Beolab 9 vs Beolab 18 as rears

[Razlaw]

Just curious if there are any strong opinions as to which would be best as rears with a Theatre and 28s? 9s or 18?  I have a pair of 9s I can use, but am strongly tempted to get a pair of 18s.

Thanks for any opinions.

 

[beojeff]

I’m interested in this topic as well. I currently have BL6000s as my rears, BL1s as surrounds, and BL9s are fronts. After installing the Theatre, I might use the Theatre for the fronts as well as center channel. This would free up my 9s to be used as wides or possibly rears — or even surrounds.

I also have a pair of 8000s and 3s and 4000s that I could move into the room.

A discussion of how well various beolabs are suited as rear speakers would be great — especially in light of the new bass management system.

BL3s have the advantage of not being obstructed by a sofa. However, they lack bass.

BL9s would have the lower drivers blocked by a sofa, but they would add bass to the rear of the room.

BL1s were once recommended for rears due to their height. However, now that we can add Atmos height speakers, the height of the BL1s might actually be detrimental to the placement of speakers and get confused with the height channels.

[Razlaw]

I have a pair of 1s I was considering using also. But, having read that with Atmos a lower level is preferred, as you mentioned, I have decided against using the 1s.
My Theatre is due next week so am looking forward to trying the 9s. My dealer is holding a pair of 18s for me that I bought, but if I decide to go with the 9s, will get a refund.

[Sandyb]

isn’t this going to be down just as much to looks / ease of placement than it is by sound?

The rears, even with the Theatre, are only going to be doing so much work a lot of the time.

One could very easily argue that both 18s and 9s as rears are already well into overkill territory as it is.

If it were me, I’d be much more driven by looks / ease of placement considerations. I’ll be using 17s as rears with my Theatre (and Bl50s fronts) setup.

[Severed_hand_of_skywalker]

how big is your room and how far would the speakers be from your couch?

[Razlaw]

Room is about 15 feet by 17 feet.  Seating is one end of room. Speakers just to the side  and slightly behind the seating.

[Millemissen]

Why not just try it out!

Every room is different.

MM

[Razlaw]

That is what I am going to do with the 9s once the Theatre arrives. But I have never had an opportunity to hear 18s, but in some ways they might look better in the room.

[beojeff]

I’m curious about how the placement of speakers with substantial bass — such as the Beolab 9s — work with the new bass management system of the Theatre. This really pulls a lot of Geoff Martin’s articles together. I once had two BL2 subwoofers — one in front and one in the rear. This made quite a big difference. You couldn’t really notice WHERE the bass was coming from, but you could sense more balance…and perhaps FEEL it. Literally. However, my neighbors weren’t quite fond of my using two BL2 subwoofers so I removed one of them. Yet, there are times that I’m tempted to plug that second bad boy back in, put in the Top Gun UHD, and take The.Highway.To.The. Danger Zone!

[Severed_hand_of_skywalker]

Razlaw wrote:

Room is about 15 feet by 17 feet. Seating is one end of room. Speakers just to the side and slightly behind the seating.

I would say if the 9’s are too close to the couch they are firing too low right into the back/sides of the seating which isn’t good.

The 18’s are taller and can overcome that but honestly 18’s as rears are a bit of a waste.

I have 18’s as fronts with my theatre and a pair of BL3’s mounted to the wall just slightly above ear level and it fills the sound space really well.

[Razlaw]

I am going to try the 9s and a pair of 6000s I have and see what effect the added height has, or if I can even notice any difference due to the height, given the overall huge difference between the speakers.

[Hyponx]

With the new bass-management system taking advantage of all drivers in the system my thinking is that the Beolab 9 would be the better choice over the Beolab 18 for rear speakers. This is because the 18’s are very limited on bass capability, below even the Beolab 17. The Beolab 9 with two 10″ bass drivers especially positioned on the opposite side of the listening space from the Theatre would give the net system a lot of capability to optimize bass output in the room. It will also give you MUCH more low frequency extension. Using the very similar Beolab 20 (still on the B&O website) bass capability is rated at 104 dB which is a massive leap from the Beolab 18’s 83dB).

Beolab 28 is a bit of a wildcard.

[Razlaw]

That is what I have been thinking about the 9s.  The extra bass from them with the processing power of the Theatre might be amazing.  Combining that with the fact it appears that Dolby now recommends that the surrounds be lower to increase the separation between the height (virtual or real if I am understanding it correctly) speakers is making me think the 9s will be the right choice.

[beojeff]

I’m curious if anyone has had a chance to compare some of these scenarios.

[Razlaw]

I am still waiting for my (delayed) Theatre. As soon as it arrives I will be trying my 9s as rears, and either my 6000s or 4000s in an effort to decide if if I want the 18s my dealer is holding for me.

[NQVHNWI]

Razlaw wrote:

I am still waiting for my (delayed) Theatre.

You too? Mine was delayed a couple of weeks now. Expect to receive it tomorrow if all goes well. Any Idea of the cause? Seems widespread?

[beojeff]

I’ve been told I can expect my Theatre this week. The grill arrived yesterday. At least I can look at it and pretend that I have a Theatre. LOL. My dealer has made me a great offer for a pair of 9s to use as rears to complement the 9s I have as fronts. However, in measuring the 9s, I worried that they might be blocked by the sofa.

[Razlaw]

I don’t know what the delay is.  I was given an eta of last Wednesday or Thursday.  Then I was told it would be delivered on Friday.  Then I was told it shipped on Friday and I should receive it the first part of this week. The first part (Monday and Tuesday) have now come and  gone and still no Theatre. I also have a new BL 28 coming as a warranty replacement for one of my 28s that the curtains stopped working on. It was also due last week and I have had no updates on it.

[beojeff]

I will say that I haven’t been very pleased with my experience in getting the Theatre. I faced a very pushy sale and then very little follow-up about the delivery. When I had my loft furnished and decorated by Armani Casa, the man that I worked with at Armani told me that in the world of high end retail making the sale is only half of the job. The other half is seeing that the products arrive safely in the customer’s home. My dealer has been using very basic FedEx for delivery with no way to arrange for a delivery time and will not give me the option to upgrade to a better crater/freighter service. This has been very frustrating trying to manage my work schedule to be able to be home for a delivery on short notice when there has been such little communication.

[Severed_hand_of_skywalker]

I think you need to talk to your dealer. I used a dealer on the other side of my country and I got the first order they got straight from Denmark to NY then NY to Toronto and a private delivery company dropped it off in my place all before halloween.

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