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 have the Beolab 9 for many years. I was not always completely satisfied with them, even though they sounded mostly OK. I have tried many different configurations - close to the wall - far from the wall - point straight and so on. The problem was that either the treble was to sharp or the mid-range was missing. A problem that several members of the forum have expressed. Now I have found the ideal setup for my ears. They are now simply set up as shown in the Beolab 9 guide – close to wall and some toe-in. The speakers a away from corners, and on either side of a bookcase wall, which may be a kind of corner. Anyway the speakers are set to “corner”, and it gives the best balance in the sound. The sound image is accurate. If set to wall, the sound becomes slightly inaccurate. There are just little under 3 meters between the speakers, and the distance from each speaker to the preferred seat is approx. 4 meters.
Perhaps this is for the benefit of other Beolab 9 owners, and others may wish to come up with their experience for setting up Beolab 9.
how is the hight of your soundstage in that config?
what i can report from my BL5 experience, it gets higher when you move your listening position closer to the speakers. i had a similar situation (a bit less then 3 meters between the speakers, and close to 4 meters listening distance) --> the soundstage was very low. the voice was placed just ~30 to 50 cm above the floor, an nothing above that. i moved my couch closer to the speakers, with a very positive effect. the stage is much higher and the voices are about 50-70cm above the speakers --> i'm very satisfied with that
however... you should give it a try. not much work and easy audible.
best regards
I've got a pair of BL9's connected to a BV11, I have positioned them like you have, just followed the manual, and they sound great. One of my speakers is positioned like the manual, in a corner, but far enough from a wall that it doesn't sound boomy with the appropriate setting. The other, I had to play around with a little, as there isn't a true corner near the speaker, but a slight bend in the wall, where it opens out to the rest of the living area. Both are toe in slightly to the center seat of the sofa. Hope you enjoy them, I love mine!
........however... you should give it a try. Not much work and easy audible.
Mike - you are absolutely right.
As mentioned, I usually sit in a swivel chair approx. 4 - 4.5 meters from each speaker. The soundstage is very good. Very wide and above the speakers. I can sit in the swivel chair approx. 3 meters from each speaker (triangle). Here the sound is very direct and accurate without reflections from the room. The soundstage is the same as above. But I prefer the longer distance, and the sound is now OK, but with some reflections from the room, when it's going to be played at high level. This living room is not very dimmed, like a normal living room. The sparse furniture is wood or leather and no thick wall to wall blankets. The living room is used for other various musical activities. I have a piano and a (digital) church organ here. The room is 7,5 x 5,5 meter.
I (we) have a different and slightly larger living room, which is more normal attenuated, but my wife would not like to have musical activities in this living room - you know - happy wife, happy life!
You have Beolab 5 that has a different sound structure than Beolab 9. As far as I know Beolab 5 automatically adjusts to room acoustics, which is a big advantage.
It was exciting to hear your thoughts – thanks.
Sal – do you have both speakers setting on “corner”? The bass level from the 9,s is very powerful and deep.
As far as I know the free/wall/corner settings only works in the 50-100 Hz area. 30-40 Hz is the same in all settings?
There is an article here at Beoworld about Beolab 9 and other beolab speakers. See the bottom of the article:
https://www.beoworld.org/article_view.asp?id=193
ADU: Sal – do you have both speakers setting on “corner”? The bass level from the 9,s is very powerful and deep.
I believe the one which is actually placed in a corner according to the manual is set to CORNER, the other one, I'll have to confirm, but I believe it is set to FREE because of the lack of a side wall per se, coupled with the distance from the wall behind it.
My Beolab 9 speakers are connected to Beosound 4, mk 2. I have had this set-up for several years. I have not really thought about the loudness function, as the function from factory is default “ON”. The Loudness function should only work to around volume 45. But by setting loudness to "OF" I found out that the sound also changed at higher volume. It sounds like the sound has become cleaner without excessive treble and a better mid-range. Can the loudness feature really affect the music signal network at higher volume around 50-55, - maybe because loudness does something about the electronic in Beolab 9? The Loudness feature in Beosound 4 may be relevant to Beolab 4000, 6000 or 8000, but I'm not sure it's relevant to Beolab 9. Does anyone have experience like this? I'm not out to start a new Loudness on / off discussion. It is only loudness related to Beolab 9.