Beolab 8 arrived…
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Amazing looking
Sound is very good
Fits well with the Theatre
Build quality is superb
Heard them in the store today, sounded really nice in a open space and the quality was superb.
How is the sound in a home enviroment? Vocals and bass? Does is lack anything? Have you played it together with the Theatre in a 2.1 setup?
I auditioned at a store yesterday, the setup was Theatre with BL28 as fronts, BL8 as Surrounds and a BL19 off to the side. I set up these listening positions:
- Theatre on its own [5.0.2] ((using TV sound mode ))
- BL8 on their own (narrow beam) [2.0] ((using Music sound mode))
- Theatre with BL8 (wide beam) [5.0.4] ((using TV sound mode))
- Theatre FL + FR only with BL8 (narrow beam) [2.0] and also with BL19 [2.1] ((using Music sound mode))
- Theatre with BL28 (wide beam) + BL8 (wide beam) + BL19 [7.1.4] ((using Movie sound mode))
The 8s are very capable and better than BL17s, but if you have 17s like I do, I will not swap, because the difference is not worth the extra money, plus I like the look of the 17s over both 8s and 28s.
The Theatre and the 28s were a better match and to me if you have these in your setup it relegates the 8s to a surround, back or height role.
BL8s have a role as either a surround, back or height role if you are expanding your setup to get Atmos, or preferably as a stereo set of speakers exclusively for music, or you are starting from scratch and then get as many sets as you can afford because more speakers with the Theatre is definitely better.
Last piece of insight was there was no listening position setup that didn’t benefit from having the BL19 added. So to me a BL19 should always be providing the subwoofer role, unless you are lucky enough to own 50s or 90s, even with the Theatre’s incredible bass and the bass of the 28 the 19 added richness that you can hear and physically feel. I know in the Sound guide it states 28 take bass from the 19 but in the real world to me that slightly larger subwoofer size is needed to most people’s setup.
Nice setup, I would also need to put them inside a cabinet as you have, not sure if that cabinet acts as a resonator for the sound? Or is room adaption able to work out that problem?
How’s your experience so far, comparing just the theatre and now added the BL8’s? Did you set the theatre itself to C/C/C or L/C/R ? Or what you think about it?
I need to experiement and try different setups. I will speed a few days this week. Right now I have four different setups and rooms.
1. Atmos: Using the listening position using all the speakers as recomended by the Room Sense. This I use for TV and movies. The front firing speakers on the Theatre is deactivated, since BL8 takes that role. This sound amazing watching Atmos content. Tv sound is Ok.
2. Atmos+: Same as Atmos, but dedicating front firing speakers of Theatre as C. Will test this more before I make a comment.
3. Stereo: Using only the BL8 plus the BL19. For music only. Sounds very nice. Transparent, open sound with clarity, punch and nice balance between high and low frequencies.
4. Stereo+: Adding the front firing speakers of the Theatre as L+R. Do not think this is the best solution for music. The Theatre takes the main role, and the stereo perspective is unbalanced.
Looking forward to trying out more solutions the following days. Will give you an update.
I have the BL8s in alu with oak grills. I think they look better with the dark grey (melange) grill. More Classic B&O-look. But the Theatre looks much better with the oak front. Without wooden grill, the Theatre loses it’s signature look, and looks more like all other soundbar.
So the BL8s had to match my Theatre, so ordered with oak.
I just wanted to congratulate you. Please post more photos and impressions as you listen more.
For Stereo+ have you ensured in the listen position you have changed the BL8 to ‘Front Left & Right’, by default they are assigned Surround Left + Right and so most focus is on the Theatre. If you only assign FL + FR the sound is balanced.
Thanks for the detailed comments. I have a Theatre with 28s and 9s as the rears. Was going to trade the 9s in on 8s. But after disconnecting them and installing 4000s temporarily I missed the bass of the 9s. Decided to keep them. I have the 9s set as subwoofers in the Theatre when listening to music on the 28s.
Still contemplating a pair of 8s to add to the system.
How would you compare a pair of 8s for music to a pair of 28s?
The 8’s as surround height speakers….
…..maybe a bit overkill – unless you have loads of money and/or your room calls for it.Otherweise I would not change the anything – seems to be a killer setup ?
MM
Very unique design,love it,do they really sound better than BL18s？And if they both connect to theatre ,which sound better，BL18s+BST or BL8S+BST？
I have nevner trid the BL18s, so I don´t know. But Steve (soundsheavenly) think they are better than the 18s. I think he mentioned a while back that even the 17s are better than the 18s.
So my guess is that BL8s + Theatre is better than BL18s + Theatre. Especially with the BL19 taking care of the deep bass.
Very curious to test this.
tomorrow I’m collecting the 8’s to replace the 17’s as front L/R with BST as center, BL19 for sub and BL28’s as surrounds. Pity the ultra wide band feature is not ready yet.
haven’t read anything about 17’s trumping the 18’s. Was this about woofer size and bass output!
maybe I need to try and integrate the 17’s as height channels from the ceiling ?
Last piece of insight was there was no listening position setup that didn’t benefit from having the BL19 added. So to me a BL19 should always be providing the subwoofer role, unless you are lucky enough to own 50s or 90s, even with the Theatre’s incredible bass and the bass of the 28 the 19 added richness that you can hear and physically feel. I know in the Sound guide it states 28 take bass from the 19 but in the real world to me that slightly larger subwoofer size is needed to most people’s setup.
This actually surprised me the most. I currently have the Theatre, BL18’s for fronts and BL3 for rears and I find the bass is quite intense when it needs to be especially in movies. I would think that with 28’s involved it would be more than enough? What average room size do you think is most peoples setups?
I think the issue with the 28s (if one wants to call it an issue) is that the 28s bass can roll off at high-ish volumes. For those situations, and for those Theatre+28s owners, who get to these higher volumes, perhaps a 19 sub helps out a bit.
But generally I agree – the Theatre is itself very capable bass wise, and its bass management spreads the bass load amongst all connected speakers. As such, it’s far from obvious that one “needs” a sub. We’ve seen some protest that its a near necessity, but it seems much more of a preference than necessity.
And in your case, if BST + 18s + 3s is bass enough for you, then you’re not desperately missing out on something. Not everyone wants to feel the room rumbling at times (I generally find it unpleasant).
This is not about ‘more’ or ‘enough bas’.
It is much more about avoiding room modes (from the bas content of the signal).
Every room is different.Generally I’d suggest – if someone has a subwoofer/or two in the mix – to place this/these at the back of the room….and not at the front with the Theatre.
This is about ‘better bas’.
MM
Yes, thats a great suggestion, I will try that one day with my BL19. As it’s connected with wisa its quite easy to move it to a different location and just add a new listening position. In terms of practicality it will not be able to stay in the back of my room but I will do it to see what kind of effect it might have.
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