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
hello
we have a Beosound 4 with beolab 3 in our kitchen.
now we have bought second hand beolab 5 ,these are connected with masterlink/ beolink active with Cavus fully wired power link cables to the beolab 5.
beolab 5 are calibrated twice.
when i play the beolab 5 they sound not at all good as I expected, actually the beolab 3 in the kitchen sound much better, more warm sound, more mid. the beolab sounds very cold. a lot of high and low, but no mid.
they told me to connect the beolab 5 directly to the beosound 4 and use the masterlink for the beolab 3.
also I have programmed the beolink active (T1616) to neutral sound positions.
what can I do? Help!!!
I had magnepans with REL sub before, these sound much better ,with actual sound quality of the beolab 5.
i headed the beolab 5 in the B&o store and the new ones there sounded much better. warm, clear, precise bass.
thanks
artie
<maybe they are faulty?
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...
BeoNut since '75
elephant:If Moxxey was listening these days he would post that after he calibrated the BL5s they never sound as good as NIB and so he returned them ...... The Essence of B&O is discretion in design and life
olvisab:quite an insult for any proud and satisfied owner of a pair.
It was not meant as an insult.
I was hinting from the phone at the lessons you then gave the OP.
Some times my "short hand" is not useful :)
elephant: olvisab:quite an insult for any proud and satisfied owner of a pair. It was not meant as an insult. I was hinting from the phone at the lessons you then gave the OP. Some times my "short hand" is not useful :)
How is jokingly repeating something that Moxxey repeatedly said and will undoubtedly say again an insult? I'm afraid I don't grok...
Jeff
I'm afraid I'm recovering from the BeoVirus.
Jeff:How is jokingly repeating something that Moxxey repeatedly said and will undoubtedly say again an insult? I'm afraid I don't grok...Jeff Beovirus victim, it's gotten to be too much to list!
olvisab: Jeff: How is jokingly repeating something that Moxxey repeatedly said and will undoubtedly say again an insult? I'm afraid I don't grok... Jeff Beovirus victim, it's gotten to be too much to list! Insult is a too much strong word, but my poor english doesn't help me to find a more accurate word. I mean that the calibration function cannot be accused unless it is done in a not appropriate place. The sentence of Moxxey implies that any actual owner of a pair (surely every pair have been calibrated) are listening to an average speaker with evident lacks in high, mids or bass. I had enough beolab and I am sure that every experimented beoworlder who invest in these speakers are able to judge that the calibration doesn't impact the sound quality of it. I love my bl1 at rears but if I could afford it I would have 5 beolab 5 without any hesitation.
Jeff: How is jokingly repeating something that Moxxey repeatedly said and will undoubtedly say again an insult? I'm afraid I don't grok... Jeff Beovirus victim, it's gotten to be too much to list!
Beovirus victim, it's gotten to be too much to list!
Insult is a too much strong word, but my poor english doesn't help me to find a more accurate word.
I mean that the calibration function cannot be accused unless it is done in a not appropriate place.
The sentence of Moxxey implies that any actual owner of a pair (surely every pair have been calibrated) are listening to an average speaker with evident lacks in high, mids or bass.
I had enough beolab and I am sure that every experimented beoworlder who invest in these speakers are able to judge that the calibration doesn't impact the sound quality of it.
I love my bl1 at rears but if I could afford it I would have 5 beolab 5 without any hesitation.
Ah, thank you for the clarification! I thought it might just be something like this. We are a diverse group here, many with English as not their main language, many of us from the US which definitely speak our own strange version of English, so language issues can sometimes hide meanings.
I always just ignored Moxxey about the BL5, figuring it was either his ears or some strange set of home acoustics. I have BL9s, and I love them, would love BL5s but the price keeps me away. Also, I have a house with a large crawlspace below it and squeaky floors that kind of flex, not sure this would be an ideal environment for the BL5 or not. I've heard suspended wood floors can be an issue.
I've had around half a dozen pairs of BeoLab 5's at home over the years - and I have to say they all sounded different in some way.
I had a pair from brand new up until they were almost 4 years old - and now have a 7 year old pair in my lounge. They do seem to sound nicer as they age - but that could be just my ears.
As mentioned, I always calibrate mine in the centre of a double storey 5,000 sq/ft warehouse and it really opens them up!
Lee
9 LEE: As mentioned, I always calibrate mine in the centre of a double storey 5,000 sq/ft warehouse and it really opens them up! Lee
If b&o calibration is that bad in implimentation then the best thing would be for the manufacturer to skip it all together. The idea for a calibration with a microphone is to have a means for a pure soundstage in the listening room and not in a warehouse you don't listen in. I am shocked to hear this and if true b&o sound is totally of the list for me instead of lyngdorf or some other manufacturer.
