soundproof wrote:

 

I suspect we're dealing with a case of the audiomaster "not having been told" what it's connected to, or otherwise having been set up wrong.

I feel the same. Many factors in dealing with BL5's. As they are a truly non colored and transparent speaker just like a studio monitor is. BL5's will show a piece of work, be it musical or movie for what it really is. Source material, player and setup play a crucial role with these speakers. Personally I never thought much of the BeoLab 1's as I found them to have a clinical sound with little warmth, so the jump to BL9's would have been huge IMO. However as I have both BL9's and BL5's and as good as the BL9's are there still is no comparison to the BL5's. From all angles the delivery of BL5's is far superior, in power, acuracy/detail, separation, warmth, frequency range (especially in bottom end). So there must be something wrong in the set up. I certainly have experienced this before in a store and if your dealer wants the sale that bad he/she should be willing to bring them around for a demo in your house. Mine certainly sound better at home than they do in my local dealer. With the set up 100% BL5's Should sound amazing anywhere, but of course they will always sound better in a more breathable room.

I listened to the 5s again today at another dealer. I still was not overly impressed. My girlfriend, however, liked them and thought they sounded better than my 9s. She thinks the 9s are more precise and individual instruments can be heard and that she thinks that appeals to me, whereas she thinks the 5s blend everything into a better overall sound which she liked.

I'm sorry, Razlaw, but we appear to have entered into Bizarro-World wherever it is you are listening to these speakers. Something is not right in the set-up.

That said, you should go with the speakers you like the most, and are most comfortable with. There's no point in taking something home to hope that it will grow on you, if you already have something you like - and this is particularly true of speakers. We all have a sound-signature we prefer.

Some comments have been made on the (relative absence of) midrange of the Beolab 9, I haven't read such comments about the 5's, so perhaps the midrange seems to be more prominent in the 5's relative to the bass which could explain the fenomenon that you described? 

As shown earlier in the thread, some dealers have set the BL9 for maximum bass boost, and have even engaged loudness on the audiomaster they are connected to. The speakers are smaller, less expensive and probably a lot easier to sell -- and a lot of people don't mind boosting the bass "to feel the music". All in all, a good selling strategy, but not very true to B&O's philosophy about neutral reproduction.

The BL5s measure the room and adjust their output below 440Hz, in order to achieve a correct bass reproduction - where correct to many becomes too little, and they wonder why such powerful speakers don't have more "oomph". Since we can't decouple the calibration, which could have been an option, people are then down to various strategies, if they wish to boost the bass. You can use EQ or DSP, to boost it - I have played around with bass boost using the filters on Pure Music's playback software. 

Others have recalibrated the speakers in larger rooms, and then taken them into the room they want them in. And I've even read a thread here where someone took them outside, calibrated them there, and then carried them back inside. I would actually think that it would be better to calibrate them in the room, and then adjust the bass output using DSP, if you want to avoid a muddled, albeit strong bass.

People have different bass preferences - I listen to acoustic music (jazz, classical and folk, mostly) and for me, the BL5s do a wonderful job. Knowledgeable people who have spent a lot of money on passive speaker setups, far more than you'd need to have a 7.1 setup that was all BL5, have wondered at the bass fidelity in my listening room. One stating that finally he understood why Björk went on about "I love this resonance" in her track "Headphones", for instance.

If the BL5s aren't solidly outperforming the BL9s, where you are listening to them, then the BL5s have been set up wrong, and the BL9s have been set up to sell.

Hi guys

I have recently purchased a pair of BL5's as well. I, too have been slightly disappointed in the bass response. It sounds bizzare because how can you argue with two 15" subwoofers?? Previously i had a pair of BL 8000's connected along with a BL2. There was some serious but not over the top bass coming from them which i enjoyed. I listened to the BL5's in a showroom again recently and found them brilliant. Certainly better than the BL9's IMO. Clearly this states i'm doing something wrong. I have the bass level turned up on my BV40 and it seems to still lack than solid oomph. They have been calibrated to my room, which is not huge but still roomy. I'm in agreeance with kimchr in respect to blu- ray movies sounding brilliant. Just seems to be the music. Any suggestions in respect to improving bass levels (can't believe i'm actually writing this :) ) Tks

Hi,

i experienced exactly the same "lack of bass" ... so it does not seem to be completely uncommon with the BL5, when it is positioned close to the wall ... i even bought a BL2 to compensate the lack of bass ... weired idea, isn't it?!

I had the service people coming ... we did the calibration process several times ... the guys even tried to prevent the glass in our large windows from "swinging" during the calibration :-)

All of this did not have a serious effect.

The only thing that helped dramatically was moving the speakers away from the walls into a more or less freestanding position. Recalibration of the BL5 in this position or in an acoustically more friendly room/enviroment ... and then removing them into old position close to the walls definetly helped the bass ... but was not as good as let them play from a freestanding position.

I ended up with transfering the BL5's to a room, where i can place them freestanding ... and am now looking for a pair of BL9 to integrate them into my TV-5.1Setup ... replacing the BL5's. The BL5's are now reserved for stereo/music listening only.

Cheers

RazLaw,

I own a pair of 5s and my best friend owns the 9s.

They are placed in similar rooms with very similar setups. . the difference being his ceiling is 12 feet and mine is 10.  I have the 5s against the wall, the 9s are as well.  I can tell a HUGE difference in the 5s and 9s.

I actually had all 4 hooked up at once and listened to the 9s versus 5s.  I like the 5s for 'tightness' and I think the recovery of the woofer is better because it's smaller.

However, the top end of the speakers to me is DRASTICALLY different.  I think the idea of the calibration on the 5s is designed to avoid what you are worried about, being against the wall.

If I were you, I'd ask for some type of in home demo of the 5s.  I think when you are able to hear them in comparison to the 9s you will see the difference.

Also, if they are being used in a surround system at the dealer be sure to select speaker 2 so as not to get anything from the other surround speakers. . 

Good luck with the choices!!1

I'm in the 'yes please' camp...

I'd trade a pair of 9s for a pair of 5s anyday. The 5s are probably one of the best value speakers on the market of any brand!!