How old are the BL5’s?

I know when mine were 10-11 years old, I detected the higher frequencies pulling to one channel. Replaced the top tweeter and the reverse occurred.

Replaced the second tweeter dome and all back to splendid self. 

The Lab5’s should have tonnes of upper detail but not as bright/shrill as saythe BL1s which rightly or wrongly 8 see as a derivative of the Pentax’s?

I own for several years bl5 and now with bl9 and 3, I got recently mk3 pentas and could compare again ; frankly the details is the force of the bl5 with the heavy bass, if you don't perceive them then your ears are too old or your bl5 have problems.

The 9 are not so bad but as you say it needs some adaptations, but the 5 are miles ahead.

I don't like at all the bass from the pentas and for the rest at reasonable level of sound I prefer my bl8000 mk2.

I confess to loving my Pentas - they define easy to listen to. The bass is, as alluded to above, not really very detailed, and listening compared to M100s, you can really hear the lack of detail. However they never ever sound shrill which the ALT speakers sometimes do. Beolab 5s are clearly far better speakers - the bass stupendous and the way they disappear fantastic, but they should do! My favourite speakers are however my BBC LS3/5As with AB1 sub woofers - (sub-woofer is a misnomer really - they add a little bass to the assembly, not much else. But they are fantastic speakers - often compared to Quad ESL57s without the size or so many placement issues. They reproduce the human voice better than any other speaker I have had.

Thanks for the replies. My Beolab 5's are now 9 years old for sure but I don't see any defect in them. They are what they are. I do love them (now, after getting used to the styling) but just question where speakers are going these days? Back in the 80's/90's my Pentas were sitting in "The Cube" and being evaluated as the best that B&O can do (at a price) for the day. Now, years later we pay so much more for a different product that is better in some ways but worse in others? I would have expected an increase in quality all round, not in some areas at the expense of areas elsewhere? That is simply not fair? The problem I now have through so many years living with Pentas is I know those trumpets, pianos, violins etc. are there. But not with Beolab 5's! 

Hi, if you feed the labs 5 digitally (spdif input) then you will notice a much better soundstage and much clearer treble. Generally you need a very good device (Cd player or streamer) to get the best out of the labs5. I have myself Auralic Aries connected digitally and the SQ is extremly good.

best regards

Martin

And maybe they are not placed correct. I know “you can place them wherever you want “... but that’s not true (when the soundstage is important for you).

if possible, try to move them more away from side and back walls (even  just for a try). 

Mine are 1m (the center of the speaker) away from any wall and I get superb detail!

when i reduce the distance from the sidewall, just by 10-15cm, the accuracy of the soundstage is completely away...

give it a try... you will be surprised!

regards

mike

They are fed through a 7000 system and I was not happy with the powerlink cabled sound so purchased a spdif cable. Yes, it was noticably better but I still recognised deficiencies. So I purchased a Cambridge CXC CD transport. Huge improvement yes but still there is so much missing. This is what is so frustrating. I am trying everything I can think of to remedy this but still cannot. 

I am about 4m away from the speakers which are up against the wall which I see is far from ideal. I can't get any further away. But a house move is on the cards and a much bigger sitting room is not negotiable so maybe we can experiment further then? But regardless, I am seeing that the 5's maybe on their last chance! 

So here's a question: beolab 50's vs meridian dsp 8000?

They are fed through a 7000 system and I was not happy with the powerlink cabled sound so purchased a spdif cable. Yes, it was noticably better but I still recognised deficiencies. So I purchased a Cambridge CXC CD transport. Huge improvement yes but still there is so much missing. This is what is so frustrating. I am trying everything I can think of to remedy this but still cannot. 

I am about 4m away from the speakers which are up against the wall which I see is far from ideal. I can't get any further away. But a house move is on the cards and a much bigger sitting room is not negotiable so maybe we can experiment further then? But regardless, I am seeing that the 5's maybe on their last chance! 

So here's a question: beolab 50's vs meridian dsp 8000?