BeoLab 50 questions

Hello,

I am considering acquiring a pair of pre loved Beolab 50s and have some questions to iron out.

- I have Beolab 20s today, is the difference big? I haven’t compared but I have heard both and like the feeling of the 50s.

- the design is less discrete, you guys who have 50s, how does people and you like the design and how it works with the environment around them?

- is there a lot of issues still or is firmware better?

- how do I get the new firmware? And do we know how much support B&O gives and for how long? Spare parts etc?

- has anyone had to have their 50s repaired and if so to what cost?

- AirPlay 2, best to add a streamer like the core or something else? I use Apple TV 4K in my Avant 55 today but want speedy access too.

- any issues I should be aware about or anything else?

- can I calibrate them myself and if so where can I get a microphone? Can I rent or borrow it if expensive?

- hard to install/move?

Thanks 😊

- I have Beolab 20s today, is the difference big?

- yes

Design? Very personal, i like them.

Upgrade firmware throug app, speaker must be conected to internet.

Dont know about any issues. 

The speakers will have b&o support for many years to come, no worries.

Add a core and you will have easy streaming

You can calibrate them easy with a microphone that b&o stores will provide. Some dealere might rent it to you, but at the cost versus hassel needing to rent one each time you want a new calibration, i would spend the money just buying one.

Not hard to install at all.

My experience is with BL90 - but all this is quite simular.

Go ahead and buy them! If you do regret, sell them. Once you have them installd i think they will stay:) 

Agree with JensT

Difference is huge and they seem all to be rock solid.

A mic is €150 to buy iirc, so why not buy one?

Mikipidia:

Agree with JensT

Difference is huge and they seem all to be rock solid.

A mic is €150 to buy iirc, so why not buy one? New: Beovision Harmony, Beolab 50's, Beolab 18's, Beolab 17's, Beolab 3's, Beosound 9000 mk3, Beosound Stage & LG, Beosound 2, Beoplay M3, Beoplay A1, Beoplay H4 gen 2, Beoplay E8 3.0

Mikipedia on YouTube (finally )

https://www.youtube.com/c/Mikipedia

Old: Beovision Eclipse, Beolab 1's, Beolab 2, Beovision 10-46, Overture 2300, beolab 8000's, Beolab 4000's, Beovision avant 32" etc. etc.

Ok seems nice. Thought it was a super expensive microphone for ten times that. If it’s just 1500 sek then why not.

But I already have two microphones for my Avant tv. How does that even work in tandem with 50?

JensT:

- I have Beolab 20s today, is the difference big?

- yes

Design? Very personal, i like them.

Upgrade firmware throug app, speaker must be conected to internet.

Dont know about any issues.

The speakers will have b&o support for many years to come, no worries.

Add a core and you will have easy streaming

You can calibrate them easy with a microphone that b&o stores will provide. Some dealere might rent it to you, but at the cost versus hassel needing to rent one each time you want a new calibration, i would spend the money just buying one.

Not hard to install at all.

My experience is with BL90 - but all this is quite simular.

Go ahead and buy them! If you do regret, sell them. Once you have them installd i think they will stay:)

Thanks for your input. I hope that it will work. I’m a bit worried about things using apps as they rely on current model iPhones and so on. But theee is also a web interface right?

Thanks for all the ideas, made me happy to read.

App also works on old iphones and android devices and or ipad. Works fine, still works fine on my old iphone 6.

The avant mic doesn’t work with the 50’s, different connector. Also the mic for the 50’s does room compensation and frequency responce and therefor tunes just the 50’s.

The avant and it’s mic basically tune the distances and latencies for surround sound and loudness between speakers. This is an approximation and is usually good enough but manually you can do it better with a db meter and a laser measuring device.

Mikipidia:

App also works on old iphones and android devices and or ipad. Works fine, still works fine on my old iphone 6.

The avant mic doesn’t work with the 50’s, different connector. Also the mic for the 50’s does room compensation and frequency responce and therefor tunes just the 50’s.

The avant and it’s mic basically tune the distances and latencies for surround sound and loudness between speakers. This is an approximation and is usually good enough but manually you can do it better with a db meter and a laser measuring device. New: Beovision Harmony, Beolab 50's, Beolab 18's, Beolab 17's, Beolab 3's, Beosound 9000 mk3, Beosound Stage & LG, Beosound 2, Beoplay M3, Beoplay A1, Beoplay H4 gen 2, Beoplay E8 3.0

Mikipedia on YouTube (finally )

https://www.youtube.com/c/Mikipedia

Old: Beovision Eclipse, Beolab 1's, Beolab 2, Beovision 10-46, Overture 2300, beolab 8000's, Beolab 4000's, Beovision avant 32" etc. etc.

Yes but when new phones and new operating systems comes out the app might not work if it is not in the future updates. I’ve seen this with many devices already and that’s a bit sad.

Okey, so you suggest not using a mic with Avant but instead a DB and laser?

The microphone for bl50 I can’t imagine do anything more than measure, I guess the speaker itself does the “magic” using the data it gathers?

Btw. If I buy them, one of them will stand in a free space with a corridor behind. I would like to know if I can play music so bass is played to the back of the room into the corridor as well or if it will try to compensate to heavily. And if it is a good or bad idea. Many geeky questions might follow :)

It’s not a separate app for the 50’s, it’s with in the general b&o app. They need to maintain that to keep any product in working order and to ad all the new stuff so iam not at all bothered by it.

Maybe you should read the technical sound guide first? The 50’s will try and play as accurately as the can at what ever point you measure. So you can totally move the stereo image way off center if you like. With the opening you can have it play there too if you measure there, if you take into account that the 50’s have physical limitations the 90’s don’t have.

I replaced my 20s with 50s. The difference is huge.

I dream of the 50s so might you elaborate, Razlaw, if only to give me something to fantasize about? What are the most noticeable differences?

Curly:

I dream of the 50s so might you elaborate, Razlaw, if only to give me something to fantasize about? What are the most noticeable differences?

Currently: BeoSound Core, BeoLab 17, BeoLab 18

Previously: BeoSound 1 non-GVA

Everything.....detail, imaging, fullness of sound, bass

It’s like comparing a decent bmw with a supercar.