This can't be true can it?
Martin Karlsson: If b&o calibration is that bad in implimentation then the best thing would be for the manufacturer to skip it all together. The idea for a calibration with a microphone is to have a means for a pure soundstage in the listening room and not in a warehouse you don't listen in. I am shocked to hear this and if true b&o sound is totally of the list for me instead of lyngdorf or some other manufacturer. This can't be true can it?
They're calibrated, I assume, to make them acoustically correct for the room they are in. A lot of software goes into this - and by the time they are calibrated they are what B&O consider perfect....
However, we don't always like 'perfect' as individuals. How many of us turn Loudness 'On' - or crank up the treble and bass? That's meddling with the intended 'pure' reproduction of the music and tweaking it to a sound we prefer isn't it?
I calibrate mine for a much bigger space than they are to be played in because I like that sound. Simple.
9 LEE: I calibrate mine for a much bigger space than they are to be played in because I like that sound. Simple. Lee
Ok, so the old one take the speakers home to testdrive them is true as always, to listen if you like the sound yourself. Good to hear as that is easy to understand as everyone has different taste in sound.
9 LEE: Martin Karlsson: If b&o calibration is that bad in implimentation then the best thing would be for the manufacturer to skip it all together. The idea for a calibration with a microphone is to have a means for a pure soundstage in the listening room and not in a warehouse you don't listen in. I am shocked to hear this and if true b&o sound is totally of the list for me instead of lyngdorf or some other manufacturer. This can't be true can it? They're calibrated, I assume, to make them acoustically correct for the room they are in. A lot of software goes into this - and by the time they are calibrated they are what B&O consider perfect.... However, we don't always like 'perfect' as individuals. How many of us turn Loudness 'On' - or crank up the treble and bass? That's meddling with the intended 'pure' reproduction of the music and tweaking it to a sound we prefer isn't it? I calibrate mine for a much bigger space than they are to be played in because I like that sound. Simple. Lee
I'd be interested to know more about the BL5 calibration process, never having (nor ever likely to have) owned them. Where and what exactly is the mic measuring and what can you tell the speaker about the room geometry? I hope Martin can shed some light on the science behind the auto-calibration process and show it to be useful, reliable and dependable rather than a gimmick on what is a top of the range speaker.
My own (maybe simplistic) thoughts are that rather than just measuring the speaker response where it's at, the mic should be at the listening position to properly know what is happening in a given space, as properly controlling bass in a corner (for example) still makes no allowance for room dimensions, reflections or furnishings etc elsewhere in the room.
My own feelings would be, mess with the manufacturers settings at your peril or only with your sellers agreement that if you run the calibration process and they are worse then they will take them back.
Ban boring signatures!
The measurement/adjustment of the BL5 only affects the low bass from what I understand. Recalibrating them in the center of a huge warehouse is about as close to rebaselining them in a anechoic chamber as you can get without actually having an anechoic chamber.
I suspect they may not calibrate properly in all rooms though you'd think B&O would have tried them in enough different rooms to not have that problem. I also suspect that more often it is the listener...very few people have ever heard properly calibrated bass without a ton of listening room standing wave and other issues, if you look at enough low freq plots of different rooms (back when I did room analysis as a hobby/part time gig) most rooms are awful. I think a lot of people perceive deep, ACCURATE bass as weak bass.
Well , I'll always found the BL5 to be lacking in the midrange department and therefore be a bit harsh/cold sounding, so it doesn't have to be a faulty pair.
Regarding calibration I used to place them in the middle of the room when running the calibration to get "ok" bass output.
I think the BL5 measures mostly reverberation in the room and that makes them overcompensate a bit in a more "live" sounding room.
Needless to say I sold my pair after 1.5 year and never looked back, but I do miss the styling!
Would it still be thin sounding if calibration was done outdoors?
I can't find the reference again but I think I mentioned this somewhere in the archived forum.
There was a publication covering the unintended consequences of engineering design, and the BL5 was given as an example. B&O considered how many times the BL5 might need to be recalibrated on house or room moves etc and designed the software to accommodate 200 recalibrations thinking that this would be more than enough.
The unintended and unforeseen outcome was that because many owners apparently like to demonstrate to visitors how clever their BL5's are with the little microphone popping in and out etc. the 200 recalibrations possible is often exhausted.
Perhaps Geoff Martin could comment.
Graham
EDIT
If the above is true, is it possible to replace a module or chip in the BL5's to restore the recalibration software?
olvisab: The beolab 5 is probably not the audiophile Holy Grail speaker but would certainly be accepted into the room of the Knight's Round Table.
