New product launch – beosound theatre?
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I have read all posts with great interest. In the beginning I was really excited about the product and besides the Theatre offering a nice B&O look and strong center channel performance (for true immersive sound consensus seems to be you need the conventional amount of speakers around you) it will provide you with ease of use with the B&O remote we are all used to.
However, I’m beginning to get less excited:
1) The Theatre is limited to be controlled via the app. The app is incredibly buggy and judging by some of the reports in here it prevents the product from performing as intended. Not the ease of use I was hoping for.
2) Control – can work with BeoRemote One if paired with the correct panel. Still the menus are not B&O. I can live with the latter but still…Currently I use a Canton Smart Connect 5.1 2nd gen (eARC and Atmos) with a LG CX65. It also has bugs. When you activate eARC you get loud bangs through the speakers when switching material to watch. Also a hissing sound. They have made a new beta sw for me to try so I’m hoping it will resolve it. But it has been a tiresome experience for a product that had so much potential.
Canton is not dependent on an app, is controlled via CEC (or own remote and menus) has AirPlay 2 etc and all the other usual features.
For beoremote i could buy an add on product (third party) so I could control it with a Beo4 or BeoRemote One. For my B&O speakers I could have a BeoSound Core connected at the same time so it would be part of the link system.It is a shame but I’m struggling with the Theatre as a viable alternative to my current setup. Happy to learn I’m wrong. Was close to pull the trigger but I’m hesitant now. Last B&O tv I purchased which we still have is a BV11-55 which is still a brilliant package but lacks OLED, Atmos and 4K. And as opposed to the Theater if the panel fails it is game over.
It can be a tough decision. I currently have the BeoSystem 4 as my control center. When I moved to a 4K TV it suddenly it became a little less useful, still worked ok for the audio, but a little more “clunky”. I considered other brands solutions, including Marantz but something inside me prevented me from pulling the trigger, possibly much like you.
Products like the Theatre are heavily dependant on software and it’s typically buggy in the beginning. I’m still fighting software issues with a stereo paired set of Levels. My Theatre should arrive tomorrow and I am prepared for some software issues. The Theatre is very expensive (at least for me) and a lot of thought has gone into it to determine if it is the best replacement system. For me the answer is yes.
I’m sure most of the issues with the Theatre will be worked out over time, and then you may get a better feeling if the Theatre is the right replacement system for you.
I might seriously consider it IF the halo’s battery lasted more than 2 days or if it didn’t constantly drop off the network and not respond. It’s a shame it has so much potential and 2 years ago they said more features were coming but it’s still basically fancy volume controller unless you more than double the price. P.S. there is a new version of the Intelligence coming out I hear but no idea on whats new.thanks for your detailed feedback on the Theatre, I will wait now for sure….regarding Halo connection and battery life issues, these are usually related to wifi connection settings. My Halo (using with Edge and Stereo paired Level) battery lasts for about a week and connection is stable. I had loads of issues when my wifi router transmitted on both 2.4 and 5ghz using the same SSID’s. Had constant connection losses and battery life maybe 24 hours. After using the Halo on just 2.4ghz band al works fine and stable. Maybe this helps you.It doesnt surprise me – I have spoken to quite a few dealers and none suggested moving from a harmony 77 to theatre 77 – all suggested keeping the harmony. Theatre is a soundbar first and TV second
Indeed, though thats not very surprising to me.
I imagine most Harmony owners will prefer the unified nature and movement of the more one piece Harmony, especially with its movement. And for all that the Theatre sound is a different animal to the Harmony, setup preferences / decisions are not just about sound alone.
The other factor I suspect dealers are reflecting is the “all app” control / setup / settings of the Theatre – there are no settings that can be brought up on the LG screen, and many have reflected that the setup / settings changing in the app is odd, flaky and not as intuitive as before.
So as upgrades go, the Theatre will clearly be a lot more compelling for those coming from older generation BV’s. I’m coming from a BV 12-65 and an Avant 55, so it’s a more obvious upgrade in my case. I have 2 Theatres coming in the next few weeks.
Some of my upgrade excites me – having a OLED screen etc, but some part makes me a bit sad. it will take me some time to get over the garish non-B&O UI on the TV, and secondly my wall mounted Theatre + G series LG will clearly not be Beovisions.
Oh well.
When I had that black ethernet cable in my hands I knew I was not going to use it, what a crap…
Just a disappointing note to add. It seems after I connected my front LR speakers the Theatres LR speakers are totally disabled and I cannot assign them to work as centre channel speakers. This is counter to what was being said on here leading to the launch.
I don’t really need those speakers it just seems like a huge waste to have 2 speakers dormant all the time.
Sandyb you are bang on. THis is exactly what BO said about new comers. For me the sound is good as a single speaker but not necessary as a centre speaker – the current harmony sound is more than sufficient.
Have B&O really learnt their lesson re software reliability?
The only downside to the harmony is that the harmony portion of the HDMI is 2.0 rather than 2.1. I have to switch off the HDCP in the PS5 to get it to work in 4k HDR mode
The good thing is that having spoken to Selfridges that support for Mozart speakers eg level speakers are coming next year for recent beovisions – I really hope this is the case.
As with all things I suppose it depends if one is buying or selling
Clearly the harmony needs to be upgraded; comments on beotalk suggest the theatre is far more capable lets see
Its definitely far more capable on paper – though the Harmony is no slouch, and remember many of those who proclaim the power / capability of the Theatre (and I wouldn’t necessarily disagree) also said the Harmony (at launch time) was way more capable than the Eclipse and super impressive sound wise.
If I had a Harmony, and presumably part of that would be because I really liked / lived the design, then I very much doubt I’d be changing to a Theatre setup. A Harmony with decent surround speakers is already more than enough / very impressive for most living rooms.
