DirtyDiana wrote:
Hi John,
I worked my way up through the hifi separate ranks over the last 10 years and ended up using Mark Levinson and Pass labs which gave a beautiful sound but one that still didnt relinquish the need to upgrade to better cables or bigger amps ect,it ends up being more about the gear than the music and I basically got bored of the concept.
We always had B&O in the family and once I discovered how much R&D had been put in to the new speakers and the smallish outlay needed I sold off my other gear and now have a system that gives more enjoyment and is far nicer to use,I honestly was not expecting quite so much from the BL9 but everytime they are a revelation-if they were not I would be the first to say but no way would I go back to seperates.
Re the positioning,they did not sound at their best when angled and seem best straight ahead-unlike conventional speakers.
Many thanks for the kind and illuminating reply.
It was most interesting to read, and struck more than a few chords with me.
My 'journey' into HiFi started many years ago with a love of music, and yet, perhaps like yourself, it continued up into the upper echelons of so called 'specialist' audiophile gear, which for me ended up with an all out Naim Audio system, and the pursuit of audio 'excelllence' became more about the gear than the music, 'needing' the latest tweaks, or cables, or stands, or piece of kit to sound it's 'best', and like you I not only became bored with the concept, but also got deeply offended with the amount of animosity that exists in the audiophile world as regards brand 'wars', sound philosophies and allegiances, and the total lack of any scientific credibility to support the outlandish claims made for such kit in the audiophile world.
Older and wiser, I sold off all my Naim 2 channel kit, as I embraced a more mainstream, yet still separates system that fulfilled a multi-use role, i.e. music and movies in the home.
I used to (shame) look down my audiophile nose at B&O as being more about lifestyle than true performance, but once I set aside my prejudices and did some factual reading as to the lengths B&O go to as regards scientific R&D and how they develop and assess their kit with the listening panels doing blind A/B testing etc I have had my eyes opened as regards the brand.
I will state that with 40 odd years of HiFi experience behind me, and as a trained classical musician, that the Beolab Fives are easily one of the finest speakers that money can buy, regardless of cost. I would dearly love to own a pair, but my resources are not quite at that level .... yet... lol.
That leaves the Beolab 9 - which to my ears is a superior speaker in it's ability to convey a believable musical performance, to other well regarded passive speakers from major manufacturers such as B&W 804 diamonds for example.
Given some of the comments made about the Lab 9's earlier in this thread, compared with what I have heard, I could only say it was either a problem with the setup of the individual speakers, or their placement in the room.
Indeed, my only issue with the Lab 9s is that they seem a little constrained in the height dimension, as regards the soundstage/sound-field they project; however, given the way they are set up in most B&O emporiums I have yet visited, it is difficult to get an impression of how they would sound properly set up in a medium sized room as regards sound-staging etc - most dealers seem to have them in open space in the showroom.
Kind Regards
John... 🙂
