Getting a warmer sound from my Beolab 8002 speakers

Hello all, newbie here!

After having enjoyed my JBL S412PBE's for 20 years I thought it was time for something new and I was able to get some second hand 8002's blindly without testing them. I already had heard Beolabs 18's and thought these would be rather similar.

I was really excited to try them out at home, but to be really honest I find the sound to be quite disappointing; very harsh treble and even at the lowest setting of the ICE switch the bass is too limited and at the same time too boomy for my taste. (I do notice that correct placement is VERY important with these speakers; I try to keep them out of the corners.) It really sounds like there is some tiny subwoofer in them with very limited capacity. No subtlety!

The bass doesn't go really deep and it also lacks detail compared to my JBL's, but of course the comparison is a bit unfair.
What bothers me most is the harsh highs that seriously hurt my ears and the lack of warmth.
I wonder if anyone could give me some tips to improve the sound?

My setup: the 8002's are connected to the pre-amp connectors of my Onkyo TX-DS696. My Samsung television is connected with a toslink cable to the amp and the computer uses a Steinberg UR12 to connect to the amp.
Using an equializer on the pc does improve things a bit, but I still can't get enough warmth with the low vocals and electric guitars etc. I also keep changing the settings with every song that I play and I just want to simply enjoy my music.
With the tv the sound is more or less....acceptable. And it's a shame to get only acceptable sound of these expensive speakers.

I am thinking of a tube pre-amp like the Schiit Freya + once it gets available here.
I do love tube amps; I used to have a Decw3are Taboo MK3, but that one is too expensive to buy back and it of course isn's a pre-amp and I'm not sure if it would work with the integrated amp of the 8002's.
Another thing; the set is turned on all day long every day. With tube amps that will seriously limit the lifespan of the tubes.

Anyone got any tips for me? A nice pre-amp (New or second hand; my budget is about €1000) could be an option.
Or maybe stick to a normal amp and add a subwoofer?

Just try a beosound of some sort, the beolabs are active speakers and are on their best using the internal amps and dsp’s.

You can pick up a Beosound Essence mk1 (without multiroom which I think you do not need) for around €200 and connect that to your other equipment through aux in of the Essence. Your BL8002’s are connected with powerlink to the Essence and use their own amps.

Then you are able to use spotify, deezer and tunein as a source from the Essence and play everything else from your current system to the essence.

Sound level control is a bit harder, for the B&O side it must be done through the beo app or with a Beo remote 4 (you need a IR link eye on the Essence) or the Essence remote Bluetooth. The other equipment will need their own remotes.

When watching tv multiple remotes is a bit harsh but then again if you need the 8002’s to play sound for normal tv watching, it is a strange stereo image to begin with.

This way you are in B&O world and in your current equipment world. Maybe I’m overlooking something but my point is: use the amps in the speakers, not bypassing it by means of other pre amps. Also my guess is you will gain a lot of sound quality on your speakers by using them as they were designed. The BL8002’s are known for their warmth and rich sound qualities. Bass is good but not super good. Your description of their sound performance does not match their typical behaviour.

Hope this helps

Alright, thanks a lot! :D
Yeah I have been looking at B&O gear to connect everything with, but most things that I looked at didn't have enough connectors for my tv and computer. (Like the Beomaster 5 and such)
This what you just mentioned does look a lot better, yes.
And I am used to using mupltiple remote controls while watching tv, so that's no problem, haha!

I will check for it, thanks again! But then I of course also need new cables; din to din. :)

 

Is there something else from B&O that I could use for them?

Hi, the correct cables for b&o are called powerlink cables, your speakers have the older PL (dinlike) connection, for more modern b&o you need powerlink rj45 connectors (like lan cables).

You need either powerlink to powerlink or (for i.e. essence) powerlink to rj45. Look at soundsheavenly.com for more details, Steve can provide any cable (and advise) you need.

In short you can buy multiple beosound systems for your needs. My guess is you’ll be best of with the more modern systems due to more connection options.

- Beosound Essence (mk1 is cheaper than mk2 due to added multiroom capabilities of the latter).

- Beosound Core

Also there is a connection hub for the beolab (beoplay) s8, a 2.1 speaker system. This speakers were designed for non-B&O systems in mind and with the hub you could connect tv’s / surround decoders.

These 3 options will fit you best I think. They can be found second hand through many channels, depending which country you are in.

Be aware, I’m not experienced at all with integration between B&O and other brands.

My guess is you will be served best with either Essence and S8!connection hub, please investigate yourself in more detail.

Surely others on the forum can guide you in the right direction even further.

