Beolab 4 any good?

Hi,

I've searched the forum, but apart from some quotes of people saying they read somewhere that the Beolab 4 isn't that great, I haven't really found anything on these speakers.

I wondered, what do you think of the Beolab 4, are they any good as pc speakers, to be used occasionally for playing louder music while working in the kitchen (which is the same room)?

I'm currently looking at a set of nearly new Beolab 4 pc speakers, for around €300. They will only be used as pc speakers, so it's not too bad that they don't have the powerlink connections. 
I did read however, that cables can be made so they can be used as powerlink speakers? 

Thanks!

Hi

I have a pair bl4's used as rears on a 5.1 set up, also listen to a lot of music

And they have been great, no issues .

Obviously dependent on location/ room size ... I would say yes to them

Elephant owns a pair of these and I think Michael from Aus does too. I heard a pair in an interior shop and that had the usual warm BANG&OLUFSEN sound to them. I've never read any comments about people being disappointed with them. If you can get them at a good price then go for it. Quite traditional sounding - more happy with Radio 2 than say banging dance music as I've found from a lot of the older B&O speakers. I'm sure that Elephant will fill you in more...

I've posted before that my father has a pair for music and they sound good. They play in the living room and can be clearly heard in other rooms.

I'm always surprised by the sound from such a small speaker.

I think they're good for link room speakers.  I have them in the kitchen and bedroom and they work very well in that type of use.  I wouldn't hesitate to use them as surrounds if I needed to.  Obviously they won't crank excessively loud and would not be ideal for mains in a nice system.  However, they fill out pretty good for non-critical listening where heavy bass isn't needed.

I use them and I guess they are OK.

If you don't have the powerlink sockets, you need beyond a simple cable to use them as powerlink as powerlink supplies a current to indicate when the speaker should switch on. Also the powerlink version has a position switch, which the PC version which you are looking at does not have.

For 300 EUR nearly new I guess its a good deal. They play decent loud, but listnening from your kitchen area might be a waste, They shine when you sit in front of them.

Back then I picked them over the A8 as I could position them more flexible, ended up getting the Beolab 3 stands and adapter plate  for them.

 

You might be better off with a Beolab 15 even though that is much more expensive

 

Cheers

JK

I picked up a mint pair of BL4s with blue covers for £80 here in the UK in July.  They don't have the powerlink connectors, so initially I connected them to my Beocenter 9500 via the headphone socket - and they do sound (and look) surprising good.  I've used them with a cheapish LCD TV I have at my holiday home, and found that they're really effective at reproducing speech - much, much better than the TV's built-in speakers.  Also I'll often just jack them into my iPhone and enjoy playing whatever I have on iTunes there too - much better than the iPod/Bose Sound-Dock I was previously using.

I also bought a pair of wall-brackets recently for ca. £30 (yet to be fitted...), but I think they look really great on the floor stands if you can find a pair at a reasonable price.

So, I'm glad I bought them for what I think was a good price, and I'd certainly have no reservations in recommending these as PC speakers, or even as speakers connected to an iPhone/iPad for casual listening.

Sorry - correction to previous post - cost was £180...

Thanks for sharing your experiences. I think I'll go get them.

Listening in the kitchen could not be described as critical listening, as many things make noise there. It's an open kitchen, which is just few meters further back from where the computer user would sit, so they'd still be aimed at the chef, but at a distance 3 or 4 meters away.

Anyway, their main use will be as a computer speaker for playing games, not at a high volume (since this computer is basically in the living area).

£180 is definitely cheaper than €300. Most sets are advertised around €4-500 online, although I know there is a difference between asking price and selling price, but I don't think I'm getting ripped off.

I'll let you know what I think of them when I get them!

Paul W:

I'm sure that Elephant will fill you in more...

My consistent recommendation is to place them on wooden surfaces so their downward facing bass port delivers great resonance !

If your kitchen's working surface is stone you may not get the best effect ...

I have two pairs driven by power link -- I may have experimented with them in PC mode - not sure. But I agree no tricking wiring will compensate for the switch and the internal logic which must be there as there was a price difference between PC only, and PC+PL.

Note there is another switch as well for PC versus other device line input treatment. I could never hear that difference but I am sure it's there.

Over their years (purchased in 2007 or maybe 08, and 2010) they have been used in various roles:

- rented apartment/ hotel speakers - Beoport (and maybe PC mode)

- surround sound to BV8-40

- link rooms on BeoLink Wireless 1s

- playmaker loaner experiment

- stereo on BV8-32 ... Current infrequent use (once or twice a month, life's too busy for making use of my home office)

- rears on BV8-40 ... In latest configuration they are getting nightly use and the wife often asks me to turn them off (she hates surround sound but does not always notice it )

As rears they are good - for example on Monday we were watching Narnia and there is a scene where the housekeeper is chasing the children around the professor's mansion and her clip clop footsteps are coming from the rears while the children's running and talking was coming from the BL3/BV8 front --- very effective cinema work, great B&O delivery and experience, and low WAF

Paul W:

Elephant owns a pair of these and I think Michael from Aus does too. I heard a pair in an interior shop and that had the usual warm BANG&OLUFSEN sound to them. I've never read any comments about people being disappointed with them. If you can get them at a good price then go for it. Quite traditional sounding - more happy with Radio 2 than say banging dance music as I've found from a lot of the older B&O speakers. I'm sure that Elephant will fill you in more...

Yep! I gotta pair and I was planning to sell them but in fact i can't part with them. I love them. They are so flexible.

The sound is amazing and i think they are akin to the A8 in sound, warm and good treble.

I have the PC version and I bought some cables from Sounds Heavenly (Go Steve!) and i use them with a PlayMaker aka powerlink.

Testing them with the PM and they are just as good as when i have them plugged in to a PC - its given them a new lease of life.

The design is iconic (and i hate using that word), and you can change the colours and use them wherever.

So I went and bought them, it's a demo pair from a B&O dealer and they are in mint condition. They came in their original box, with cables that were probably never used.

I haven't done much listening yet, but my first impressions are that the sound is nice and crisp, much clearer than the terrible cheap speakers I had before. The gamer in the house thinks his games sound much better, there's so much more detail in it, so he's convinced (so far so good with the WAF!).

I would have preferred a bit more bass, playing pop music isn't their strong point. I must say however, that I'm not too bothered by that, it's not their main use. They excel in what I bought them for, and they are pleasing to the eye, so I'm happy to have them!

The auto on/off function works, though it is sometimes a bit too late powering on. Not really a problem, the benefit of automatically powering off outweighs this.

Overall I'm very happy with them!

Nice clean sound, but they do need a good sub for real punch . Enjoy

Congratulations :-)

I also use BeoLab 4 as PC speakers. I recommend that you install the Equalizer APO http://sourceforge.net/projects/equalizerapo/ and the Peace GUI tool http://sourceforge.net/projects/peace-equalizer-apo-extension/. Install the Equalizer APO first, then download Peace GUI and place it in the Equalizer APO config folder. You will then be able to control the audio output to the BeoLab 4's from the PC by opening the Peace-tool. The Lab 4's are capable of producing quite punchy bass if fed correctly. My Lab 4's use the bass and high profile in Peace GUI and the sound has massively improved since I installed the programs.

Best regards,

Frederik