Beolab 20 or Beolab 28

18 replies

Hello Everyone.

I am decorating my new home and am thinking to get a pair of speaker....

I am chooseing between the beolab 20 + core or beolab 28. and the beolab 28 is about 20% more expensive then the Beolab 20+ core set.

I will put it in a room which is only 14sqm with a sofa and tv in it.

I will watch movie, play game and listen music in this room.

A friend of mine told me 20 has a better sound quality than 28, but i also heard from others that 28 is better than 20, so I am really confused.

Can anyone give me a suggestion which is a better choice?

 

Many claim the 28’s bass performance is on par with the 20’s.

if Geoff were to read this, I’d love for him to explain how he managed that, given the area of the 20’s 10” driver is significantly greater than the area of the 28’s 6.5” driver. :)

Cheers!

First of all the price difference seem small. 

Beolab 20 goes for 50.000DKK for dealer demo units incl. 2 year warranty. And less if you bargain with them.

Beolab 28 starts at 80.000DK before discounts or wooden front covers.

So it sounds like your deal on the Beolab 20s is bad or that you have a really good deal on the Beolab 28s.

If those prices stand I would probably go with the Beolab 28s regardless of what my reasonings below.

 

The Beolab 20 will make your sofa vibrate which won't happen with the Beolab 28. So if you consider movies very important then you should consider the Beolab 20, as there bass driver is capable of moving much more air. With the Beolab 28 it will sound good, but with the Beolab 20 it will sound and feel good. For some people that is an important part of movie watching. The 20s will also outperform the 28s on bass if you play very loud bass heavy music.

Many people prefer the sound signature of the 28s compared to the 20. There is a very nicely integrated balance between the highs, mids and lows. They just sound good out of the box, or with very little tuning in the app. And if you don't max out the volume on the 28s they do sound very good, and more balanced than the 20s. Furthermore the technology is newer, they have more B&O moving magic, and they work without any external boxes or TV. For everything else than serious movie watching I would choose the Beolab 28s over the Beolab 20s. 

 

Hi Mikael, 

From speakers to TV:s. I saw that You have an beovision eclipse 2nd generation with LG:s GX-screen. 

I ordered an Eclipse last week 2nd generation with G1-screen. 

Are You happy with your Eclipse and does it work flawless without any software bugs?

Best Regards
Martin

Sweden

Thank you Michael.

I think i will just go wiz the Beolab 28.

I have a question, I am really confused. If i don't buy a B&O TV, how do I connect beolab 28 to a Samsung TV, the info I got from the dealer here is different to what I hear from Friend.

Can i just connect it direct with the power link line? any suggestion?

Thank you~! 

You can use specific cables from Steve and SoundsHeavenly, a forum sponsor--he can help you. Alternatively, you can use an S8 Connection Hub. And you can also get a third-party WISA box.

Those are three ways to connect the speakers to a Samsung TV. I hope that helps.

Thank you for your quick reply.

Is the S8 Connection Hub same as the beosound core?

Thx for your help~!

 

Curly wrote:

Many claim the 28’s bass performance is on par with the 20’s.

if Geoff were to read this, I’d love for him to explain how he managed that, given the area of the 20’s 10” driver is significantly greater than the area of the 28’s 6.5” driver. :)

Cheers!

 

Hi,

This is an easy one to explain.

First, the analogy:

Consider two cars, driving side-by-side on the highway. Both are going 100 km/h. One is a 2011 Honda Civic (my car) and the other is a 2021 Bugatti Chiron (not my car). These two cars have very different capabilities, but, at this moment in the example, they're both going exactly the same speed.

Of course, if both drivers put their foot down at the same time, the two cars will respond differently - one will accelerate faster than the other, and will reach a higher top speed.

Now to loudspeakers:

Any loudspeaker of any size can produce any frequency in the audio range. However, the LEVEL at which they can produce that frequency changes with the driver dimensions and excursion.

For example, a 1" tweeter can move in and out 20 times per second, therefore it can produce audio at 20 Hz. However, it can't move very far, so it won't be very loud. Similarly, a large woofer can (in theory) move 20,000 times per second - but if you push it too hard, then the mass of the woofer will be hard to vibrate, and all you'll do is to heat up the voice coil.

So, generally speaking, with the right filtering and enough amplifier power: any loudspeaker can produce any frequency range (for a little while), depending on the level.

This also means that, at a low-enough listening level (which might mean "a normal listening level"), a 6.5" woofer and a 10" woofer will both produce the same output (just like the two cars both going 100 km/h). It's only when you start turning up the volume* that a difference starts occurring - the 10" woofer can play low frequencies louder than the 6.5" woofer.

 

This question has occurred before - some people were confused looking at the "frequency range" specifications that the Beolab 12-1 (with 1 woofer) goes lower than the 12-2 (with 2 woofers). This is true because of the level at which the measurement is done. Turn up the level, and you'll get a different answer.

For a more detailed explanation of this question, check out this posting:

PLEASE READ before sending me a Personal Message.

If you have questions about or problems with B&O equipment, these should be directed through your dealer and/or B&O's Customer Service department.

I cannot be a "short circuit", bypassing these communication channels.

Thanks
-geoff

Hi Again,

I just had a look at the specifications of both the Beolab 20 and the Beolab 28 on the Bang & Olufsen website. The numbers there tell you the same thing as what I just wrote in "longhand"

The maximum sound pressure outputs of both loudspeakers are almost identical:

  • Beolab 20: 108 dB SPL
  • Beolab 28: 110 dB SPL

This is because this number is largely the result of the midrange output - and loudspeakers with roughly the same midrange and roughly the same peak power will result in the same maximum output level.

The Frequency Ranges of the two loudspeakers show the lower roll-off of the Beolab 20:

  • Beolab 20: 19.5 Hz - 23.6 kHz
  • Beolab 28: 27 Hz - 23 kHz

For all practical purposes, 23.6 kHz and 23 kHz are the same (a difference of about 0.45 of a semitone, if you're a musician). However, 19.5 Hz is considerably lower than 27 Hz (between 5 and 6 semitones lower). On the other hand, those numbers are specified to be where the magnitude response crosses a line 10 dB below the average level between 200 Hz and 2 kHz - so it's already very quiet relative to the mids. (See

PLEASE READ before sending me a Personal Message.

If you have questions about or problems with B&O equipment, these should be directed through your dealer and/or B&O's Customer Service department.

I cannot be a "short circuit", bypassing these communication channels.

Thanks
-geoff

Martin wrote:

Are You happy with your Eclipse and does it work flawless without any software bugs?

We are very happy with our Eclipse 2. gen. It's about 1 year old now, and the bugs have been few and minor. 

I've had a few times where the motor stand for some reason bangs into the wall. Very time in in connection with a update for the LG tv. So now I'm just aware when a power up the TV after an update. Haven't been an issue lately, but the floor stand has also gotten updates since so it might be fixed.

This week I had the volume go up and down by it self a few times during a movie. Apparently that is connected to the lastest LG update, and should be fixed soon. But that is only 1 time during many hours of use since the last update.

In day to day use we are more than happy, and haven't for a single second regretted buying the TV.

The G1 would had some extra brightness to the display, but otherwise there is not much difference. 

or
BeoWorld Gold Membership card
Join BeoWorld

Register to access the forums, reference material, and exclusive member benefits — including our monthly prize draw.

Become a Member

December 2026 Prize Draw

Gold Members Only

As a Gold member you're automatically entered into our exclusive prize draw — your chance to win iconic Bang & Olufsen products. A unique benefit of BeoWorld Gold membership, every draw brings a new opportunity to win something special.