Beolab 4 review

Hi all,

I need your advices on this as I have the opportunity to buy a pair of brand new BL4 PC at half the price:

I would like to listen to my music when I'm upstairs in my appartment.

Lower level, I listen to my music (from I Tunes) through my BV11 which sounds really great for my livingroom (25/30 square meters). Surely it misses a bit of bass and stereo but I don't have the money yet to complete this setup with stereo speakers and/or a sub.

Upstairs, I have a small open space (6-8 square meters) where my desk stands. I already have an Apple Airport Express there which distributes the WIFI to the entire appartment.

The BL4 would be directly plugged to my Apple Airport then. But here is my question: How does that sound? How good are the BL4? I would be happy to have any feedbacks from BL4 owners.

If it's not that good, I would go for another system (like Sonos i.e) but for me the good thing having speakers connected to my Apple Airport is that I can send my music from the same device and same app either to my BV11 either to the Aiport Airport either on both... which is very convenient! Or I would need to buy other active speakers but I did not find other nice looking alternatives so far...

Thoughts?

Thanks for your help.

I have bl4 as rears in my surround set and have had no issues ....nice clean sound.

Also used them with bv6 in the bedroom

(Music only)

Some will disagree ... But a great little speaker for there size

I have the BL4 PC and I love them.

I took photos the other day to sell them on eBay but I couldn't bring myself to sell them.

I have ordered some cables from Steve at Sounds Heavenly to use them with a now unused Playmaker - another device I love.

I think they are crisp speakers and a good feature is you can change the colour of the covers and they have a great stereo separation.

I swear by them and the thing is you can use them in a number of different applications because of the 3.5 jack

if sound quality via Airplay is important you should use a Bang & Olufsen Playmaker instead of the Airport Express as the DAC inside the Airport express is a bad one. It's just ok for MP3 but nothing more... If money is an object: Just get a used one.

Regarding speakers I suggest two other options:
- ~ 100 Euro: Fostex Pm03.d. Very very small active speakers (availabe in black, white and grey) for a fraction of the Beolab 4 price:
http://www.thomann.de/gb/fostex_fostex_pm03d_white.htm

- 300 - 400 Euro: Bang & Olufsen Beolit 12

- 500 Euro: Bowers & Wilkins MM-1 Multimedia Desktop speakers:
http://www.bowers-wilkins.de/Lautsprecher/Computerlautsprecher/MM-1/shop.html


Fostex PM03.d:
It's good to read that some people are satisfied with the sound of the Beolab 4 speakers. In my personal opinion you can get a comparable sound for with the Fostex PM03.d personal monitor speakers. They are available in black, white or grey and cost just a little over 100,- Euro.
As they are monitoring speakers you should listen to them in your desired location! When I listened to them on my desk where my computer equipment is located I wasn't satisfied as the mids where overpronounced. In another location they sounded MUCH better. They lack bass but that is ok considering their very small size or you can hide a subwoofer somewhere. They are cute and I really like them. They are active, a volume know is on the back. They have two inputs (RCA/cinch and 3,5mm stereo jack) and auto power off when no signal is received for a specified amount of time. I've read in some reviews that you have to decide which connection you use as the 3,5mm stereo jack is switched of when you use RCA/Cinch. I didn't test it with my pair. The connection cable between the two is ok for desktop use, if you need a longer cable you can simply choose a 2,5mm or 3,5mm (I don't know the exact measurement at the moment) of your favorite length to extend the range between the two small friends. No Bang & Olufsen design but fine.

Bang & Olufsen Beolit 12:
Bang & Olufsen retro design... not the most beautiful product of B&O and to my eyes it's only acceptable in white. The other colors look really bad to me. But that's personal taste. Due to the one-box-design there's nothing you can call "stereo separation" and - reading through the forums - airpaly via Wifi is not very reliable. In your situation that shouldn't be a problem as the Airport Express station (the plug shaped ones) have a LAN-port, too. Or you simply but a 3,5mm stereo cable between the too as the Beolit 12 has an aux-in via 3,5mm stereo jack, too.Sound for such a small speaker is really good! If you connect the Beolit 12 via Wifi or LAN you have another point on the plus side: Beo 4 control for iTunes (Start/Stop, Skip tracks) as well as the standard volume control via Beo 4.


