Jackplug wrote:

they're ace

Have lab1's and love them. I have no experience of penta's so no help there. Short of trying a pair of lab 1's in your house there you will never know but why replace the penta's? I get the impression from this site they are a popular speaker. i  have been meaning to get a pair of pentas to use with my" old masters".

My wife is very good, she must be to put up with all the B&O (surplus) and I do have the BL5s in her (sorry, our) living room!  So it's a case of, something has to go. I want to keep the Pentas but only next place to put them is the master bedroom (to replace some BL6000s) but she says the Pentas too big for the bedroom, can't disagree.  Plust the Penta 3s are mint and foams still great so I could probably get a good price for them, nearly as much as what I'm paying for the BL1s.  I'm sure the BL1s are nice, you don't know if they have any foam drivers (mid) that will need fixing in a few years?

Jackplug wrote:

you don't know if they have any foam drivers (mid) that will need fixing in a few years?

if it was not such a struggle to get the frets off I would look - but I do not think they are foam. If pentas are big for the bedroom, lab1's are massive.

Yeah, I meant, Pentas move from dining room to bedroom and then BL1s take their place in the dining room.  Anyway, I think the BL1 mid ranges are hidden even when the frets are off so don't bother trying to look and risk breaking anything. Thanks.  Think my solution is bigger house or blind-fold my wife, neither of which are very likely (I asker here once before)  ;-)

The fret are easy to remove from the BL1 (as long as you are not short and do not have a stool or chair to stand on).  There is a gap at the top of the fret where you reach in and push on a small latch/button which unlocks the fret and then it just slides up.  It took me a while to find it the first time, but it is really quite simple (it is in the middle gap, a little to the right).  It is true that the mid-range driver is behind a mesh dome so you cannot easily see the driver surrounds.  However, I've not heard any mention of foam issues out on this forum or elsewhere (and I did a pretty thorough search prior to buying).

Since I own BL1s, as you predicted, I say they are "all aces".  I don't have any experience with Pentas, but I was at a US service center a few days ago discussing repair options for my BL1 (the on/stand-by LED isn't working properly), and he had some pentas in for repair, and it was his unsolicited opinion that the BL1s "blow away" the Pentas (I just mentioned to him that I had never listened to Pentas, and he offered his opinion - "muddy" sound is a comment I recall).  He wasn't trying to "sell" me anything because his advice was that since the speaker works otherwise, it could be a costly repair (as you may have to replace the entire amplifier board) for little value.  I realize this goes against the conventional wisdom on this site (Pentas rule, BL1s are just OK), but also points to the fact we all hear differently.  I think they are quite a bit better than the BL8000s (which I also own).  I don't think they were a very good value at $8K (which might have something to do with their lack of love on this site), but if you can find them ~$3500 (and they're in good shape), I think they're a great value.

Stan

I'm very partial to the Beolab 1s, and feel they are distinctly nicer speakers than the Pentas, both in sound and looks.  

Naturally, I prefer acoustic lens speakers, but I've got to tell you that the Beolab 1 is an awfully nice speaker, all things considered.  

Best regards,  

I have the BL1s and they are excellent speakers and in my opinion better than the Pentas, 8000, 6000 etc. I recalled listening to all of them many years ago and being impressed with the sound of the BL1s comparatively. I now have had these for 11 or 12 years and they continue to work perfectly. I dont think you would be disappointed with them. While they are 1.8m they are fairly narrow so they don't overwhelm the room.