Better than BL90s?

[roundhead]

For those lucky enough to own or have had an extended audition of the BL90, have you heard anything comparable or superior. Steinway Lyngdorf do an open baffle system which is apparently amazing, heard studio monitors by PSI Audio and Genelec and the clarity and detail was astonishing,

[roundhead]

I’d add TAD CR1 with beryllium drivers where the music lifted off the speakers and floated into the room. That was quite something.

[NQVHNWI]

I think there are lots of “loudspeaker Systems” that are as good – possibly even “better” than the 90’s?

I think at that level….the question is what are you measuring (objectively, subjectively, and financially):

1. A subjective preference to a particular sound or presentation
2. The room in where you hear the 90s compared to what something else is played in.
3. Loudspeaker System. The BL90s are a loudspeaker, Amplification, Loudspeaker cable, pre-Amp and Dirac room calibration of a fixed type. Other loudspeakers need this supporting package in one quality form or another to be compared. Its not loudspeaker to loudspeaker
4. The difference between Power Link from a Beovision and Digital direct or even XLR source is embarrassing for PL. Many don’t realise how bad it actually is?
5. The Difference between B&Os BC-Connect in USB mode and my Auralic (now obsolete) G2 Stack of DAC, Streamer, clock and Up-sampler (£1k vs £25k) outputting to XLR is significant in my opinion.

Ultimately, I think once you get over a threshold “Value” of a Hi-Fi package – it becomes more about personal sound/interaction preference, beer-bragging rites rather than a pure technical Sound Quality issue? You hear many internet forums and old paper store magazine reviews describe B&O as better Bang for the buck elsewhere…mantra….well I would say that somewhere near or above the BL50s package……that all stops and and as repeatedly stated above becomes preferential and financial.

10

 

[AdamS]

I have only ever heard one pair of loudspeakers that, to my ears, were better than Beolab 90s. However there are three main issues that prevent me from having them:

(1) They were £215,000 per pair around 14 years ago

(2) Each speaker consists of four towers of drive units, with the largest being around 2m tall.

(3) They were a proof of concept of what the company could do and so they only ever made one pair!!!! I suspect this single pair no longer exists either, which makes me very sad.

For anyone interested, they were the ADAM Audio OSS (Olympus Sound System). I heard them at the Munich High End show one year and just sat in front of them for over an hour, absolutely slack-jawed in amazement. They were truly incredible – I still cannot explain how speakers so huge could completely ‘disappear’ in sonic terms.

Some details here: https://www.soundandvision.com/content/adam-audio-olympus-sound-system

Amusingly, they used B&O ICEpower amplifiers!

[BeoMatthew]

I was lucky enough to work in a showroom that had BeoLab 90s in a decent room for years. I’ve spent as much time with them as some of my own speakers. But for the last 6 years I’ve also sold and been party to some crazy hi-fi. I’d echo the above comment that once you reach this tier of audio, you’re no longer in a “better/best” situation. Anything near or above that price point is going to give you a transcendent experience. If we’re honest – at that point we’re not talking about a permanent system. People that spend that kind of money are ultimately looking for the next thing. Most of the 90s I sold are no longer the primary speakers – or were never in a listening room to begin with.

[roundhead]

Always a nagging feeling of how to get it repaired and parts availability in coming years. It’s a complicated all-in-one device. Simpler and cheaper room correcting gear is now available.

[Peter the Biker]

After listening to the sound out of BeoLab 90 my answer to the question “What do you think about these speakers?” would be: “Which speakers?”

[Author]

Posts