BeoLab 18 + BeoLab 19 bass management

All, other than a Transmitter 1 and a BeoVision TV, is there no B&O way to set a bass crossover frequency for a BL18+19 2.1 system?

It strikes me as nuts that with this 2.1 system driven by a Core, I can’t set a bass crossover and that I would either be forced to buy a television to accomplish this or use WISA via TR1.

Am I missing anything? Thanks and happy new year!

Those are the only two options that B&O provide.

Wildly disappointing. 
Thanks, Duels! 

I tend to agree.

For what it’s worth I have my BL18s and 19 connected to my core with cables. Low pass filter on the 19 set very low. I actually prefer the sound to when I used a transmitter with its built-in bass management at normal listening volumes.

From recent posts on here it seems a few other people have daisy chained theirs too.

Ah! This is helpful! Thank you, Duels!

I forgot about the LP Filter on the BL19. The TR1 implements a crossover at 120Hz. In theory, if you set the LP Filter on BL19 to 120Hz, you’d have the same outcome, I believe.

That said, BL18 plays down to about 40-45Hz, so maybe setting the LP Filter slightly above that would render best performance in a PL daisychain setup, as you suggest.

Yes mine is set about 55. Trial and error playing around with the settings showed that to sound best to me. Clearly you don’t want much overlap.

And Steve@sounds heavenly made up some cables for me to exactly the right lengths.

Hi there,

That’s exactly the question I wanted to ask too.

I read that someone on this forum, with the same setup, is using the 19’s LP filter “slightly” bellow middle (bellow 80Hz).

The 19’s manual says to adjust it between 40-80Hz when connecting it to other BO speakers via PL. There are 41 possibilities in-between :). I wish the manual would recommend some clear values.

I’m waiting for a BL19 to add it to a 18+Core setup. Now I’m puzzled that I will also need a TR1 for a proper bass management. Sincerely, I would have bought it if it had a HDMI ARC port to connect it to non-BO TVs adding WiSA 7.1 capabilities to BO speakers.

Theoretically it’s possible to make the bass management in a 2.1 Core+18+19 setup. Having BL18 connected Core’s Optical-Out and BL19 connected to Core’s PowerLink. This way the Core can send separate signals, adjusting the crossover via Optical-Out to BL18. 

The hardware is there to do it. The signal is already volume-regulated via Optical-Out. That means it’s altered with a software algorithm to adjust the volume. Adding a crossover in this software phase should be easy. But probably not planned for the future.

In the BO App, the Core has a “Speaker Setup” option in the Configure->Sound settings. You can either choose “BeoLab 18” or “BeoLab 19”. 

But what “Speaker Setup” do you choose in a BL18+BL19 daisy-chain via PL ?

Cheers!

My understanding from everyone's responses to my question is that there are two options:

1) Purchase a Transmitter 1 and use the Core with the BL18+19 setup on WISA through the Transmitter 1. You will turn the Low Pass Filter on the BL19 off as the Transmitter 1 will automatically control bass management and set a crossover frequency. (The frequency is set to 120Hz, which seems high but that's how it works. I've never listened to this setup so I can't comment on how it sounds.)

2) Connect the Core to one BL18 using Powerlink, connect the other BL18 to the first BL18 using Powerlink and connect the last BL18 to the BL19 using Powerlink. Because the Core does not have built-in bass frequency crossover management, you'd set the Core "Speaker Setup" to BL18 and then use the Low Pass Filter on BL19 to set a crossover frequency probably around 50-55Hz. That way, the BL18 will play everything from that level up and the BL19 from that frequency down.

I would not split the output from the Core to the speakers using both Toslink and Powerlink simultaneously, if this is even possible. The two outputs play at different volumes relative to each other. I would never mix outputs like that.

This is my understanding; if anyone has corrections, feel free to add. I hope that helps.

Hi Curly,

So without the Transmitter 1, the only option will be using PowerLink:

BS Core -> 1st BL18 -> 2nd BL18 -> BL19.
With BL19 LP filter around 50Hz (see bellow).

This is called a parallel connection.
In this configuration the BL18’s will always go down to the lowest frequency they can. They don’t know about the BL19 subwoofer. No matter how you set the LP filter on the BL19, the two BL18s will deliver the same.

From the specs, BL18 goes down around 40Hz at normal listening levels.
At higher volumes, they cap even higher. I noticed bass starts to fade away above 55-60% volume.

So depending on how loud your listening levels are, you must set LP filter accordingly. Higher LP for higher listening volumes. 

You can read Geoff Martin’s blog on how to set the BL19. It’s a great read:

https://www.tonmeister.ca/wordpress/2014/01/10/bo-tech-subwoofer-tweaking-for-beginners/#comments

He’s the tonmeister at BO responsible for tuning the sound in their speakers.
From his blog, indeed the LP filter should be set around 50Hz in a parallel connection.

Cheers!