Beolab 50 - wear and tear

Hello friends,

I bought a pair of second hand Beolab 50 a few months ago. They are in good condition and the previous owner took good care of them, however they did aquire some small nicks and dents through their two years of lifetime. I also today found a dent and a scratch on one of the bases of the left speaker, close to the backside. I dont know if it came from shipping or if someone of my friends might have accidentally dented it while walking past it.

Anyway, I am a bit annoyed by this design choice as they are so extremely fragile compared to the likes of Beolab 5, 9 and 20. Maybe even the 50 are a bit too big so I am now considering if I should go back to my 20 or not. 

Does anyone know what it would cost to replace the aluminium part? It seems quite easy to replace but I guess it cost quite a lot still. I think I can live with the dent and scratch as I only saw it as I was picking up something from the floor there. Otherwise I would not have noticed even.

 I worry more about how they will age as they seem so easy to accidentally dent and scratch. As my room isnt very big and they stand in a way where people walk its a easy thing to accidentally damage. 

Hi Michael,

I have changed the upper part of one BL50 (the aluminium part) one time.

The total cost of it was about 6.000 SEK incl work.

Sometimes I am concidering also to buy a pair of BL20 and sell my BL50. There is so much "troubble" with these speakers from time to time and I have not any confidence in the speakers performance any more. Do you think there is a huge difference in sound quality between the BL20 and BL50? What differencens could you describe there is between the two speakers?

 

Best Regards
Martin

Hi Martin,

Ah, what happened to that part on yours? Nice to see the price wasn't much higher than that even though it still is a lot of money. I can imagine the bottom part being more expensive but at the same time it should be more or less the same, just a bit more cumbersome to replace it as the speaker has to be lifted or laid down somehow carefully.

I have both 50 and 20 still as my 20s are for sale. I think the sound of 20s are really good for their size and connected by cable I have zero issues with them or even have to care about software, apps etc.

The 50s of course is more capable and more accurate but for most use I would say the 20s are excellent performers. I mainly watch movies and listen to music from Spotify and such so the quality of the sound, even if it can always get better, is still exceptionally good from the 20s I think. And as I said, for their size they are phenomenal. And also designwise more subtle and discrete. I like that a lot.  

Hi Michael, 

Thank You for your reply.

Another question regarding BL20 vs BL50. How is the sound caracteristics between the two speakers?

Is the sound more "bright" in the tweeter with BL20 if you compare with BL50? How is midrange and Bass response in comparison?

/Martin

Martin:

Hi Michael, 

Thank You for your reply.

Another question regarding BL20 vs BL50. How is the sound caracteristics between the two speakers?

Is the sound more "bright" in the tweeter with BL20 if you compare with BL50? How is midrange and Bass response in comparison?

/Martin

I would say that the sound is pretty similar but hard to explain really. I tried to compare them as I have the 20 set up with a Core now and 50 via my TV and Apple TV. I streamed music to both simultaneously over Airplay 2 and found that 20 sounded almost better then, but I believe this is because of the Core. Sounds weird and it is. The 50s did sound better but I think the Core output sound better than the TV does via Apple TV. The 50s also don't do its best over Powerlink so with the core connected to them they would sound even better. 

The tweeter isn't as sharp in 20s as they where in the 9s. I sometimes felt 9s was too bright and 20s are much better balanced. 50s have higher resolution in the tweeter but is more or less the sameish in its sound profile I think. (I am not home now and havent compared more than for just about 30 minutes or so - so hard to say exactly). 

 The thing I do realize is that I first thought the tweeter was to low in 9/20s but actually its pretty perfect as I usually sit in a couch or chair. 50s have the tweeter a bit higher up and I sometimes wonder if my couch is to low for it or not. Geoff should be able to fill in the answer here :). I believe the sound is pretty audible from a seat so I should not worry but I sometimes still think about elevating the sofa so its more in height with the tweeter ear-wise. 

Soundwise on the 20, one thing I can say is that I find them more tuned to a specific tonal design than the 50s that I feel is more natural. 

Great thanks for your explanation Michael. 

I am considering changing my BL 50 to BL20 and at the same time exchange my Eclipse 65 to a Harmony 77. 

In this way my dealer dont have to give some money back to me if I trade in the BL50 and I get a bigger TV at the same time. 

I would think it is about the same money in this kind of deal. 

Martin:

Great thanks for your explanation Michael.

I am considering changing my BL 50 to BL20 and at the same time exchange my Eclipse 65 to a Harmony 77.

In this way my dealer dont have to give some money back to me if I trade in the BL50 and I get a bigger TV at the same time.

I would think it is about the same money in this kind of deal.

Beovision Eclipse 65 with floorstand (from STB Brackets), New! Beolab 50 front, Beolab 3 rear, 2 x Beoplay A6 linkrooms, 2xBeoremote one BT, Beosound 9000 Mark III (sw 3.4), Philips Hue (all lights in the home), Oppo UDP-203, Apple TV 4K.

