I've had a few pairs of both. When working together in a surround sound setup, the 6000's make excellent supplementary speakers. On their own i found them acceptable in a small room. The 8000's are better in every way, including bass which you mention. 

I cannot comment on how the newer Mk2 8000's compare to the older generation, as i have only ever owned older pairs. Maybe somebody with experience could compare this as well. How are you using them?

@Chris Townsend.

Thanks for the quick reply. My listening room is of moderate size 12' x 15'. It's definitely control and definition at the low end that I most seek to improve. I think the amplification in the 6000's may be boosted at the low end to help compensate for the small drive units but for the net result is wallowing muddy sound. 

Thanks and regards.

Michael Ellis wrote:

I have recently purchased a used pair of BeoLab 6000s on ebay and am very happy with them…. but…. would I be even happier with a used pair of 8000s?

I've searched but cannot find any review that gives a comparison of the sound between these two speakers. Has anyone here any views having heard them side-by-side?

My 6000's are in good working order and they sound pretty good. My source is streaming audio from Spotify with my MacBookPro via a Crystal Acustics BluDAC. Using a little equalisation to turn down the 1Khz to 4Kz range makes a big difference creating a more open and less shouty sound stage. If there is an area where the 6000s are less than impressive, it is the bass end. It's not that it is not loud enough, it's that it lacks definition and control. No amount of equalisation helps with that.

But the 8000s do have beefier bass units, so do they have better control over that end of the audio spectrum?

I'd be very interested to hear peoples opinions on how the 6000s and 8000s stack up.

Notes, I do not want to add a sub woofer. Sub woofers are great for movies but so far the subs I have listened to have been great for movie ground shaking rumbles but are a long way from reproducing that smack of an acoustic fretless double bass. Also I like the aesthetics of having nothing in my living room other than two graceful columns to provide my audio pleasure.

BeoLab 6000, CrystalAccoustic BluDAC, Mac Book Pro Retina

vlohjr1 wrote:

I think so michael I used to have both first the 6000 on its own which I listened to about 2 years then the 8000

The 6000 has a lovely warm cosy sound like a Czech piano and the 8000 a much stronger version like a Steinway. At a used market the 8000 is now extremely good value and I would have 2 pairs front and back

The 18s which I have now is of course a different beast....

@ vlohjr1

Go on then make me sick with envy. So how would you compare the 8000s and 18s!

Many thanks -- Michael

From your earlier posts, I saw where you had a fair amount of bass boost dialed in via EQ for the 6000s. That will definitely muddy the sound, since the small drive units are really moving a lot to produce the bass while trying to make midrange. That's one of the real advantages of doing a subwoofer properly, which means not just a low pass filter for the sub but also a symmetric high pass filter to keep the bass out of the main speakers. Many people just slap a sub on and don't use a high pass filter, and don't adjust the sub properly either. Geoff Martin has a good writeup on his blog page about setting up subwoofers.

But, the 8000s are much better sounding than the 6000s. I had mine in a room that was about 12.5 ft by 25 ft, shooting across the short length of the room in my last house. They had decent bass, as that room had a lot of bass boost naturally, lots of room gain. I ran the 8000s flat on treble, and one notch up on bass on the tone controls of my BS9000. In my new house the living area is barn sized so the 8000s just disappeared, so I moved them to the dining room and am running BL9s now.

But as you note now is the time to pick up used 8000s! I doubt you'd be disappointed, and to my eye they look even better than the 6000s, a truly iconic speaker.

@Jeff, many thanks for your comments. Appreciated. 

The snapshots in that older blog should probably be updates as I have been dialling down the bass for exactly the reasons you mention. The BeoLabs 6000s are not at all bass light in terms of SPL, it's just the lack of definition and control.

Well, I'm watching eBay, fingers crossed :-)

I have a pair of 6000s that I picked up used that need some repair. I've gotten the parts, bottom plates for both, top plate for one, and new woofers as one speaker has both woofers shot. Haven't gotten around to fixing them up yet. I was going to put them in the dining room, but since I got the BL9s my 8000s are moving to the dining room. Not sure what I'll do with the 6000s, probably use them for surrounds in my non-B&O AV setup as they look better than the small speakers on tall metal stands I'm using now.

They sound remarkably good for what they are, but in the end they have very small drivers, it's a credit to B&O that they sound as full range as they do, but even B&O can't rewrite all the laws of acoustics.They should work just dandy for surrounds though, since the processor routes the bass to the sub.

I never understood why MoMA picked the 6000s for the permanent collection but not the 8000s. While the 6000s are much more minimalist in size, to me the 8000s are far more elegant with the cone tapering to a point on the heavy bases.

Good luck with the hunt!

Another thing that makes the speakers muddy when bass is boosted, the 6000s and the 8000s are both bass reflex speakers (ported), not acoustic suspension (or sealed). Below system resonance, where the speaker and port resonance are located, the woofer unloads, that is it has no air pressure behind it to help keep it controlled and stop it from overextending itself. I am not sure exactly how B&O handles this, I suspect they have some kind of bass limiting below system resonance to help protect the drivers, but the symptoms you describe are in line with a woofer unloading and getting sloppy in its movements as well as just generally from handling a lot of bass and midrange at the same time. Bass boost below system resonance will usually not give you more real bass but endangers the drivers more than anything. Especially true on normal speakers that don't have any protection as you can implement in an active speaker.

With the 8000s that frequency will be a fair amount lower than it is with the 6000s. This happens for all bass reflex or passive radiator speakers. B&O is in a better position than most to handle this due to being active as they can limit the bass in the electronics. I've seen quite a few small passive speakers destroyed by too much bass boost and power.

I used to have a preloved pair of 6000's connected to my Beocenter 6 - 26 in a small room (3,5 Meters x 3 Meters x 2,2 Meters ) for 2 Years. 4 Month ago I got a good deal on a preloved pair of 8000's (without bass-update).

Even in that small room I would call the difference rather amazing. Especially if you like lower mids (you can not call it bass) the acoustical, and optical 😕 improvement is worth the money. 

You should wait to the mid of summer, when the prices at online auctions reach their yearly low and than go for it. 😕