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
Beolab 28s Beolab 9s Beolab 12-3s Beolab 1s Beolab 6000s 2 pairs Beolab 4000s Beovision 7-55 Beovision 10-40 Beoplay V1 32 inch Beovision Avant 32 inch Beosound 1 (CD player) Beosound 3000 Beosound 5 Core Essence MKII Beoplay M5
Mine are MK2 (lit logo) as well.
My dealer is going to replace the chassis, after I had it happen again a couple of weeks ago. Everything accept for the speakers will be replaced.
I just hope it will fix the problem, because B&O really doesn't seem to know about it. So it might just be luck when you get a set that doesn't have this problem. Or a replacement, in my case.
And indeed: I think it's unacceptable to have to be afraid to turn on a 9K€ pair of speakers...
Honestly I think I would refuse a replaced chassis only when they don't even know the issue at hand. Maybe it will happen in the new chassis too. Maybe it is a manufacturing or assembly defect that is unknown. I think this is a problem in the software and just happens very intermittenly, which might be the reason it only happen in some cases only in one of the speakers. But we now know about so many different people having the issue that the problem can easily be seen as widespread. If I had animals or children I would not even have the speakers connected. This can seriously cause hearing disorder and psychological pain and discomfort in animals left alone home.
Beolab 50, Beolab 8000 x 2, Beolab 4000 x 2, BeoSound Core, BeoSound 9000, BeoSound Century, BeoLit 15, BeoPlay A1, BeoPlay P2, BeoPlay H9 3rd Gen, BeoPlay H6, EarSet 3i, BeoVision Eclipse Gen 2 55", BeoPlay V1-40, BeoCom 6000 and so much else :)
I'd really love an official response from B&O about this issue, as it does seem to be widespread. Relatively speaking, if a handful of BL20 owners on these forums have experienced it, then it would be logical to expect that it is far more widespread than originally thought knowing that the majority of B&O owners don't even know these forums exist.
I'll say quite honestly that ever since this happened to me the first time, I've indeed been afraid to turn them on. Even to this day I hold my breath right before the logo lights turn on when I play music from the Essence.
Pardon me if I jump in here. I had the exact same problem years ago with a 2200 receiver, wall mounted with 60.2's right above bed level. More than once, always in the middle of the night I'd here the receiver 'click' on, then ramp the volume to full while playing random white noise (think fm station hiss). Using the remote or the red off button on the receiver resulted in the random noise ramping down, then back to full. It could not be turned off short of yanking the Mains. When you're sleeping and have never heard this loud of noise, so quickly, it will scare the S*** out if you. Never got a proper response from B&O or the dealer so just learned to live it, be thankfull your 20's reside on a different level.
Fast forward to now. I never wanted this type of noise to ever be an issue for me again so here is what I did: I have my Avant 55 with 9's in front, 12-3's doing surround duty in back. The 12-3's are not wireless. I did a home-run set up for all Mains cables including the 12-3 rear surrounds (Steve from Sounds Heavenly can custom make the length you need). So all Mains cables plug directly into my PS Audio P3 Power Plant, grouped but type (digital, analog, etc). Everything else with a Mains cable also gets powered from here (sat rec'v, etc). All components share the same common ground. P3 to it's own dedicated 20 amp outlet. Overkill maybe, but no random noise of any kind (my digital dimmers were the worse offenders), because the P3 regenerates power converting AC to DC to AC all my Mains noise is gone. I don't have to worry about a Mains power spike ruining my equipment (or turning it full-on randomly), and my high frequencies are crystal clear. I hope this helps?
BeoNut since '75
Update.
Yesterday the dealer took my Beolab 20's. In both speakers, the DSP-processors, amplifiers and power supplies were replaced by brand new ones. Like he told me: "About the only thing that was NOT replaced are the speakers themselves."
So, I have high hopes the problem is solved now. Though I'm still holding my breath: if B&O isn't really acquainted with this problem, I guess they have not adjusted their manufacturing process or the design of the speaker, so it may still be a lottery ticket. We'll see - I still have two and a halve years of warranty. I'm glad I have.
One minor thing I noticed, after the replaced chassis: the speakers seem to have more treble. They sound great, but the seem (!) to sound different. Is that paranoia playing up, or could they have been calibrated differently?
jc:Update. Yesterday the dealer took my Beolab 20's. In both speakers, the DSP-processors, amplifiers and power supplies were replaced by brand new ones. Like he told me: "About the only thing that was NOT replaced are the speakers themselves." So, I have high hopes the problem is solved now. Though I'm still holding my breath: if B&O isn't really acquainted with this problem, I guess they have not adjusted their manufacturing process or the design of the speaker, so it may still be a lottery ticket. We'll see - I still have two and a halve years of warranty. I'm glad I have. One minor thing I noticed, after the replaced chassis: the speakers seem to have more treble. They sound great, but the seem (!) to sound different. Is that paranoia playing up, or could they have been calibrated differently?
I´m cosidering to upgrade my BL17 to BL 20. Is this problem still occurs? Did B&O recognize the problem, recall the speakers and replace the faulty parts/speaker?
It so many questiones but I just don´t want to worry when the speaker will "explode" all the time. Thanks!
My chassis were replaced two months ago and haven't had a problem since. If even it occurs again, I will certainly post it in this thread. For now, I'm keeping my fingers crossed!
Thanks for the update. Boards were replaced in mine back in 9/2016, and it hasn't happened since. I'm confident that B&O have addressed the issue (even though there hasn't been an acknowledgment that there was an issue at all).
Thank you both. Just made my decision easier.
