You have to calibrate them when you get them first as otherwise you get a flashing green light! I have had a look at the service manual, and it makes no note of a default setting. You can of course fool the system by altering the environment around the microphone. I would calibrate!!

To reset to factory default you press the calibration point for 10-15 seconds. The calibration will start as usual but if you keep pressing it will stop and shut down resetting it self to factory default.

You should know that factory default is just a calibration for a room at B&O, so you don't get a flat EQ or anything useful at all. In my room the factory default sounds very thin. So does an actual calibration. If you like the sound now keep it. You never know what you get.

I would really like the factory default to be something close to no EQ. I think that would help many who are troubled by the calibration short comings. The flashing green light when not calibrated is of course also an issue but I am often tempted to live with that over the calibration in my own room. However the green flashes do get very annoying, espeacially since they are not sync'ed between the speakers.

Beology wrote:

On a previous discussion I think it was Moxxey that said he wasn't happy with the speakers following calibration. Has any one else this experience or the converse? Thats my primary concern preventing re-calibration.

Yes, correct. They were pre-calibrated (they were a pre-loved pair) and much preferred the audio before I decided to calibrate to my room (smaller, sash windows, wooden floor etc). They were never the same again. Just to add though - I didn't know that 15 seconds to set to factory default trick, at the time. Mind you, my other (smaller) issue was that they were huge in my room, so didn't last more than a year in my place.

Hi guys,

Thanks for your responses- I think I will just calibrate as suggested as the differing base levels between the speakers is slightly annoying. We'll see how we go.

I have to say they are a truly fantastic speaker. My wife and son who previously never really cared about speaker quality too much, keep saying how life-like the sound is and are very impressed. Even better is the fact that they sit comfortably in, rather than dominate my room.

They are a superb product and one of the best I have purchased - more bang for the buck than far more expensive products too (eg cars)!

Cheers

J

MrDMoulton wrote:

What kimchr says is pretty much correct.  The default setting has no testing or performance significance.  Interestingly, if the default setting was for "anechoic flat" the speaker would have absurdly loud (unusable!) bass response in any normal room.  

I can sympathise with the wish to not disturb the prior calibration setting, but it is no more than a calibration to deal with the speaker's previous position in a previous room.  Those of us who try to "EQ" our Beolab 5s by "gaming" the calibration are making a mistake.  Far better to buy a good equalizer and put it in line to tweak performance to your taste.  I've often experimented with this, and have a couple of settings I like, but I haven't permanently implemented any of them.  

I hope this helps.  Thanks for listening!

Dave

Horse's mouth - I would do as Dave says!🙂

MrDMoulton wrote:

What kimchr says is pretty much correct. The default setting has no testing or performance significance. Interestingly, if the default setting was for "anechoic flat" the speaker would have absurdly loud (unusable!) bass response in any normal room.

I can sympathise with the wish to not disturb the prior calibration setting, but it is no more than a calibration to deal with the speaker's previous position in a previous room. Those of us who try to "EQ" our Beolab 5s by "gaming" the calibration are making a mistake. Far better to buy a good equalizer and put it in line to tweak performance to your taste. I've often experimented with this, and have a couple of settings I like, but I haven't permanently implemented any of them.

I hope this helps. Thanks for listening!

Dave

i used fuzz measure to do countless of measurements while moving my speakers around and recalibrating. i have been tempted to eq it in pure music but i would like to avoid adding, turning up frequencies.

i thougt about renting a sports dome for a day to calibrate and hopefully get some bass. then i can eq bass down again in my living room.

Maab wrote:

MrDMoulton wrote:

 

What kimchr says is pretty much correct. The default setting has no testing or performance significance. Interestingly, if the default setting was for "anechoic flat" the speaker would have absurdly loud (unusable!) bass response in any normal room.

 

I can sympathise with the wish to not disturb the prior calibration setting, but it is no more than a calibration to deal with the speaker's previous position in a previous room. Those of us who try to "EQ" our Beolab 5s by "gaming" the calibration are making a mistake. Far better to buy a good equalizer and put it in line to tweak performance to your taste. I've often experimented with this, and have a couple of settings I like, but I haven't permanently implemented any of them.

 

I hope this helps. Thanks for listening!

 

Dave

 

 

 

Just a tip to whoever use a computer as a source... I calibrated my bl5 via Dirac Live room correction software, at it works great!

How does it work?

kimchr wrote:

i thougt about renting a sports dome for a day to calibrate and hopefully get some bass. then i can eq bass down again in my living room.

Can't you just locate them on the patio or garden (on a sunny day of course) or do you live above ground level?