I'm not quite sure about that, I've heard it before though. The BeoLab 3s overall feel fantastically well built to me, and the ALT always feels very metallic.

If they have swapped it for a plastic ALT, then I can't say it's affected the quality or feel of the speaker at all...

Alex:

I'm not quite sure about that, I've heard it before though. The BeoLab 3s overall feel fantastically well built to me, and the ALT always feels very metallic.

If they have swapped it for a plastic ALT, then I can't say it's affected the quality or feel of the speaker at all...

It´s 90% plastic fantastic! The thin top and bottom plate of the ALT lense housing is made of aluminium, but it is plastic in between though...

What about changes/ upgrades? Are there different versions or only one? 

Beolab:

Sorry to correct you but there is an upgrade... new type numbers were assiged for the BeoLab 3 range with the upgrade.

There is a Mark II version of the Beolab 3 and they were assigned new Type numbers of 687X

As I understand it, B&O improved their production process and used some new materials in the Mark II product which I assume was to get the product cost down. However, by doing this, it changed the performance of the Beolab 3, so to ensure they kept the same sound performance and frequency characteristics from the loudspeaker, the cross-over components were modified

These changed components which effected performance were:-

• Woofer
• Main chassis PCB

Other items already highlighted in the previous posts were also changed, but they did not actually effective the performance of the speaker.

In my view, if you had a Mark I version, you would not wish to upgrade it to a Mark II even if you could.