First of all, hello to everyone on Beoworld. My setup at home is a BV10-40, BC2, Bl8000, Bl4000 and Bl2. I'm planning of buying an Avant-55 and a new set of frontspeakers. Therefore my dealer gave me a set of Bl18 and Bl 20 for this weekend to try and listen. My rears are Bl4000 and I want to leave it that way.I thought perhaps You can appreciate when I share my findings
First I had a go with music. My taste is progressive rock for the most, but I also listen to pop and classic. My first one was False awakening suite and Illumination theory of DreamTheater. The Bl 18 were a huge difference according to Bl8000. A lot more mid's, a better balance of high and much more low's. This was on medium volume. On very high volume the low's fade a bit away and were a bit distorted, mid's and high stayed sharp and nice to listen to. Really no need for a subwoofer at low and medium volume. On high I turned on my Bl2 and there it was. Very clean and tight bass. I don't know why, but it's differend from the combo wih Bl8000. No wobbly sound to my ears
Then I turned on the Bl20. Very tight and clean sound. Nice spread and crisp sound.Perhaps a bit to crisp for my appreciation. The Bl18's were warmer. On very very high volume they were still clean and tight, the bass was much better than it was with the Bl18. So on average and high volume the Bl18 ( plus Bl2 ) and the Bl20 were almost on par.
Next was Vivaldi's The Four Seasons. For me here were the BL18's definitely the winners. However, It's all a matter of personal choise. To me the Bl20's weren't warm enough, to crisp. But do not exaggerate this, they do a marvelous job, but just not for my taste.
Then there was some "boom"music Delerium with Silence. This was really fun. The Bl20's with there immense power bass, were absolute winners. Turn on the volume and go. Very tight, crisp and good solid bass. This kind of music should be played like the Bl20's perform. Again, on average volume the BL18's were very good, but on high the BL2 did a good job, better than with the BL8000, but not quite as good as the bass of the BL20.
Than there was Lord of the Rings, The return of the King. This was why Bl20 was created in my mind. Without a sub, you can shake your windows, move the earth, just as with the Bl2. The crisp sound is very good for movie's, every dialog can be heard precisely. Really fun to look and listen to. However, the Bl18 + Bl2 were almost on par. The spread of Bl20 was slightly better. But it was a perfect experience. You really need the BL2, the Bl18 is just not strong enough for movie's to get it shaking.
So, on the whole, when you have BL2, i really think there is no need to spent that extra 4K on buying the BL20. For me with music the Bl18 were the best, so adding a BL2 for movies, give you that extra dimension. On the other hand, the Bl20 look stunning in the flesh. Better than the 9's, personal choise!, and much better than the picture's. Very good on music, extreem with movies. You can't go wrong on either of these two.
Cheers.
