Finally got beolab 8s set up .

[Ianc2]

These speakers where bought to replace BL6000/BL3 as rear surround speakers linked to an eclipse set up , and the Bluetooth streaming was a big plus as we have streaming speakers through the house (b&o and naim) but nothing in the living room other than grabbing the remote and turning the tv on .

i have had 4 boxes waiting patiently for the stands to come available , and yesterday the remaining 2 boxes arrived . 🙂

It is a mini ikea experience to get them built up , and kind of odd that part of the stand comes with the speaker when you cannot actually use the speaker without a stand due to the shape of the bottom .

however , assembly is very easy and the cardboard packaging has a handy “work bench” built in for assembling the floor stands .

the hardest part was keeping the cats out of the boxes as I was working , and threading the cable through the stand . (Luckily , Power only in my case)

After frantically searching through my supplies in the garage , I  managed to find a longer non-polarized “8” cable , as the ones supplied with speakers would not be long enough for where one would be positioned .

if you are waiting on floor stands to arrive , I suggest measuring to nearest outlet and buying a cable beforehand rather than frantically trying to find one once you realize the older “squared 8” b&o cables you have on hand will not work .

once I had one assembled I asked the designer for guidance on placement …

no major furniture moving , but I did lose one of my rear bl2 subs in the name of aesthetics .

whilst she was there I set up the speaker on the app ( couple of minutes basic setup) and we used her phone to listen on a single speaker .

first it was b&o radio smooth jazz channel and was surprisingly good , then I think she tried the smiths , and after a minute of one by u2 she said it didn’t sound right .

off she went leaving me to assemble the 2nd speaker .

i got this one into position all by myself as there was only one option where it would be placed , and added it as a pair in the app .

i called her back in and she again streamed her phone using Bluetooth .

this time it was massive attack , followed by others that I don’t remember , at various volumes and positions within the room .

sound very good for what will be used as background music whilst vacuuming , cleaning etc. .

i was expecting a BBC monitor type experience from speakers the size of a human head , and initial listening tells me these could be used very successfully as a dedicated stereo pair with the correct positioning , source other than Bluetooth etc.

the treble did seem a little harsh on one track and one speaker is opposite a large mirror , and Allthough toed in slightly it was reflecting .

i changed the sound to the narrow setting and it improved dramatically .

after this it was blue Monday by new order , and nice and tight but I was feeling it would be better with the BL19 added for punch .

she squatted slightly and said the stereo was much better on axis (as expected) but these are primarily rears at the side of the sofa , so we will not be using the rather handy 2-position bracket built into the speaker to tilt them up for listening while standing (or in her case dancing) though this is a simple no tools needed 2 second adjustment should you want to tilt them up for a party etc.

i was told “no calibrating” as she was tired , so surround set up was delayed until this morning .  I guess she remembered my excuse for watching movies very loud was that I was calibrating the surround sound 🙂

‘onto this morning , it was a little bit of time with the tv remote in one hand and my phone in the other as I added the speakers to WISA and set them up on the eclipse .

then onto my go-to : the opening few minutes of “saving private Ryan” ..

absolutely superb !!!

with the initial toe-in set as a compromise for sound and aesthetics , and the new dual purpose of filling the room with sound when streaming , the surround sound worked perfect straight out of the box .

i was expecting to have to change the speakers back to wide mode , but narrow works perfect in my situation and also works better for her streaming .

i think the fact they are much higher than the 6000s helps tremendously , and my plan now is to sell the 6k and place bl3 on the floor behind the sofa firing upwards to experiment with surround back / rear atmos using wall reflections and tweeter masking . I’ll follow up on that experiment once completed .

its not been 24 hours yet , and with no real listening position and no desire to move things around I doubt I will notice a difference as the speakers get worn in , but I am more than happy with the new (rather expensive) purchase .

in regards the BL19 , I asked on here this morning and got a reply that it could not be done . Well it could but it would mean grabbing the remote and turning the tv on and that goes against the “quick and easy Bluetooth stream” idea . Note: I have/had 2 BL2s at each side of the sofa for movies , and a BL19 out front for stereo music from tv . The shape of these speakers is reminiscent of a BL11 I have in another room , and adding one to a stereo pair of 8s might be possible using powerlink but that is an endeavor for somebody else …

i am still undecided on the cloth grills , they look great but I think the light oak covers look slightly better and as I have only seen them in pictures online etc it would be an expensive experiment to change them when the designer has allready said “black and silver” .

maybe in the future if grills become available cheap I can experiment with a different cloth colour , or preferably wood covers in light oak or refinished with a black stain , or maybe replace the wood with aluminum or titanium etc as I like that they are flush with the aluminium enclosure rather than set in with the cloth covers .

 

i hope you liked the review , I’ll add more if I find anything interesting to add as I get used to the speakers and adjust settings etc.

 

 

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