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just bought Beolab 20s :)

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dasun
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dasun Posted: Sun, Apr 19 2015 5:09 PM

So, I finally did it...while negotiating with my B&O dealer, I saw an ebay auction from a different dealer, who was offering brand new Beolab 20s (customer return) for 6.500€ - now they're mine :) I will pick them up sometime next week, so I'm pretty curious, how they are going to perform. I will add Beolab 17s as rears and a Beolab 19 in the near future.

Next I will need  to get a Beosystem 4 to hook up my TV, Bluray Player etc. 

Does anyone use Sonos with their Bang & Olufsen system? Is it possible to connect a Sonos Connect device to the Beosystem 4 and have Sonos simultaneously play music through the Beosystem as well as other Sonos devices? Would I need additional equipment / cables for that?

Looking forward to using the Beolab 20s! I'll write up a short review, as soon as I can use them.

Cheers

Raeuber
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Raeuber replied on Sun, Apr 19 2015 6:00 PM
Congratulations!

But adding BL19 sub doesn't make much sense.

Regards

Räuber
Jeff
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Jeff replied on Sun, Apr 19 2015 6:08 PM

Raeuber:
Congratulations!

 

 

But adding BL19 sub doesn't make much sense.

 

 

Regards

 

 

Räuber

Congratulations! Excellent price, I look forward to hearing your opinions on them, especially any comparison to the BL9 if you're familiar with the 9s.

And ditto on the above, with the bass capabilities of the dual BL12s a BL19 will not be needed. There's no way two 8 inch drivers can have the output of the two 10s in the BL12s. And that's less money, and one less thing to have to worry about where to put and dust/vacuum around!

 

Jeff

I'm afraid I'm recovering from the BeoVirus. Sad

dasun
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dasun replied on Sun, Apr 19 2015 6:34 PM

thanks! I was thinking, that the sub might help when watching movies, but I will definitely first try the 20s without a sub. I cannot compare them to the 9s, but I will compare them to Backes & Muller active loudspeakers. 

 

elephant
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elephant replied on Sun, Apr 19 2015 6:59 PM
Jeff:

Congratulations! Excellent price, I look forward to hearing your opinions on them, especially any comparison to the BL9 if you're familiar with the 9s.

And ditto on the above, with the bass capabilities of the dual BL12s a BL19 will not be needed. There's no way two 8 inch drivers can have the output of the two 10s in the BL12s. And that's less money, and one less thing to have to worry about where to put and dust/vacuum around!

Jeff

Beovirus victim, it's gotten to be too much to list!

Datsun - my congratulations too - on the kit itself AND on the deal.

Apologies also for the following thread-jack but perhaps it will help.

@Räuber and @Jeff

Both you guys know way more than me.

So this question is more of my education than a challenge...

I can see and agree with the recommendations for audio only in 2.0 versus a 2.1

However would that still be the case for AV in comparing 5.0 versus 5.1 where BlueRays etc have LFEs targeted for the .1 channel ?

Because if you are both correct I may need to rethink the outcomes of my "Best Woofer" thread !

BeoNut since '75

Millemissen
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elephant:

@Räuber and @Jeff

Both you guys know way more than me.

So this question is more of my education than a challenge...

I can see and agree with the recommendations for audio only in 2.0 versus a 2.1

However would that still be the case for AV in comparing 5.0 versus 5.1 where BlueRays etc have LFEs targeted for the .1 channel ?

Because if you are both correct I may need to rethink the outcomes of my "Best Woofer" thread !

I agree with Räuber and Jeff - no need for the sub, since you already have 2 with the BL20's.

And yes, that is still the case with 5.1 sources - especially if the speakers are connected to a BSys4.

However there are setups with the BL20's and the BL19 - but you will have to do some tweaking (Sound Settings menu) to arrange that.

Imo you would need a big room and prefer playing loud to benefit from that.

Another case could be, if (as an example) a speaker group with speakers (otherweise used as rears) is set up with the BL19 for stereo listening.....

MM

There is a tv - and there is a BV

Millemissen
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dasun:

Does anyone use Sonos with their Bang & Olufsen system? Is it possible to connect a Sonos Connect device to the Beosystem 4 and have Sonos simultaneously play music through the Beosystem as well as other Sonos devices? Would I need additional equipment / cables for that?

Cheers

That should be possible....if you use the Sonos Connect box (the one without the amp inside).

The Sonos Connect has a digital-out connection, that can be connected to the digital-in of the BSys4.

In the settings of the BSys4 you can configure a source using that input-port - including assigning it to a button on the Beo4/BeoRemote One.

In order to listen to what you send to the Sonos Connect from the app, you of course have to activate the input via Beo4/BeoRemote One first.

The output from the Connect box is fixed - means, that you must use the 'Beo-remote' to adjust the volumen etc.

It will appear in the Sonos app as a 'room'/'zone' like any other with a pure Sonos device.

P.S. I use a Logitech Squeezebox with my BeoPlay V1 exactly this way!

MM

 

There is a tv - and there is a BV

Jeff
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Jeff replied on Sun, Apr 19 2015 11:07 PM

@ elephant:

In every 5.1 surround sound setup I've seen, there's an option to direct the .1 to a dedicated sub, or if your main speakers are "large" you can set it up so the processor directs the bass from the .1 channel to the main speakers. And also the level of the .1 can still be set independent from the main L and R speakers, the processor can raise or lower the level of the .1 signal inserted into the mains.