The Essence is a bit pricey here. The Beosystem 3 Mk 1 isn't much more expensive and it has a lot of options.
Would that be a good alternative, or is it too old to use the Beolab 8002's to their full potential?
Edit: Ah I didn't refresh the page, I now see your other reaction. Thanks for the new information again.But still I would like to hear your opinion about the Beosystem 3. :-)
Edit 2: Ik zie nu pas dat je ook uit Nederland komt, haha! Waar kun je die Essence zo goedkoop krijgen dan?

For purpose of this forum I keep my reaction in English. Essence mk1 is being sold from time to time in a range between €175-€250. There is one on Marktplaats now for €275.

The beosystem 3 was designed for TV use and has many many connection options. It will serve you a lot of possibilities to connect your system. But it needs to be setup through service menus on the tv. More simple way is to add a essence or an connection hub. You can look for this on ebay UK and Germany, Marktplaats.nl or 2dehands.be. Second life dealers in Holland are Summa455 or Secondlife Breda.

I would go for a essence mk1, you can set it up through the Bang Olufsen App, use the internal streaming services and is not expensive. You must see for yourself if the connections are able to integrate with your current setup.

There are many people on the forum who have integrated B&O with other equipment. They can assist too if you pinpoint your setup in more detail.

Main question is how you want your tv to be integrated with the BL’s and what kind of music sources you use (DLNA, iTunes, Spotify, Deezer, TuneIn and so on).

You're right about keeping it in English! :-)

Yeah perhaps the Essence is better. On the other hand I also do like the idea of a possibillity to add a subwoofer later if needed. I have to think about it.
Setting a device up once  In fact I would prefer that rather than connecting something to the Internet so I can set it up with an app on my phone. I want to keep things simple. I don't want to pull extra networkcables or mess around with the firewall of my modem to add a wifi connection; for some reason that often gives problems here.

The tv should just give its sound through either toslink or RCA to an amp and the music that I play from my compputer is locally stored (MP3 and FLAC).
I don't use iTunes or Spotify etc. :-)

With the Essence you can add additional speakers and subwoofer from B&O, no problem.

Hi,

I restored 3 pairs of Beloab 800(2)s now. Let's be honest. B&O is about design, not high-end equipment. PCBs have bad quality, conductors come of PCBs only when you intensively look at them. PCB-Layout is so bad, you can hear the noise in the speakers.
My emotional connection to these devices is that I got them from my uncle for free wenn he moved and my wife is an art director, not an engineer. Sadly, I am an engineer and had to improve them while maintaining the look.
Anyway, small box volume and cheap speakers limit your goals. But, what you can do is:

Exchange electrolyte capacitors to better ones, especially in the power supply. But be careful. Conductors come off the PCB as easy as nothin. Coupling capacitors can be changed to WIMA foil-capacitors. All that gave bass a little more definition. Tweeter can be tamed a little with 0,05mH-coils in series to them. Experiment with inductivity a little. Don't expect too much.

I use them as pc-Speakers at my desk.

 

 

Haha alright then! That's clear language.

Unfortunately I am not so good with soldering electronics.
I do have the feeling that I shouldn't have bought these after all. :(

(Double)

Where do you live?

 

Martin:

Hi,

 

I use them as pc-Speakers at my desk.

 

Hmmmm - I’d like to see a picture of that ;-)

 

MM

The Netherlands, against the German border. 3 hours and 15 minutes away from Hamburg! ;-)

(Double. Posting here goes a bit weird.)

O.k. you have approx. 50 Euros in material and 3-4 afternoons of work. Economically speaking this makes no sense. But if you have an art director wife, things look different.

You are welcome, of course.

I just ordered one from Marktplaats.I hate making bids that are MUCH lower than the price that's mentioned, but he agreed right away.
The seller confirmed that it really should improve the sound quality.

We will see after the weekend, I guess! :-)

 

if needed, the Beolab 2 could be a nice addition to it? Better than the 11?

I still can't get used to the sound. At very low volume it sounds okay and with watching tv I do like the stereo-effect which clearly sounds different than with my old speakers, but I really miss the warmth.
Now I'm in doubt between either selling these and get me some penguins (Beolab 9), or add a subwoofer.

The Beolab 2 supposedly is amazing with movies but isn't very musical because it's sluggish. The Beolab 11 apparently is much more musical, but I've read it takes away all the bass from other speakers (although some people say that's only the case in combination with Beolab 6000 speakers which I find hard to believe).

I do like the looks of these speakers and those penguins are far less attractive. The height of these speakers also is perfect for the situation here in the living room because my computer desk is behind the couch and the tweeters of these 8002's project the treble over teh couch and over my screens towards my ears.

The little penguins supposedly have far superior warmth and fullness than a 8002 + subwoofer combination, but with those the tweeters will be blocked by the furniture here when I'm behind my desk. Also in general I really don't like subwoofers because you often do hear exactly where one is standing which feels very unnatural to me. I also wouldn't know where to put it here.

