The BeoLab 9s every time, they have a lovely warm, full sound, with lovely upper range detailing from the ALT. Connected to the right source you can enjoy them all day long, just lovely.

18s are more "harsh" (sorry for want of a better expression), sounding and therefore I for one, can't listen to them for too long. 

With the Lab 9s you won't be sonically dissappointed :)

Hi.

Thanks for your experience. I have read elsewhere in this forum that the plancement requires a little attention. Have you had the same experience?

Mogens

Having never heard either I would assume the 9s to be 'better' simply because they're essentially a largeish conventional floor speaker. Whereas the 18 (or 8000 for that matter) are quite the statement piece as Duels said. Can't fight physics, larger drivers in a larger enclosure will have better low and low mid response hence sound 'fuller'.

Correct me if wrong but do the Beolab 18 also have ALT tweeters like the bigger Beolab 9 or 5?

IMHO the Beolab 9 are probably the most conventional and boring of recent b&o design.

Myself I have a pair of Beolab 8000 and a Beolab 2 sub, really they did need that low end help to clear up their midrange response.

Duels wrote:

Well I find the sound from my 18s to be excellent. Not harsh at all. And from a design point of view I think they make much more of a statement.

I meant by comparison to the 9s and not in general. Glad you are enjoying your speakers.

StUrrock wrote:

I meant by comparison to the 9s and not in general. Glad you are enjoying your speakers.

davidr wrote:

Correct me if wrong but do the Beolab 18 also have ALT tweeters like the bigger Beolab 9 or 5?

I always though the Beolab 9's look like a cat scratcher or a modern Christmas decoration. :D

The 18's look stunning though, I love mine!

I think the design of the 9s are stunning. I also like the 18s but they were not a new design concept following on from the 8000s so didn't peak my interest that much. It's like the 35 following on from the 3500, bit of a poor effort from B&O in my opinion showing a lack of creativity. I was considering trading in my 9s for a different pair of speakers but actually, what would I change too? I spoke to a main dealer over the weekend about the 20s and he encouraged me to stick with the 9s suggesting they sounded better. I also 'tried' to buy a new TV; I was looking at the Horizon, which I liked in store, but he did everything he could to put me off buying one! Bizarre salesmanship. He said wait a few months until B&O have ironed out all the software bugs in the products, telling me B&O were all over the place at the moment with their product line. Hardly encouraging but intriguing either way! Not often you visit a shop who convince you not to sell their products! He really didn't seem to care about me visiting his store either way and was more interested in doing something else. I do laugh at B&O these days, from HQ to shop floor; quite a bizarre company/franchise in so many ways. Really not customer focused at all anymore. They are a world unto themselves.