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
I am considering replacing my surround speakers, a pair of Beolab 8000, with a pair of Beolab 1. I can't say why really. I'm just curious about them. As I understand it, BL9 and BL1 share many features and while thats true on a technical level I believe the sound might be very different. So perhaps it is not a very good idea anyway? One thing that I have noticed - but not had time to play around with yet is that I get a big lack of bass when I´m not in the center of all four speakers. Perhaps this is a phase issue or something like that (?).
Any input is greatly appreciated.
Beolab 50, Beolab 8000 x 2, Beolab 4000 x 2, BeoSound Core, BeoSound 9000, BeoSound Century, BeoLit 15, BeoPlay A1, BeoPlay P2, BeoPlay H9 3rd Gen, BeoPlay H6, EarSet 3i, BeoVision Eclipse Gen 2 55", BeoPlay V1-40, BeoCom 6000 and so much else :)
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...
I had 2 pentas as front and got two pentas as rear speakers. I disconnected the front speakers to be able to check how much sound came from the rear. There is no reason to have anything big as rear speakers for surround use.
"You think we can slap some oak on this thing?"
Leosgonewild:I had 2 pentas as front and got two pentas as rear speakers. I disconnected the front speakers to be able to check how much sound came from the rear. There is no reason to have anything big as rear speakers for surround use.
Thanks for the answers! I also find it strange that the bass is lost when I go out of the sweet spot but I think it is my houses architecture. Next to the living room I have my kitchen area with a big open space to the next floor. I usually have my Beolit 12 there and it sounds better using that in the kitchen, rather than using the BL9´s just a few meters away :).
I am curious about the BL1 but since I've heard it described as clinical I am leaning towards just keeping my BL8000´s as rear as they look good and produce a really decent sound - especially for what they do. I have another pair of BL8000 that has some distorsion. Probably due to electrical issues and I am thinking of replacing them with BL1. But I don't know. Can't make up my mind :). The BL1´s I've been looking at has the grey cover and I think they look best with black covers. Can I still purchase those?
Michael:Thanks for the answers! I also find it strange that the bass is lost when I go out of the sweet spot but I think it is my houses architecture. Next to the living room I have my kitchen area with a big open space to the next floor. I usually have my Beolit 12 there and it sounds better using that in the kitchen, rather than using the BL9´s just a few meters away :). I am curious about the BL1 but since I've heard it described as clinical I am leaning towards just keeping my BL8000´s as rear as they look good and produce a really decent sound - especially for what they do. I have another pair of BL8000 that has some distorsion. Probably due to electrical issues and I am thinking of replacing them with BL1. But I don't know. Can't make up my mind :). The BL1´s I've been looking at has the grey cover and I think they look best with black covers. Can I still purchase those?
olvisab:Bl1 clinical sound ? I have read the same threads as you and that's why I bought them.
http://archivedarchivedforum2.beoworld.org/forums/t/13910.aspx "Beolab 1 has a very cold clinical overall sound. I would describe them as all ting, ting and very little boomp boomp. " "Beolab1 is a very analytic speaker with a precise but cold sound. For me, when listening to Beolab1 the middle frequencies are overrepresented compared to the bass and hights. To my ears Lab1 sounds hard and cold as surgical steel."
olvisab: You have to make your opinion by your own.
olvisab:What is sure is that they sounds better in a corner and it will depends a lot of your environment that not seems unfortunately to be easy. Black and alu is the best combo.
Black and alu is the best combo.
Michael: I am considering replacing my surround speakers, a pair of Beolab 8000, with a pair of Beolab 1. I can't say why really. I'm just curious about them. As I understand it, BL9 and BL1 share many features and while thats true on a technical level I believe the sound might be very different. So perhaps it is not a very good idea anyway? One thing that I have noticed - but not had time to play around with yet is that I get a big lack of bass when I´m not in the center of all four speakers. Perhaps this is a phase issue or something like that (?). Any input is greatly appreciated.
Something unique about your situation is that you intend to use the BeoLab 1 as surround speakers. With this being the situation, the perceived coldness and precision could be a great benefit in delivering those surround sounds in a lossless surround track. I also would think that the height of the speaker would be a benefit. For example, having BeoLab 6000s behind a sofa would suffer from the lack of height. A great feature of the B&O AV processors is that you can indicate which model of speaker you are using and the processor adjusts for that.
I'd like to address your comment about the sweet spot of the bass. I, too, noticed this when I only had one subwoofer. However, when I added a second subwoofer, giving me 2 BeoLab 2 subwoofers, and I positioned the 2 subwoofers in opposite corners of the room, I could tell an amazing difference! There was no perceived directionality of the subwoofers. However, the bass definitely felt more "even" and natural across the room. Since you have 2 BL9 speakers, I'm surmising that you don't use an external subwoofer since the bass of the BL9 is quite adequate. This might be an interesting limitation of the BL9 in that you cannot spread the bass in opposite corners as I did. I would love to hear Geoff Martin's thoughts on this.
IIRC, the forum member "Razlaw" at one time had BL9 with BL1s as surround speakers. You might search the forum for his thoughts about this setup.
Stan: IIRC, the forum member "Razlaw" at one time had BL9 with BL1s as surround speakers. You might search the forum for his thoughts about this setup.
I did have 1s as rears with my 9s as fronts. The sound was incredible. I very much miss having the 1s as rears. I moved the 1s to another room where they are used as fronts. How they looked in the two locations also impacted the decision to move them.
Even though they would not match the decor of the room with the 9s, I frequently think about moving them back.
I would highly recommend 1s as rears with 9s.
Beolab 28s Beolab 9s Beolab 12-3s Beolab 1s Beolab 6000s 2 pairs Beolab 4000s Beovision 7-55 Beovision 10-40 Beoplay V1 32 inch Beovision Avant 32 inch Beosound 1 (CD player) Beosound 3000 Beosound 5 Core Essence MKII Beoplay M5