B&W MM-1
The best speaker for nearfield listening to music is the B&W MM-1 speaker. It is surprising how much sound you can get out of such a small package. After I listened to them I've never considered Beolab 4 speakers again. They can't get very loud but they aren't intended for this. They are really gread sounding speakers for their size! They can be used in two ways: Via USB on your computer/notebook or analog source via 3,5mm stereo jack and they have a remote control that could be handy for you as you use iTunes: It not only switches the sources and controls the volume of the speakers, you can even control Start/Stop, Skip Track of iTunes with the small remote. The remote is handy but feels plasticky... volume control and power on of the speakers is realised via an aluminium band which is a bit fiddly...
Design is another league compared to the fostex, but the fostex are simply built to work with and that should be considered, too.

Enjoy your choice

My father has BL4s purely for music (driven by a BS4) and I've always thought the sound from them is great from such a small speaker.  Nice and clear .

Why not go for BL4000s?

Ralf

I had for many years BL4 PC and I liked them very much. Despite what some tell, they have a clear sound, excellent highs and miss and descent bass. They could go incredibly loud as well. I just sold them as I wanted to rearrange my living space and I couldn't hide the cables in their new place. I bought a Beolit 15 in champagne to replace it and I'm pleased with the sound; but it's not as clear and clean in comparaison to the BL4.

With an Airport express 'early generation' I couldn't use them because the sound coming out from the BL4 was extremely loud even when I reduced almost to the minimum the volume to the Mac and in iTunes... I solved this by connecting them to a bluetooth receiver Avantree Roxa and it worked fluently.

A friend of mine had a pair of MM-1... They sound very good as well but he sold them again because they became very hot while listening to them...

 

Thank you all for these solid feedbacks.

@kallasr, BL4000S look fantastic but are a bit big for my space. Plus, I do not have the same "deal" on those speakers...

After all your comments, it seems that they are a good choice so I think I will go for them. If sound quality is an issue I can still add an external DAC or Playmaker later on.

Again many thanks

I will keep you posted with my first impressions.

Also to remember fredpert

The bl4 covers are easy to recover to match your decor

Right bramble! So far the ones that are for sale have black frets. I have to admit I like the white so if by any chance someone has white frets for sale, keep me posted ;)

Hi all,

 

Following up this conversation, do you know if there's is any difference in terms of sound quality between BL4 and BL4 PC version?

Thanks

I think the difference in sound quality is small to none. The difference is that the Beolab 4 has a power link connection while the Beolab 4 PC don't. Go for Beolab 4 if you plan to  maybe some day expand your Bang-Olufsen setup.

If the price difference is not to great i would recommend you to by a pair of Beolab 4000 instead. They feel at least one size bigger as deliver much more bass and better sound. I think they are much more "bang for the buck".

I have both and enjoy them both, but the Beolab 4000 are in my opinion, far superior. 

PK:

I think the difference in sound quality is small to none. The difference is that the Beolab 4 has a power link connection while the Beolab 4 PC don't. Go for Beolab 4 if you plan to  maybe some day expand your Bang-Olufsen setup.

If the price difference is not to great i would recommend you to by a pair of Beolab 4000 instead. They feel at least one size bigger as deliver much more bass and better sound. I think they are much more "bang for the buck".

I have both and enjoy them both, but the Beolab 4000 are in my opinion, far superior. 

Another difference is that Beolab 4 (non-PC) has 'Adaptive Bass Control' = a switch with 3 bass settings depending upon speaker placement - in a corner, against a wall, or free standing.  BL 4 PC are, as the name implies, computer speakers.

You mention that you could buy them at half price.  Here in the US that would be $500.  For the same amount you could buy a pair of Beolab 4000's which, as has been pointed out, are vastly superior.

As an update my speaker cables arrived from Sounds Heavenly which now mean that my BL4PC are fully operational with the PM.

FredPert if you added the PM to your BL4s then you could stream from your phone if you liked that feature.

If you have the option of going with the full version take that as you will most likely be using them with a B&O set up. THis will give you the powerlink port on the speaker as well as the bass selector (room adaptation switch).

I bought a pair of BL4000s and gave these to my dad, although they are superior in many peoples eyes, i still prefer the BL4

Both are unique speakers, even in design. Ones a triangle and the other is a leaf .

I'm still not 100% convinced by the BL4... I'm also considering other portable alternative like Beolit 15/Beoplay A2 or even the VIFA Copenhagen, It's a beautiful scandinavian design and I had the chance to listen to it: sound is clear and crisp and not too loudy like other portable speakers. The only issue is the price, 850 euros...