A lot of people seem to think that since it's a dedicated sub a sub will always be better than their mains, but a lot of speakers, like the 9s, 12s, and 5s for example, have more than enough deep bass capability to stomp on most small and even many larger subs. Geoff Martin here mentioned that one BL9 woofer has more bass output capability than the BL2. It takes a really big sub to move more air than the 12s or 5s in particular.

Jeff

I'm afraid I'm recovering from the BeoVirus. Sad

Millemissen
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@Jeff

I guess you mean the 20's, not the 12's!

MM

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Jeff
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Jeff replied on Sun, Apr 19 2015 11:51 PM

Millemissen:

@Jeff

I guess you mean the 20's, not the 12's!

MM

Ah, good catch, I meant the 20s! Yes - thumbs up

The no caffeine thing does have some unfortunate side effects...like an occasional onset of dunceheimer's.

Jeff

I'm afraid I'm recovering from the BeoVirus. Sad

elephant
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elephant replied on Mon, Apr 20 2015 12:34 AM
Jeff:

Ah, good catch, I meant the 20s!

The no caffeine thing does have some unfortunate side effects...like an occasional onset of dunceheimer's.

Jeff

Beovirus victim, it's gotten to be too much to list!

I just presumed it was a slip that was the final proof that you are a base 18 alien ....

And thanks for clarifying the LFE options - I suspect my BV8 may lack that sophistication

BeoNut since '75

Aussie Michael
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Congratulations on your 20 they are a sublime speaker in size design and sound. Amazing. Wink
elephant
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elephant replied on Mon, Apr 20 2015 7:32 AM
Jeff:

@ elephant:

In every 5.1 surround sound setup I've seen, there's an option to direct the .1 to a dedicated sub, or if your main speakers are "large" you can set it up so the processor directs the bass from the .1 channel to the main speakers. And also the level of the .1 can still be set independent from the main L and R speakers, the processor can raise or lower the level of the .1 signal inserted into the mains.

A lot of people seem to think that since it's a dedicated sub a sub will always be better than their mains, but a lot of speakers, like the 9s, 12s, and 5s for example, have more than enough deep bass capability to stomp on most small and even many larger subs. Geoff Martin here mentioned that one BL9 woofer has more bass output capability than the BL2. It takes a really big sub to move more air than the 12s or 5s in particular.

Jeff

Beovirus victim, it's gotten to be too much to list!

Jeff I did some experiments with the BV8 BL3s and BL11.

The tests were very crude using the EA teaser trailer on YouTube for Star Wars Battlefield that was recently shown at Anaheim.

Conclusion - my BV8BL3s needs a subwoofer.

And the BL11 is pretty good.

The BV8 controls were primitive - you either have no woofer or one is present: simple no/yes binary and no speaker type.

The only variable one had was volume relativity to other speakers.

5.1 with woofer relative volume to 0 compared to 5.0 seemed to have no effect on the BL3s for the big explosions.

BeoNut since '75

Jeff
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Jeff replied on Mon, Apr 20 2015 10:51 PM

@ elephant

I'm not surprised that the BL3s need a sub, and that even the BL11 is a major improvement. The BL3s are phenomenal for their size, but it's still the size of a softball, not a lot of volume, and it's packed full of electronics. In a passive radiator speaker, like the BL3, or a vented speaker like say the BL18, there is a point near system resonance where the output of the woofer goes down as frequency goes down, and the output of the port/passive radiator increases. Below system resonance, that is this point where woofer output is minimal and port/radiator is max, the woofer sees little to no back pressure resistance to its motion, basically it "unloads." This can be very dangerous in a non active speaker, as in a conventional speaker, especially small ones, turning up the bass to try and get more out of it essentially drives the woofer hard with basically no damping, so it's easy to overdrive the woofer and damage it. Seen that a lot in my day. With a speaker like the BL3 or BL18, the electronics are designed to limit the bass below resonance to prevent this problem (sealed speakers, acoustic suspension, don't have this issue). In the case of trying to route the .1 channel to the BL3s, even if your BV8 did it (not sure) the BL3s would not sound much different probably. Most of the low freq .1 content will be filtered out, probably anything much below 50hz or so.

I'm not sure exactly how the BV8 works, but since you can't select speaker type it's probably more primitive, still though if a sub is not there it's probably trying to route the info to the main L and R speakers, but is butting up against the BL3s low filter. Most non B&O receivers have settings for "large" and "small" fronts, and variable crossover settings. But you have to set them up yourself, with B&O you can select a speaker on the new stuff from their range and I'd suspect it knows the speaker limitations quite well. One thing I do like about most mass market receivers are the auto setup things with a mic, like the Audessey stuff. With B&O I guess they expect your dealer to set it up, if you buy a mass market receiver you're more on your own, so the auto setup helps a lot. At times I wish B&O did the same, as moving speakers, especially moving a sub around, or moving a lot of furniture around, can alter room acoustics enough to require a recalibration, especially in the bass/.1 section. And in many cases if you move away from a B&O dealer it's up to you to recalibrate.

While I like bass in movies, I'd go for a "musical" sub over a boomy one even for movies. Too many movie theaters around here anyway have the bass turned up so much it's like being in downtown Baghdad during an air raid, I think at times my eardrums have met in the middle.

Jeff

I'm afraid I'm recovering from the BeoVirus. Sad

elephant
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elephant replied on Mon, Apr 20 2015 11:14 PM
Thanks Jeff - you are brilliant.

Geoff Martin's crown just gave him a twinge Big Smile

BeoNut since '75

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