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
Hi
I have been kicking ideas around about furthering my B&O addiction.
Trying to resolve a problem we have - in our loungeroom, from left to right - a wall, a set of stairs, a cabinet on the floor (which takes up all floor space between the stairs and the brick chimey ) , a brick chimney, and then a space between the chimney and the other wall.
We have our tv on top of the cabinet between the stairs and the chimney
Getting rid of the cabinet isnt an option.
I was wondering what people thought about the sound quality and output of a BL3500s vs BL8000s vs BL3s?
We have the tv and cabinet etc up one end of the room against a wall, so sound would travel from either side of the tv if using BL8000s, or from above ( mounted on the wall ) it if using a BL3500 or the BL3s
I could open up a cavity to the left of the stairs in the gyprock/drywall wall to create a tall thin cavity to house one BL8000, but wasnt sure if the sound quality difference between it and a BL3500 would be worth it ( I havent heard either speaker in the flesh..... ).
We listen to normal movies and music, often through our BV8-32, but the 3500/8000/3 speakers would allow more volume and enjoyment of loud bloke movies. We dont do heavy metal or anything like that - jazz is our preferred music style and my wife also enjoys female vocal music. On occasion we have Ministry of Sound. cranked up, but not too often.
I had heard that the speakers in the BV 8-32 were the same as RL3500s, but could someone clarify that please?
If using a 3500 or 3 - in reality would need a sub woofer as well? The room size is approx 5m wide and 8m long.
Do the BL3s provide a solid wall of sound if required?
I have some passive RL 45s, but due to their size and footprint, mounting one sideways above the tv could look a bit naff.
Trying to find that fine balance.....
Any thoughts welcome.
If you watch movies you're gonna need a BeoLab 2 even with the 8000s in my opinion. The bass enhanced later versions are good, but I don't know that they'd be up to the task of deep action movie tones. As for the 3500 and BL3 those are two that as of yet I haven't tried, along with the BL9s. I don't have much desire to try the BL9s, but the BL3s pique my interest. Don't need them now, but at some point I might replace one of the other pairs with them if they're good enough.
Playdrv4me:If you watch movies you're gonna need a BeoLab 2 even with the 8000s in my opinion.
+1
I have Bl3500 but would not recommend it for tv unless space dictated it.
I never took to Bl3's but would recommend Bl4's
The BeoLab 3's are not only very flexible in terms of finding the best place for the speakers, but also provide a very good balanced sound.
They should be placed on either side of the tv-set, depending on your listening position.
In your case - in a room of 40 m2 - I would recommend using a BL11 as well.
For listening to music the BL11 is not as 'boomy' as the BL2 (which would be perfect in a 5.1 movie-setup).
N.B. the BL3500 is no option - it is a dedicated Link-speaker.
Greetings Millemissen
There is a tv - and there is a BV
HI
For movie or audio, I would say bl 3 are the best choice if you use a bl 11 with them.
Balanced sound, dynamic, very good bass and easy to move every where in the room (wall, ceiling, floor...).
The bl 3500 is really a link speaker.
4 beolab 5, beolab 9, beolab 10, beolab 5000, beolab 8000 mk2, beolab 6002, beolab 3500, beovision 7 55 mk2, 2 beovision 11 46 mk4, beotime, beosound ouverture, beosound essence, beoplay A8, beomaster 900 RG de luxe and the collection continues...
Having owned most B&O speaker combinations over the last 10 years, I'm really happy with the BL3+BL11 combination. Great for music. Lots of clarity, can be pushed hard in most medium sized rooms, wide sound due to the alt's. Probably not good enough for movies, but for music, they offer a great combination for the price.
Hi - I wrote a long response about 2 hours ago - and then lost it because the wifi failed when I pressed "post", so here goes at trying to replay it ....
We have had similar constraints and tastes to you. This is the journey we have been on which goes to answer your questions.
In the "beginning" (2009) we acquired our BV8-32 and attached it to our 2xBL3s on an Ikea cabinet that has books above and bookcases to the left and right. And we were happy.
In 2010 we acquired a BL11 which we placed on the floor (see below) we were happier. I was very pleased that the BL11 is subtle and yet when called upon can rumble our floorboards.
In 2012 we upgraded the BV8-32 to a BV8-40 so that we would have a surround sound system. And we are very happy.
Most of the time we use speaker mode 3 where the BV8-40's speaker is the centre channel - and it is much better than the BV8-32. I don't know if the BL3200 and the BV8-32 speaker are the same or similar, but we are very happy with the power improvement of the BV8-40.
With the BV8-32 I used to switch between speaker mode 3 and 2 when I switched between TV watching to music listening - now I don't.
When I want to watch a "man flick" I power up two spare BL4s as the rear speakers and switch to speaker mode 5. While this is good enough to create a sense of the surround sound the BL4s are not powerful enough to make me jump out of my skin.
I have thought of trying my BL6000s as rears, but it would be an academic test as I like them where they are - which is a separate room.
I have thought of putting the BL11 on the cabinet - but it might be too boomy - I might try it one day just as a test. There are some pictures under "Flash your B&O" where people have placed their BL11 on their cabinets.
