Mark
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Wow, it seems that it is widely regarded that the WISA standard isn’t very good, or at least usable under certain circumstances. B&O relies heavily on it for its products it seems. Is that wise?
I am going to conduct a test. I created a new listening position with just the BeoLab 17’s and the BeoLab 19 as “Rear Stereo”. At the beginning of the calibration the BeoLab 17’s “were there”, after finishing the 17’s seemed to go offline and needed to be unplugged. Could this be a Theatre issue and not WISA? I can now play music to them and I can hopefully get an idea how stable the wireless is.
I read a post I think on this thread that someone said their BL17’s were rock solid on WISA. It was their BL19 they had daily night problems with. So I’m not giving up yet!
I haven’t used the system much except for tv, but every time I “Play sound” today it worked.
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.
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.
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.
If you look at the connectivity specifications for the Theatre, under Remote control it lists:
Remote control
Integrated system control, including LG OLED TV:Beoremote One BT
Bang & Olufsen App
Music streaming:
Beoremote Halo
So currently it looks like the Halo is not for the video functions.
I have worked out how to bring back in the side-firing Theatre speakers when they are greyed out, by first selecting virtualise, then change their role and then untick virtualise.
Lastly I remembered why I have set the Panasonic to PCM not Bitstream, some UHD discs are in Master DTS and not Atmos so I let the player decode and send a 7.1 uncompressed signal in to the Theatre, as DTS is not supported. In truth not sure it really matters whether it is the player, the TV or the Theatre which does the sound processing… it sounds epic so I am now after a calendar week of tweaking settled with my settings and can enjoy the purchase.
Thank you for the update! Your first point is very good to know. This should be in the Beosound Theatre Knowledge Base.
I will have to see how my UHD player is configured, but outside of the Atmos speakers in the Theatre I probably wouldn’t notice the height information as I will have a 5.1 system.
I’m very glad to hear you and John are impressed with the sound. I’m really looking forward to receiving mine on Monday!
so I have needed to put my UHD into the LG G2 to use the universal control HDMI-CEC, but as the pass through is now the reverse path, for some unknown reason it doesn’t recognise Atmos via bitstream and so still needing to use PCM to get 7.1. From the Panasonic DP-UB820EB.
Thank you for describing the issues you are having. I hope somehow I can benefit from this knowledge, or at least know what to expect.
I am having a little difficulty understanding the issue with the UHD player. When you say “reverse path”, do you mean the audio goes to the TV and then to the Theatre via eARC or something else? Atomos isn’t recognised this way? It is supposed to right?
My current plan is to use the Theatre for the center and front L and R. Use Beolab 9s for front wides. Have a BL2 in the front area. Use Beolab 1s for the surrounds. Use Beolab 6000s for rears, and use a total of x4 Beolab 4000s for front hight and rear hight speakers.
That’s a lot of wired speakers. I count 6 pairs and the Theatre only has 4 powerlink ports. Are you planning to use some of them wirelessly with the wireless receiver?
I’m sure this setup will sound absolutely amazing!
I can certainly understand the initial issues for a product like the Theatre that is supposed to work with so many different sets of speakers. The real world cases vastly outnumber what they are able to test in-house I image. I think it is great that B&O Manchester is going to support the installation as best as they can and not let the responsibility fall solely on the new owner.
My dealer is in another state and I was suprised to hear “they” were going to deliver it and not FedEx or UPS. They did not mention setting it up so I’m guessing it’s all on me. Right now it sounds like the issues are with the mic calibration not assigning roles correctly. I don’t mind modifying the results as that shouldn’t be too hard. I can survive initial software issues because I have lived with it before with the Level.
Just out of curiosity, is the teething problems related to the installation or to the setup and configuration of the Theatre? I’m asking because I don’t think my dealer will actually set mine up (along with the Beolab 18’s) I think they are just delivering them and it is up to me to set up everything.
My install is happening today. It will be the first motorised wall bracket for the Manchester store. I am moving from an Eclipse Gen 2 55” to a Theatre with a LG G2 65”. Interestingly the actual physical size difference is minimal due to the protruding beyond the screen soundcenter on the Eclipse. Hoping the increase in screen size will be epic for movies but not too overwhelming for general TV. I will add pictures once it is up and running.
Did the install happen?!? How is it? You will be the first here to report getting the Theatre.
I’m hoping mine comes next week.
I guess we got in the habit of seeing John’s video a little earlier. He previously said on the Emerge video:
Normally when a new product releases I like to have my video filmed, edited, done, ready to go on youtube at 8 o’clock on launch day.
I think we just miss him.
That’s good to hear. Henrik was showcasing the Theatre at the dealer and said when everything goes crazy, the voices get a bit muffled when compared with the Harmony. His reference was the intro song to The Greatest Showman. I have that movie and I will be able to get my impression when I get the Theatre, but I won’t be able to compare it to the Harmony.
Thanks Steve!
My gold/oak Theater is on it’s way to my dealer. I look forward to installing it and the Beolab 18’s! I’ll be listening to music again soon!
Henrik talked about possible vocal muffling in the intro song to The Greatest Showman. Is this something that can be fixed with software?
I was able to catch about 40 minutes of the podcast and there was a lot of good information being exchanged. I was wondering if it would be possible to compile a list of lessons learned or tips and tricks and put that here or another thread for that purpose. Mikipedia and the others have a wealth of experience and knowledge that many of us don’t have and it would be a very helpful reference source to use when we are configuring our Theatres. Steve mentioned about the USB adapter needing a configuration setting to work, and Mikipedia talked about some of the non-intuitive steps needed to configure speakers. I’m sure there was much more in the 2 hours. I would also like to know how successful and stable it would be to configure wireless speakers.
I’ve had a pair of Beolab 17’s connected to the Essence Mk II for many years. It’s been rock solid. On rare occasions if I am unable to Airplay to it I need to reboot the Essence. This system is also my alarm clock and it wakes me up to a TuneIn radio station. Just make sure you set your country and location if you use it for an alarm clock! I had to do a factory reset once to change my wifi password. I forgot that step and I woke up 5 hours early and went to work and didn’t even realize it until I got there!
Well, quiet in terms of actual listening impressions. They’ve mostly been product announcements. I enjoyed your latest video, but I was hoping for something more like the video where you compared the Beolab 18 and Beolab 8000 (without all the traffic noise!) I felt that I got your true feelings about the products and it made me feel safer for just having purchased the Beolab 18s! (I have not received them yet.) I’m sure that the Theatre is going to be an impactful speaker, it would be fun to hear what people think for music and movies. This is a very major purchase for me, the Theatre and Beolab 18s and Beolab 19, I’m hoping it will be everything I am hoping! For me, sitting down and listening to music is my number 1 desire for this new system.
I’m glad to hear that John hasn’t given up on making videos! The supply chain issues are really getting annoying! In truth, it’s your’s and John’s videos that really look forward to watching!
I should add, this is a completely blind purchase for me. I am not able to hear them in the showroom, so these videos are the closest thing I will have for that!
I’ve got a bit of a wait before I get my gold theatre, but I am excited about it! It seems to be everything I hoped it would be and more. I’ve enjoyed people talking about the new B&O products after they’ve been released but there seems to be complete radio silence on the Theatre. The usual YouTube sources are quiet too. I hope that’s not a bad sign.
