I regret saying anything.  You have a dealer who will let you borrow a Beolab 19?  Just do it!  Then you will know how it sounds.

People already go pushing their subwoofers around the room to eliminate room modes, and live to tell the tale without "incoherence of the bass" ever being discussed.  Also, I completely disagree with @Die_Bogener about straight-line.  Even putting a sub in the middle of two 8000s which are in an equilateral triangle with you, already shortens the distance somewhat!  If any expert reads this and would care to weigh in, especially if your large room size makes the effect (if any) better or worse, that would be great, but it's still theory until you "pressurize the volume" yourself.

As to the 11, in a large room you might think either: (a) any little bit will help, or (b) that's not enough to even notice.  Maybe *two* 11s, one for each 8000?  (Joke but not joke.)  You just have to *try* it, unless you're an audio genius with a modelling program.

But after re-reading your initial post I wondered why you would spend Beolab 19 bucks on a woofer given that part of the point of the 8000s was being a bargain.  I love the way they look myself, and would never switch to 20s from a designy point of view, but if you can get them for a reasonable price... from a sound point of view, I might make an exception...  Their 10" woofers are good for your large room, and the acoustic lenses let you roam around too.  In all ways except looks superior to 8000s.

P.S.  Don't forget to post saying what you finally installed.  A picture would not go amiss either...(:-)

You sort of summarized my thoughts. I've been thinking the same thing as you've pointed out. The 8000s were a bargain and spending for Beolab 19s feels not right. I've found a decently priced Beolab 11 and I'll give it a go.

Regarding the 20s. I feel like that these are something that would totally fit my use case. The downside is that I can't try them out. Sort of have to gamble one them :)

Also will have to convince my wife since she quite likes the 8000s :).

From my own experience my secondhand Beolab 8000s sounded awful compared to Beovox S45-2, S60 etc. However this may have been because the foam rotted. Certainly several years before when I bought some brand new ones the bass was fine and i thought they sounded amazing.

I would try the subwoofer and see how it sounds. I tried one with my 8000s and i found it just muddled the sound of music.

 

I just wonder if there is something else wrong with the way have the system connected? You say that the TV is connected via Line out - is there any way of adjusting the bass on the TV? Can you connect the speakers to the Beomaster using powerlink and see how they sound?

 

link

From my own experience my secondhand Beolab 8000s sounded awful compared to Beovox S45-2, S60 etc. However this may have been because the foam rotted. Certainly several years before when I bought some brand new ones the bass was fine and i thought they sounded amazing.

Same experience here when BL8000's MK1 replaced S45-2 and then P50's. I changed the foam (black rotten with brand new white) and get a little increase in bass but not that much. They still didn't even compete with my BL4000's. But the pencils are now driven by a Playmaker with the bass cranked up a little and mostly used to listen to analogue music (Beogram) and I must say I'm happy with it: not those deep chest striking bass but bass low and round enough to my taste. When listening to digital sources they are more average" but as this is often background music it works also. And as already said, the benefit of the iconic design. It's not a perfect deal but it's ok right now. Sometimes I'd like to add a BL2, sometimes not because it is hard to place in my room and wires, etc… The Beolab2 is also quiet expensive even in second hand. There is one around for 350€ but it's faulty and i don't know how easy/difficult repairs are on this unit. aJames, you also compare second hand BL8000's with brand new you bought years ago. Were the the same mark because the brand new may have been MK2 with improved bass and the second hand MK1, couldn't they?

I think my first 8000's must have been mark 1s as they were bought in the very late 1990s - they replaced RL60.2. Both used with a Beocenter 9300 - I remember not being impressed then compared to the RL60s but after a while i grew to love the sound of them and never thought they lacked bass, maybe they needed some time to wear in?

I now also use a Playmaker for streaming, i have it plugged into a Quad 303 as it drives my M100-2 speakers superbly and if i want more bass i can turn it up on the playmaker. Like you i mainly listen to vinyl (BG4002) and i find the playmaker a brilliantly simple but great quality preamp that can stream music too. The M100-2s and they are the best B&O speaker that i have owned - but bear in mind I can't afford Beolab 5s and upwards so I cant compare them with those - but to me they are fantastic. I recapped them with a kit from Dillen and the performance now must be close to when they were new if not better.

Prior to the Playmaker/Quad combo I tried an Audio Icon valve amp with KT88 valves - the result was very involving but i found there was too much bass and slightly muddled lower end. Beolink Passive was just not powerful enough. Quad 33/303 very good but not as warm as playmaker/303, Beomaster 2200 great, Beomaster 6000 brilliant, Beomaster 6500 slightly muffled and nowhere near as open as the 6000.

I guess the thing is to experiment and find the sound you like