Hard to say but maybe. I do prefer the 50s sound wise but the 20s design wise. But it’s hard to make a definite choice. I’ll live with the 50s a while and see :).

My closest friend with a pair of 50 also have a ding in the bottom of one of his speakers and got used to it pretty quickly. I guess that it is the kind of wear and tear we have to get used to with this kind of design.

Now considering moving the speaker closer to a corner to avoid further issues. Good and bad. Wider sound stage but means one speaker much further from the couch - but it would also mean better coverage over the dinner table.

awesome response.

Hi, 

I got a scratch on the top of one speaker. Thats why I changed the top-aluminium part of one speaker. It was a very easy task for the B&O repairman. I think it is a little bit more work in order to change the bottom of the Lab 50 but I would think that the price for the aluminium part would be the same. 

I miss my old Beolab 5 that I traded in when I bought the BL50. I am really fed up with the BL50 and want more and more a pair of speakers without any software/hardware problems. I have got a replacement pair of my BL50 a year ago because the first pair was a nightmare regarding loosing contact between the two speakers. This happend almost 2-3 times a week which was very frustrating. Thats why I am considering getting rid of the BL50 and change to BL20. It seems that B&O have big problems in getting software right in some of their products. On the positive note:  my Beovision Eclipse is 100% perfect with the software, which is very nice. 

Martin:

Hi, 

I got a scratch on the top of one speaker. Thats why I changed the top-aluminium part of one speaker. It was a very easy task for the B&O repairman. I think it is a little bit more work in order to change the bottom of the Lab 50 but I would think that the price for the aluminium part would be the same. 

I miss my old Beolab 5 that I traded in when I bought the BL50. I am really fed up with the BL50 and want more and more a pair of speakers without any software/hardware problems. I have got a replacement pair of my BL50 a year ago because the first pair was a nightmare regarding loosing contact between the two speakers. This happend almost 2-3 times a week which was very frustrating. Thats why I am considering getting rid of the BL50 and change to BL20. It seems that B&O have big problems in getting software right in some of their products. On the positive note:  my Beovision Eclipse is 100% perfect with the software, which is very nice. 

I see, well I havent had any connectivity issues with my speakers fortunately. I believe mine are fairly new and without those issues I guess earlier models might have had. Mine is from 2018 and have another year of warranty still, so two years old. I found a small scratch on the right side of the right speaker (top plate) when I received them but not much to do and I got a good price so.. But nice to know anyway that it can be fixed. I have been considering to change the metal to brass instead, would be quite cool I believe. 

 At the same time, things do scratch and wear over time. These speakers have so large areas that are so easy to scratch also so I think it is something to try and live with. Just more worried about the resale value and if I can see it from afar. If not then I don't care too much I hope. 

I also like the BL5 design a lot but I like having modern technology and I think they do sound very good. My friends are also always impressed and so am I.

Just a bit of a pity IF the dent and scratches I found today did appear after I had friends over this weekend. Feels then as someone did it and didnt say anything but probably it was a mistake and not even noticed.. Easily done I guess.

Martin:

Hi Michael,

Thank You for your reply.

Another question regarding BL20 vs BL50. How is the sound caracteristics between the two speakers?

Is the sound more "bright" in the tweeter with BL20 if you compare with BL50? How is midrange and Bass response in comparison?

/Martin

Beovision Eclipse 65 with floorstand (from STB Brackets), New! Beolab 50 front, Beolab 3 rear, 2 x Beoplay A6 linkrooms, 2xBeoremote one BT, Beosound 9000 Mark III (sw 3.4), Philips Hue (all lights in the home), Oppo UDP-203, Apple TV 4K.

Hej, martin. Jag förstår dina orsaker att byta ut beolab 50. Jag vet inte vad du betalt men vänta lite, priserna ökar varje år. Så årskostnaden blir lägre och lägre. När beolab 5 kom har jag för mig att priset var 115.000kr minus rabatt. Och dom får du 50-70 för idag. Går du ner till beolab 20 kommer du om ljudet är viktigare än designen att ångra dig. Jag sålde mina beolab 9 som jag egentligen var helnöjd med och köpte beolab 20. Jag har sällan varit så missnöjd med ett köp. Diskant och mellanregister är bra och basen kontrollerad men det krävs långt över halv volym att få fart på den. Tungdriven bas minst sagt. Inte så underbart ljud som b&o kan ha på låg volym. Beolab 50 kostar tre gånger beolab 20. Men du får mycket mer än tiofallt i ljud. Men jag sätter ljudet i första rum, design och byggkvalitet får jag på köpet.

Lycka till.

Maybe I was a bit too worried about the scratches I found. Not so very visible but if you know where to look!

I’m considering changing the fronts to the silver pattern and the sides to smoked oak or walnut. Can’t really decide.

If anyone wants to change smoked oak to oak, let me know :).