The Theatre in my living room setup, with BL50s fronts and BL17s as rears is way way over the line of overkill. But B&O made something (not criticising) far more than just a centre speaker, which is really what I really only need. But it is what it is, and its time for me to move on from my 12-65 to OLEDs, and I’ll swallow the price of the Theatre – especially as I expect it to last long into the future.
Could we expect an Harmony upgrade based on Theater hardware ?
(bass management with phase optimized filters)
the guys in Selfridges only know so much though (I’ve been there a number of times, and much prefer my local dealer in Islington tbh). That aside, I wouldn’t expect the Mozart as surrounds functionality for 1 year at least.
B&O will spend much of the next few months ironing out the initial software kinks and glitches, and likely only then turn their attention to Mozart surround. I also dont think its a very simple task at all.
Wrapped up in all this is “BeoLink Multiroom”, the spec for more recent speakers – and I dont really understand the exact differences between that and the previous Network Link.
Given all the problems people seem to have with pairing Levels etc, or with wireless connectivity issues on BL28s, I’m very sceptical that B&O will get this Mozart surround issue sorted any time soon.
So when connecting front L and R speakers to the Theatre the L and R firing speakers of the Theatre are disabled. Is that the intention of B&O or a software glitch? It might be needed to avoid confusion Atmos sound beams but still sad as those speakers don’t come for free.
Still, perhaps many of the features of the Theatre are at a loss if one is to connect a complete set of surround speakers. Makes me even more in doubt whether to pull the trigger on the Theatre.
What is mentioned in the user manual that comes with the Theatre, does it mention speakers being disabled when more are connected?Wrapped up in all this is “BeoLink Multiroom”, the spec for more recent speakers – and I dont really understand the exact differences between that and the previous Network Link.
BeoLink Multiroom is a commercial name that cover all their multiform technologies: NL, ML, MCL and even PUC… Network Link is the current standard they use for BeoLink Multiroom. So it’s the same just different name!
I received my Beosound Theatre, BeoLab 18s, BeoLab 19, and BeoRemote One BT yesterday.
Setup:
The Theatre didn’t have the user manual included as shown in the installation videos. The video skipped over attaching the side fins which needed to be done. After that it was pretty much as the video showed. I am using my BeoLab 17s that used to be connected to an Essence MkII, now in wireless mode for the rear speakers. Once I assembled the BeoLab 18’s and unboxed the 19 and set them in place I plugged everything in. To my delight doing a scan on the Theatre everything was discovered correctly, and after the calibration all the correct roles were assigned. As a result of the BeoLab 18’s being assigned front left and right, the corresponding channels on the Theatre are disabled. I don’t know if that means that the speakers are unused or if they are at least partially assisting the other channels as described in the sound design video from B&O. This part went pretty smoothly.
Initial Imparessions:
I watched the beginning of The Greatest Showman on 4K disk and it seemed fine, but I am not able to compare it with anything. I listened to a lot of music, looking for something with a lot of bass. I came to one song I was really familiar with and I thought it sounded kind of “tinny”. I looked up and saw that the lights on the 18’s and 19 was red. They evidently shut down. After rebooting the Theatre I tried again and things sounded better. I’m not sure why the front speakers shutdown? Wireless issue? I used the B&O app to “Play sound” on all the speakers and noticed it wasn’t playing on the 17’s behind me. I unplugged the 17’s and then it was fine again. Music sounded very good and I am pleased with all of it. I then watched a stereo concert from a blu-ray that I ripped to AppleTV. It was really good, but being stereo not really any rear channel activity. I paused and did a “Play sound” just to check everything. Again no sounds from the 17’s. Another unplug and they were working again.
This morning I AirPlay’ed a song to the Theatre and notice all lights were green. A good sign. But looking at the rear right the light went from green to red to green again. I’m not sure what that means.
I paired the BeoRemote One with the Theatre and one of the first things I noticed was a flaky volume control. I could take the volume all the way down, but I could only raise it a little bit. The volume control of the Halo worked fine. I later noticed that this behavior on the BeoRemote One was only this way when I was using AirPlay. There must be some kind of communication between the AirPlay source and the Theatre that is still a little shaky. It does work sometimes.
Other odd things I can’t change the settings for the virtulized speakers, up-firing and side firing speakers. I also can’t find the source list in the B&O app like Steve mentions in his post about the line-in input.
My B&O USB-C adapter didn’t arrive yet so I purchased an Apple variant. I can’t get it to work yet, so no turntable. Are they different adapters or do I have a setting wrong. I have to choose source from the Halo.
Things seem ok for the most part but I’m most concerned about the BeoLab 17’s shutting down. I guess it is probably a wireless issue, but I really want to use wireless if possible.
So when connecting front L and R speakers to the Theatre the L and R firing speakers of the Theatre are disabled. Is that the intention of B&O or a software glitch?
I don’t’ think its a glitch as it allows me to “virtualize” the up firing speakers when no audio is included in the source.
Hi Mark,
I think the issue with the rear speakers may be due to them being connected wirelessly. If you want to try a wired connection to the 17s to see if that improves things, please let me know and I can loan you some cables on a sale-or-return basis to try out without obligation.
I don’t think the Apple USB adapter will work but I do have the correct adapters available if you need one: https://soundsheavenly.com/tv-misc/191-usb-c-audio-input-adapter-for-beosound-theatre-ref-6271374.html
Kind regards, Steve.
bit concerned that the Theatre is having issues with BL17s connected wirelessly, as I am planning on doing exactly the same!
Do keep us posted if they start playing nice coin forward though.
And thanks for the write up.
I am wondering if a firmware update on the BL 17s will fix this? I don’t think I can do it because it looks like you need a Transmitter 1 to do it.
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