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
Observation: when not playing Beolab 3s loud their low end is notably thin. Turned up it fills in right nicely but it's some kind of non-linear effect with loudness. In a small room for background listening, that kind of loud just isn't appropriate (or hearing-safe.)
Solution: I turned on the graphic equalizer on my computer (no, it's not going off a headphone jack, it's going off a USB D/A - don't yell at me!) and just dragged the bass up to filthy levels. Immediately the illusion that I'm listening to two washing machine sized speakers is restored. Without having to turn them up much.
Pragmatics: I'm listening to 80s metal (work music!) which was never intended to be listened to through high fidelity systems and is remarkably intolerant of clear reproduction.
However, if you have Beolab 3s (and this may be true for other B&O gear) do try the experiment - I was very surprised how much was hiding in the low end. I think the same trick would also probably work pretty well for watching movies etch where a bit of good bass rumble does you a bit of good.
$0.02, MR.
Which setting do you use? Corner? What kind of placement do you have?
Ah, good question! They're set to "side" and are sat parallel to a wall about 30cm from the wall, mid way along the length of the wall (i.e. the speakers are not back to the wall, but side to the wall). I wonder if I should set them to "freestanding" and see how that works.
Good thought, thank you!
I think you mean Wall? If so try free and se whats happen. If possible try to place the speakers away from side Walls and closer to the back Wall.
The other obvious thing would be to switch on the 'loudness' control.
I think there is another reason for this experience that would apply to all speakers. Believe it or not, but the ear's frequency response varies with volume. This is the reason for the "loudness" switch on many receivers. Technically, it doesn't affect volume but instead boosts the low frequencies. It is intended to be used at low volumes which would also result in "thin" bass. I've heard of some receivers that would adjust the degree of bass boost with volume setting.
If anyone wants to see how the frequency response of the ear varies with volume, I can try to upload a picture of the graph that shows this phenomenon.
D
I'm surprised that none of the above posts have mentioned ABL (Adaptive Bass Linearization) that is implemented to B&O speakers to protect the drivers from damage. By you trying to bypass this intuitive algorithm, you are risking damaging your bass drivers over time. I've seen a few of them in my time here working for B&O go thru my service desk. Most of the time, and I can't explain why, it happens when owners are on holidays and kids are left at home alone. Hmm...
Fascinating, I'd never heard of it. A clever feature indeed: where can I read more?
muppetsrock: Fascinating, I'd never heard of it. A clever feature indeed: where can I read more?
Quite a good thread here ==> http://archivedforum2.beoworld.org/forums/t/4563.aspx
And in the more recent thread (that I can't find) where Chris has described his issues with the sounds from his BV11 the Tonmeister gave a good another dissertation where he likened ABL to anti-skid systems in cars
BeoNut since '75