Anything more professional than the Beolab 9 just is above my budget.

Tips please?

One can build risers for the BeoLab 9s.  This was the answer from my old dealer (now departed ) when I pointed out the same problem.  I decided to buy BL1s instead so I never got too far into this discussion about what types of materials they use, but they did claim to have done it at least once.

Also, I personally think the BL2 gets a bad rap on this site.  The BL2 can be musical (at least to my ears) if one is careful in it's placement, and don't favor music with a lot of low frequencies that tend to resonate within the BL2.  Someone once pointed to a Massive Attack song that did this.  It was pretty much the only song I've heard where the BL2 sounded sluggish on my system.  Up until that time, I hadn't had any issues.  I'm not saying all low frequencies resonate, but rather certain low frequencies.  In my listening to primarily classic rock, new wave, punk, jazz and classical, I don't normally hear this, but I believe some of the electronic/trance music may spend enough time in those frequencies to muddle the BS2.

Alright, thanks! :) Yeah I also have read that someone put a subwoofer on a huge solid block of wood so that indeed could be an option for the BL9's as well.

I normally used to listen a lot to gothic metal, but also a lot of '80s and '90s pop/rock/metal and lots of bands of which I really wouldn't know what genre they are.
Some songs already have moments in which the bass sounds as if it resonates. (Multiple moments of the Krigsgaldr concert of Heilung. and also the :Live in Berlin's version of Depeche Mode - Personal Jesus, and let's not even get started with Goethes Erben!) Although I think in these cases it's more oversteering/clipping (more bass than the recording eqipment can handle) than actual resonance.
With my Beolab 8002's almost ALL bass quickly sounds like that! It sounds like BWOOMP! BWOOMP! BWOOMP! BWOOMP!  without any detail at all. And with warm male voices like Peter Heppner and Leonard Cohen and such it absolutely lacks warmth and emotion.
I tried using an equalizer on my computer to tweak the sound a bit, but that really only makes things worse.

I have been thinking about testing some Penta's. but they really wouldn't look right here.

I have a BeoLab 8002 paired with a BL 2 subwoofer. My connection is from my Sony TV optical out to Beosound Core, The Beosound Core has a Powerlink connection to the BL 2 and the BL 2 connects to the BL 8002 via Powerlink cables. I set the Core speaker to BL 2 and the BL 2 to the right setting for the 8002.

The sound quality is easily comparable to my neighbor across my flat who has a BL18 + BL 19. So no harshness at all. But the BL 18’s treble is more pronounced and like you mentioned, the BL 8002 has a slightly warmer sound than the BL 18. The one limitation of both the BL 18 and 8002 is the need for a subwoofer. If you don’t use Powerlink, then any subwoofer can be used. I’ve used REL’s with my Beolabs in the past.

Hey, thanks for your input!

I've discussed things with my wife and she really hates the looks of the Beolab 9's, so that's not an option.
We both also really do like the looks of the 8002's. Yeah of course the 18's look better but if we'd get those, I'd turn the treble down 3 steps, haha! :D (Which isn't even possible with our Essence.)

You use yours with the tv? Do you also listen to music with this setup?  I read stories here and on other sites that the Beolab 2 isn't very musical and is more meant for movies. Some people firmly deny this though.
The Beolab 11 supposedly is more musical but I understand it takes away the bass from other speakers and in that case I could just have bought older 8000's instead of these 8002's. Some people say the 11 takes away the bass of the 6000, but is that also the case when you combine it with other speakers? I see you to have teh Beolab 6000 + 11 combination next to the Beolab 2 so you'd be the perfect person to ask these questions to. :-)
By the way; my neighbour here has Beolab 18's and the bass there sounds MUCH better than with my 8002's, and he doesn't have a subwoofer.I still do miss some warmth in the sound there, but the bass that he does have is very nicely detailed.

In fact I do listen to more music than watch TV. Both my beolabs are connected to Beosound Core and I can adjust the bass and treble if I need to, but I find the out of the box equalization to be fine. The Core makes a significant difference IMHO and I have posted about it as well.

In terms of sub, I find the BL2 a perfect match for the BL 8002! It sounds great for music. For a while I had REL and subs B&W subs but based on many A/B tests, I decided to go with the BL2. As far as BL 11 and 2, the BL 11 is a perfect compliment to the BL 6000 and I have them in the bedroom because they are connected to an LG Ultra short throw projector (via a Core) and it looks really nice 😊

There is no comparison in bass IMHO between the BL 2 and 11. The BL 2 is a superior sub in all cases IMHO. The BL 11 fills out the low end of the BL 6000s well.

