Beolab Penta - Potential buy

Hi all,

First post here. :-)

I recently came into B&O ownership with a pair of CX100s, and most recently, a pair of Beolab 4000s.

I'm thrilled with the sound! The Beolabs especially have a rich, exquisite sound and nice detail in the treble. The best part is I can leave my tube amplifiers off and use a DAC and the speakers. The simplicity is nice - I like minimalism but sound quality is first and foremost for me. To have your cake and eat it too is a pleasure.

That leads me to my question. Having enjoyed the Beolabs, I've been thinking to get into floorstanders. Not because of bass, because I have a dedicated subwoofer (and a nice one to boot), but because of height and I prefer the midrange from floorstanders. This has led me to consider buying Pentas. Go big or go home, right? I found a pair locally but the owner knows nothing about them, what version they are or anything. I've simply offered to inspect them myself and bring cash.

The price is enticing at $650 CDN - around $475 USD. If they are the Mark I, is this a fair price for them? I will inspect the midrange drivers and if the surrounds are rotting I will attempt to knock down the price, however, if I am unable to and the seller is firm regardless of the situation, should I pull the trigger? Best case scenario is they are Mark IIIs and are in perfect working and cosmetic condition but I am not expecting that. I am comfortable refoaming the drivers as well so that is not a concern for me.

All the reading I've done points to buying Pentas as opposed to say, Beolab 8000s, within my price range, so I think I am safe going that way. 5s would be nice but I don't have that kind of money.

One other question - do all Pentas have the RCA line-in connection?

Any other thoughts or considerations or things to look out for would be appreciated of course.

Thanks as always!

If they are Mk3s, bite his hand off as long as they work. However remember that the electronics on these speakers are getting old and the circuit board used in Pentas is not the best. The B&O speakers all have a myriad of small drivers so the bass definition is not the same as from the bigger drive units. The Pentas also have a bass hump which disguises lack of really low bass but sound good none the less - I have a pair myself!

Penta 1 and 3s have a phono socket - not sure about 2s. The display is the easiest way to tell them apart immediately. If green you are in luck.

I currently am working to bring back a set of Penta I's, and they are a great sounding speaker in my opinion.

From what I understand, all Penta's have the RCA line input, and then a standard High Power input for bare speaker wire, and then either the speakerlink connector (Penta I's) or the Powerlink connector (Penta II and III). I could be wrong on that though.

As Peter also said, a green screen means it's a  Penta III. The Penta I and Penta II's had amber screens.

As far as price, the asking price is in the low range of what I typically see as an asking price. However, I can not be sure how often they actually sell at those prices. While they are a great speaker, they are almost impossible to ship, and not highly sought after by anyone who doesn't know about B&O, so it's not a large market after them.

First of all: Yes all BeoLab Penta models have the line-in on the bottom, but also require a fitting source. If you just hook up your phone to the line they don´t even come close to their possible SPL nor sound quality. I definitly recommend hooking them up using Powerlink. Keep in mind, that your powelink cable has to be "fully fitted" in order to have a working display (maybe even the playback might be corrupted, if you use the "half" fitted cables).

My predecessors in this Thread are right about the displays - Penta 1 and 2 have orange/amber displays that look much less appealing and "smooth", especially when there is sunlight shining onto them. 

 

I bought my first pair of Penta 2 from my stepdad who was a B&O dealer, who already told me, that they were "old" speakers and tend to have electronic issues, especially when they´re moved around. After around 3 years in my posession (keep in mind, they were used for more than 20 years before i bought them), one of them stopped playing when hooked up with powerlink. Works with RCA but i can only refer to my tip from the first collumn.

I then bought two Penta 3s as a replacement and couldnt tell them apart soundwise from the Penta2. Rich bass and adaptive with the "bass extension" switch. But i have always thought of the high mid´s, as well as treble as a little too washed up, especially at low levels. Soft voices like "Beyonce" or "Adele" dont feel as alive, as they could be... still amazing, considering the price. I moved the working Penta 2 in my bedroom for occasional "wake up radio tunes" and use the "broken" one as a party speaker until it stops working entirely. Their weight never really kept me from swinging them in my tiny car and be the man of the evening at small parties, bringing "such a good looking/sounding speaker - internally crying, since they sound so much better on a real sound system and not just phone RCA, as stated earlier. 

I replaced the mid-chassis foams on all 4 speakers, which took me a couple hours, but really felt, as well as looked, good in the end. 

_________

tl;dr:

If you look for a strong, all-purpose, bass-heavy stereo pair for the living room, the pentas are a really great deal. If you want a reliable speaker for the next 5-10 years I would not recommend them. I live in Germany and paid 500 for the first pair and 450 for the second one. So the pricing seems reasonable. 

 

I never used a true Amp ( PreAmp ?) with the Pentas, can someone tell his thoughts on the use with non B&O systems ? I use BS2300 and BS9000 - got the BS2300 with a couple dents for 350€. Considering that B&O also released the speakers as Beovox (=passive speaker) this might be a proper solution too.

I just "upgraded" to Beolab 3 because of the described "voice struggle" on the pentas and plan to either add a Beolab 2 or swap them for Beolab 9 - still unsure, but i will make a thread for this on its own. The dealer told me, that if i am used to the Pentas i will not be statisfied with the Beolab11 and even the "fancy" beolab 19, which only confirms the amazing bass on the pentas. 

The Pentas remain good speakers, especially for electronic music with rich bass lines.

 

Please feel free to discuss my impressions/opinions or ask questions.

Be aware that there are two  Versions:

The BeoVox Penta - without Amplifier, without Display and the Beolab Penta -  which one we're talking about here.

The Beovox ist slighly smaller (shorter) - it losses the lower amplifier with the LED and the display.

 

Be mindful of their size and where you are wanting to place them, mine cause, let's say, plenty of heated discussions with my wife.

But I've never regretted buying them...