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
So I finally got to sit down and really play with my Beomaster 8000 today connected to the speakers I *REALLY* wanted to connect it to, my JBL XPL-140s. As much as I love Bang and Olufsen gear, no single pair of speakers aside from perhaps the Lab 5 and the B&W 802 Diamond has ever impressed me as much as these semi-vintage (late '80s) beauties. I knew from the moment I looked into the BM8000 that THESE would be the speakers to connect it to... http://www.lansingheritage.org/html/jbl/specs/home-speakers/1989-xpl.htm
Before this, I had only tested the BM8000 and made sure it was working with a pair of RL6000s (I have 2 pairs of these I received with various equipment) I had laying around here and even then it sounded decent, but those plastic speakers are really toys.
I have never heard music so clean, detailed and powerful, with such incredible sound imaging as the combination of the BM8000 and the JBL XPL-140s. I can only IMAGINE what the 160 or 200s would sound like. Or maybe not, perhaps the 140s are "just right"... I can say with 99 percent certainty that between my careful listening over the past few weeks between this combination and the BeoLab 5s, the BM8000/XPL140 combination JUST edges out the Lab 5s. I say "just" because the Lab 5s have a laid back character which I wish was more forward. The XPLs and the BM8000 have all the warmth and body of the Lab 5s, but with this forward presence I thoroughly enjoy. The mids are incredible. I feel like I it's blasphemy to have this opinion because even at their full retail retail MSRPs and adjusted for inflation the Lab 5s are probably still some 15 times more expensive than the BM8000 and the XPLs together, but I can't argue with my own ears. Someday I'll track down a pair of MS150s but to be honest I do NOT like the way my S80.2s sound (another mint set I got with the BC9500) so I am not entirely certain I'd like the 150s.
I had seriously considered getting rid of my BM8000 after reading what a pain they are to keep running, and to be sure this one has its occasional quirks, but guys, if you have one of these things and its not working, RESTORE IT at almost ANY cost as its worth it. This is amongst the finest products B&O have ever produced, up there with the Beogram 4000 and the Lab 5s.
Just incredible.
Hi Playdrv4me,
I perfectly know what you are describing.
Some years ago I have had the opportunity to connect my Beomaster 8000 to a beautifull pair of piano black JBL TI 250. I had used the possibility of bi-wiring of these splendid speakers with 4 Monster cables MI MKII.
The source was a CDX2 connected with a good pair of Van Den Hul MK3 Special.
I can still now remember me the precision and the natural of the sound stage and this sensation of power like at the real concert! I could listen to my prefered CDs during hours and hours without this feeling of ear fatigue and aggressiveness that my MS 150-2 were giving me at the high level of 5.6!
Enjoy your Beomaster 8000 and take great care of it, it is wonderful machine.
Marc