One thing that is important. When you connect a BL 2 and the  BL 8002, the BL 8002 will sound much better because it changes the crossover. The same is the case when you connect the BL 11 to the BL 6000. IMHO BL 18 is better than BL 8002, but BL Core + BL 2 + BL 8002 is at least as good as BL 18 + BL 19. At least the cost difference isn’t worth it for me. I love the looks of the BL 19, but I find the BL 2 outperforms it in every way. I have no idea why people say the BL 2 is not musical. 

I used to have a mix of gear and only recently decided to simplify with B&O and Apple ecosystem for the entire home (and car). I am generally happy with the outcome.

 

 

Maybe you can do the same as I did, make your own sub! It's a really big improvement!

https://archivedforum2.beoworld.org/forums/t/45454.aspx

Hey thanks for your insight! I also contacted the dealer of whom I bought the 8002's and he only said that the 11's are too weak for the 8002's.

Good to hear that the Core makes such a big difference as well. I will then try ro sell the Essence again when my budget allows me to buy the Beolab 2 + core + cables. Or perhaps at  first I wil only buy the sub and then the core.
I also really love the looks of the 18, but if this setup already will sound so good, I have no reason to invest so much more in better looks. My wife and I already love these looks. In fact this looks better in our current interior than the 18. We might have to make some changes if we'd buy the 18.
Does it matter a lot wher you place the sub? I'm in doubt between in a corner next to the speakers, or behind the couch; 2 complete opposites then.

Denboef, klinkt als een Vlaamse naam? Thansk for the tip, but I just want to do things simple. :-)

I have the BL 2 in a corner slightly behind the speakers. In the case of the BL 11, I have it in front of my BL 6000s. I agree, the BL 11 makes almost no difference with the BL 8002, but works well with the BL 6000’s. Good luck!

With respect to bl2 placement, B&O always recommends placing it between your stereo speakers. Corners can enhance the bass too much. The Bl2 does have the corner/wall/free switch that will compensate to some degree. One of the benefits of B&O subs is they must not be hidden away.

 

If you only watched movies, I don't think the placement matters that much, but for music, you may need to experiment a bit to find the best placement.

 

I think I indeed will have to experiment a bit, but I already had the idea that it would be best to have them between the speakers for the best stereo image; even though people always say that you can't notice where the bass comes from, I personally do have a different opinion on that. Especially when it's behind the couch (like I asked a bit earlier about.)
People with some standard Sony 5.1 surround set are often very proud of their setup and sound quality and I always act as if I'm impressed, but I seriously hate it when the bass is behind my head and the rest is only treble and some mid-tones.
Indeed, also often when the subwoofer is in a corner I also do hear it come from that direction but in my case it might be a bit different: most of the time I am begint my computer when I listen to music. Perhaps if the sub stands behind the amethist stone here on the left, I could still get a decent sound from the speakers. The closet under the tv basically prevents putting the sub in the middle, unless I put it on top of it, but that will seriously bother me while watching tv and it will also just look wrong.
Another question; that hole on the top of the sub, how easy is it for toddlers to put toys in there? (Oh and please don't mind the cables; the anthracite cable trays that I ordered for them were out of stock.)

 

It's very easy for anyone (toddler, adult, cat, etc.) to put things in the hole on the top of the BL2.  It is a hole, just like it looks.  However, there is nothing in the hole.  It's not like you can access the drivers or electronics.  There's just small void to allow you fit your hand in to easily grasp and carry the speaker. 

It you want to worry about something, worry about a) holes being poked (by fingers or tools -pencil, pen, toys) in the exposed drivers or b) tipping over your BL8000s (but, as you know, the BL8000s are not tippy, but that doesn't mean one cannot worry about it ).  My kids never bothered with my BL2 or BL8000s much.  So far, the worst that has happened to my BL2 is my cleaning lady scuffed the lower finish by (I assume) knocking it with the vacuum cleaner.  It's obvious when you're down on the floor looking at it, but you can't really see it when sitting/standing unless you are looking for it.

Haha alright then! :D I thought it was a bass reflex port!
And yeah I also was affraid of him poking holes in the drivers. For that reason I also was thinking of the BL 11; the drivers are a bit more protected. Also, I think if you have the aluminium version it would look really great in our interior.

Anyway, I first have to sell some of my camera gear before I can afford that subwoofer, haha!

I removed the text earlier because I was still analyzing things, but this is how things went:
A fuse blew and since then the tweeters of both 8002's stopped working and the maximum volume is REALLY much lower.
Could this be a defect in the Essence, or could both speakers suddenly be malfunctioning? I do have the feeling it's the &O system that blew the fuse, looking at these results.
To be honest; without the tweeters I like the sound much more; far less harsh and the bass is far less muddy!