The Mk 2 use the amplifier from the Beolab 4 - slightly dodgy design in my view, not the same as the bigger speakers. I have two sets of Mk1 4000s - a blue set and a gold set - both brilliant and no problems with either. When I went round Struer, 4000s are in just about every room - clearly because they are cheaper but also because they can be put almost anywhere and sound good. Don't know what they have these days - Geoff?

Peter wrote:

The Mk 2 use the amplifier from the Beolab 4 - slightly dodgy design in my view, not the same as the bigger speakers. I have two sets of Mk1 4000s - a blue set and a gold set - both brilliant and no problems with either. When I went round Struer, 4000s are in just about every room - clearly because they are cheaper but also because they can be put almost anywhere and sound good. Don't know what they have these days - Geoff?

Interesting Peter, and one of the reasons it's good to have the forum here, I'd not heard about the problems with the BL4000 and IcePower amps. I know that, outside of reliability, a lot of the things I hear said against IcePower has more to do with the typical audiophile view of if it ain't a class AB old style amp, preferably with tubes, it has to be evil incarnate. But reliability is an important consideration. Given that, and the price, I'd go with MkI's personally, and if boomy adjust the bass.

I love them wherever I've seen them, on a shelf, on floor stands, mounted on the wall (stunning on each side of a BS9000 or such). I had a pair for evaluation briefly when I was deciding between them and the BL8000. They sounded amazing, but the 8000 had better bass and were better suited for my listing in the room I had, but it was a close thing as the 4000s sounded very good and would have been easier to sit on the mantle. Ultimately I decided to arrange the room differently and mantle mounting was not important. Stunningly good looking speaker though, after looking at small box speakers for decades, the graceful leaf shaped cabinet design just blew me away.

Someday I'll pick up a used pair.

jowus wrote:

Hi Jeff, the 17's were made out of the 4000's, so how can you say it's ugly? In Design wise, they just differentiate it a little bit. And they sound way better than the 4000's. I don't see it ugly at all. Maybe, the only thing ugly about it is the Price but not the Speaker itself.

Jeff wrote:

Interesting Peter, and one of the reasons it's good to have the forum here, I'd not heard about the problems with the BL4000 and IcePower amps. I know that, outside of reliability, a lot of the things I hear said against IcePower has more to do with the typical audiophile view of if it ain't a class AB old style amp, preferably with tubes, it has to be evil incarnate. But reliability is an important consideration. Given that, and the price, I'd go with MkI's personally, and if boomy adjust the bass.

I love them wherever I've seen them, on a shelf, on floor stands, mounted on the wall (stunning on each side of a BS9000 or such).

jowus wrote:

Hi Jeff, the 17's were made out of the 4000's, so how can you say it's ugly? In Design wise, they just differentiate it a little bit. And they sound way better than the 4000's. I don't see it ugly at all. Maybe, the only thing ugly about it is the Price but not the Speaker itself.

How can I say it's ugly? Well, I didn't say ugly, I said the 4000s were better looking, to me. But how can I say it. It's easy. It's ugly! See how easy that was? 😎 Actually, I do think the 17s are unattractive, and don't find the materials they are made of as attractive as the 4000s. Sonically, I think they are better, but better than say a used pair of 4000s with a BL11? At a lower price? That would be superior in my opinion, your ears may differ of course.

I seem to have read about issues with the power switch on some of the MK 1 models.  Was this the case?  I know the MK 2 did away of the power switch and just have the status light.  I will see if I can find those threads, but I do not have much luck with the search function.

I don't have a pair of Beolab 4000's, but I believe that the easiest way to inspect the foam is to unclip the speaker grill and remove the tweeter from the front by removing the two screws. If the foam is black, then it is probably original, as the replacement updated foam is white. Removing and changing the foam requires the speaker to be dismantled.

I don't know the percentage rate of foam failure, but the problem also applies to the Beolab 8000.