Tomorrow night I am going to hear the new BL14 surround sound system - and that will help me decide whether we have the righ system for us. If I had more funds I would buy BL9s and move the BL3s to become the rears.
So my recommendation for you would be to put two BL3s on the cabinet, either side of your BV8-32, and add a BL11 - either on the floor, or depending upon your cabinet place it there as well.
If you can upgrade to a BV8-40 or a V1 I think you should think seriously about that. For us the BV8-40 was a great move ... although once the V1 was launched at its aggressive price point I wish I had waited !
BeoNut since '75
I would worry about standing a sub on a partially empty wooden box, not only is the box going to have an audible effect but the surface on which the sub is standing will vibrate in sympathy.
I would only consider this if floor standing wasn't an option.
Ban boring signatures!
Correct me if I'm wrong... but is that not the whole point of the horizontally opposed drivers in the BL11 - to cancel out unwanted vibrations?
jkhamler: Correct me if I'm wrong... but is that not the whole point of the horizontally opposed drivers in the BL11 - to cancel out unwanted vibrations?
That's my opinion too. I have mine standing on a wooden cabinet - without any anwanted vibrations.
hfat
hfat: jkhamler: Correct me if I'm wrong... but is that not the whole point of the horizontally opposed drivers in the BL11 - to cancel out unwanted vibrations? That's my opinion too. I have mine standing on a wooden cabinet - without any anwanted vibrations. hfat
If you're happy then that's great.
It cancels out the vibrations of the speaker itself. It doesn't help at all with other stuff vibrating along with the sound waves that leave the speaker. If the shelf / desk / whatever under or near the speaker has a resonance at - say - 40 Hz, it'll still resonate at 40 Hz. Perhaps a little less audibly than if the speaker had mechanical vibrations as well.
--mika
Hi elephant,
sorry for you loosing your long post - that teaches us to always copy the post before 'posting', or even pasting it to some kind of Note app/program. Believe me - I have tried it a couple of times myself.
"Tomorrow night I am going to hear the new BL14 surround sound system - and that will help me decide whether we have the righ system for us."
Looking forward to hear about your experience with the BL14.
The BL14 is a great little 5.1 speaker set. Really an update for those with a "solo BV", low budget and/or in need of speakers with high WAF....
It can play very loud indeed - good for tv and movies, less for music listenings.
....but for those with a BL3/BL11/BL4 set it would be a downgrade.
Hi everyone,
Can I say a big thank you to everyone who has provided their thoughts - it has made the descision making a lot easier. At this stage the BL3s seem the logical choice and add a BL11 later when I can sweet talk my wife into ignoring the B&O invoice....
Elephant, thanks for your thoughts, they were very useful from the "been there done that" perspective.
I will probably sit the speakers on the cabinet as well, although I may consider milling up some custom alu frames to wall mount them myself.
Does anyone know if the BV8-32 uses a re-packaged BL3500 speaker system, or is it something else please?
( Elephant - I deliberately hard wired our new house for ethernet networking, as I am not a fan of wifi for the reason you described.....at night you can faintly hear the fan of our ethernet switch humming away under the house.... )
Cheers.
Millemissen:Hi elephant,
Hi dear Millemissen
Millemissen: Looking forward to hear about your experience with the BL14. The BL14 is a great little 5.1 speaker set. Really an update for those with a "solo BV", low budget and/or in need of speakers with high WAF
The BL14 is a great little 5.1 speaker set. Really an update for those with a "solo BV", low budget and/or in need of speakers with high WAF
the event was held in a display penthouse - so lots of chatter from prospects and clinking from wine waiters - which made it hard to hear much, and the actual demonstration was very brief, and 4 lucky people had grabbed the sofa seats that gave them the premier positions
I stood behind one sofa and as such I was in a better position than many others, even though I was outside the 5,1 bubble
Only the Les Mis clip was played - prior to and after that it was rolling clips of b&o manufacturing .... with the sound muted !
But WAF was very high based on the looks and sound and price point.
Millemissen:It can play very loud indeed - good for tv and movies, less for music listenings.
James the lead dealer did the demonstration, and played it VERY LOUD from a V1 at a level of 75.
I think that was too loud as some of the voice-only scenes then seem artificially "bright".
Before and after demo the background music was from an A9 and it did a great job dealing with what was effectively a cocktail party rather than what we enthusiasts would have liked to hear (ie a product demonstration with music)
Millemissen:....but for those with a BL3/BL11/BL4 set it would be a downgrade.
It may be that it would be a downgrade for my BL3/BL11/`BL4 setup, but I don't know yet.
I think the only way I will be able to tell is to arrange a demonstration loan - however my June weekends are already booked out with a birthday and a function, a wedding, and two weekends of work ! So I think it will be July before I can give an update.
Finally the night was a great success for me as we caught up with Andrew, another Beoworld fan who is leading an even busier life these days and so he is not as a frequent poster as he was - but we had a good reminisce of the 1st Melbourne B&O dinner - some 10 years ago !
And it was a great success for Sue as she caught up with someone she had not seen for some 7 years (no b&o connection at all !) and then Sue went on to win one of the door prizes - a Jensen vase, not the BeoLit 12 (which would have thrilled her even though it was in yellow)