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
Running in reverse here as I now have the 5's after a year with the 9's and a lifetime with the Pentas.
I am interested in others opinions with this.
The Pentas provided great detail and softness which I loved. Who couldn't? Upon repacing them with 9's I was initially dissapointed. All very harse and digital sounding and a sound picture 50% of the Pentas. But after a few months and then listening to the Pentas again I guess the 9's were simply a better bet allround?
After a while the opportunity came to trade the Pentas and 9's for some 5's. These I still have. But I can be critical. Their 'tone' is fabulous. Everything sounds very sweet and there is no grating n the ear. The sound picture is as big as the Pentas which is fabulous and there is so much more bass which the Pentas always lacked. But where is the detail? Tracks that I knew so well with musical backing tracks? Well they have all been removed! Gone! There is virtually no detail.
It is somewhat disapointing to have such highly regarded speakers in my house at such a high price yet find such obvious flaws in them. I made the mistake of listening to the Beolab 50's recently and now can't get them out of my head but am also wondering if these too suffer from lack of musical detail which only becomes apparent after a few months of ownership? I do hope not and am trying to convince myself that the 3 midrange drivers is akin to the 4 in the Pentas so the loss would be made up?is this the 5's downfall?
How old are the BL5’s?
I know when mine were 10-11 years old, I detected the higher frequencies pulling to one channel. Replaced the top tweeter and the reverse occurred.
Replaced the second tweeter dome and all back to splendid self.
The Lab5’s should have tonnes of upper detail but not as bright/shrill as saythe BL1s which rightly or wrongly 8 see as a derivative of the Pentax’s?
I think sometimes you get used to a certain sound. I found that when I went backwards from Lab4000's to S45's the sound was so much better. More recently comparing BL8000 to Penta's to M100-2's the M100's are way ahead and suit the way I like to listen to music. Doubtless others will prefer BL8000 and others Penta's so it's all subjective and depends on what your sources are.
I own for several years bl5 and now with bl9 and 3, I got recently mk3 pentas and could compare again ; frankly the details is the force of the bl5 with the heavy bass, if you don't perceive them then your ears are too old or your bl5 have problems.
The 9 are not so bad but as you say it needs some adaptations, but the 5 are miles ahead.
I don't like at all the bass from the pentas and for the rest at reasonable level of sound I prefer my bl8000 mk2.
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...
New: Beovision Harmony, Beolab 50's, Beolab 28's, Beolab 18's, Beolab 17's, Beosound Stage & LG, Beosound 2, Beoplay M3, Beoplay A1, Beoplay Portal, Beoplay H4 gen 2, Beoplay E8 3.0
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Old: Beosound 9000 mk3, Beolab 3's, Beovision Eclipse, Beolab 1's, Beolab 2, Beovision 10-46, Overture 2300, beolab 8000's, Beolab 4000's, Beovision avant 32" etc. etc.
I confess to loving my Pentas - they define easy to listen to. The bass is, as alluded to above, not really very detailed, and listening compared to M100s, you can really hear the lack of detail. However they never ever sound shrill which the ALT speakers sometimes do. Beolab 5s are clearly far better speakers - the bass stupendous and the way they disappear fantastic, but they should do! My favourite speakers are however my BBC LS3/5As with AB1 sub woofers - (sub-woofer is a misnomer really - they add a little bass to the assembly, not much else. But they are fantastic speakers - often compared to Quad ESL57s without the size or so many placement issues. They reproduce the human voice better than any other speaker I have had.
Peter
Thanks for the replies. My Beolab 5's are now 9 years old for sure but I don't see any defect in them. They are what they are. I do love them (now, after getting used to the styling) but just question where speakers are going these days? Back in the 80's/90's my Pentas were sitting in "The Cube" and being evaluated as the best that B&O can do (at a price) for the day. Now, years later we pay so much more for a different product that is better in some ways but worse in others? I would have expected an increase in quality all round, not in some areas at the expense of areas elsewhere? That is simply not fair? The problem I now have through so many years living with Pentas is I know those trumpets, pianos, violins etc. are there. But not with Beolab 5's!
Hi, if you feed the labs 5 digitally (spdif input) then you will notice a much better soundstage and much clearer treble. Generally you need a very good device (Cd player or streamer) to get the best out of the labs5. I have myself Auralic Aries connected digitally and the SQ is extremly good.
best regards
Martin
NEW! Beovision Eclipse 65 2nd generation (G1) with floorstand (from STB Brackets), Beolab 50 front, Beolab 3 rear, 2 x Beoplay A6 linkrooms, 2xBeoremote one BT, Beosound 9000 Mark III (sw 3.4), Beosound 5 (for DLNA only), Philips Hue (all lights in the home), Oppo UDP-203, Apple TV 4K (2021 model). Beoremote HALO, 3xBeoplay Charging pad, Beoplay M5
And maybe they are not placed correct. I know “you can place them wherever you want “... but that’s not true (when the soundstage is important for you).
if possible, try to move them more away from side and back walls (even just for a try).
Mine are 1m (the center of the speaker) away from any wall and I get superb detail!
when i reduce the distance from the sidewall, just by 10-15cm, the accuracy of the soundstage is completely away...
give it a try... you will be surprised!
regards
mike
They are fed through a 7000 system and I was not happy with the powerlink cabled sound so purchased a spdif cable. Yes, it was noticably better but I still recognised deficiencies. So I purchased a Cambridge CXC CD transport. Huge improvement yes but still there is so much missing. This is what is so frustrating. I am trying everything I can think of to remedy this but still cannot.
I am about 4m away from the speakers which are up against the wall which I see is far from ideal. I can't get any further away. But a house move is on the cards and a much bigger sitting room is not negotiable so maybe we can experiment further then? But regardless, I am seeing that the 5's maybe on their last chance!
So here's a question: beolab 50's vs meridian dsp 8000?
Beofile7: They are fed through a 7000 system and I was not happy with the powerlink cabled sound so purchased a spdif cable. Yes, it was noticably better but I still recognised deficiencies. So I purchased a Cambridge CXC CD transport. Huge improvement yes but still there is so much missing. This is what is so frustrating. I am trying everything I can think of to remedy this but still cannot. I am about 4m away from the speakers which are up against the wall which I see is far from ideal. I can't get any further away. But a house move is on the cards and a much bigger sitting room is not negotiable so maybe we can experiment further then? But regardless, I am seeing that the 5's maybe on their last chance! So here's a question: beolab 50's vs meridian dsp 8000
So here's a question: beolab 50's vs meridian dsp 8000
Thread still does need t sit easily with me. The BL5s are certainly “meaty” in terms of bass but they should be bright and detailed on the upper trebs.
When I started noticing a pull to one side of the upper frequencies, I loaded a set d FLAC test tones on to the BS5. Became very easy to identify one upper tweet not playing as loud as the other (also put a loose pillow over the discs to mute L/R when trying to observe differences). May want to test this response?
I thougt that the BL5's where measured and adapted to the room?
Like the 90's and 50's
Only the bass frequencies