeter.
BeoNut since '75
I've always been curious as to what the specifics of the BL2 and BL11 crossovers were. What frequency(s), what slopes, and such. I think the BL11 has only one xover point, but the BL2 has three, allegedly spec'd for different sat speakers (BL1, etc.) but it would be pretty helpful in setting one up to know the details.
Jeff:I've always been curious as to what the specifics of the BL2 and BL11 crossovers were. What frequency(s), what slopes, and such. I
It's not explicitly stated in specs or service manual, however there's a clue.
The Beolab 2 block diagram, shows wall, free, corner selection as a selectable notch filter - which makes sense. Now the interesting bit is the first selector is a simple "gain" and the PL output (exact cutoff we are interested in knowing) is a fixed high pass. Indeed I do recall the cutoff not being audibly different when changing pos. 1,2,3. Would have to check that playing white noise and an RTA.
If I would guess it is fairly high, something around 100hz and quite steep 24dB/oct.
Agreed would be very nice to have such technical details because setting up any subwoofer is tricky even with a lot of controls not present on BL2.
But I suppose such gory details are not in b&o taste.
davidr: Jeff:I've always been curious as to what the specifics of the BL2 and BL11 crossovers were. What frequency(s), what slopes, and such. I It's not explicitly stated in specs or service manual, however there's a clue. The Beolab 2 block diagram, shows wall, free, corner selection as a selectable notch filter - which makes sense. Now the interesting bit is the first selector is a simple "gain" and the PL output (exact cutoff we are interested in knowing) is a fixed high pass. Indeed I do recall the cutoff not being audibly different when changing pos. 1,2,3. Would have to check that playing white noise and an RTA. If I would guess it is fairly high, something around 100hz and quite steep 24dB/oct. Agreed would be very nice to have such technical details because setting up any subwoofer is tricky even with a lot of controls not present on BL2. But I suppose such gory details are not in b&o taste.
Very interesting, thanks! Since the xover switch was supposed to be, if I recall, set to different places for different speakers, it's odd that it seems to be fixed HP. Maybe the switch is more of a sub level switch, for different satellite efficiencies?
Hi,do we have REAL data instead of guessing? Does anybody know the real crossover frequencies of the Beolab 2? It must be documented somewhere...
TWG: Hi,do we have REAL data instead of guessing? Does anybody know the real crossover frequencies of the Beolab 2? It must be documented somewhere...
Only The Shadow knows, and probably Geoff Martin.
I do wish someone who actually knows would chime in, I've been curious about this for years now.
Hi just to add - I had one and it was fantstic with Films hooked upto BL8000's. Music also benefitted from it in freeing up the lab 8s to play mid and highs. However, that was in a big room with high ceilings. I then moved that setup into my study for music only and the room was just too small - even playing around with the settings, the ceiling was too low, I was too close to it and was unable to position it in between the speakers. Added to the fact that the floor was wooden did not make for a good experience.
So I think it is more a question of where is it going, with what is it being paired and what is it driving and what sort of sound do you like?