.
Present: BL90, Core, BL6000, CD7000, Beogram 7000, Essence Remote.
Past: BL1, BL2, BL8000, BS9000, BL5, BC2, BS5, BV5, BV4-50, Beosystem 3, BL3, DVD1, Beoremote 4, Moment.
seethroughyou:May be they don't want an expensive recall.
Most likely, but they should. If my dog got deaf by my speakers I would be horrified.
Michael:Most likely, but they should. If my dog got deaf by my speakers I would be horrified.
Not to mention an expensive PR and legal nightmare for any company that might have to contend with that.
Getting deaf due to faulty speakers from a highend / luxury audio-video company IS a nightmare and could end in a real PR desaster for Bang & Olufsen. That's a fault where it's going beyond a joke.They should strongly investigate what leads to this unacceptable behaviour of the speakers! If they find out that a certain margin is affected they have to start an official recall - that'll show that they really care.I guess it wouldn't have the same high repercussions as Samsungs Note 7 fiasco. It was the absolute right decision from Samsung to put the cards on the table, be honest and recall all the phones and even use forced software updates to shut down and protect the customers.
OK, another update.
I'm kind of fed up with the crappy quality or design of the BL20's. Earlier in this thread I wrote the dealer replaced the complete chassis of both speakers a couple of months ago.
Fair enough: I haven't experienced the armageddon terror again.
BUT... now the left speaker has locked up three times in the last couple of weeks. Meaning the lit B&O sign would light up when I switched on, but it wouldn't produce any sound, nor react to the PowerLink anymore. The only solution is to disconnect the power outlet and reconnect, after which it works as it should.
For a € 9K set of speakers, I feel this is just plain stupid. Sure, they sound absolutely terrific, but da*n it, B&O, get your act together :-(. And don't release speakers that don't meet the quality standard you once had...
elephant:Just had my second Armageddon moment 😢 Now for paranoia ... it again happened demonstrating the BeoLab 20s to my son visiting from Sydney ... the same son as last time. BeoNut since '75
I hope you both aren't deaf now! Sorry to hear about that. Get rid of those speakers! Did you inform Bang & Olufsen about this issue? Maybe Geoff Martin has a solution or knows s.th. about and/or how to solve that permanently.
lonfred:Is this also happened on complete new ones or is it solved on the ones that they produce these days? I am close to buy a copple of these ones but I will wait until this fault is solved if it is not alreaddy solved.
Well, it happened to Elephants MK1 and to my MK2 (with the lit B&O logo, bought new last year).
To me, B&O did not acknowledge the problem ("Never heard of it before") (which seems to be plain bullsh&t, as I'm sure some B&O reps will look at a forum like this), BUT they replaced the complete chassis of both speakers. Since then, I did not experience armageddon any more (keeping fingers crossed), but now the activation of the speaker seems to be randomly screwed up once in a while.
It just all feels like a product that's got more technology the B&O's R&D department can handle. They sound incredible and for that alone I might make the same choice in buying them, knowing what I know now. And I might not.
It just feels very, very bad to hand over this amount of money (to me, 9K for a set of speakers is a lot) only to buy something that clearly isn't finished. And probably never will be.
I wouldn't even think of ever buying BL90's (not that I could pay for them LOL), knowing they've got even more (a lot more) technology involved than the BL20's. If they can't even get the BL20's right...
(this all from someone who's been a B&O fan all of his life, but I'm just extremely disappointed in the company).
Duels:Clearly your son is the issue here.....
Aussie Michael:What happened Ed?
TWG:Did you inform Bang & Olufsen about this issue
If I had your shocking experience, I would talk to my dealer and Bang & Olufsen in Struer about that issue and I would kindly ask to get rid of those speakers. You couldn't trust them (the speakers) Imagine smaller kids or other visitors who might come to close to the speakers just to inspect them and then the armageddon starts. That might end in hearing problems or a heart attack. Dogs & Cats might have real trouble after that noisy surprise, too.From a technical point of view it is very interesting to know the cause as the Beolab 20 seem to be the only speaker of the current range where this completely unacceptable behaviour occurs.If you want to experiment get a new pair of Beolab 20 from Struer (or Czech; I don't know where these are made) from the latest production run with the option of exchanging them into different speakers if it occurs again. Invite your son as soon as you got the speakers and get you both some earplugs. Otherwise go for the older and reliable speakers:- Beolab 5- Beolab 9Imagine a pair of Beolab 90 going mad... afterwards you can renovate the house and are deaf
TWG:Imagine smaller kids or other visitors who might come to close to the speakers just to inspect them and then the armageddon starts. That might end in hearing problems or a heart attack. Dogs & Cats might have real trouble after that noisy surprise, too.
Imagine that happening with the BL90's connected
🔊 🔊 🔊 🔊 🔊 🔊 🔊 🔊 🔊 🔊 🔊 🔊
MM
There is a tv - and there is a BV
Millemissen: Imagine that happening with the BL90's connected 🔊 🔊 🔊 🔊 🔊 🔊 🔊 🔊 🔊 🔊 🔊 🔊 MM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acoustic_shock
TWG:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acoustic_shock
Just got a pair of 20 MKII, from showroom, but still under warranty. Is this issue still there?
stampfki: Just got a pair of 20 MKII, from showroom, but still under warranty. Is this issue still there?
I guess not. How's your BL20 so far ? worth the price ?
IA64:stampfki:Just got a pair of 20 MKII, from showroom, but still under warranty. Is this issue still there?I guess not. How's your BL20 so far ? worth the price ?