The beolab 5 is probably not the audiophile Holy Grail speaker but would certainly be accepted into the room of the Knight's Round Table.
I don't think any speaker that doesn't require you to obsess and fret over selecting cables and associated amplifiers would ever be the Holy Grail of "audiophile" speakers...
This publication suggests that the calibration microphone motor had a short life on early models due to the repeated demonstration of the feature by owners.
Earlier thread on the topic.
I cannot find the other reference to the software limiting recalibrations to 200 but I am fairly certain it was on a google books sample page similar to the first link above.
So it seems to me that buying an early Beolab 5 pair of speakers might carry the risk of both recalibration software problems and recalibration motor failure.
I agree it's off-topic as far as the motor is concerned. However, if the software can only deal with a limited number of recalibrations it could explain some of the problems where owners complain about apparent poor quality sound settings.
The first link concerning the motor gives the impression that the source of the information was B&O, so it would be nice to see some confirmation here from someone like Geoff Martin concerning the alleged motor and software issues.
vikinger:I agree it's off-topic as far as the motor is concerned. However, if the software can only deal with a limited number of recalibrations it could explain some of the problems where owners complain about apparent poor quality sound settings. The first link concerning the motor gives the impression that the source of the information was B&O, so it would be nice to see some confirmation here from someone like Geoff Martin concerning the alleged motor and software issues. Graham
Search the archived forum and you will find many references to Beolab 5's needing hard resets from time to time.
Does a hard reset reset the calibration software?
Hello everybody,
I have tried now several locations, calibrations,... and result : very bad sound. just cold sound, there is no soul in the music. have tried several cds, classic, jazz, blues, hip hop, dance ,... nothing. they sound no better than my computer speakers of 50 euros. really. My wife asked me even If I had problems with my ears when I bought these. In the b&o shop it was like an angel.
i will call dealership and if they can not help me out, im selling this units again. I suppose that my living room is not suited for these speakers. back to the magnepan speakers with sub.
I would start thinking this has something to do with the software, such a bad sound.
I have tried the hard setup, 20 - 30 sec on the button on top, but nothing happened. a plop at the beginning but thats all.
Hi,
If they are in stby, press top Square about 10 seconds if you here a plop something is wrong with the speaker they should start calibration process and
microfone under speaker should move out half in the first step and you shoud hear calibration sounds from low to high freq take about 2min in easy room and 5min in large room and then it go to step 2 and move microfone out more and calibrate if you don't get this to work call your store for assistans
HI,
What kind of source do you have? I had the same problem as you described. I have Bluesound as source and also have a pair of BL 3. The sound in the BL3 was good with the Bluesound but Bluesound together with BL5... the sound was just flat, no mid bas and the tweeter was harsh. I had tried different kind of separate DACs but nothing helped and I was really disappointed and was ready to get rid of the speakers when I got this tip from my local B&O dealer. The thing is an Tube which makes magic with the sound!!! Buy it for fraction of good DAC and fall in love with your speakers.
http://ifi-audio.com/portfolio-view/micro-itube/
Best
Andreas
I am not convinced that sticking a valve in the system is going to do anything but add distortion - it will be even harmonic distortion so makes a big warm friendly sound but it is still distortion. `
To get back to the OP, I would move the speakers outside and recalibrate them. That will boost the bass as the system works by measuring the room reflections and if outside, there won't be any! The bass is therefore switched to maximum rather than being reduced. Beolab 5s are superb showcase speakers so there is clearly a problem with the way yours are working. If outside recalibration doesn't work, I suggest they have a fault.
Peter
Peter: I am not convinced that sticking a valve in the system is going to do anything but add distortion - it will be even harmonic distortion so makes a big warm friendly sound but it is still distortion. ` To get back to the OP, I would move the speakers outside and recalibrate them. That will boost the bass as the system works by measuring the room reflections and if outside, there won't be any! The bass is therefore switched to maximum rather than being reduced. Beolab 5s are superb showcase speakers so there is clearly a problem with the way yours are working. If outside recalibration doesn't work, I suggest they have a fault.
Absolutely, adding a tube buffer is adding noise, distortion, and a non-adjustable frequency equalization to the speakers sound. That may sound good, but the best approach is to fix what is wrong with the speakers, then decide if you can't live without additional distortion, aka tube sound. Of course, perhaps it's the OPs listening preferences, not everyone agrees what sounds good, I've seen people turn up their noses at really good sound after having had a lifetime diet of really poor sound. Look at the number of people who, when they have equalizers, have them permanently set in a loudness contour, and then have the loudness on at the same time.
Has the OP ever actually setup the BL5s connected directly to the system via Powerlink and not the Beolink Active? It's possible he's not liking the Beolink Active's performance.